Updates to Spark UFB plans ETA?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Updates to Spark UFB plans ETA?

wsnz

654 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 204

#154116 18-Oct-2014 12:27

Has anyone heard if/when Spark are planning to revise their UFB plans? Obviously there are a large number of ISP's with higher speed plans now (200Mbps+) and lower pricing for the existing 30/10 and 100/50 plans so competition is heating up.

PeterReader

6028 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 461

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1157386 18-Oct-2014 12:27

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

cbrpilot

964 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 555

Trusted

Spark NZ

#1157441 18-Oct-2014 13:15

Working on it. Nothing happens overnight though.

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

Jase2985

13730 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6202

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1157445 18-Oct-2014 13:18

cbrpilot: Working on it. Nothing happens overnight though.

just a little odd that others came out pretty much straight away with something and its now about 3 months later and spark still have nothing

Also while on this when is VOIP coming?

cbrpilot

964 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 555

Trusted

Spark NZ

#1157520 18-Oct-2014 16:17

That's a fair question. Within Spark there is a massive amount of work under way in the Broadband space at any point in time, and sometimes large pieces of work in other parts of our broadband solution mean that sometimes other pieces of work cannot happen as quickly as we'd like. It is something we're frustrated about too. Believe me, we are working on it though.

VOIP is bubbling along. I'm not directly involved in that piece of work, but I think the answer to that is soon. There is not going to be any farfare around its launch though as it's not a new service, only a different delivery mechanism for an existing service.

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.