Are 24 month contracts sensible at the moment? MR or other ISP choice...

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Are 24 month contracts sensible at the moment? MR or other ISP choice...

jonathan18

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#191451 4-Feb-2016 15:50

Looking at moving ISPs as our current one (2 Degrees) wants $115 a month for 100/20 unlimited fibre, which is an additional $25 over our current 30/10 unlimited (we'd need to move off our grandparented Snap plan onto one of the crud 2 Degrees plans).

I've looked at the 100/20 unlimited home phone plans from My Republic (works out at $89 a month over 24 months) or Voyager ($90), but both require a 24 month contract (additional $10/month to reduce contact to 12 months on Voyager). My question is - is this an ok time to sign on to an ISP (of which I've had no experience) for this period of time?

I've looked at other ISPs offering a similar plan for a bit more monthly outlay and a twelve month contract: Spark works out at $96 and Slingshot $98 a month - but both of these provide modems w/o gigabit Ethernet ports, don't let users use their own modem (I've got a Fritzbox 7390 I'm happy with), and are still $8-9 a month more expensive.

At the risk of turning this into yet another "which ISP is best?" thread, is there something I'm missing in the options I've looked at? I've looked into all other main ISPs - some offer no better value than 2 Degrees, others don't provide VOIP, some I'll not touch due to being burned in the past (Voda, Orcon). One option is just to sit and wait a bit longer to see what happens, eg when Flip starts offering fibre in my area.

Any thoughts? Many thanks.

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#1485292 4-Feb-2016 15:58

Don't know if you are in their service area, however, I am happy with bigpipe and 2talk. 100/20 plus a more versatile voip line for $85.90/month. No contracts required, however, you need to set your device up yourself instead of having it managed (preferable for me, perhaps not others).

Edit - moved on from 2 degrees as well, their plans are not as good for me as the snap ones were. Bigpipe currently give the first 2 months free for a UFB transition.

stuzz

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#1485295 4-Feb-2016 16:01

An unpopular option, on here, would be to look at unlimitedinternet.co.nz

I've just joined their 30/10 option. No contract, unlimited data plan. They have others. BYO modem or get theirs. I've found their phone support satisfactory and connection rock solid. There is a forum post on here about them.

toejam316

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#1485302 4-Feb-2016 16:10

MyRepublic hasn't been terrible while I've been with them, but they very much provide a budget service - I'm about to leave their original Gamer plan, and I haven't been very impressed with their performance (truenet stats will help with that info). Voyager I've heard good things about, but definitely BigPipe or Unlimited Internet are worth a crack, as there's no contract terms and you've clearly got a device (the Fritz!box) that'll work.

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

robjg63

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#1485317 4-Feb-2016 16:17

dolsen:
Don't know if you are in their service area, however, I am happy with bigpipe and 2talk. 100/20 plus a more versatile voip line for $85.90/month. No contracts required, however, you need to set your device up yourself instead of having it managed (preferable for me, perhaps not others).

Edit - moved on from 2 degrees as well, their plans are not as good for me as the snap ones were. Bigpipe currently give the first 2 months free for a UFB transition.

$85.90?
$79.00 per month for bigpipe ufb at 100/20 + 2 talk cheapest monthly plan at $10 +gst. Isn't that around $90.50?
I am waiting for my bigpipe install and am moving my landline to 2talk asap afterwards.
Of course you have to supply your own router at $100ish.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

dolsen

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#1485323 4-Feb-2016 16:27

robjg63:

$85.90?
$79.00 per month for bigpipe ufb at 100/20 + 2 talk cheapest monthly plan at $10 +gst. Isn't that around $90.50?
I am waiting for my bigpipe install and am moving my landline to 2talk asap afterwards.
Of course you have to supply your own router at $100ish.

No, $85.90.

Cost: $6 + GST/mth
Cloud PBX numbers include all features, add 2000 local minutes to your account and increase your account channels by 1.
The numbers included with your monthly calling plan can be Cloud PBX numbers or New Zealand Toll Free numbers

If you want the 250 national minutes, you can sign up for the $10+gst plan, however, I use my mobile for national calls so haven't done that.

Oh yeah, there's a one off porting fee as well.

robjg63

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#1485329 4-Feb-2016 16:40

dolsen:
robjg63:

$85.90?
$79.00 per month for bigpipe ufb at 100/20 + 2 talk cheapest monthly plan at $10 +gst. Isn't that around $90.50?
I am waiting for my bigpipe install and am moving my landline to 2talk asap afterwards.
Of course you have to supply your own router at $100ish.

No, $85.90.

Sign up for a free 2 talk account, then, port your existing number as an additional cloud pbx line. Details below.

Cost: $6 + GST/mth
Cloud PBX numbers include all features, add 2000 local minutes to your account and increase your account channels by 1.
The numbers included with your monthly calling plan can be Cloud PBX numbers or New Zealand Toll Free numbers

If you want the 250 national minutes, you can sign up for the $10+gst plan, however, I use my mobile for national calls so haven't done that.

Oh yeah, there's a one off porting fee as well.

Ok. Didn't know that you could port it that way. Probably only useful to keep it for incoming calls only - but it's an option.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

jonathan18

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#1485330 4-Feb-2016 16:41

Thanks for all the prompt feedback. Really like the idea of a non-contract service, given the ability to easily move if they don't perform or something superior becomes available.

2D - as I posted at the time 2D took over Snap, those new plans really weren't well-tailored to suit existing customers; it would be interesting to know how many Snap customers wanting to upgrade plans have left 2D given the better value to be found elsewhere.

MR - I've read mixed feedback on them, and comments like yours, @toejam316, make me somewhat reluctant to commit for 24 months.

Big Pipe - while I think I'd be ok with configuring and using 2Talk for VOIP, they're not yet offering fibre in my region (Palmerston North); not sure if/when this may happen?

Unlimited - well, the prices are certainly good, as it the lack of contract. They do VOIP for $7, but I'll have to read more about any other issues (eg charge for caller id?). Will read up on other threads to find out why it would be 'unpopular' to push this...

Thanks again, and I welcome any other ideas.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

jonb

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#1485332 4-Feb-2016 16:42

I understand Spark now supply you with the hg659b (gigabit & AC) router for all their UFB plans now, and can use the Fritzbox if you want to.

dolsen

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#1485336 4-Feb-2016 16:47

robjg63:
Ok. Didn't know that you could port it that way. Probably only useful to keep it for incoming calls only - but it's an option.

It's a fully working, normal line from a functionality viewpoint. Incoming and outgoing calls, voicemail, caller waiting, multiple registrations etc. Only thing is you have to pay for national calls outside your calling area as opposed to having some included at a higher price. I don't make more than 133 minutes of NZ toll calls a month (the payback point according to some quick calculations), therefore, the cheaper one is the better option for me.

jnimmo

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#1485365 4-Feb-2016 17:08

In response to your first question - my opinion is 24 months is far too long for residential contract. Especially if you already have UFB installed I would be pushing for no contract (or 12 months if they are supplying a router)

Sideface

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#1485371 4-Feb-2016 17:23

jnimmo:

In response to your first question - my opinion is 24 months is far too long for residential contract. Especially if you already have UFB installed I would be pushing for no contract (or 12 months if they are supplying a router)

+1 I once made the mistake of signing a 24-month contract for telecoms (for TelstraClear/Vodafone HFC cable, not fibre) and soon regretted it.

A 24-month contract with one ISP is the equivalent of signing a 5-year contract with one electricity provider - the state of play keeps changing, and it's a really bad idea to commit yourself to a long contract .

Sideface

jonathan18

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#1485666 5-Feb-2016 09:45

Sideface:

jnimmo:

In response to your first question - my opinion is 24 months is far too long for residential contract. Especially if you already have UFB installed I would be pushing for no contract (or 12 months if they are supplying a router)

+1 I once made the mistake of signing a 24-month contract for telecoms (for TelstraClear/Vodafone HFC cable, not fibre) and soon regretted it.

A 24-month contract with one ISP is the equivalent of signing a 5-year contract with one electricity provider - the state of play keeps changing, and it's a really bad idea to commit yourself to a long contract .

All good points - you've convinced me of the folly of signing up for that length of time, so I'll not be going there... I had a 24 month contract with Snap that finished about eight months ago, and while that worked out ok then I won't try it again!

I'm investigating Unlimited a bit more, despite its rocky reputation here on this forum - interested in the views of users of the ISP, as per the request at this thread from last year.

If this doesn't seem a sane option, I think I'll just sit and wait for something else good to come up that doesn't require being tied down to that length of time - eg hopefully Bigpipe will start offering UFB in PN (I've emailed them to ask their plans; that said, I'm still not enamoured of the idea of a call centre-free ISP...).

BigPipeNZ

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#1485672 5-Feb-2016 09:53

We're in the process of finalising the last bit of network stuff for Palmy - so Bigpipe launch is imminent within the next few weeks.

Sounds like you have an ONT already, as you are already on Fibre, which means you qualify for your first two months absolutely free on any UFB plan - and still with no contract.

We just can't switch you over immediately as we're not quite ready - it would need to be a date at least a few weeks into the future (and since you likely have to give 30 days notice to your current provider, that probably works out pretty well anyway)

If you're interested, PM me your email address and home address and I'll get one of our team to get in touch with more details.

cheers

bigpipe.co.nz
https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ
https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

jonathan18

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#1485678 5-Feb-2016 10:00

BigPipeNZ:

We're in the process of finalising the last bit of network stuff for Palmy - so Bigpipe launch is imminent within the next few weeks.

Sounds like you have an ONT already, as you are already on Fibre, which means you qualify for your first two months absolutely free on any UFB plan - and still with no contract.

We just can't switch you over immediately as we're not quite ready - it would need to be a date at least a few weeks into the future (and since you likely have to give 30 days notice to your current provider, that probably works out pretty well anyway)

If you're interested, PM me your email address and home address and I'll get one of our team to get in touch with more details.

cheers

That's great news! Yep, have had fibre for 2.5 years, so we're ready whenever you are. Will PM you now...

deadlyllama

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#1485742 5-Feb-2016 10:42

The "oh, wait, we have no handover in your city" problem is a real PITA. I'm in Whanganui, and can only get VDSL from the "low-cost" ISPs (Bigpipe, Voyager, Unlimitedinternet). I've had fibre since 2013.

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