[WXC/VFX] Why is Xnet pricier than Telecom?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [WXC/VFX] Why is Xnet pricier than Telecom?

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#158550 21-Aug-2008 09:11

GDM: I'm wondering why the Naked DSL is $70.
River is $34 +- and my telecom line rental is $35 +-
So together that works out the same as Naked DSL or Telecom ADSL - where's my advantage? I lose a good POTS and get a crappy VOIP for the same money.

As a reasonably low download user I could get Telco ASDL at $30+- and 1.50 per gig, which is cheaper than River (for less than 4 gig approx)

I thought that Telecom had to allow access by third parties for only $20 per month??
So why don't XNET charge that plus the standard DSL charge? eg. $55+-. Now that's a competitive price.

I asked this question of XNET help desk, but of course got no response.
Perhaps I should go back to Telecom, apart from the hype there seems to be no advantage to having xnet for the average user.

The OP mentioned about seemingly no advantage to having Xnet (NDSL) for the average user. Well, perhaps not that "obvious", but with NDSL (Xnet Fusion) you're getting FS/FS for $70 per month. River ($34) + Telecom line rental of $35 = approx $69 per month. However, do note River only gives you 128k Up and FS down, and with upload cappbed at 128k your download speed will also be limited at about 4 Mbps, regardless of how fast your modem can sync up at. This will not be the case with a FS/FS connection. As a comparison, Xnet do have a FS/FS connection (Flood) @ $49 /month. So to compare and make it equal to their NDSL offering, you'll be paying $49 (Flood) + $35 (TNZ line rental) = $84 / month. Compared to NDSL (Fusion) of $70 per month you'll actually save approx $14-$15 per month going with Xnet nDSL.

It is this same base calculation/thought that swayed my decision to go with Xnet/NDSL. There are obviously other benefits of NDSL, but this alone does make it quite attractive for me.

As said, perhaps having a FS/FS connection (NDSL) is not obvious/advantages to the "average" user, but from my personal experience, once you've tried FS/FS you'll not want to go back to FS down/128k up again. :)

Cheers!

GDM

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#158557 21-Aug-2008 09:34

sbiddle - obviously you don't listen/read and I think you must work for XNET - although saying I should leave would turn a salesmen's hair white!
The figures you quote are incorrect - you've quoted rural access fees.
Most responses have avoided the issues I've raised with regard to VOIP for home users (esp. if your DSL is weak).

Of course VOIP is going to grab business and home market share. Who said otherwise? But I would say more business than home for quite a while yet.

Thanks to paradoxsm for being rational!

I figure XNET is getting back around $30 plus downloads for their Naked DSL. Maybe that's where the market stands right now, but there are cheaper alternatives (I've been comparing to Telecom, one of the worst for pricing!)

If XNET could get their pricing down to $60 or less I reckon they would become one of the major players in short order - especially with their pretty good overall package. Selling VOIP to most home users is going to be the trick - I wouldn't want my old mum using it!

testing123

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#158561 21-Aug-2008 09:53

about VoIP robust-ness...

we have 2 Voip lines at my house, and a few months back my flatmate chewed through all our monthly data: our speed was limited to 64k (i think, basicly dialup, anyway) for about a week.

regardless of the data flowing at dialup speeds we were still able to use both VoIP with no problems (internet, however, was unbearable!). i would immagine the only real issue in this matter is frequency of DSL disconnections, as QoS takes care of the rest. If your line has some kind of fault on it (or possibly house wiring) where this is an issue then obviously something physical needs to be addressed.

in much the same way: if (like at my mums house) i can hear faint voices from my neighbours phone conversations on a TCNZ line i'd seriously think about having a few things checked before making the leap to Voip/NDSL.

....kinda the same logic as knowing not to drive AKL to WGTN if you know your wheels are loose and you don't have the tool to tighten them before setting off.

Dratsab

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#158573 21-Aug-2008 10:18

GDM:
- I might have known there would be flames from the XNET fan base.
- Perhaps the next person who responds can actually answer the question rather than demonstrating their inability to comprehend the written word.
- sbiddle - obviously you don't listen/read and I think you must work for XNET

I'd say your skating on thin ice here. If you don't agree with what people say, that's fine - feel free to express your disagreement but don't go down the road of insulting or attacking people because of your disagreement. Especially if they're moderators...

Have a good read of the forum usage guidelines, it's all spelt out there. Continually having a crack at people is a good way to get banned.

