Rural broadband 4g 700mhz

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Rural broadband 4g 700mhz

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13944 posts

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#1352783 27-Jul-2015 18:50

coffeebaron: No map overlay for checking coverage footprint.

I agree, a map just showing the (expected) coverage would be helpful. Having to enter in an address with no map to scroll in or out of is a pain.

TwoSeven

1624 posts

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#1352785 27-Jul-2015 18:58

I get 'not available in your area' which is North Canterbury. Also, it would be good to see what packages are available if people already have landlines and mobile phones with Spark.

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staticnz

151 posts

Master Geek

#1352786 27-Jul-2015 19:00

quickymart:
coffeebaron: No map overlay for checking coverage footprint.

I agree, a map just showing the (expected) coverage would be helpful. Having to enter in an address with no map to scroll in or out of is a pain.

Isn't it better to get a yes/no result for your specific address than trying to interpret a map to find out if you can get it?

quickymart

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#1352790 27-Jul-2015 19:04

Nope, because I can see what coverage surrounding areas get.

staticnz

151 posts

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#1352800 27-Jul-2015 19:06

quickymart: Nope, because I can see what coverage surrounding areas get.

Fair enough :)

coffeebaron

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#1352803 27-Jul-2015 19:10

On big rural properties, you need to be able to see where the coverage is.

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grant_k

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#1352811 27-Jul-2015 19:18

staticnz:
quickymart:
coffeebaron: No map overlay for checking coverage footprint.

I agree, a map just showing the (expected) coverage would be helpful. Having to enter in an address with no map to scroll in or out of is a pain.

Isn't it better to get a yes/no result for your specific address than trying to interpret a map to find out if you can get it?

Radio coverage is not Yes/No, it's more like shades of grey and the signal may vary across large properties as Coffeebaron says above. Armed with a map showing the likely signal levels at various locations, installers can home in on the best spots and confirm what signal actually exists for any location which is convenient.

This first attempt by Spark at a coverage checking tool is a long way behind Vodafone, so they will need to lift their game significantly if they want to gain any worthwhile market share. The very long delay between announcement and availability is also not a good sign. It reminds me of 'Vapourware' announcements made by certain software companies...

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Stan

929 posts

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#1352932 27-Jul-2015 21:48

coffeebaron: Have checked a few of my customer addresses, all within Spark L700 coverage and rural locations. None can get service! Hmmm

Was just thinking this.

I have a relation on a farm in the Waikato there house is on a hill, when I am indoors I get full 700mhz coverage on my Zenfone but apparently she can't get sparks rural broadband.

firefuze

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1352951 27-Jul-2015 22:50

I can get it in Ohaupo (Waikato)

To those using the address checker, Spark are targeting specific rural areas hence why I believe the address checker is saying not available despite being in a L700 area at this stage.

JoeJoe

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1352972 28-Jul-2015 00:26

It's great to see the service available at last, but it would be nice if one of the Spark people who frequents here could tell us very soon what the plan is for the rollout from here. Is it region by region, or more on a scattered local area basis not related to regions, etc, and what is the time scale of the full rollout. We now have our first person who is reporting here that the system says they can get the service, in the Waikato. Is that because Waikato is the first region to go live, and other regions will get it in weeks, months, or some not for a year or more, or what?

Some important things for Spark to tell us on what basis and time scale the rollout will be happening, and more specifically exactly which regions/areas can get the service right now, and for areas that can't get it yet, when will they perhaps get the service if the rollout is regional/district based.

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coffeebaron

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#1353102 28-Jul-2015 08:57

All the addresses I checked were rural Waikato with good 4G 700 coverage and all said no service. Not much threat to Vodafone RBI at this stage.

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1eStar

1604 posts

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#1353148 28-Jul-2015 09:26

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1507/S00829/regions-to-benefit-from-greater-rural-connectivity-options.htm

kaihoka

164 posts

Master Geek

#1353857 28-Jul-2015 21:46

it is a shame there RBI is restricted to 700 4G.
i have great RBI with vodafone but a lot of people near me can not get voda because they are on the edge of their signal but spark has an antenna pointed their way.
these people have farm side or very expensive mobile broad band.
they have easily a good enough signal for decent 3G RBI if spark did that.
there is an area of 700 LTE in takaka but the site says that spark RBI is unavailable in this area.
i am old enough to remember when telecom was great in the rural areas but vodafone was crap.
i have to say the voda have certainly lifted their game in rural areas but spark has dropped the ball.

firefuze

510 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1353907 28-Jul-2015 22:20

Just signed up for it today, so will let you all know how it goes...

Part of the criteria of getting the service is you cannot have a fixed connection of 5Mbps or greater available at your address (i.e ADSL). If so, you are not eligible for the product.

I have less than 5Mbps with my current Spark ADSL connection. The street down the road from me does have faster than 5Mbps fixed available and the address checker states their address is not eligible. Further down that very same road there is no fixed DSL service available at all and the address checker states they are eligible for the service! My property and the other two I just mentioned would all be using the same L700 tower. The online address checker checks for this criteria, along with checking if you are in a good/fair L700 coverage area.

grant_k

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#1353949 28-Jul-2015 23:07

firefuze: ...
Part of the criteria of getting the service is you cannot have a fixed connection of 5Mbps or greater available at your address (i.e ADSL). If so, you are not eligible for the product.
...

That's a stupid requirement! Almost as if Spark are still part of the old Telecom and don't want to compete with Chorus.

Several friends in our area whom I have helped get connected to Ultimate Broadband (and hence Vodafone RBI) all have ADSL of '5Mbps or better' in theory ... but as we all know, during peak times their service slows to a crawl, typically less than 0.5Mbps.

All of them are now happy as pigs in mud, revelling in 20+ Mbps speeds at any time of day or night. One has recently upgraded to 4G and is experiencing speeds of 70Mbps+. Yet if Spark was the only game in town, none of these people would be eligible for RBI wireless! It beggars belief really how Spark are expecting to get any traction with this product when it is so hamstrung by ridiculous constraints.

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