HD's 'Unlimited Internet' not so unlimited

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › HD's 'Unlimited Internet' not so unlimited - a warning

nitrotech

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#198512 12-Jul-2016 10:07

Got a call out of the blue yesterday from unlimited internet (www.unlimitedinternet.co.nz) saying that they were disconnecting our home broadband.

Enquiring as to why - apparently we've used too much 'unlimited data'. (teenager in the house)

They tell me that it's in their terms and conditions and that it is a breach of their fair use policy.

While it doesn't worry me moving to another provider - the kicker is that they have given us 7 days to move.

A couple of things get me about this:

No warnings - just a call to say 'we're disconnecting you' - verbal too nothing written no email

7 Days is crazy - it may very well be possible to arrange a connection move in that time-frame but it puts pressure on everyone.

There is no way to check your data usage in their online portal - I've got no idea how much data we've used.

When you call the company 'unlimited internet' you've kinda put it out there .....

So just a warning that if you use a lot of data this may not be the provider for you.

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#1590145 12-Jul-2016 10:12

thanks, that is pretty stink. im with them and yes, you really should be able to see your usage somewhere. would be interesting to see what usage you actually used though, are you on UFB? I can imagine if you were on UFB and maxing out your connection 24/7 they wouldnt want your business anymore, and probably the same with most providers, but if you were using maybe 2TB a month then yeah thats stink.

Inphinity

2780 posts

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#1590147 12-Jul-2016 10:12

Bizarre. I've never used them, but the FAQ on their webpage says:

So there's no data cap on any of the plans?

Nope. You're free to use as much data as you like. We don't even track your usage.

However in saying that, we do assume that you're using your connection for 'normal' purposes. This means if you are doing something like running server farms from home, to a point where we think it is unfairly slowing down the network for other users, we may have to temporarily limit your connection speed for the benefit of others on the network.

If this is happening on a regular basis then we will get in touch with you and discuss changing your use or moving to a more appropriate plan, such as UFB or dedicated business broadband. This won't be a problem for the majority of users though.

sidefx

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#1590148 12-Jul-2016 10:12

Would be interesting to know what ballpark usage we're talking about here? :) TBH I'm OK with some sort of fair use policy, but yeah the no warning straight to disconnection sounds very annoying!

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thecatsgoolies

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#1590156 12-Jul-2016 10:26

Go straight to the comcom unlimited means unlimited

littleheaven

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#1590163 12-Jul-2016 10:33

That's pretty harsh, although I've just checked their fair use policy and they do state it there.

If it were me, I'd be asking for a figure of how much data I'd used (as you may need to know this to sign up with another provider to make sure you're getting the right plan for your needs). It could also alert you to whether someone else is stealing data from you.

Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.

l43a2

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#1590164 12-Jul-2016 10:35

Seems silly to have a fair usage policy and not let you monitor usage. or at least warn you that your usage is high.... bad way of doing business.

NonprayingMantis

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#1590167 12-Jul-2016 10:38

They are dodgy, simple as that.
I am not at all surprised by this.

Every thread on here has people saying to avoid them. This just reinforces that.

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sxz

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#1590188 12-Jul-2016 10:50

How much did you use?

Bet your teenager left torrents seeding...

michaelmurfy

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#1590191 12-Jul-2016 10:59

NonprayingMantis: They are dodgy, simple as that.
I am not at all surprised by this.

Every thread on here has people saying to avoid them. This just reinforces that.

+1 here. You can't expect a service for so cheap where "cheap" really isn't that cheap without running into cost cutting measures such as kicking the large downloaders instead of buying / allocating more bandwidth.

Voyager or BigPipe if you want cheap. And, I use around 2-3TB per month on BigPipe on their 200/200 plan and no, this isn't torrents. Never once got a warning or a friendly "you're using too much". I also make sure to do most of my bulk data during the night.

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wazzageek

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#1590193 12-Jul-2016 11:00

Wow, those terms and conditions are particularly draconian - it gives that impression that you have to be a super special customer to be allowed to exchange money for their "services".

Particularly interesting that if the customer wishes to disconnect, they must give 30 days notice - No mention of the "Fair use policy" mentioned in the termination section, only the "Fair Use Policy".

Talkiet

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#1590195 12-Jul-2016 11:05

I'd be interested to know how much you were using. If I had to guess I would say it would be a spectacularly grossly over the top amount... Probably in excess of 4-5TB/month. Yeah sure "unlimited = unlimited" but they do have T&Cs to cover unreasonable use.

I do agree they don't appear to have followed their own T&Cs here but I suspect we're getting quite a filtered story here.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

reven

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#1590198 12-Jul-2016 11:08

NonprayingMantis: They are dodgy, simple as that.
I am not at all surprised by this.

Every thread on here has people saying to avoid them. This just reinforces that.

BS on this, not every thread, not even most, just a lot of people who never used them saying the guy who runs it isnt trustworthy. as a customer of theirs for about a year and without any prior knowledge of the company and anything to do with them, I think they are great. Best prices around, great speeds. this is the first bad thing Ive heard about them from an ACTUAL CUSTOMER.

i havent had a single issue in a year. But thats my personal experience with them, just a single ADSL2 customer.

freitasm

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#1590199 12-Jul-2016 11:13

To the OP, how much is "too much" and wer eyou using it for things like sharing to third parties (mesh networks, etc, etc)?

Also, I think some of the people here saying they're "dodgy" are doing this with ulterior motives, without ever being a customer. If you are not a customer and have no first hand experience, don't say these things.

meesham

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#1590200 12-Jul-2016 11:15

Talkiet:

I'd be interested to know how much you were using. If I had to guess I would say it would be a spectacularly grossly over the top amount... Probably in excess of 4-5TB/month. Yeah sure "unlimited = unlimited" but they do have T&Cs to cover unreasonable use.

I do agree they don't appear to have followed their own T&Cs here but I suspect we're getting quite a filtered story here.

The problem (IMO) is that they're not providing the tools so that a user can keep an eye on their usage, and not issuing a warning first so that a user can try to rectify the problem is really poor service.

nitrotech

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#1590203 12-Jul-2016 11:17

The only indication that I had from her was that it was around 1tb - i'm unsure if that was a 1 off month or consistent - the teenager only has a 2tb HDD.

In terms of seeding torrents I guess it's possible with VPN but we implemented open DNS a year or so ago and the mikrotik directs all traffic to those DNS servers regardless of the DNS server specified by the machine

We've got some limited torrent blocking also implemented on the mikrotik - plus ive written a script which turns his internet off at 9pm each night (for all of his devices) and doesn't turn it on again until 7am and he's at school through the day.

Not fibre just a 60/10 vdsl connection

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