Back on topic: From the research I did into broadband pricing (before settling on Xnet Fusion) I found if I kept my Telecom landline and added fs/fs broadband (from any other provider) I would be paying about $89/month. With Fusion I pay $70 per month + whatever data usage I incur up to my 10gb cap. To-date (since February '08) I have not had a bill over $82, with most being around $76-$80.

I am not a heavy user and would fit into your idea of a "normal user" and find that Xnet delivers exactly what I need. I have also never had any problems with VoIP, either in terms of quality or packet loss, even when downloading big files such as service packs and patches. It's a shame that not everyone's experience of a company will always be a good one, but that's life. If you don't like what you're getting, you can always move elsewhere.

And no: I am not in any way associated or affiliated with WorldxChange (apart from being a satisfied customer).

nate

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#158574 21-Aug-2008 10:21

GDM: sbiddle - obviously you don't listen/read and I think you must work for XNET - although saying I should leave would turn a salesmen's hair white!

Instead of criticising sbiddle, how about being thankful that he's trying to offer you helpful advice?

JoeBloggs

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Ultimate Geek

#158578 21-Aug-2008 10:32

testing123: er, almost :P

first: you can have stream, river or flood (the speed options for ADSL, or just Fusion urban/rural for NDSL)

then: for whatever you chose in step 1 you can choose pay per meg or torent (the pricing/billing options)

if that makes sense... so technically is IS available on all current plans.

Haha, alright testing, you win the game of semantics. Seriously though, the topic is NDSL and the plans contained therein, thus the plans available under NDSL (Managed, Unlimited, and Torrent) are what we are discussing. Bringing up Stream, River and Flood which is only available in conjunction with a POTS landline seems rather misleading, more so to simply win an argument over whom was more correct. Don't you think?

testing123

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Master Geek

#158584 21-Aug-2008 10:41

JoeBloggs:
testing123: er, almost :P

first: you can have stream, river or flood (the speed options for ADSL, or just Fusion urban/rural for NDSL)

then: for whatever you chose in step 1 you can choose pay per meg or torent (the pricing/billing options)

if that makes sense... so technically is IS available on all current plans.

Haha, alright testing, you win the game of semantics. Seriously though, the topic is NDSL and the plans contained therein, thus the plans available under NDSL (Managed, Unlimited, and Torrent) are what we are discussing. Bringing up Stream, River and Flood which is only available in conjunction with a POTS landline seems rather misleading, more so to simply win an argument over whom was more correct. Don't you think?

whole heartedly, i should have stuck just to NDSL. Though the illustration still stands if i remove the stream/river/flood bit... fusion's equivalent "plans" are urban and rural from my understanding

anywho, i'm going to crawl back under my rock now, i've said enough already

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sbiddle

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#158588 21-Aug-2008 10:51

GDM: sbiddle - obviously you don't listen/read and I think you must work for XNET - although saying I should leave would turn a salesmen's hair white!
The figures you quote are incorrect - you've quoted rural access fees.

I certainly do not work for WorldxChange (or infact any other ISP or telco)

I quoted you both urban and rural access prices, The price for a naked bitstream DSL line for an urban user varies from $47.28 to $67.23 and from $64.07 to $84.62 for a rural user all excl GST. The rates an ISP pays Telecom will vary depending on the CIR that is chosen by the ISP.

phindmarsh

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#158600 21-Aug-2008 11:22

I dont follow the gripe you post here, if you dont like the pricing then move telco's. xNet are one of the few ISP's that dont tie you to a contract. That being said, I am on Fusion and I find it to be incredible value, I have no issues with quality of service, voip quailty etc etc.

Omyck

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#158660 21-Aug-2008 13:39

Before I moved to xnet/vfx I did my research on all the telco's and there plans for phoneline plus broadband services and found that with xnet/vfx I am saving at least $20 a month by not having to pay telecom for line rental. This soon adds up.

Xnet is a fantastic isp one that actually gives people what they want. People often cry about being tied into contracts, having to join up with tolls just to get cheaper broadband and no real plans for people who download large amounts a data. Xnet offers solutions for all these problems and still at a great rate. Who knows how they make a profit. But it will take a really good (cheap) deal to pull me away to another ISP.

If your voip sucks go back to telecom but keeps xnet/worldxchange as your isp/tolls and you will still save money that is how good they are.

paradoxsm

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#158682 21-Aug-2008 14:21

Do Xnet still have the reported speed problems? I love their "pay as you use it" style plans.

