grr did I really sign up for this?

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SomePostman

139 posts

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#129036 1-Sep-2013 23:12

So a few times in the last six months I've gone over cap and had to pay extra for internet. The account is in my wife's name and she recieves an email to let her know I'm some number of blocks over

"Oh well" I think, "I must have watched and downloaded a lot of crap this month." So this month I managed to exceed my limit in a just over a week! This prompted me to ask my wife for the latest bill.

What?! We part almost a hundred dollars a month for our land line and 20gb of data?! 20gb is nothing! And the crazy thing is, I remember almost a year ago going online and upping my plan because 20gb was never going to be sufficient for a gamer like me.

So surely I've been drastically over paying my internet! How on earth did I manage to sign up for something so horribly priced? And how do I get through the rest of the month without spending a good sum on extra data on to of my pathetic plan?!

And on this note, I remember one of the reasons we signed up with Telstra clear to begin with was they told me about how they had a steam mirror which was unmetered to download from and unmetered game servers (I was really into bf3 at the time). Although they say in their faq that it's not guaranteed that any download is from their stream mirror, it has never ever downloaded anything that hasn't counted against my bandwidth usage.

I feel shafted.

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#888009 2-Sep-2013 00:51

...
....
.....

Moral of the story: monitor your usage and change to appropriate Plan?

Ragnor

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#888011 2-Sep-2013 01:18

It seems unlikely Vodafone somehow changed you to a lower plan than you were on previously but it is possible. You could look at past bills and contact customer service to find out for sure.

Otherwise I agree with nakedmolerat, choose a better plan for your usage. Get the notifications sent to your email address or use some other tool to check usage.

TUC is good
http://www.tuc.co.nz/index.php?page=screenshot

jtbthatsme

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#888014 2-Sep-2013 06:16

I am also sure there's a couple of tools that will force you to use just the server you select from Steam too...Of course doing this can not always guarantee the best speeds from what I've heard sorry I can't remember their names but that question has been mentioned many times on here and also a Google search will find them pretty quick.

hamish225

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#888021 2-Sep-2013 07:16

im not sure how you manage with just 20GB. i just upped mine from 100GB to 200GB. bet ill find a way to use that too!

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

Inphinity

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#888054 2-Sep-2013 08:16

Ragnor: It seems unlikely Vodafone somehow changed you to a lower plan than you were on previously but it is possible. You could look at past bills and contact customer service to find out for sure.

This - check previous bills and see if you've had a plan change. As for steam, you can select the download mirror in the settings.

SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#888058 2-Sep-2013 08:26

Inphinity:
Ragnor: It seems unlikely Vodafone somehow changed you to a lower plan than you were on previously but it is possible. You could look at past bills and contact customer service to find out for sure.

This - check previous bills and see if you've had a plan change. As for steam, you can select the download mirror in the settings.

I know it seems unlikely. And that's part of what bothers me. But I signed up before the acquisition of telstraclear by Vodafone and maybe somehow in the merger my account went back to its original plan? My wife and I were living apart for a bit and when I came back I noticed we were only on 20gb and knew that would never do and went online with her account details and changed to the 40Gb plan. I remember doing it.

And my steam mirror has always been set to telstraclear.

The New plans on the Vodafone website look good. I could be on 80gb per month for what I currently pay. But it's new customers only? Seems crazy they would rather lose me to another isp than five me a better deal?

NikT

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#888077 2-Sep-2013 08:58

Hey there,

Sounds like something's not right, should definitely be able to find a plan that better suits your needs - Happy to get the team to take a look at this for you. Could you email your account number & best daytime contact number to us at onlinecare@vodafone.co.nz? Sorry for the confusion re: Steam, too, it's a bit of a sticky one that there's not a lot of concrete information available on - Might pay to take a look at this topic as well.

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andrewNZ

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#888080 2-Sep-2013 09:05

I think you should shop around.

Telecom's pricing is pretty competitive, and their service is solid.

