Spark - 5G Coverage + data instability (Wellington & parts of Auckland)

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark - 5G Coverage + data instability (Wellington & parts of Auckland)

1 | ... | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

314 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 232

Trusted

Spark NZ

Lifetime subscriber

#3509364 8-Jul-2026 08:03

It might be a good idea to try and get some of these faults logged through to the vehicle manufacturers so they can be forwarded on for investigation (via their mobility provider). As we don't have a direct relationship with the device and/or connection plan there are limited things we can look at.

My comments and remarks are not necessarily of my employer.

boosacnoodle

1552 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1033

#3509372 8-Jul-2026 08:46

Funny you mention the hidden menu for BYD. I ended up asking this via ADB instead and put in custom PLMN preferences. In my case, the car was having connectivity issues with 2d. I’ve changed it to prefer Spark now and will see how we go, then flip it if need be. You’re absolutely right that One NZ, to my surprise, did not work.

boosacnoodle

1552 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1033

#3509373 8-Jul-2026 08:50

Another interesting thing I picked up was that I can see:

2degrees
Spark (and 53002 / SpaceX)
One NZ (and 53013 / SpaceX)
53007 - not sure why this is there? Anyone know what it is?

So, presumably, because it’s roaming the SpaceX functionality is not available. Sad!

richms

29592 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10630

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3509561 8-Jul-2026 19:12

Made a ticket with tesla about this. Totally unacceptable performance but as it was in at collision repair a week and a bit ago I am not 100% certain that its worked properly since I got it back from that. I do know that it had to calibrate the camera for lane keeping once I got it back so something was done with it.

Richard rich.ms

MikeB4

MikeB4
18957 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 13169

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#3510978 13-Jul-2026 13:21

Not sure if this is the right place for this. OK, my Spark woes continue. Dropped calls are still and intermittent issue but the latest idiocyncracy my phones have developed is lack of 5G connectivity. In areas where I have experienced no issues with 5G my handsets (Nothing 3(a) and iPhone 16 Pro Max 5G connectivity is just not happening. All the setting are in place to have 5G connectivity but does happen and the handsets default to 4G. I visited our local Spark store and obtained a new SIM card as my SIM was very old. I had 5G connectivity briefly but it has again gone AWOL. I have a One NZ SIM and if I put that in the handsets both will attain 5G connections.

I have absolutely no idea what on earth is going on and as I have said previously due to my heath and disability situation stable phone connectivity is vital. Should I just ditch Spark for another provider? So could our Geekzone mobile experts offer some advice. This issue is causing me considerable anxiety.

Normal ain't coming back, the crazy stays.

KiwiSurfer

1875 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1135

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3510989 13-Jul-2026 13:47

If stable connectivity is needed, it may be worth just setting your phone to 4G only for a year or two to give Spark time to sort their 5G network out. At this stage there is nowhere in the country that has 5G only coverage so you will still have access to full Spark coverage on 4G only. Currently there is not much value in 5G as it is still very early days. But I do wonder if a switch to One NZ (or even 2degreesd) would be better.

Knowing a tiny bit of what is happening behind the scenes I would feel a lot better going with One NZ and their all-Nokia network. Right now, Spark is going through a massive migration from a mix of Huawei/Samsung/Nokia gear (including towers with multiple vendors being used across various frequencies). Every week I can see changes in their network as they swapping out equipment all over the place. I only have to drive a few kilos to the next suburb over and I'll go through a mix of 4G-only and 4G/5G coverage operated by equipment from all three vendors. One NZ on the other hand is 5G Nokia all the way from here to all corners of Auckland (bar a few places e.g. Waterview Tunnel, Costco, IKEA, etc). But to be far 2degrees seem to do OK despite a mix of Ericsson, Huawei and even Nokia (through their MORAN arrangement with One NZ) so really one could argue Spark shouldn't have too much trouble with mixed vendors surely?

