Ability to change plan for 1 month?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Ability to change plan for 1 month?

Aaroona

3196 posts

Uber Geek

#208658 21-Feb-2017 16:39

I'm wanting to know if anyone has done this and if they've had any problem in doing so?

Currently I am on the Fibre 100/20 plan and want to give Gigabit fibre a bit of a whirl, but only for 1 month, then to drop back down to my 100/20 plan. (PS: Really wish there was a 100/50 or 100/100 plan..)

Flickky

303 posts

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#1723909 21-Feb-2017 17:01

Given Bigpipe has no contracts I don't see why not, they have no penalty or cost associated with changing plans.

z2k

320 posts

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#1724002 21-Feb-2017 19:02

They also don't do partial billing so make sure you put in your request to change back before the end of the bill cycle.

tdgeek

29749 posts

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#1724105 21-Feb-2017 20:42

A speed change is an LFC change. So, while it won't happen overnight, it will happen. (TM) Rachel Hunter

Aaroona

3196 posts

Uber Geek

#1728338 1-Mar-2017 14:09

Just to update the thread, here's some info from BigPipe directly.

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for sending us an email and letting us know that you'd like to try another plan.

Can you please let us know what plan you'd like to try? What we'll do then is request for a change of plan. If you would like to change your plan again after a month, we'll request another change of plan for you.

Kindly note that if you will change your plan, we don't do any complicated pro-rating calculations if you change your plan. We just work around your 'Bill Date'.

If you decide you want more Bigpipe goodness we'll increase your speed as soon as we can, and you won't be charged the higher amount until your next 'Bill Date'. Sweet.

If you decide you want less Bigpipe goodness we won't decrease your speed until your next 'Bill Date' - when you're charged the lower amount. Because you already prepaid for the higher plan, you get to enjoy that until the next billing cycle.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed.

Cheers,

The Bigpipe People

So I think I'll be trying Gigabit out for a month and see how it goes! I don't think my router will handle it, but that's another matter.

Aaroona

3196 posts

Uber Geek

#1728346 1-Mar-2017 14:43

tdgeek:

A speed change is an LFC change. So, while it won't happen overnight, it will happen. (TM) Rachel Hunter

How long does it normally take? Any idea?

DarkShadow

1647 posts

Uber Geek

#1728359 1-Mar-2017 15:38

Aaroona:

tdgeek:

A speed change is an LFC change. So, while it won't happen overnight, it will happen. (TM) Rachel Hunter

How long does it normally take? Any idea?

He's joking (if you haven't figured that out yet). If you are on Chorus it usually happens on the next business day, sometimes 2 business days. If you're on one of the LFCs it may take a few days.

Aaroona

3196 posts

Uber Geek

#1728365 1-Mar-2017 15:52

DarkShadow:
He's joking (if you haven't figured that out yet).

Had no idea- had to google who Rachel Hunter was, then what it was in reference to!

DarkShadow:
If you are on Chorus it usually happens on the next business day, sometimes 2 business days. If you're on one of the LFCs it may take a few days.

Good to know- I believe I am on Chorus (Auckland CBD). Thanks for the info.

Have sent off my request to BigPipe, so will wait patiently!
Sidenote: it would awesome if they (Bigpipe) gave you the ability to change plans online through their portal.

Quic Broadband

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Aaroona

3196 posts

Uber Geek

#1728399 1-Mar-2017 17:21

One more update....

Hi Aaron

Just to confirm your fibre will be upgraded to our Elite plan on Thursday, 2nd March, 2017 at 6am. You don't need to reconfigure your router.
Have a read of our blog post on things you need to know about our Elite plan: http://pages.bigpipe.co.nz/good-elite-news-everyone/

Cheers

The Bigpipe People

Pretty darn quick!
Looking forward to putting my router and connection to the test.

tdgeek

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#1728510 1-Mar-2017 20:32

Aaroona:

tdgeek:

A speed change is an LFC change. So, while it won't happen overnight, it will happen. (TM) Rachel Hunter

How long does it normally take? Any idea?

I think 5 days is the SLA

tdgeek

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#1728512 1-Mar-2017 20:34

DarkShadow:

Aaroona:

tdgeek:

A speed change is an LFC change. So, while it won't happen overnight, it will happen. (TM) Rachel Hunter

How long does it normally take? Any idea?

He's joking (if you haven't figured that out yet). If you are on Chorus it usually happens on the next business day, sometimes 2 business days. If you're on one of the LFCs it may take a few days.

Im not joking. Chorus is an LFC.

