Advice needed: Cheaper and better broadband companies

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shazbot

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#5296 17-Oct-2005 10:24

Hi everyone,

I'm moving into a new flat next week and plan to get broadband internet for the first time in NZ. I previously lived in Canada and had broadband, but never got it here as I was disappointed by the relative cost and performance. Now, some companies offer services that I feel willing to pay for.

In particular, Orcon and WxC seem to offer the most reasonable deals around. My problem is that they require a Telecom landline, as far as I know. I would much rather pay for my landline through Telstra, as it's $10 cheaper. Can anyone recommend a good broadband company that will work through the Telstra network?

Telstra internet is a huge ripoff, and I've also considered getting Woosh and skipping out on the landline, but they do not currently have VoIP in Wellington,and, from what I've heard, using Skype on Woosh for landline calling is not the most reliable thing in the world...

Any advice would be appreciated.

freitasm

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#21611 17-Oct-2005 10:50

TelstraClear will offer you a cable modem connection through Paradise.net.nz. There are lots of different options - from 256kbps to 10mbps. You can have bundles directly from TelstraClear including data, phone and TV. They have all prices on their site.

shazbot

18 posts

Geek

#21612 17-Oct-2005 10:55

Thanks, freitasm.

Even with the discount for having a Telstra line, their cable internet is quite pricy. The mainstream packages include only a 1GB or 5GB montly limit with very costly premiums for going above those limits.

freitasm

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#21613 17-Oct-2005 11:01

Hmmm. I guess I never thought of Telecom as an alternative, so I was prepared to go for the prices. When I first subscribed to TelstraClear, six years ago, ADSL was much more expensive, with very low data allowance.

Things changed since then, but I decided to stick with TelstraClear. A few months ago we moved into the 10Mbps plan. We have a static IP address here (changed once only when moved from 256kbps to 10Mbps) and the service is very stable (when compared to reports of micro outages on ADSL lines).

And by the way, before anyone asks, Geekzone is not hosted on this connection.

jpwise

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#21614 17-Oct-2005 11:31

Internet in NZ definitely isn't cheap when comparied to the states etc.. Cable is only available in areas of Wellington & Christchurch (think maybe part of Auckland too?), and DSL pretty much everywhere else.

If you want a decent speed then you're looking at comparitively low monthly data caps. I'm on a 2mbit/5gig plan for cable at home and it's generally working out. 2mbit is fast enough for most usage, although it can be a bit tricky to stick inside 5gig depending on how heavily you use it through the month.

On the upside, the cable (and I believe some of the dsl plans too) have different charging rates for international vs local traffic. On cable national traffic is charged at 1/10th (AFAIK) international rate. So if you have a 5 gig plan, you could technically download up to 50gigs of local traffic.

The definition of local/international is a bit ambiguous at the moment, primarily due to the changes in peering arrangements between the ISP's in NZ (including TelstraClear & XTRA), but essentially anything that goes over an international link to reach the server is charged at international rates. In some cases the server may be housed in NZ, but to reach it the link has to go overseas & back again. But that's only some sites, and isn't really an issue unless you're planning on moving alot of data to/from it.

Jp.

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Andy_Walker

89 posts

Master Geek

#21822 20-Oct-2005 21:51

shazbot: Hi everyone,

Telstra internet is a huge ripoff, and I've also considered getting Woosh and skipping out on the landline, but they do not currently have VoIP in Wellington,and, from what I've heard, using Skype on Woosh for landline calling is not the most reliable thing in the world...

Don't rule out Woosh. Their phone service will be avaliable in Wellington. Also Woosh speeds are set to increase to 512kbps as of 1 November.

I am trialing i-Talk over my Woosh connection at the moment. The call quality is much lower than the Woosh Voip line but some people have reported accecptable results using i-Talk with Woosh.

Skype to Skype over Woosh is fine but as soon as you connect to a telephone network the quality is no good.