Best ISP and plan for low use holiday home/bach

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Best ISP and plan for low use holiday home/bach

1 | 2 | 3

1410 posts

Uber Geek

#2410862 31-Jan-2020 17:30

nztim:
gareth41:

Spyware:

Doesn't this reselling violate the T&Cs??

I have no idea, like most people I haven't bothered to spend 10 to 20 minutes reading all the fine print - just signed along the dotted line. However there's tonnes of places out there like Hotels who sell wifi access.

Hotels will be on a business plan with business tees and cees that allow them to do this

putting an AP on the roof and sharing the connection and splitting the bill is one thing but actually setting up a hotspot and charging for it just doesn't seem right.

All the same, I'm sure the people using the service are happy enough to do so considering there doesn't sound like there is any alternative, commercial or otherwise

CokemonZ

1051 posts

Uber Geek

#3376677 26-May-2025 09:50

Bringing this back alive for 2025.

My folks have a place down in Whangamata, which can get fibre, and 4g wireless from Spark and 2 Degrees (not One according to their address checker).

However the place is used sporadically, and they only want to pay for internet when it's used.

Even when looking at Wireless they seem to generally want 12month terms or surprisingly small data caps (300gb or so).

What is the best bach internet these days?

Scott3

3970 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3376708 26-May-2025 10:45

One thing to be aware of, is in seasonal holiday spots which see massive population boom at a particular time of year (Like Whangamata), often suffer significant cellular congestion at busy times.

Personally I would go with a 50/10 fiber starter plan, so I am not impacted by the above. They start around $60 per month (Less if you are able to avail bundle discounts)

https://www.broadbandcompare.co.nz/special/fibre-starter?

Looked at 2 degrees fixed cellular. It is in the same ballpark for cost ($55 for 300 GB per month, $60 for unlimited - fair use policy applies). Personally I think getting on fiber is worth +$5 per month.

Haven't really looked into if you can disconnect / reconnect to fiber or fixed wireless, but suspect it is a hassle.

An option which become viable in the last 5 years, is to just abandon fixed internet, and get an unlimited mobile plan year round on one persons phone which allows hot spotting. That way they get value from that unlimited plan year round.

Say the $50 or $80 per month plan below

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/mn/mightymobile/

Also starlink has become available in that time period. It does allow people to turn on and off their service. Residential lite is available in Whangamata. $599 hardware purchase, then $79 per month (R when it is turned on.

michaelmurfy

meow
13253 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3376724 26-May-2025 12:07

Note - Broadband Compare is purely an advertising site and has been seen using deceptive practises of late steering people towards either their own ISP, Simply Broadband or another ISP who has been their top for ages. They’ll steer you towards deals that give them the most kickback and these deals often come with fixed term contracts.

Quic now have automated provisioning so you can connect and disconnect service as needed (you’ll just pay a connection fee). Most other providers do offer a 50/10 service so you can likely do a secondary plan with your main ISP.

Lastly, those “unlimited” mobile plans do have a fair use policy and they’re not truly unlimited. I would always recommend a dedicated broadband plan over an unlimited mobile plan.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by subscribing.
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

nztim

3818 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#3376897 26-May-2025 14:20

I think at $60-$65 p/m just keep fibre on year-round is $780 per year, you can't "pause" rates/insurance/etc for the months you are not there, why pause fibre?

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

RunningMan

8956 posts

Uber Geek

#3377091 26-May-2025 19:03

nztim: why pause fibre?

Because it's an unnecessary expense for when the place is unoccupied.

nztim

3818 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#3377128 27-May-2025 08:04

RunningMan:

nztim: why pause fibre?

Because it's an unnecessary expense for when the place is unoccupied.

With a no contract plans there are connection fees and one-month minimums you will most likely come out about the same....

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

cddt

1561 posts

Uber Geek

#3377129 27-May-2025 08:12

There are two reasonable options available on the market:

Hot spot from a phone
Pay for fibre every month

I would think that with a bach in Whangamata the monthly price of fibre wouldn't be a concern. I don't imagine the electricity company allows you to stop paying the lines charge when you're not there?

My referral links: BigPipe | Mercury

CokemonZ

1051 posts

Uber Geek

#3377150 27-May-2025 09:10

Ok ok,

Answering a few of the questions here:

Currently generally the families/guests that use the bach do hotspot off their phones - however
1. Connecting the two google tvs to different phones is a pain every time there is a new visitor
2. When the person whos phone it is leaves site - no more internet for those remaining (big issue when there is more than one family there)
3. Not truly unlimited (and some don't have unlimited plans)
4. As the person who is the phone call away for 'tech support' such as it is actually doing this for a lot of family friends is pretty painful
As for the starter fibre - thats what I've recommended as it's just easy. However the challenge is more cultural.
1. The primary bill payers are from a different generation where leaving the lights on was a huge deal, and still haven't become accustomed to just how little power led lights use.
2. Paying for a service not being used is anathema to how they were brought up, and kinda fair enough.
3. It gives them/the visitor to pay for internet if desired - and not if not desired.
4. Comparing this to electricity and rates is somewhat fair enough - but I'll tell you now if they could shut off electricity they would :)

I was hoping one of the mobile providers would have a modem we could buy and a secret prepay style data plan that wasn't a complete rort.