I'm sure there are others that compare on price, but not many will compete with Telecom speeds, everyone else I've ever used was slow as hell.

xpd

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#888084 2-Sep-2013 09:12

20GB ? Wow, I would love that.... :D

59.5GB of 5GB used

YOUR PLAN
Genius Broadband
5 GB

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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jtbthatsme

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#888093 2-Sep-2013 09:27

I think for a base ISP with no additional data then yes Telecom is competitive but with limited data upgrade options and no Steam or basically no zero rated websites they're not really suitable for the OP in my opinion. I do agree with the shop around part though I had (before moviing) for NDSL through Snap and for $90 pm had approx 250 gig which is a lot more than you need.

I'd think most base plans from most providers would suit your needs quite well but I would suggest (if willing to change) then going with one that has easy data add on's and or one that limits your usage once you go over. I'm actually pretty sure this is actually a option on Telecom too (get throttled to 64kbps or pay for overage).

Inphinity

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#888111 2-Sep-2013 09:48

jtbthatsme: I think for a base ISP with no additional data then yes Telecom is competitive but with limited data upgrade options and no Steam or basically no zero rated websites they're not really suitable for the OP in my opinion.

The OP currently has a 20GB plan, Telecom offer up to 500GB, how would that be unsuitable? :x

jtbthatsme

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#888151 2-Sep-2013 10:28

He's paying for a low usage plan who occasionally has gone over & upped his usage to 40gig a 500 gig option is something that he doesn't need or obviously want (can sorta tell by the low usage plan & implications that he's got low needs especially if has a provider that zero rates steam which is his main culprit for usage).

I am with telecom now & don't think the service or usage caps are user friendly at all. No zero rated sites, no steam servers, can't get add ons eg YouTube or other add ons & our provided modem constantly resets itself & provides inconsistent use which are important things for a gamer like the OP.

BlueShift

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#888172 2-Sep-2013 10:56

jtbthatsme: He's paying for a low usage plan who occasionally has gone over & upped his usage to 40gig a 500 gig option is something that he doesn't need or obviously want (can sorta tell by the low usage plan & implications that he's got low needs especially if has a provider that zero rates steam which is his main culprit for usage).

I am with telecom now & don't think the service or usage caps are user friendly at all. No zero rated sites, no steam servers, can't get add ons eg YouTube or other add ons & our provided modem constantly resets itself & provides inconsistent use which are important things for a gamer like the OP.

I'm with Telecom, and have had the opposite experience - my cap gets bumped up regularly - a few weeks back it went from 50 to 80 for no extra money. I have a Tivo, and all Tivo traffic is zero-rated, and even better than that, because the Telecom gear at our exchange can't currently distinguish Tivo traffic from everything else, they aren't enforcing the cap, so everything is zero-rated (I haven't told my kids that yet). The provided modem hasn't flaked at all.
Just lucky I guess.

andrewNZ

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#888176 2-Sep-2013 11:06

I honestly think having zero rated sites is just about worthless. It's just a marketing ploy.
And as for the Steam server , the OP and NikT have both indicated it amounts to a scam. A server like that shouldn't be hard to use, it should just work.

The OP could have an 80GB plan for about the same price he's paying, zero rated sites, steam servers, and add ons wouldn't be a factor.

You might not be able to change your limit with the click of the mouse, but it can easily be changed (it resets your usage too).

If you're having trouble with a crap modem, you should contact them about it. I've gone from an area that should have been great (on another provider), to an area that is known to be crap (now on Telecom) and my connection is far better.

NonprayingMantis

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#888177 2-Sep-2013 11:07

main things for you to look out for apart from the obvious base price, data cap, and overall reputation are:

1) the ability to change plans within your ISP without breaking a contract. I think most ISPs do this, but worth checking. You don't want to sign up for, say, 50GB plan then find you want to upgrade in 6 months and have to pay a $200 break fee to do so.

2) your options for what happens when you hit your cap. Do you get notified before you hit it (at 80% or something)? can you set notifications yourself at different levels? can you choose to switch between throttled (where you speed is reduced but nothing extra to pay) and paying for more data? how much is that extra data if you need it?

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