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AidanS

458 posts

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#95689 10-Jan-2012 21:16
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Hey everyone in this post I will be logging my experiences with changing from Telecom to Vodafone for my home phone and broadband. This post is targeted to help other people in changing from Telecom to Vodafone or for people who just intend to sign up for Vodafone. All I'm saying is I wish their was a post similar to this when I migrated :) .

Firstly my current situation...

I've been a loyal Telecom customer for as long as I can remember (over 8 years). They've serviced my home phone and broadband needs well, although they weren't always the cheapest they offered a high quality service. Even though Telecom being Infamous for their horrible call centres and useless help, they were always able to have any problems fixed within reasonable times.

My Current (soon to be old) plan... 
 
I'm currently on Telecom's 'Total Home - 60gb' Plan. I also have an 0800 number set-up (for private use) and I utilise  the free (some-what static) IP address offered to the more higher plans. I'm currently paying $105 a month + extra phone charges for National/International and cell phone calls. I've had no problems with this plan with the average speeds of 10Mbps Download and 0.75Mbps upload.

I've had a total of 3 free modems from Telecom, 1) The old orignal DLink single PC (ADSL only I believe), 2) THOMSON ST5x6v6 (single PC) and 3) Thomson TG5858 (wireless multi PC). All modem have been sufficient for the situations. Although none of them have made port forwarding easy it was still doable.

Reasons For Change... 
 

My main and simply only real reason for wanting to change plans (and in this case ISP) is I need more data. I've had broadband for over 4-5 years now (with Telecom) and my data needs have gone from originally 3gb/month-10gb-20gb-40gb and now to 60gb. I could continue this pattern and opt for Telecom's 80gb plan for an additional $20/month or I could wait for them to drop all the prices again (like they seem to do every 6-12 months) but then why should I wait for them to change their plans when there are plans out there that offer more value for money.

Why Vodafone? 

Well firstly as discussed above I could stay with Telecom and just add some more data. Alternately there is Orcon who offer uncapped data for downloading and playing games via Steam (however I know a friend who says he still gets charged data for Steam downloads, seems a bit limited), they also have Voip options and they have uncapped data for various kiwi sites like Trademe. But realistically there plans aren't that great, the best option for me would be 105gb/month (incl home phone) for $155/month and that is simply too much. And as for Telstra clear I've simply know too many people who have had bad experiences with them regarding speeds. So as of the 10th of January 2012 Vodafone had the best deal to offer.

The Deal...

So the deal I've just signed up for with Vodafone includes...
- 120gb of Data/month
- 1x Free Talk 0 Plan
- Sky to MySky upgrade for free (I have a sky digital subscription already)
- A Much better (spec wise) wireless modem than Telecom's (12 month contract) 

All for $120.60/month.

The Negatives... 

The negatives will include a possible home phone number change (being in the Red network and all), I'll loose my 0800 number (which I hardly used anyway) and I believe so far I'll loose my static P which isn't really essential. And Lastly I will in theory loose my @xtra.co.nz email addresses. I've heard several people say they've changed ISP away from Telecom and they have been able to keep their email addresses, then others say they've kept them either by paying $10/month for a dialup service. Either way I've spent an hour migrating all my addresses to Gmail (Don't know why I didn't just use Gmail in the first place).

Well that's pretty much it for now, I've used Vodafone's online order form, now I've just got to wait. I'll keep this thread posted with my experience with speed of roll out and speed comparisons from Telecom to Vodafone's Red Network. I'll also let you know how the free modem turns out as it looks quite neat on paper.

Thanks,
Aidan 

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johnr
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#567108 10-Jan-2012 21:21
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Hi Aidan

You will not lose your home number if you change to the Red network

I will watch this thread with interest and if there's anything I can do to help let me know but would like to let everything take the nornal process

John



freitasm
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  #567111 10-Jan-2012 21:23
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Make sure you update this topic when it's installed, when it's working, performance, etc.




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AidanS

458 posts

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  #567118 10-Jan-2012 21:33
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You will not lose your home number if you change to the Red network


Thanks, that gives me a bit of peace-of-mind.
great to know support is just around the corner as well :) 


I will watch this thread with interest and if there's anything I can do to help let me know but would like to let everything take the nornal process

Great to know help is just around the corner :)

freitasm: Make sure you update this topic when it's installed, when it's working, performance, etc. 