Thanks for the feedback and I'll go back to pitching starter fibre......

I imagine what will happen is in two - three years I'll open this thread again :)

wellygary

8328 posts

Uber Geek

#3377151 27-May-2025 09:25

CokemonZ:

Thanks for the feedback and I'll go back to pitching starter fibre......

I imagine what will happen is in two - three years I'll open this thread again :)

I "ummed and arred" over the same question when we bought a bach a few years ago, Eventually I just bit the bullet and went down the starter fibre track...

We let the place out to friends a couple of time a year, having an unlimited connection just takes all the hassle out of it... also with our kids and friend's kids all living on devices and us watching streaming, having fibre is just great,

The upgrade to 100/20 in June will make it even better

Scott3

3970 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3377163 27-May-2025 10:32

nztim:

I think at $60-$65 p/m just keep fibre on year-round is $780 per year, you can't "pause" rates/insurance/etc for the months you are not there, why pause fibre?

Looking at it on an annual basis is a good idea $720 a year to have the lowest ping and most stable internet option available (typically with the multi thousand dollar install coming at no cost to the home owner) is a reasonable deal.

The free installs won't last for ever, so I recommend getting hooked up to fiber, even if you plan to drip it when the term ends.

On the last point I don't really buy it. Rates are owed regardless of occupancy status, Insurance provides cover regardless of occupancy status.

Power might be a better comparison. While it is quite possible to get power disconnected and re-connected, the combination of the cost of this ($150 for standard meter, $25 for advanced meter, for each disconnection & reconnection - additional fees for after hours re-connection), and Hassle means typically are left on. But it is possible that the combination of cheaper advanced meter dis/re connection fees, and the demise of low user power plans will see more people choosing to disconnect power for their seasonal use bach's. (Low user plans were only ever for primary dwellings, but I understand it was family common for one family member to declare the bach as their primary dwelling meaning their daily fees were around 30c before the phase out started).

For Data, free, Low hassle disconnects and reconnects are available. (just not for fiber it seems).

One could easily get a cheap cellular modem / router, and run the $5 kogan starter packs (different email each time, turn off auto renewal as it defaults to on) for each visit... getting super cheap internet. (but a 15GB data cap).

Starlink offer the ability to turn on and off their plan's, but hardware is $599. And with less regulation (and holding a retail LEO monopoly), there is greater risk of policy changes / price increases than with other options.

TehFlak

12 posts

Geek

#3377250 27-May-2025 13:26

Maybe things have changed since I left my last job at a ISP, but could you not:

1. Ask ISP to connect fibre in advance, for example if you know you'll need it in December, contact on the 25th of November and request connection date for 1st of december.

2. Once the order is completed on the 1st of december, contact ISP again and advise you'd like to cancel on the 30th of december (So you've given 30 days notice, based on One, Spark etc)

We used to do this in the store I worked at for people like you, never seemed to have an issue but maybe that's changed. A bit of a hassle but at least you aren't charged year round.

johno1234

2806 posts

Uber Geek

#3377254 27-May-2025 13:59

We use Skinny wireless broadband at a Whangamata holiday house and "turn it on or off" by adding or removing the credit card payment method. This all works well and is very unexpensive ... apart from... being cellular it simply dies in the arse over Christmas/New Year when the cell sites are overloaded. Telecom and One wheel in temporary cell towers on trailers but it is still poor at the a time of the year you most need it.

I've hummed and hah'd about getting fibre installed and think I will do so. As pointed out by others, the free install might not be free one day so worth doing.

The only remaining question is which will cost the least for acceptable volume or allow stop/starts. Money is money and if you waste your pennies you will soon be wasting a lot of dollars.

nztim

3818 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#3377259 27-May-2025 14:22

johno1234:

The only remaining question is which will cost the least for acceptable volume or allow stop/starts. Money is money and if you waste your pennies you will soon be wasting a lot of dollars.

Lets say you go there 4 times a year, connection fee ($30) + 1 month minimum ($60) will be $90 a shot

Thats $360 so half of the cost of leaving in on year-round...... each additional visit will be $90 also

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

johno1234

2806 posts

Uber Geek

#3377260 27-May-2025 14:25

Simply Broadband offer an uncapped 50/10 fibre starter plan but theirs has no setup fee and no contract. So you can kick it off, then close it for most of the year whenever you want, then open a new plan next time. The only thing to remember is the 30 day notice period which must be paid. I think that's close to an ideal solution for a holiday house.

1 | 2 | 3