Rural Broadband Options

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glindsaynz

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#112923 27-Dec-2012 15:24

Hi all,
Sick and tired of having to resort to our smartphones for internet!!

What, if any, are the best options for obtaining broadband at our address? Obviously Farmside is available but ridiculously pricey. We have talked to Telstra Clear and they tried but hit a wall - apparently we are too far from the Orini exchange. Any point in getting other service providers out to take a look??

We live at 759 Whitikahu Road, RD2, Taupiri.

Cheers
Greg

sbiddle

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#737726 27-Dec-2012 15:46

It looks like you're just outside wireless RBI coverage, whether you could get a signal or not would really depend on a site survey.

Failing that Farmside satellite is your only option at present, with the Vodafone RBI coverage maps showing you will ultimately be part of the RBI coverage.

deadlyllama

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#737729 27-Dec-2012 16:03

A quick google ("wireless internet waikato") found these guys: http://lightwire.co.nz/ -- looks like they might have coverage at your address.

coffeebaron

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#737737 27-Dec-2012 16:41

Hi Greg,
I can sort you with a solution. Will be in touch soon.

Cheers
Fraser

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rbentley

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#774464 4-Mar-2013 18:04

Take care with Lightwire and any of the ISPs working off the Vodafone transmitter. We had a good link with them up until a few months ago with a cost of $125 (incl GST) for 20GB. Now they have phased that out in favour of the Vodafone RBI, and the cost is $152 with a modest increase in speed. Unfortunately there is no alternative. The government has given Vodafone a licence to print money.

chevrolux

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#774490 4-Mar-2013 18:38

rbentley: , and the cost is $152 with a modest increase in speed.

Ummm so it isn't ok for them to charge more for something that is better?

Seems extremely reasonable...

As for the OP's situation perhaps get in contact with one of the Araneo re-sellers, if a local WISP can't get you connected, and see if they can get a high quality wireless link to your place. Won't be cheap but they can do links anywhere from 1Mbps to 100Mbps. Snap is one of the re-sellers from what I understand. Maybe they can help.

Looks like Lightwire (No. 8 Wireless) can do it for you though.

rbentley

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#774505 4-Mar-2013 19:00

You make the mistake of thinking that faster is better. There was nothing wrong with what we had. Paying more for no benefit is not better. Having a price increase imposed is not better.

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sbiddle

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#774568 4-Mar-2013 20:57

rbentley: Take care with Lightwire and any of the ISPs working off the Vodafone transmitter. We had a good link with them up until a few months ago with a cost of $125 (incl GST) for 20GB. Now they have phased that out in favour of the Vodafone RBI, and the cost is $152 with a modest increase in speed. Unfortunately there is no alternative. The government has given Vodafone a licence to print money.

The Commerce Commission set the pricing and service conditions for wireless RBI - this isn't really the "Government"

davsri

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#774575 4-Mar-2013 21:26

I have the same problem - rang telecom - they sent the modem and arranged for technician to come and connect us to adls2+ - we live 10 k NE of Cambrdige on Flume Road - two day prior to appointment I get a phone call from chorus tecn to say broadband can't be provided at our line - the lady who spoke talked about coils and that - made no sense to me said line is noisy and sorry no connection - had to send modem back to telcom- my question is is there any point in ringing Vodafone - as they promised the same and wanted us to be hooked on to a plan and they will give it a go - is it worth the exercise. what do you think guys. I do have a reliable wireless connection 8 mb speed right now,

sbiddle

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#774708 5-Mar-2013 06:25

davsri: I have the same problem - rang telecom - they sent the modem and arranged for technician to come and connect us to adls2+ - we live 10 k NE of Cambrdige on Flume Road - two day prior to appointment I get a phone call from chorus tecn to say broadband can't be provided at our line - the lady who spoke talked about coils and that - made no sense to me said line is noisy and sorry no connection - had to send modem back to telcom- my question is is there any point in ringing Vodafone - as they promised the same and wanted us to be hooked on to a plan and they will give it a go - is it worth the exercise. what do you think guys. I do have a reliable wireless connection 8 mb speed right now,

Sounds like you've already got the best connectivity around. Why are you looking elsewhere for options?

Untimately one would expect that the RBI would love towards LTE so that could be worth investigating if and when it does happen.

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#774716 5-Mar-2013 06:59

We live in Patumahoe and called up Slingshot, they said that we were not in the right area and had no chance for BB, then we called up Telecom and they connected us up and told us that it wasn't a problem, we called Slingshot and asked why Telecom could connect us but not them but couldn't get a reasonable answer.

We have been with Telecom since and have no complaints at all...except with their e-mail, but that is a different story/thread!

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#774899 5-Mar-2013 11:28

davsri: I have the same problem - rang telecom - they sent the modem and arranged for technician to come and connect us to adls2+ - we live 10 k NE of Cambrdige on Flume Road - two day prior to appointment I get a phone call from chorus tecn to say broadband can't be provided at our line - the lady who spoke talked about coils and that - made no sense to me said line is noisy and sorry no connection - had to send modem back to telcom- my question is is there any point in ringing Vodafone - as they promised the same and wanted us to be hooked on to a plan and they will give it a go - is it worth the exercise. what do you think guys. I do have a reliable wireless connection 8 mb speed right now,

So, a loading coil is a piece of equipment which is placed on some phone lines, normally in rural areas where the address is a long way from the exchange.
The purpose of a loading coil is to enhance the quality of the voice service over the line, making calls clearer than they would otherwise be. They reduce background noise, hissing etc. Some lines may have multiple loading coils on them in particularly bad areas.

The downside is that loading coils have the opposite effect for broadband - they effectively block the broadband signal from reaching the house, especially if there is more than one on the line.
When this happens, Chorus will usually investigate whether it is feasible to remove a loading coil to enable broadband to work - but only if they think the voice service will not be adversely affected. If there is more than one loading coil on the line then they will usually not bother as they can almost never remove more than one without causing the phone to stop working altogether.

Bear in mind that loading coils are only specific to your phone line - not the general area. You could have House A with 6 loading coils on the line, while House B next door may not have any at all.

Another factor is that the coils could be located anywhere between your house and the exchange. I have had a customer whose loading coil was buried under the highway outside their house. In such a case Chorus will not try to remove it as the cost of getting council consent to dig up an arterial road for such a small job is not cost effective, and there is no guarantee it will enable broadband to work.

This is not service provider specific - all service providers using the Chorus network will run into the same issue for any particular address where loading coils have been identified.

I hope this helps with your query.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd