Which UFB provider?

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agricon

27 posts

Geek

#191646 11-Feb-2016 14:29

I am about to come off an unlimited Genius VOIP contract with Orcon UFB. I thought I would get some feed back on who else is I should consider before deciding whether to resign with them. I am in Waipa district. We mainly use it for streaming but not exclusively.

Cheers

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655 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1490436 11-Feb-2016 14:38

Bigpipe if they are at your address or stay with Orcon. :)

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1490441 11-Feb-2016 14:44

I had intended to stay with Orcon but after I talked to them I was told I would have to sign another 12 month contract (with a $240ish termination fee), they also wanted to send me a new router, create a new account, reset my password (can't use the existing one), update payment details etc............... So I thought I would have a look around:-)

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1490457 11-Feb-2016 14:57

agricon:

I had intended to stay with Orcon but after I talked to them I was told I would have to sign another 12 month contract (with a $240ish termination fee), they also wanted to send me a new router, create a new account, reset my password (can't use the existing one), update payment details etc............... So I thought I would have a look around:-)

Thats all pretty standard no matter who you sign up with. If you are happy with Orcon then I would stay. 12 months isn't that long.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1490472 11-Feb-2016 14:59

Yes that maybe to end result, Bigpipe fibre isn't being offered at my address.

sidefx

3711 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1490482 11-Feb-2016 15:07

I'm still a very happy (ex snap) 2 degrees customer... Though TBH when I look at their pricing it wouldn't be great without a 2 degrees mobile account. Worth considering if you have a mobile account with them to get the monthly discount - not so much if not.

(If I had to change I'd go Bigpipe; not an option for you I guess.)

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jonathan18

7413 posts

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#1490552 11-Feb-2016 15:46

It could still be worth checking in with BigPipe as to whether they plan to offer UFB in your region soon; I asked, and as it happens they'll be doing so in PN in the next few weeks.

I'm in a similar boat to you, and have been actively looking at finding a better deal than offered by my current ISP (which will charge me an additional $25 a month to go from 30/10 to 100/20!).

I posted some questions here, and got some useful replies.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumId=165&topicId=191451

Based on that feedback I've ruled out those with long contracts, and indeed have been tempted by those with no contracts - while I'm planning on going with BP, Unlimited may be another option for you (though that choice is not without its issues, as raised in other posts).

Other than that, nearly every other ISP I've checked out wants at least a 12 month contract; I saw a deal with Compass that's fairly well priced, and Spark's doing 100/20 for the same price as 30/10 for a year, but again all require contracts.

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1490589 11-Feb-2016 16:07

I don't really have an issue about another contract but I wanted to check that there are not better options available. I may give BP a call and ask the question about availability in Waipa.
Thanks for the feedback

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Krishant007

1403 posts

Uber Geek

#1490593 11-Feb-2016 16:12

try slingshot? I have been with them for quite some time and so far their service has been decent (of course there are horror telco stories with pretty much every company). Their deals are quite good.

staticnz

151 posts

Master Geek

#1490659 11-Feb-2016 17:36

agricon:

I had intended to stay with Orcon but after I talked to them I was told I would have to sign another 12 month contract (with a $240ish termination fee), they also wanted to send me a new router, create a new account, reset my password (can't use the existing one), update payment details etc............... So I thought I would have a look around:-)

That's odd given you've already been a customer for a year for UFB so I would have thought you'd drop onto an open term setup rather than a new contract?

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1490848 12-Feb-2016 06:06

That's what I expected them to offer. I guess there's no benefit for being a loyal and long term customer these days!

timmmay

20575 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1490854 12-Feb-2016 07:25

2degrees (ex Snap) sign you up for 12 - 24 months (your choice) then you go onto a floating contract. I probably wouldn't stay with a provider that made me sign a 12 month commitment every time. 2 degrees have been good, no issues and service is good. I'm not a 2 degrees mobile customer, I think the price is fine, but I haven't done a comparison recently.

PhantomNVD

2619 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1490861 12-Feb-2016 08:05

I was with VF for several years on ADSL at my last even-more-rural address and the only time I had to resign was when I occasionally wanted the model upgrade...

jonathan18

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#1490881 12-Feb-2016 08:58

timmmay:

2degrees (ex Snap) sign you up for 12 - 24 months (your choice) then you go onto a floating contract. I probably wouldn't stay with a provider that made me sign a 12 month commitment every time. 2 degrees have been good, no issues and service is good. I'm not a 2 degrees mobile customer, I think the price is fine, but I haven't done a comparison recently.

Grandparented Snap pricing's fine (ie those of us who are 2 Degrees customers on old Snap plans). The new plans, as discussed at the time, are often not terribly beneficial to those on the old plans, and also aren't particularly good value compared to the competition (a bit better if you have your mobile with them, but I don't like being tied down in such a way).

The additional $25 I mentioned to go from 30/10 to 100/20 unlimited is due to me having to go from grandparented Snap to a new 2Degrees plan. Given I can get the same feature set for about $86 with no contract (BigPipe with 2Talk), compared to $115 with 2 Degrees, they're not really in the same ballpark.

agricon

27 posts

Geek

#1490936 12-Feb-2016 10:08

It will cost an extra $30.00 a month to upgrade from my existing 30/10 to the 200/20 which doesn't sound too bad but I was already paying $95.00 a month for the 30/10 plan taking the new cost to $125.00.

The sweeteners offered like sky upgrades, mobile plans etc are not really of interest to me.

BigPipeNZ

1170 posts

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BigPipe

#1490951 12-Feb-2016 10:22

agricon:

Yes that maybe to end result, Bigpipe fibre isn't being offered at my address.

I believe that Waipa comes under the hamilton handover zone, so Bigpipe will be available there in around 4-6 weeks.

we'll still have the same offer on for UFB at that point - two months free if you already have an ONT installed (which you do) and use promo code UFBSWITCH when signing up

(I don't think you are forced to re-sign with Orcon. i.e. if you don't do anything they aren't going to cut you off. It's just if you want to change plans to get a better deal or speed they have changed a lot of their backend systems, meaning basically starting a new account from scratch with new contract, new modem etc)

ETA: 1000 posts!

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