In good news I'm seeing several Spark sites go up in South Auckland. One went up in Manukau CBD and then was live within a week or two -- impressive given a 2degrees site not far away (near Events Center) went up several weeks back and is still yet to be switched on. The new Spark tower covers a capacity poor area and previously had no 5G coverage. I'm aware of a few others too e.g. Takanini data centre, Manurewa Rail Bridge, etc. Good to see progress at least.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

MikeB4

MikeB4
18957 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 13169

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#3511167 14-Jul-2026 08:28

I got through Sparks help desk. After the usual questions and answers. Reboot, phone, play with settings etc etc I was basically told 'no idea what is happening ' Call finished without resolve or progress. I am at a total loss here and very concerned I will be left without comms

Normal ain't coming back, the crazy stays.

Linux

12463 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 8791

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3511168 14-Jul-2026 08:38

MikeB4:

I got through Sparks help desk. After the usual questions and answers. Reboot, phone, play with settings etc etc I was basically told 'no idea what is happening ' Call finished without resolve or progress. I am at a total loss here and very concerned I will be left without comms

@MikeB4 change provider! You have more than one option

MikeB4

MikeB4
18957 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 13169

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#3511170 14-Jul-2026 09:02

@Linux That is very sound advice. Phones are not my area of IT knowledge, my back ground is networks, hardware and IT management. Do you believe it's a fair call to rule out hardware issues? It would be incredible bad luck that two handsets pooped themselves.

Normal ain't coming back, the crazy stays.

Andib

1414 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1002

ID Verified

Trusted

#3511189 14-Jul-2026 09:53

MikeB4:

@Linux That is very sound advice. Phones are not my area of IT knowledge, my back ground is networks, hardware and IT management. Do you believe it's a fair call to rule out hardware issues? It would be incredible bad luck that two handsets pooped themselves.

Very unlikely, A simple test would be to grab a prepay sim from one of the other providers and test them out in your handsets.
2Degrees offer a free 7Day trial https://www.2degrees.nz/network-trial, One NZ did at one point though I can't find it on their website.

<#
.DISCLAIMER
Anything I post is my own and not the views of my past/present/future employer.
#>

boosacnoodle

1552 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1033

#3511194 14-Jul-2026 10:24

MikeB4:

I got through Sparks help desk. After the usual questions and answers. Reboot, phone, play with settings etc etc I was basically told 'no idea what is happening ' Call finished without resolve or progress. I am at a total loss here and very concerned I will be left without comms

Did they lodge a fault?

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

MikeB4

MikeB4
18957 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 13169

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#3511215 14-Jul-2026 11:56

boosacnoodle:

Did they lodge a fault?

To be honest I don't know. I was very tired and dismayed at their lack of interest. They may done Yap and Tap but don't know. I have not received any comms from them. I probably should have persevered but fatigue won.

Normal ain't coming back, the crazy stays.

grantius

101 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 59

#3511335 14-Jul-2026 21:09

I drove from Hamilton to Auckland CBD today with my mate in his Tesla, holy smokes I can see why people are complaining it spent probably 1/8th of the time with no signal at all on the southern motorway it would go from full signal to offline and take forever to come back, Waikato expressway seemed even worse.

Aucklandjafa

585 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 298

#3511374 15-Jul-2026 09:39

grantius:

I drove from Hamilton to Auckland CBD today with my mate in his Tesla, holy smokes I can see why people are complaining it spent probably 1/8th of the time with no signal at all on the southern motorway it would go from full signal to offline and take forever to come back, Waikato expressway seemed even worse.

It has to be a roaming/routing issue. The 4G experience on mobile devices is completely fine the majority of the time.

richms

29592 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10630

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3511734 15-Jul-2026 19:39

I got my ticket with tesla closed saying that it was fixed and I found that yesterday and today it seemed fine. I did find that twice when I got into the car the screen was off and took a while to come back up so perhaps they had pushed something to it to make it work?

When its not working there seems to be 30 secs to a min of it not showing the no signal thing but not actually working before it decides that its not working, and then some time before it comes back.

Richard rich.ms

1 | ... | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18