[TelstraClear] TelstraClear opening up under LLU?

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gwhit

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Wannabe Geek

#11691 6-Feb-2007 16:36

Hi all,

This is my first post to Geekzone (long timer listener, first time caller), so please be gentle and a little forgiving! I have been looking through some of the previous posts and have been impressed with the breadth and depth of knowledge displayed.

Does anyone know if Telstra are intending to open their copper lines up to competition, much in the same way as Telecom is required to do, in the near future? I have had a couple of emails and phone conversations with Telstra about this but it would appear that the helpdesk operators don't have this information available. I did get this which is more related to reselling that provisioning ADSL themselves:

"We are unable to provide ADSL services to customers in the TelstraClear cable area due to a contract that we have with Telecom advising that we are not allowed to wholesale products through to Telecom Copper network to customers in the cable area."

I am keen on getting a basic broadband connection but don't want the additional expense of cable through Telstra (cable is the only choice as we are currently a Christchurch Telstra customer). The only way for me to access ADSL at the moment is to jump from Telstra to Telecom. From there I will have many more choices. As I am quite lazy I would wait for a bit if ADSL competition was to appear on the Telstra residential network.

Cheers and regards

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#59877 6-Feb-2007 16:51

I have TCL cable. Most of us on GZ I would imagine (folks shout out) who could access TCL cable, would do so in a heartbeat. It's faster, lower latency (usually) and the best upload speed (2Mbs). At 10Mbs download it's faster than anything Telecom can offer apart from ADSL2 which then is only being rolled out slowly now and you only get the benefit of the 12Mbs if you are quite close to the switch.

What additional expense are you talking about? I don't have the details at hand but if you sign up for a 2 year contract the installation is free.

I must admit I toyed with the idea of moving to Telecom ADSL when I was getting a bit annoyed with TCL charging. It was going to cost a lot to get a Telecom line provisioned so I thought about getting a second phone line in with TCL, and then having that line switched to Telecom for free as part of a competitive supplier change. But then something happened. TCL announced their much improved plans with significantly higher limits on data and much lower charges for excess (I am now on 40Gb and $2.95 for each 2Gb over which I don't really exceed) and so I didn't bother. I kept the second phone line since for $15 it's handy to have another line in the home.

As the US say, YMMV

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

gwhit

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Wannabe Geek

#59886 6-Feb-2007 17:51

Wow - quick reply.

Yes - I am officially a crazy man, wanting ADSL in preference to cable (especially after reading the raves about cable).

Additional costs are not high - ADSL would add around $15pm and 1G cable about $30 on top of what we have being paying. It wouldn't quite break the bank but is an extra expense we don't need.

The reason for looking to broadband is for reliability (dial-up dropouts get so annoying) and phone availablilty - we don't really care about the speed and don't therefore really care about the method of connection. My concern is that data usage would inherently go up as the speed increased - much easier to pull down lots of extra content when you have even a 2Mb connection. 256k is almost self limiting and is still quicker than what we have.

Installation is a bugbear of mine. I don't like the idea of being tied in for 2 years especially with the changes that will occur in the telco market once LLU becomes reality. The thing that grates me the most is we have an unused Saturn 75ohm f-type connector poking out of our lounge wall. Installation would consist of someone putting a modem onto a box and posting it to me, along with a list of PC settings to configure. I would quite happily wear a 12 month term if installation was at no charge, but Telstra are not able to move on this - "Installation charges are not negotiable".

sbiddle

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#59888 6-Feb-2007 18:17

You can't get ADSL over TCL's copper network and this won't change with ULL. TCL's cable modem network however is already open to competitors and there are several ISP's who offer services over it. Unfortunately no matter how you go about it there will still be an installation cost doesn't appear to be negotiable, even if you are already a TCL customer.

chiefie

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#59892 6-Feb-2007 18:57

Let me ask this, do you own the house you're staying in? If so, then sign up for 2 years as it is very unlikely that you want to move very soon. I've signed up for 2 years on all other services on TCL as it is very unlikely that I move and in up front saving... I don't have to pay for the installation.

And if you do "break" your 2 years contract, you just pay for the difference in the installation that's all. So why not treat yourself with great internet speed that no other telco can match, within the serviced area of TCL cable and enjoy the true broadband.

Once you gone cable, you won't want to go ADSL or anything...

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lchiu7

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#59896 6-Feb-2007 19:25

If it is really the difference between DSL at $15/month and the basic cable plan at $30 (which is 1Mbs I recall) then switch your home phone over to Telecom. Since you are switching from TCL, IIRC, Telecom will not charge you for the installation. Then you can get the cheap DSL plan from Xtra or any Telecom reseller. But a missed opportunity to be sure

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

chiefie

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#59909 6-Feb-2007 21:37

a saving of $15 may not worth while when moving to Telecom as your line rental will increase, you will missed out big back yard promotion on TCL, and also if you are currently on clear.net or paradise.net, migrating to telecom to get good saving may mean you will migrate to xtra too.

I have friends that are tight on budget but was on dial-up, and moving on to broadband on 2 years term for waiving installation cost sure made up the worth factor in cable connection.

Do yourself a favour, move away from ADSL and onto cable.

Internet is my backyard...

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chiefie

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#59910 6-Feb-2007 21:45

You mentioned that you are currently a TelstraClear customer, are you connected on phone service with TCL cable?

If so you can have a packaged service for InHome phone and cable internet. Try this package bundle.

With InHome Phone + 1G HighSpeed cable internet, it is $62.90 per month. If you are currently have InHome Phone and Paradise.net 20 hours dialup: $41.95; or with 150 hours dialup:$46.95 and 250 hours dialup: $51.95.

You'll get a lot of recommendation from all cable users here to take cable internet option if you are in the area (it'd be silly to miss that opportunity, as many other people pray for such privillege).

