Continuation of CGNAT?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Continuation of CGNAT?

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richms

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#2054597 11-Jul-2018 21:14

matisyahu:

It'll be interesting to see whether eventually BigPipe and Skinny Direct get all rolled back into Skinny so then there is a single sub brand given how much overlap there is between the services.

I suspect they will do what asb did with bankdirect and just ignore it and make it noncompeditive with the main brands offerings till everyone leaves on their own, and shut it finally when there are a few stragglers left.

Richard rich.ms

matisyahu

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#2055306 12-Jul-2018 19:54

richms:

matisyahu:

It'll be interesting to see whether eventually BigPipe and Skinny Direct get all rolled back into Skinny so then there is a single sub brand given how much overlap there is between the services.

I suspect they will do what asb did with bankdirect and just ignore it and make it noncompeditive with the main brands offerings till everyone leaves on their own, and shut it finally when there are a few stragglers left.

Sounds about right - I've put a review on the Skinny app for iOS on the App Store - still not iPhone X compliant in terms of being able to deal with the notch but it works ok in terms of it doing what it needs to do.

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

allio

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#2082255 1-Sep-2018 11:08

Finally got around to switching over. Some initial observations in case anybody else was wondering about switching.

Have a public IP (thank god), my existing Vigor 130 + AdvancedTomato setup worked seamlessly without making any changes, and performance is indeed 100% the same.

Only annoyance I've noticed so far is how much the dynamic public IP changes. I've been connected for less than 24 hours and I'm on my 4th IP address. I use a few sites that need reauthentication when your IP changes and this is a small headache I haven't had to deal with in a while... I'm used to a static on Bigpipe, and when I was on Slingshot I remember my dynamic IP not changing for months at a time.

Not a big deal, solved with some scripting and well worth the $15/mo saving versus Bigpipe, but something I thought others might want to know about.

hio77

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#2082257 1-Sep-2018 11:10

allio:
Finally got around to switching over. Some initial observations in case anybody else was wondering about switching.

Have a public IP (thank god), my existing Vigor 120 + AdvancedTomato setup worked seamlessly without making any changes, and performance is indeed 100% the same.

Only annoyance I've noticed so far is how much the dynamic public IP changes. I've been connected for less than 24 hours and I'm on my 4th IP address. I use a few sites that need reauthentication when your IP changes and this is a small headache I haven't had to deal with in a while... I'm used to a static on Bigpipe, and when I was on Slingshot I remember my dynamic IP not changing for months at a time.

Not a big deal, solved with some scripting and well worth the $15/mo saving versus Bigpipe, but something I thought others might want to know about.

Check in with the helpdesk. Sounds like your line isn't configured correctly so your getting a new ip ever 4 hours. They will know it as a "anon profile"

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allio

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#2082259 1-Sep-2018 11:14

hio77:

Check in with the helpdesk. Sounds like your line isn't configured correctly so your getting a new ip ever 4 hours. They will know it as a "anon profile"

Oh beaut, thanks Hio. I'll do that.

RmACK

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#2082269 1-Sep-2018 11:42

My Bigpipe->Skinny change went through yesterday, with only a minor hiccup.

I had a confirmed date for Skinny to be connected on Thursday and subsequently asked Bigpipe to disconnect on Friday, but it seems they forgot to actually do the changeover (I think being internal they skipped notifying Enable and just did it internally within Spark). I called Skinny and explained that my internet was working, but my (static Bigpipe) IP hadn't changed (despite trying power cycling). They were quick to answer the phone, listened to me describe the issue, understood it, no BS, scripts etc. The guy could only look at my Skinny account, but could already see the unfinished change. He placed me on hold while he spoke to his provisioning team who could see both the Bigpipe & Skinny accounts and they were able to complete the change immediately while I was on hold! While the call shouldn't have been needed, the response to my issue was fantastic.

After I got off the phone, I immediately tried to VPN home on my phone (from work) and sure enough, I was already online with a new Spark IP address. Very chuffed that my dynamic dns worked first time. I'm still using the same Edgerouter Lite 3, no config changes were needed, no reboots, just seemless. (Like Bigpipe, Skinny don't do VLAN tagging, just straight PPPOE and same MTU).

Incidentally, for others who may be contemplating - to avoid needing a static IP to remote home, I picked up a new domain name for this purpose for about $20NZ for 10 years, including domain privacy and dynamic DNS. Far better value than paying an extra $31/month for a static IP. My Edgerouter updates the DDNS any time the PPPOE IP changes.

The speeds (real world and speedtest) as far as I can tell are identical (as they theoretically should be).

Speedtest on Skinny

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hio77

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#2082311 1-Sep-2018 11:50

Speeds will be identical its the same network :)

Should also match spark speeds. There is near no differance between those at the core too now.

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allio

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#2082359 1-Sep-2018 13:41

hio - you were right, just checked my router logs and the PPP session is dropping every four hours exactly. Have let Skinny know.

hio77

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#2082403 1-Sep-2018 14:18

allio:
hio - you were right, just checked my router logs and the PPP session is dropping every four hours exactly. Have let Skinny know.

Its almost like i know the network haha.

Its actually rare to have it on the spark side since a few systems keep an eye on it and it isn't so difficult to map backwards with chorus's newer confirgurations.

I'm not fully sure if the same works on the skinny/bp side though.

All in all a rep should be able to identify it quite easily (especially if you say 4 hours) and correct it themselves or get back office to fix.

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tdgeek

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#2082507 1-Sep-2018 17:38

DarkShadow: You have to buy the required modem. Whether you use it or not is up to you. If you don't use it then you won't get customer service.

