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)

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Max
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#3472281 21-Mar-2026 20:33

boosacnoodle:

Linux:

@KiwiSurfer new site in Kaiwaka as well up for many months no 5G panels on top and not live

Based on a sample size of one, no panels at top = no equipment in the cabinet either. If you want to be really nosey, the most recent cabinet design has the smart meter and DIN rail visible so you can check through the window to see any meter pulses or RCD’s switched on.

Just because it might be on, doesn't mean it might be locked off on all layers.

I also find it weird that this thread turned from being a performance+coverage issue to a "how many sites does Spark have not developed fully?"

There are hundreds of reasons why progress stopped. Some are very obvious and discussed, publicly such as the mass lay offs and offshoring. Some might be behind some very tightly closed doors. I won't lie, the amount of sites being discovered that are not fully built is not at number I would say is normal.

However back to the original topic at hand...

Michael has anyone at all reached out? Even ex colleagues?

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michaelmurfy

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#3472291 21-Mar-2026 21:58

MaxineN: Michael has anyone at all reached out? Even ex colleagues?

Nope! But does give me a little bit of hope they’re ripping Samsung kit out.

I’ve actually found the train on the Kapiti line is super hit and miss with data actually working compared to both the other providers.

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boosacnoodle

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#3472311 22-Mar-2026 09:30

MaxineN:

However back to the original topic at hand...

Michael has anyone at all reached out? Even ex colleagues?

That's why the conversation devolved the way it did...

Aucklandjafa

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#3473509 25-Mar-2026 12:58

Looks like both their Aro Valley and Botanic Gardens sites are now live.

boosacnoodle

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#3473599 25-Mar-2026 14:16

Love to see that upload! Isn’t it beautiful? Only time I’ve ever seen something come close on 4G / 5G NSA was on 2degrees in Woodville. Well, and the new Spark Wigram site of course.

grantius

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#3474875 29-Mar-2026 08:51

nzpilot1181:

One NZ has completed roll out of several new cell sites in and around the Pukekohe area. Spark none. Spark use to dominate this area with quite spotty coverage from One. Now its a complete turn around with One NZ being the more dominant coverage provider in and around Pukekohe and outskirts.

I see in the last week the Puni site went live, go from almost no reception in the school to great n7 coverage

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nzpilot1181

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#3474964 29-Mar-2026 12:05

Yes Puni straights up towards Glenbrook turn off is significantly improved

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boosacnoodle

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#3474981 29-Mar-2026 12:58

Does anyone know what Sparks various eNB ID ranges correspond to? Would seem that there is some variation of:

1xxx = Huawei (?) - these are the worst performing and oldest sites

6xxxxx = Samsung (?) - generally fair to good service

3xxxxx = Nokia (?) - exceptional performance

KiwiSurfer

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#3474996 29-Mar-2026 14:19

boosacnoodle:

Does anyone know what Sparks various eNB ID ranges correspond to? Would seem that there is some variation of:

1xxx = Huawei (?) - these are the worst performing and oldest sites

6xxxxx = Samsung (?) - generally fair to good service

3xxxxx = Nokia (?) - exceptional performance

Yep in a nutshell you have it right as I understand it.

Anything 4 digits is Huawei LTE and does not work with 5G. The low performance is probably in part because if you are attached to a Huawei LTE channel you can only use LTE channels.

Anything 6 digits starting with 6 is Samsung LTE (normally paired with Samsung NR). Some sites have both Huawei and Samsung, especially in Auckland. Where it's a mixture then the Samsung LTE gear is often L2100 only (leaving Huawei providing any combination of L700+1800+2300+2300+2300+2600). Not sure if the poor performance of the Samsung gear is because of Spark's strange way of configuring their sites or if the Samsung gear itself is poor quality.

Anything 6 digits starting with 3 is indeed Nokia. Generally I have only seen full Nokia sites -- no hybrids -- so the better performance could be better quality gear or simply cos Nokia sites tend to allow CA of all available LTE+NR channels whereas this wasn't always the case with the Samsung+Huawei hybrids.

For 2degrees generally 4 digits (6xxx and 7xxx) are Huawei and 5 digits (1xxxx) are Ericsson.