RSP's who change your plan to whatever service you are on that they CONTROL is easy and quick. When the plan change is not the RSP plan but the LFC plan, such as a speed change it takes longer

deadlyllama

1264 posts

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#1728513 1-Mar-2017 20:35

Aaroona:
(PS: Really wish there was a 100/50 or 100/100 plan..)

I'm not in a Bigpipe area but also find this annoying. I just want 100/100, I don't want to pay for 200/200 or gigabit but these are increasingly the only options if you want more than 20Mbps upstream. Sigh.

DarkShadow

1647 posts

Uber Geek

#1728538 1-Mar-2017 21:56

tdgeek:

DarkShadow:

Aaroona:

tdgeek:

A speed change is an LFC change. So, while it won't happen overnight, it will happen. (TM) Rachel Hunter

How long does it normally take? Any idea?

He's joking (if you haven't figured that out yet). If you are on Chorus it usually happens on the next business day, sometimes 2 business days. If you're on one of the LFCs it may take a few days.

Im not joking. Chorus is an LFC.

RSP's who change your plan to whatever service you are on that they CONTROL is easy and quick. When the plan change is not the RSP plan but the LFC plan, such as a speed change it takes longer

From CFH: "Chorus is not a Local Fibre Company"

Chorus has been able to do next business day speed changes for a few years now.

Flickky

303 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#1728638 2-Mar-2017 08:14

deadlyllama:
Aaroona:

(PS: Really wish there was a 100/50 or 100/100 plan..)

I'm not in a Bigpipe area but also find this annoying. I just want 100/100, I don't want to pay for 200/200 or gigabit but these are increasingly the only options if you want more than 20Mbps upstream. Sigh.

I'd really like to know why you (and some others who regularly frequent this forum) feel like 20Mbps isn't enough upstream. Out of curiosity, do you feel comfortable sharing the reasons why?

I used to stream on Twitch using VDSL and didn't have any issues with 10Mbps upstream, or even when we had plex that we used remotely.

deadlyllama

1264 posts

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#1728757 2-Mar-2017 10:15

Flickky:

deadlyllama:
Aaroona:

(PS: Really wish there was a 100/50 or 100/100 plan..)

I'm not in a Bigpipe area but also find this annoying. I just want 100/100, I don't want to pay for 200/200 or gigabit but these are increasingly the only options if you want more than 20Mbps upstream. Sigh.

I'd really like to know why you (and some others who regularly frequent this forum) feel like 20Mbps isn't enough upstream. Out of curiosity, do you feel comfortable sharing the reasons why?

I used to stream on Twitch using VDSL and didn't have any issues with 10Mbps upstream, or even when we had plex that we used remotely.

Online backups is one. Deploying code to servers is another, particularly if you're shipping up a big docker image / etc.

Yes, I can do this at 20Mbps but I'd like to spend less time waiting. It's not as if NZ ISPs have terribly congested outbound pipes.

Using unlimitedinternet.co.nz's pricing as a proxy, on the basis that the difference in their plan prices is mostly going to be the wholesale UFB cost:
Bigpipe 100/20: $79/mo 200/20: $99/mo

Unlimitedinternet 100/20: $70/mo 100/100: $79/mo 200/20 $89/mo

That suggests that other ISPs could offer 100/100 for $10/mo more than 100/20. But they don't. Instead they push you onto 200/200 or 1000/500 at a much higher price point.

I guess this makes sense from a sales and ARPU point of view. It's easier to sell "the next plan up" if it has a higher downstream speed, and they probably have higher margins on $130/mo "max speed" than $90/mo 100/100.

But it's a PITA for geeks who want to run servers at home or backup a decade of accumulated random files.

tdgeek

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#1728766 2-Mar-2017 10:22

deadlyllama:

Online backups is one. Deploying code to servers is another, particularly if you're shipping up a big docker image / etc.

Yes, I can do this at 20Mbps but I'd like to spend less time waiting. It's not as if NZ ISPs have terribly congested outbound pipes.

Using unlimitedinternet.co.nz's pricing as a proxy, on the basis that the difference in their plan prices is mostly going to be the wholesale UFB cost:
Bigpipe 100/20: $79/mo 200/20: $99/mo

Unlimitedinternet 100/20: $70/mo 100/100: $79/mo 200/20 $89/mo

That suggests that other ISPs could offer 100/100 for $10/mo more than 100/20. But they don't. Instead they push you onto 200/200 or 1000/500 at a much higher price point.

I guess this makes sense from a sales and ARPU point of view. It's easier to sell "the next plan up" if it has a higher downstream speed, and they probably have higher margins on $130/mo "max speed" than $90/mo 100/100.

But it's a PITA for geeks who want to run servers at home or backup a decade of accumulated random files.

You have answered your own question