You will get info on the third party settings. Now if you used a Monrovian XE345 modem, no, you want get service on setting it up, but you will get the third party settings so you can do it.

Get your facts correct before you whine or exaggerate.

RunningMan

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#2082523 1-Sep-2018 18:25

tdgeek:

DarkShadow: You have to buy the required modem. Whether you use it or not is up to you. If you don't use it then you won't get customer service.

You will get info on the third party settings. Now if you used a Monrovian XE345 modem, no, you want get service on setting it up, but you will get the third party settings so you can do it.

Get your facts correct before you whine or exaggerate.

@DarkShadow seems to have the correct facts - can't see any whining or exaggerating either.

Do I need the Skinny Unlimited modem?

Yes you do. If you sign up on our 12 month contract option you’ll get the awesome Skinny Unlimited HG659 modem for free, otherwise you’ll need to purchase it for $99. This modem has been configured to work right out of the box with a super simple setup to make things easy as. You are not able to bring your own modem to connect with Skinny Unlimited.

My emphasis. Source (in FAQs, can't link)

SkinnyBB:

mentalinc:

There is nothing forcing you to use the skinny modem (not actually tested but haven't seen it successfully done yet, you just have to pay for it...

This is technically correct - you can plug in a different modem if you want - but we're unable to offer support for any Skinny Unlimited connection that isn't using a Skinny-provided HG659. The idea is to make fixed-line easier support for our customers than it might otherwise be, and that's easiest to do if everyone's bought the same CPE.

Again, my emphasis. Source.

It seems @DarkShadow is correct - you do have to buy the modem, you don't have to use it, if you choose not to use it then don't expect support from Skinny.

EDIT: Formatting

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RmACK

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#2082533 1-Sep-2018 19:08

I too wasn't over the moon at having to buy their router, but decided I was prepared to sign up for a year to make it free since I'm unlikely to leave in that time. I also factored in to my decision to switch to Skinny that should I need tech support, I will first swap in the supplied router to see if the problem persists before I call them.

I'd rather these hurdles weren't there, but I appreciate why that's their policy. For me, these annoyances were worth it to save $31/month, whereas CGNAT had always been a complete dealbreaker. My gigabit connection is now under $100 while still being on Spark's fast & reliable network so I am very happy indeed.

tdgeek

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#2082542 1-Sep-2018 19:22

RunningMan:

tdgeek:

DarkShadow: You have to buy the required modem. Whether you use it or not is up to you. If you don't use it then you won't get customer service.

You will get info on the third party settings. Now if you used a Monrovian XE345 modem, no, you want get service on setting it up, but you will get the third party settings so you can do it.

Get your facts correct before you whine or exaggerate.

@DarkShadow seems to have the correct facts - can't see any whining or exaggerating either.

Do I need the Skinny Unlimited modem?

Yes you do. If you sign up on our 12 month contract option you’ll get the awesome Skinny Unlimited HG659 modem for free, otherwise you’ll need to purchase it for $99. This modem has been configured to work right out of the box with a super simple setup to make things easy as. You are not able to bring your own modem to connect with Skinny Unlimited.

My emphasis. Source (in FAQs, can't link)

SkinnyBB:

mentalinc:

There is nothing forcing you to use the skinny modem (not actually tested but haven't seen it successfully done yet, you just have to pay for it...

This is technically correct - you can plug in a different modem if you want - but we're unable to offer support for any Skinny Unlimited connection that isn't using a Skinny-provided HG659. The idea is to make fixed-line easier support for our customers than it might otherwise be, and that's easiest to do if everyone's bought the same CPE.

Again, my emphasis. Source.

It seems @DarkShadow is correct - you do have to buy the modem, you don't have to use it, if you choose not to use it then don't expect support from Skinny.

EDIT: Formatting

Excuse long post Mods.

You say you have to use the modem, yet others are using other modems, so which is it? I admit I do now see that they say you have to use it, so why does darkshadow say you dont have to use it??

Spark doesn't offer support for third party modems either, but as they provide full third party settings, that is support. So it cannot be said that there is no support. Depends what support is? Helping you resolve your issues, no, off course not. Helping you setup your third party modem, yes

tdgeek

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#2082543 1-Sep-2018 19:24

RmACK:

I too wasn't over the moon at having to buy their router, but decided I was prepared to sign up for a year to make it free since I'm unlikely to leave in that time. I also factored in to my decision to switch to Skinny that should I need tech support, I will first swap in the supplied router to see if the problem persists before I call them.

I'd rather these hurdles weren't there, but I appreciate why that's their policy. For me, these annoyances were worth it to save $31/month, whereas CGNAT had always been a complete dealbreaker. My gigabit connection is now under $100 while still being on Spark's fast & reliable network so I am very happy indeed.

The hurdle is to minimise support issues, as the supplied modem is pre configured. Less support issues = less support cost = less price

DarkShadow

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#2083594 4-Sep-2018 10:10

tdgeek:

Excuse long post Mods.

You say you have to use the modem, yet others are using other modems, so which is it? I admit I do now see that they say you have to use it, so why does darkshadow say you dont have to use it??

Spark doesn't offer support for third party modems either, but as they provide full third party settings, that is support. So it cannot be said that there is no support. Depends what support is? Helping you resolve your issues, no, off course not. Helping you setup your third party modem, yes

The difference is that Skinny doesn't provide settings for third party modems. If you can figure it out yourself (ie look them up on the Bigpipe site), then that's cool, there's no technical means stopping you from doing so. However, if you can't figure it out and you call them up, the first instruction from the agent will be to plug the supported modem back in.

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