Spark - Price Increase

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9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3092984 21-Jun-2023 12:40

quickymart:

I haven't heard anything about this price increase directly from Spark (yet), but I imagine it's only a matter of time.

Got an email yesterday about it.

Regards,

Old3eyes

Aucklandjafa

398 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3092991 21-Jun-2023 12:53

Just got my email too. Coincidentally, unlimited 4G wireless is now available at my address. Same with Skinny (except you get 4 months free). Are Spark trying to get more people into their fixed wireless option?

wsnz

649 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3092995 21-Jun-2023 12:58

Aucklandjafa: Just got my email too. Coincidentally, unlimited 4G wireless is now available at my address. Same with Skinny (except you get 4 months free). Are Spark trying to get more people into their fixed wireless option?

It certainly looks that way. They can maintain higher margins with the cellular based products.

wsnz

649 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3093004 21-Jun-2023 13:10

josephhinvest:
In addition - If I commit to a 12 month term with Skinny, there's not fees and I get one month free. So it works out to $73.34 per month, or a total of $99.82 per month over the 12 months for Skinny fibre and Netflix.

Just make sure you factor in the same $7 price rise into the Skinny offering, but assume it occurs one month later than Spark. Skinny's 1st month free and no Netflix charge will certainly make a difference over the 12 month term.

Given you need a static public IP you could look at Quic. 2DM (whose price increase last year was slightly less than Skinny or Spark) would require a $10/month public static IP address add-on, but given how many mobiles you have you could achieve some savings using a group plan. I'd advise going to a store rather than calling them though.

It's worthwhile looking around but shifting to Skinny would probably be the quickest and simplest option for you.

josephhinvest:
Second edit - I'm currently using my Unifi USG-Pro-4 router connected to my ONT with my Spark connection - will this continue to work if I change to Skinny? Just update the username/password from user@spark.co.nz etc?

Third edit (sorry) it looks like Skinny settings are VLAN tagging off as opposed to On for Spark. Does this make any practical difference to me? (I have externally accessible security cameras, a Plex server, Remote Desktop etc) Thanks.

Disable VLAN tagging and (although not strictly required) update the credentials..

EDIT: It's important to note that Skinny doesn't offer a public static IP address option, just a sticky public dynamic IP address so you'd need to use a service like dyndns.

josephhinvest

1543 posts

Uber Geek

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#3093017 21-Jun-2023 13:32

@wsnz

Thanks for your help! I’ve spoken to Skinny and they have confirmed that if I signed for a 12 month term, the price will be fixed at $80. So that’s pretty sweet.
I don’t *need* a static IP, I’d just prefer one, but not enough to pay monthly! DDNS is working well enough for me.
And thanks for the VLAN tagging advice, that’s what I wanted to hear.

Cheers,
Joseph

loceff13

1065 posts

Uber Geek

#3093088 21-Jun-2023 16:18

allio:

josephhinvest: So any ISP with unlimited gigabit fibre for less than $78.50 will be saving me money.

Please let me know when you find one of those.

check broadbandcompare or glimp

sudara

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3093128 21-Jun-2023 17:29

2degrees is running a promotion with broadband compare for fibre 300/100 $62 (first 12 months). I am just waiting to hear back from them. https://www.broadbandcompare.co.nz/

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.

farcus

1558 posts

Uber Geek

#3093249 21-Jun-2023 20:42

wsnz:

Yes, I think it's likely. Last year Skinny followed through with the same increase as Spark but around a month later.

Have had Skinny fibre since 2017 and have never had a price increase

mattwnz

20182 posts

Uber Geek

#3093280 22-Jun-2023 01:46

farcus:

wsnz:

Yes, I think it's likely. Last year Skinny followed through with the same increase as Spark but around a month later.

Have had Skinny fibre since 2017 and have never had a price increase

I think they dropped the price from 78 to 75 quite recently. But if they increase the price I will be looking around for another deal. The probelm is that they treat new customers better than existing customers with the deals they offer.

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3093320 22-Jun-2023 09:02

farcus:

wsnz:

Yes, I think it's likely. Last year Skinny followed through with the same increase as Spark but around a month later.

Have had Skinny fibre since 2017 and have never had a price increase

My $16 phone plan went up to $17 last month..

Regards,

Old3eyes

boosacnoodle

964 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3093331 22-Jun-2023 09:16

Interstingly I received an email from Spark asking to complete multichoice survey on reason(s) why I left.

rugrat

3108 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3093564 22-Jun-2023 16:19

old3eyes:

farcus:

Have had Skinny fibre since 2017 and have never had a price increase

My $16 phone plan went up to $17 last month..

I think farcus was referring to fibre not mobile. Be interesting to see what others do with prices.

farcus

1558 posts

Uber Geek

#3093592 22-Jun-2023 17:33

rugrat:

old3eyes:

My $16 phone plan went up to $17 last month..

I think farcus was referring to fibre not mobile. Be interesting to see what others do with prices.

Yes, correct. Been paying $68 a month since 2017 - initially for a 100/20 connection which of course is now 300/100.
I've never been unhappy with the service so would in fact be comfortable if they did want to increase the price.
Also have mobile and was ok with the increase to $17. Still good value for money.

nztim

3829 posts

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TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#3093725 22-Jun-2023 23:03

NOWNZ is good customer support and Kent whom I have dealt with for complex issues is fantastic

If are not a gamer or big downloader however then look for an RSP that offers home fibre starter, they must sell for $60 gst inc and 50mbps is enough for 2x 4k streams

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

Aucklandjafa

398 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3094879 26-Jun-2023 06:56

Looking at jumping on the (Skinny) FWB bandwagon since it’s now available. Dumb question: can you pair their 4g modem with the Smart Modem (3rd Gen) to make a mesh network?

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