Vodafone is entirely Nokia as far as i know but they have introduced a new range of 5 digit eNB IDs (4xxxx) replacing sites with 4 digits eNBs xxxx (i. 41234 replacing 1234) so may be some upgrade works going on.

hikari

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#3475925 31-Mar-2026 11:18

While we're at it - may as well highlight the situation in the Southern suburbs of Welly lol. One and 2degrees are absolutely eating their lunch on capacity + coverage in this area, with the exception of the Esplanade/coastal areas

Most of Island Bay is covered by a single b28 carrier, and Spark has nothing in Houghton Bay beyond patchy coverage at the coast.

A new Spark tower was built at the Home of Compassion a few years ago, and despite having virtually every band & capable of 400+Mbps even on 4G, it's pretty much gone by the time you reach the shops in either Berhampore or Island Bay...

Spark also has no 5G in Newtown and most of Berhampore + Mt Cook. During the Newtown Festival the network tends to come to a grinding halt, and even on a good day can hardly pull 25Mbps indoors in Riddiford St shops - I'd guess brick buildings are partly at fault, but still no good given mass infill by One/2d in the same area.

alasta

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#3475931 31-Mar-2026 11:45

hikari:

While we're at it - may as well highlight the situation in the Southern suburbs of Welly lol. One and 2degrees are absolutely eating their lunch on capacity + coverage in this area, with the exception of the Esplanade/coastal areas

Most of Island Bay is covered by a single b28 carrier, and Spark has nothing in Houghton Bay beyond patchy coverage at the coast.

OneNZ also has a big fat dead spot at Houghton Bay, although I feel like it might have improved slightly since 3G was retired. When I go to the Beach House with my friend I get no coverage on OneNZ while her Spark device seems okay, although I haven't been there since the 3G switch off.

Admittedly OneNZ is great once you get away from the coast.

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hikari

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#3475943 31-Mar-2026 12:30

alasta:

hikari:

While we're at it - may as well highlight the situation in the Southern suburbs of Welly lol. One and 2degrees are absolutely eating their lunch on capacity + coverage in this area, with the exception of the Esplanade/coastal areas

Most of Island Bay is covered by a single b28 carrier, and Spark has nothing in Houghton Bay beyond patchy coverage at the coast.

OneNZ also has a big fat dead spot at Houghton Bay, although I feel like it might have improved slightly since 3G was retired. When I go to the Beach House with my friend I get no coverage on OneNZ while her Spark device seems okay, although I haven't been there since the 3G switch off.

Admittedly OneNZ is great once you get away from the coast.

One and 2d have 4G/5G towers on Houghton Bay Rd, just above the fields by the school - doesn't really cover the coast tho like you say, where the Spark/2d site all the way out at Baring Head does cover the coast really well, with the exception of Princess Bay/The Pines

2d is definitely the best network down here i'd say

allan

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#3475945 31-Mar-2026 12:38

hikari:

While we're at it - may as well highlight the situation in the Southern suburbs of Welly lol. One and 2degrees are absolutely eating their lunch on capacity + coverage in this area, with the exception of the Esplanade/coastal areas

Most of Island Bay is covered by a single b28 carrier, and Spark has nothing in Houghton Bay beyond patchy coverage at the coast.

A new Spark tower was built at the Home of Compassion a few years ago, and despite having virtually every band & capable of 400+Mbps even on 4G, it's pretty much gone by the time you reach the shops in either Berhampore or Island Bay...

Spark also has no 5G in Newtown and most of Berhampore + Mt Cook. During the Newtown Festival the network tends to come to a grinding halt, and even on a good day can hardly pull 25Mbps indoors in Riddiford St shops - I'd guess brick buildings are partly at fault, but still no good given mass infill by One/2d in the same area.

Spark also has no 5G anywhere in Karori.

Aucklandjafa

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#3475967 31-Mar-2026 13:29

Spark’s always had the best coverage in Island bay (and the south coast for that matter), but since their main site is still an omni setup with only L700, capacity is pretty limited at the island bay shops.

Technofreak

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#3476344 31-Mar-2026 21:07

I'm currently in the Central Otago area using Spark. In several spots I've had an excellent 5G signal but have been unable to access any websites. When I switch the phone mobile network settings from "Prefer 5G" to "Prefer 4G" I can access these sites no problem at all. Most frustrating.

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