Howdy from Hamilton (Also the New ISP you haven't heard of... yet!)

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OntoITServices

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2974624 29-Sep-2022 09:47

toejam316:

Welcome to Geekzone - word of warning, Hamilton based ISP is actually a fairly crowded concept, between Lightwire, Wanna Internet, Central Communications, The Virus Centre, and a couple of other resellers.

Big thing you'll have to be aware of is if you don't have your own ASN and are wholesaling (which I suspect will be the case), you're almost certainly going to be at a disadvantage. Suffice to say, you're a braver fella than most starting an ISP with the razor thin margins that they have. Hopefully you've got some good differentiating services to obtain and retain customers.

Just noticed that your website is a bit light on details too - your wholesaler, peering arrangements, hardware you provide (if any), all of that would be good info to know.

Thanks for the heads up! And yes I've definitely had to cut my margins lower than what I originally thought I'd have, but I'd much rather have more clients that are happy with the plan pricing than making a larger margin off of a few clients.

Also thanks for letting me know about the website, I'll get to adding more info for the clients that want it. My initial thoughts were to keep it simple so that the average Mum/Dad could jump on and sign up without being confused with jargon. At this stage, I don't provide any hardware and if my clients desperately need a router I've got a few routers laying around to sell (2nd hand TP-link Archers/HG659 etc.). I will be looking providing a proper "standard" router sometime in the near future.

Dynamic

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#2974625 29-Sep-2022 09:51

@OntoITServices it's great to have sharp prices, but be cautious about being a part of the race-to-the-bottom with pricing if you want to provide top shelf service.

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OntoITServices

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2974626 29-Sep-2022 09:53

xpd:

Oh yes, people here care and will pick apart ISP's who don't step up to the plate ;) Hehe....

Pricing is pretty sharp. Take it that theyre CGNAT connections........ price for static ?

Good luck :D

Haha I'm all for scrutiny, especially this early in the piece as it'll make sure I've got my ducks in a row!

Nope, I made sure to check that connections I sign up does not come under a CGNAT (was very happy about this), but if needed static IP's are available for $6/mo for personal plans or free with business plans

toejam316

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#2974629 29-Sep-2022 10:02

OntoITServices:

toejam316:

Welcome to Geekzone - word of warning, Hamilton based ISP is actually a fairly crowded concept, between Lightwire, Wanna Internet, Central Communications, The Virus Centre, and a couple of other resellers.

Big thing you'll have to be aware of is if you don't have your own ASN and are wholesaling (which I suspect will be the case), you're almost certainly going to be at a disadvantage. Suffice to say, you're a braver fella than most starting an ISP with the razor thin margins that they have. Hopefully you've got some good differentiating services to obtain and retain customers.

Just noticed that your website is a bit light on details too - your wholesaler, peering arrangements, hardware you provide (if any), all of that would be good info to know.

Thanks for the heads up! And yes I've definitely had to cut my margins lower than what I originally thought I'd have, but I'd much rather have more clients that are happy with the plan pricing than making a larger margin off of a few clients.

Also thanks for letting me know about the website, I'll get to adding more info for the clients that want it. My initial thoughts were to keep it simple so that the average Mum/Dad could jump on and sign up without being confused with jargon. At this stage, I don't provide any hardware and if my clients desperately need a router I've got a few routers laying around to sell (2nd hand TP-link Archers/HG659 etc.). I will be looking providing a proper "standard" router sometime in the near future.

In which case, I don't know how far you've thrown into this versus your other ventures, but I'd maybe start figuring out exactly what you're trying to get as your userbase.

Cheaper, no frills services and high levels of support generally don't go hand in hand, your margins will be low enough that once you take a single support call from a customer, assuming billed at a reasonable hourly rate, you're probably in the negative for that customer for the forseeable. Also, those mum and dad customers you're talking about are the sort who want the set it and forget it service level, where you provide the equipment (be it through rental fee, contract, or payment, but almost certainly the most platable to those customers is contract), and then they plug it in and it just works.