I sure will :)  



cisconz
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  #567121 10-Jan-2012 21:41
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You can have a static ip - but it is $23 per month.

you can also have your 0800 number for free each month, if you don't mind 39c +gst per min call rates.
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/business/services/calling/toll-free-numbers.jsp




Hmmmm


AidanS

458 posts

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  #567124 10-Jan-2012 21:43
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cisconz: You can have a static ip - but it is $23 per month.

you can also have your 0800 number for free each month, if you don't mind 39c +gst per min call rates.
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/business/services/calling/toll-free-numbers.jsp


Great thanks, bit steep for a static but I don't really need it anymore :) 

AidanS

458 posts

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  #567159 10-Jan-2012 22:56
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Dang just relised I posted help/support is just around the corner twice. Is it possible to edit posts?

sonyxperiageek
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  #567162 10-Jan-2012 23:13
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What about Slingshot's $90 100GB Broadband + Homeline(with 20 free features) etc?
Though you have to be in one of their "better networks" which most people are.




Sony


gzt

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  #567258 11-Jan-2012 10:19
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You can keep the xtra email address for $3.99 a month or something like that as long as you like.

You may be able to configure gmail to pick it up as webmail, and any replies from you will have your new address.

It is also good fallback to keep an account open in the unlikely case there are unanticipated problems/limitations with a new service. Avoids any re-signup charges.

keepitwarm
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  #567389 11-Jan-2012 14:56
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Be very interested in how this goes, as its something i have been considering for a while, and i just read this, which is good for Vodafone well more  importantly its customers.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10778042

be great to know how you get on.





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

simple logic.


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  #567397 11-Jan-2012 15:11
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ok please do lots of speed tests before and after to compare speeds :)

AidanS

458 posts

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  #567409 11-Jan-2012 15:33
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joker97: ok please do lots of speed tests before and after to compare speeds :)


Ever since I was put on ADSL2+ with Telecom I've been doing consistent speeds tests (using speedtest.net).
My low is 7mbps Down, with 0.65mbps UP, and a latenxy of 44ms.
My Best scores have been around 10.5mbps down and 0.78mbps with a latency of 35ms.
However my average result is; 8.5mbps down and 0.7mbps up with a latency of 40ms. 

My current setup is as follows;

THOMSON ST5x6v6A Thomson ST5x6v6 (ADSL2+ Modem, single ethernet output). This then connects into my Linksys E1000 wireless N router and 4 port ethernet switch. I did used to use Telecom's free Thomson wireless modem however after it constantly dropping signal and rebooting 4 times a day I upgraded to the E1000 which is AMAZING! :)

My NEW setup at this stage will be using Vodafone's free wireless modem/router for all my ethernet needs and then it will connect to my E1000 for my wireless needs. HOWEVER I will still do tests on the Vodafone modem but I am assuming the E1000 will provide a better wireless solution at this stage.

If you have any further questions about my current setup please feel free to ask :)

BTW the picture is my current modem (Single Ethernet, ADSL2+ Compliant). 

Thanks,
Aidan

bmt

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  #569093 15-Jan-2012 14:07
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gzt: You can keep the xtra email address for $3.99 a month or something like that as long as you like.

You may be able to configure gmail to pick it up as webmail, and any replies from you will have your new address.

It is also good fallback to keep an account open in the unlikely case there are unanticipated problems/limitations with a new service. Avoids any re-signup charges.


For most of last year I was charged $10 a month to keep my xtra address after I disconnected my broadband/home phone.

johnr
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  #569701 16-Jan-2012 23:03
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Hi Aidan

Just wondering how things are coming along, Any issues / any updates?

John

AidanS

458 posts

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  #569942 17-Jan-2012 14:50
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OK so here's an update on the the whole process.

I placed the order on the 9th of January, via Vodafone's website. On the 11th I received a confirmation email saying  that the home phone and broadband would be hooked up on the 16th of January. The modem arrived on the 14th via courier. This gave me a little bit to think about how I would setup my network. The modem is great its got N wireless with 3 USB ports (one USB port is reserved for 3G internet backup) and 4 100mbit Ethernet ports.

Anyway so yesterday (the 16th) my broadband and home phone were transferred like planned. Everything went well (I was out when it was changed so I can't say how long it took). Like I said before the modem so far is amazing, the GUI is simple and clean. I am able to port forward and setup DMZ easily. As well as setup internal static IP's (on Telecom's modem my PS3's NAT type would always be strict no matter what I did, with the Vodafone modem I was able to setup DMZ and in a flash everything was set to  "open").

OK so the speeds:
So previously I was on Telecom's ADSL2+ Network and I was able to get speeds around:
7-8mbps Download
0.6-0.75 mbps Upload
With a ping of about 40-45ms

With Vodafone on their, 'Red' network I am able to get:
Download: About 14mbps
Upload : About 1mbps
Ping: 20-25ms


So far I am very happy with the new service. However I still haven't received an email or call about the MySky Upgrade. I will post anything new negative or positive as long as this thread remains open :)

Thanks,
Aidan 

johnr
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  #569987 17-Jan-2012 15:54
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Thanks for the update and the feedback!

The Sky process starts after the activation of the broadband and can take a couple of business working days but a email should not be too far away all about it

John

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