Agreed, If Telecom are cheaper, then switch! VFX offer what they can at the prices set by the government "Naked DSL" and have no nasty "the price just went up" overage changes either.

Shash

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#158949 22-Aug-2008 13:25

I've used Xnet before, joined purely for VOIP services then took FUSION. Many issues with Xnet’s VOIP and FUSION. Went backed to Telecom, joined 2Talk's VOIP, absolutely fantastic VOIP service, I never made a single support call to 2Talk since I joined (4 Months ago). Good part about 2Talk is you can configure your AT devices by yourself, test with there free VOIP services.

GDM Look around there are other providers who will take your frustrations away!

sultanoswing

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Ultimate Geek

#159095 23-Aug-2008 00:20

...and to add another angle:

There are many of us Xnet customers who are not after the cheapest deal, but a quality service. Realiable internet (for not just emails and web browsing) at a flexible price. This is a philosophy I have been hoping Xnet sticks to - and since I joined up a couple of years ago - and despite a few hiccups (e.g. asianet.com) - they've largely done that...and have been far more consistent and without nasty pricing-plan-changing surprises than any of the other ISP's I've been with down the years (most of 'em).

Most consumers tend to drive suppliers to the 'lowest possible price' by being price-sensitive above all else. This is what I see with the likes of GDM - his / her poor VoIP performance not withstanding (although this sounds more a technical problem than enything else).

This drive to be the cheapest and reward for being the cheapest ultimately means quality suffers. Technological and efficiency advantages aside, it has to be this way. Ever wondered why modern day washing machines pack up after only a few years compared with the old ones which would run for decades? It's because most consumers are price-sensitive ahead of quality-sensitive, although both are facotrs to a degree in most decision-making. This means most companies follow the consumers to the bottom of the price-quality sprial.

In the ISP world, this cheapness means high contention ratios, under investment in infrastructure and shoddy service. How Xnet manages to avoid these pitfalls and generally provides top notch performance AND a good price (if not the cheapest - sure - Telecom may be cheaper) is a constant source of amazement to me. The day Xnet starts pandering more to the price-sensitive types is the day it too will inevitably drop in quality and those of us who don't mind paying a few dollars more, will have to search elsewhere. Of course this is not to be blind to ongoing competition and improvements - we must keep companies on their toes too!

And like anything in this universe - even the so called constants such as the speed of light, if new theories in quantum mechanics are to be believed - there are always exceptions - i.e. bad / slow Xnet performance - to any rule.

No interests to declare with Xnet or World Exchange, simply another 'fanboi'.

kfella2000

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Ultimate Geek

#159210 23-Aug-2008 23:03

Dratsab:

Back on topic: From the research I did into broadband pricing (before settling on Xnet Fusion) I found if I kept my Telecom landline and added fs/fs broadband (from any other provider) I would be paying about $89/month. With Fusion I pay $70 per month + whatever data usage I incur up to my 10gb cap. To-date (since February '08) I have not had a bill over $82, with most being around $76-$80.

I found the same here. I was on flood $49.95 a month and then I was paying $41.00 for a PSTN line and then there was data on top of that. When I changed to fusion back in January my bill decreased by between $20 and $25 a month. Call quality has been as good as PSTN here and now I am on torrent as well my bill has dropped even further by between $20 and $30 so definately no complaints about pricing or VOIP quality here. The other thing you have to remember too and that is, unlike other ISPs, you dont have to pay for unused data blocks like if you pay for 30GB for example and only use 23GB too bad but with Xnet if you use 23GB then you only pay for 23GB. You pay for what you use only.

springie

17 posts

Geek

#159642 25-Aug-2008 17:11

I think you deserve to go to Xtra.

For me I was on Telecom ph line + adventure plan which was approx $43 + $59.95 = 102.95 (plus some calls, the average being $107 / month).
Bear in mind it states that unless you pay $79.95+ for the PRO plan you won't get ADSL2+ Speeds too. Then on top of that you have to pay $3.95 each for caller id, diversion, callminder etc.

On xnet you get a quality VoIP line, caller id, answer phone, diverstion, email notifications etc and a FS/FS connection ADSL+ compatable for $69.95 then add 10gb its $79.95 (now i can't figure out how that is dearer than Telecom?). Also if i only use say 5Gb, then i only pay ~ $75/month, sounds like a winner to me!

I have found XNets support to be top notch, not like xtras 20min + waiting times.

Of course it does depend on how much data you use etc.

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