Basically anyone who is capable of taking up your service as it stands right now is likely to ask lots of hard questions and want proper technical support if they require it, and the low maintenace customers you're probably hoping for to earn a profit off of will likely need more to begin with than what you're currently offered. Happy to chat a bit more outside the thread if you want some feedback from someone who's worked in the small ISP space. Also, right now the numbers you've got at the bottom of your website aren't numbers that'll inspire confidence. Might be worth hiding them for some other information until they grow a bit, especially given it's advising 5 happy customers but no installations completed yet.

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.

nztim

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#2974678 29-Sep-2022 10:11

OntoITServices:

nztim: Welcome to GZ! I cant see an ASN for your company? Who are you wholesaling through?

Thanks Tim. Wholesaling through Vocus Group/2degrees. Sorry that info isn't on the website, I didn't realize so many people cared to know - I'll add it to the website shortly

Good on you for getting off the ground, its not easy, as you grow you will get your own ASN etc and hope it works out for you! These things take time

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2974679 29-Sep-2022 10:11

OntoITServices:

As for business plans with Voyager, you must enter a contract with them, where as we do open term plans for businesses.

They may require contracts for business grade connections, but they do provide 'business' features to anyone who needs them.

I have a PTR for my static IP and a /29, all on a residential connection. Are you planning to offer such options?

IPv6? PPPoE?

nztim

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#2974682 29-Sep-2022 10:13

SirHumphreyAppleby:

IPv6? PPPoE?

Its re-sold Vocus so it will be dual stack PPPoE/DHCP with IPV6 over VLAN10

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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OntoITServices

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2974925 29-Sep-2022 15:53

toejam316:

In which case, I don't know how far you've thrown into this versus your other ventures, but I'd maybe start figuring out exactly what you're trying to get as your userbase.

Cheaper, no frills services and high levels of support generally don't go hand in hand, your margins will be low enough that once you take a single support call from a customer, assuming billed at a reasonable hourly rate, you're probably in the negative for that customer for the forseeable.

Firstly, thanks for the long reply and your time you put into it, I really appreciate the input & feedback.

I'm thinking (need to put a bit more thought into it) something along the lines of first 20-30 minutes of support per issue are free/unpaid, then after that becomes a paid service. That way most of the easy config "issues" are sorted with no charge and the customer stays happy.

Also, those mum and dad customers you're talking about are the sort who want the set it and forget it service level, where you provide the equipment (be it through rental fee, contract, or payment, but almost certainly the most platable to those customers is contract), and then they plug it in and it just works.

You're definitely right, and I will have preconfigured routers at some stage to combat this.

I'd love to chat when you have spare time - I'm sure there's at least a few things I'll learn - so again, thank you.

Also, right now the numbers you've got at the bottom of your website aren't numbers that'll inspire confidence. Might be worth hiding them for some other information until they grow a bit, especially given it's advising 5 happy customers but no installations completed yet.

I see what you're saying here, and I contemplated hiding it for now, but I decided (perhaps wrongly) to keep it visible and put it right at the bottom so people can see we're still small and with less active customers could come faster support etc

OntoITServices

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Wannabe Geek

#2974926 29-Sep-2022 15:57

nztim:

Good on you for getting off the ground, its not easy, as you grow you will get your own ASN etc and hope it works out for you! These things take time

Thanks a lot for your support Tim, I really appreciate it and hope to grow to the point of getting my own ASN like you said. I just want to keep clients happy and give them what they feel what's missing from other providers (any other suggestions from anyone would help a lot)!

OntoITServices

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2974928 29-Sep-2022 15:58

SirHumphreyAppleby:

They may require contracts for business grade connections, but they do provide 'business' features to anyone who needs them.

I have a PTR for my static IP and a /29, all on a residential connection. Are you planning to offer such options?

IPv6? PPPoE?

I'll be completely honest; I haven't thought about it at all, so I don't know what's involved in making those options happen. Could be something to look into though.

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