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nic.wise

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#59967 7-Feb-2007 10:49

Based totally on math, and my memory. So maybe not too accurate:

Cable:

$70/month - internet (4meg/2meg, 20GB)
$30/month - phone - OPTIONAL

Install: free. (2 year contract). No hardware to buy, comes with a cable modem which outputs an ethernet cable :)

Speed: BLOODY fast. I can usually get close to maxing out my connection at peak times (350-450K/s)

DSL:

$80/month - intenet (Xtra PRO - in theory, 8meg/768k, but more likely lower, 15GB)
$35/month - phone - NOT OPTIONAL.

Install: usually free. With a modem. Usually. The quality of the modem is suspect tho.

Speed: Well, if the reports are right, you are lucky to get 30K/s on a good day. If you actually want to use the internet, dont go near GO LARGE.

I agree with what the other have said. I'd actually decline a house (rental) based on not being able to get cable. Seriously.

If you get a VFX (WorldExchange) phone line, it looks a lot better for cable, too:

$70/month - internet
$10/month - phone

$90 or so for the phone hardware (PAP2T, tho there are other options)

:)

TCL can be a bit of a pain to deal with over the phone, tho I must say over the last 6 months or so, it's a massive amount better. I'm usually sorted inside of 5-10 mins, where as before it was 30-40mins. I've only needed to call 5 or so times over the 12 months I've had it tho.

Nic Wise - fastchicken.co.nz

sat

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Master Geek

#59991 7-Feb-2007 12:49

I have moved back to Telecom ad ADSL, I found my cable connection awful it was very slow and seemed to hang alot. the ADSL i have has none of these issues.
. Apart from the occasional rain fade issue Sky is much better than Cable telly too

It is New Zealand's role to send out its bright young men and women to help run the rest of the world. And they go, not hating the country of their birth, but loving it. From this loving base they make their mark on the world.

xlinknz

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#59998 7-Feb-2007 13:38

FYI I moved from TCL Cable to ADSL but because I had no choice, I moved house and the TCL service stopped 2 doors down and accross the road and TCL declined to extend the service to me due to the cost of the network extension which required trenching, consents etc

That said I was apprenhensive [almost scared !] about ADSL after reading about and hearing everyone complain about reliability and performance but I must say I am very happy. I have only been on adsl 3 weeks but I haven't noticed the performance diff between adsl 2.5Mbit up 128Kps down vs 2Mbit up and down from TCL Cable. In fact I have already found the adsl more reliable, I was on cable 4 years and was getting quite annoyed with the micro outages [cable and mail] I don't run web sites or do uploads so 2Mbit is neither here or there to me. I typically use 1Gbit a month

I use Xnet HSI which costs $35 month + my TCNZ landline at $35 month [2Gbit] for a total of $70.
Note: If TCL had as many customers as xtra on their cable network I am almost certain the performance wouldn't be as wonderful as it is

I'm waiting for adsl2+ too [word has it coming very soon] and more importantly naked dsl so I can get rid of the landline and go VoIP if this proves cost effective. I also ensured I have an adsl2+ ready modem :)

In summary I am very very happy with adsl and my provider

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#60009 7-Feb-2007 14:42

Im on ADSL which I dont pay for. Currently on Go Large, but also tried the 2GB FS/FS plan for a while (was good too... but cap way to small).

If I had the option to pay to get cable through TCL, I would do it in an Orewa Minute.

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lchiu7

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#60021 7-Feb-2007 17:05

chiefie: a saving of $15 may not worth while when moving to Telecom as your line rental will increase, you will missed out big back yard promotion on TCL, and also if you are currently on clear.net or paradise.net, migrating to telecom to get good saving may mean you will migrate to xtra too.

I have friends that are tight on budget but was on dial-up, and moving on to broadband on 2 years term for waiving installation cost sure made up the worth factor in cable connection.

Do yourself a favour, move away from ADSL and onto cable.

I think Telecom matches phone line rental in areas where TCL provide phone service so there is no cost difference

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

gwhit

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Wannabe Geek

#60029 7-Feb-2007 18:12

Thanks for everyones input - I have just arranged for cable to be setup on Monday afternoon. Your answers, along with my wifes comment of 'just because someone on a helpdesk p!%$ed you off doesn't mean you have to make things harder than they should be ...." convinced me that I should just get on and do it. Will start with the small plan an probably move up as usage dictates.

The (sales) helpdesk operator I got was exceptional - well informed, friendly, humerous and easy to deal with. She also said that they had been absolutely flat out since they released Big Back Yard. May explain a slight drop in responsiveness as they appear to be churning TCNZ customers like they were butter.

Roll on Monday afternoon (I had better move the saturn f-type to a more convenient place, plus figure out whether to connection share, use a router, use a wifi router, setup my daugehters pc for access .....) I had better get on with it.

Cheers and regards.

grant_k

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#60034 7-Feb-2007 18:33

gwhit: ...plus figure out whether to connection share, use a router, use a wifi router, setup my daugehters pc for access .....) I had better get on with it.

I have a ZyXEL router (no WiFi) which you could use to share your connection, that way you don't need to leave any PCs running. Specs are here:

http://www.epinions.com/Zyxel_Prestige_324_Router_91003140007

It's yours for a very small fee if you want it (send me a Private Message).

Good to hear you're getting Cable instead of ADSL Glen. Unfortunately I don't have that option, or it's definitely the way I would be going.

sbiddle

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#60039 7-Feb-2007 19:41

lchiu7:

I think Telecom matches phone line rental in areas where TCL provide phone service so there is no cost difference

They originally matched TCL street by street and then cut their prices for the whole region but don't any longer. The standard price in Wgtn or Chch is $36 per month with Telecom vs $32.95 with TCL.

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