ISP for Heavy Users

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#2432652 4-Mar-2020 17:55

Why they want to move is very relevant to the duscussion - there are a myriad of reasons but depending on what they are moving may not fix the issue.

Jase2985

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#2432653 4-Mar-2020 17:57

what support do you need if your connection is preforming?

davidcole

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#2432677 4-Mar-2020 18:13

Also what is a heavy user? 500gb per month? 2tb?

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hio77

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#2432678 4-Mar-2020 18:15

This thread really does sound like to me, that your family have had a not so flash experience and unfortunately are likely suffering from an inhome fault - those are really hard to solve particularly when your helping remotely.

I'm more than happy to take a peek and see if anything can be fixed up there.

Not alot i can do if a bridge has been burnt and that's the interest of moving, but if it's actually conectivity related, the fault will exist when it's moved (be it possibly hiden by a placebo affect of having something "new")

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richms

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#2432739 4-Mar-2020 19:11

Or it could be that they feel that the ISP need to help with things that the ISP said no to helping with, and they feel slighted that they wouldn't help them install a chromecast or login to facebook (2 examples that I know friends elders thought they should get free ISP support to do).

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driller2000

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#2432757 4-Mar-2020 19:55

I have had no issues with Spark over last few years - VDSL and now Fibre.

Reliable connection - use circa 3TB / month without issue.

nitro

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#2432941 5-Mar-2020 09:27

ItsJustPeter:

Again, I do not know the specifics of why they are changing other than that they want to change away from Spark.

As they have decided to change, I just want to tell them an ISP that is on the same performance wise as Spark.

the problem with such a blank statement of why, is that you can never guarantee that they'd be better off with any other RSP. they may end up in a worse situation (with whatever they don't like about spark).

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SpartanVXL

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#2432954 5-Mar-2020 09:52

Yup, concur with all the statements about ‘why’. If they’re unhappy with customer support then get support elsewhere. Common behaviour when people don’t get what they expect they try to jump ship and take a chance elsewhere.

Not that it’d help if they going to switch regardless, if the problems they’re having are unrelated to ISP then they’ll be unhappy with the new ISP too. Try 2degrees or voyager for recommendations.

muppet

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#2432987 5-Mar-2020 10:46

All ISPs are basically the same. They're like choosing a different power company, or a different mobile company. It's exactly the same core product with a few tiny frills around the side to help you "decide"

I'm with NowNZ in Napier and they have great support, the 3 times I've needed it.

I know everyone's heaving to jump in at this point and go "But what about IPv6, CGNAT, congesting at night, local CDN nodes" etc and yes, each ISP handles those edge case customers differently. But 99% of customers don't care about any of that, thus ISPs don't take much of that stuff into the pricing models.

Otherwise, pretty much all ISPs these days are the same thing, all having to egress one of 2 (or is it 3, I don't even know) points out of NZ to the big bad world. And they use the same access method (usually Chorus fibre, but it might be one of the other UFB providers) to get the connection back to their core router. And that access method is exactly the same regardless of the ISP you chose.

Find a company with a pricepoint you like and be happy. The only suggestions you'll get from people here are "I'm with X and they're great" or maybe a few people moaning about their previous ISP who had terrible support etc.

Don't overthink it. It's IPv4/6 packets coming over exactly the same Copper/Fibre line, which if there's a fault/problem there it doesn't matter if your ISP is Jesus you're still going to have problems.

Finally if the problem is you need an excessive amount of handholding (you expect to ring up your ISP and have them diagnose why the Wifi doesn't work in the pool cabana) well none of them really offer this, or if they do, they charge extra for it, it's not included in the race-to-the-bottom-charge the ISPs are charging you.

nztim

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#2433078 5-Mar-2020 12:12

muppet:

Finally if the problem is you need an excessive amount of handholding (you expect to ring up your ISP and have them diagnose why the Wifi doesn't work in the pool cabana) well none of them really offer this, or if they do, they charge extra for it, it's not included in the race-to-the-bottom-charge the ISPs are charging you.

We do all that but we are an IT vendor and an ISP, and we charge hourly rates for doing all that stuff, and we don't have home users :)

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

muppet

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#2433129 5-Mar-2020 13:09

nztim:

muppet:

Finally if the problem is you need an excessive amount of handholding (you expect to ring up your ISP and have them diagnose why the Wifi doesn't work in the pool cabana) well none of them really offer this, or if they do, they charge extra for it, it's not included in the race-to-the-bottom-charge the ISPs are charging you.

We do all that but we are an IT vendor and an ISP, and we charge hourly rates for doing all that stuff, and we don't have home users :)

Yes, same here, I work for a similar type company. I know that NowNZ in Napier/Hawke's Bay offer an IT "need-a-nerd" type solution and in fact, advertise it quite heavily. I think they've realised there's no margin in the race-to-the-bottom so have wisely branched out into support services. Especially in the bay where I think the population age is older (my theory, not a fact)

nztim

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#2433147 5-Mar-2020 13:34

muppet:

Yes, same here, I work for a similar type company. I know that NowNZ in Napier/Hawke's Bay offer an IT "need-a-nerd" type solution and in fact, advertise it quite heavily. I think they've realised there's no margin in the race-to-the-bottom so have wisely branched out into support services. Especially in the bay where I think the population age is older (my theory, not a fact)

I honestly thing for the less tech savvy person NOWNZ is a good product, they have an NZ Call Centre with little to no wait times and the do home tech visits, to connect your smart tv, apple watch, and smart fridge and set it all up for you, if you are on their EPIC plan 2 visits are included a year, downside is it costs more, but if you need more support and hand holding that might be worth while.

They do use CGNAT but the average joe wont notice that - A geek gamer, person running a server will have the technical knowledge to fix in home issues themselves and will be with a provider who is cheaper that is not using CGNAT

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noroad

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#2433150 5-Mar-2020 13:35

snnet:

To be very frank, I've been a customer of every mid to large ISP in NZ (all of the ones who have subforums here) and I have to say with 100% certainty, without any financial or other personal gain incentive, that Spark operate the best overall. That would include Bigpipe and Skinny now they use the same network. I have many friends who jump ship all the time - they started with Spark and all of their issues were between their property and the cabinet (chorus), and they thought jumping ISP would fix their issues even though I'd told them it wouldn't - and I get constant messages and calls about this and that not working now and this is worse and now we're locked in and blah blah blah. I'd strongly suggest your parents clarify the issue they're actually having before thinking changing will fix it - unless it's perhaps the price - but when it comes to the competition you get what you pay for!

As long as you are happy with networks that don't peer at any public peeing exchanges. This is bad if you are a gamer at the very least.

mme

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#2433372 5-Mar-2020 20:46

noroad:

As long as you are happy with networks that don't peer at any public peeing exchanges. This is bad if you are a gamer at the very least.

Really wish Spark would actually do some proper public exchange peering, sometimes it re-routes me through the USA for a connection to a server in Auckland or via Australia. Not great if your customers or your work use Spark expecting a quick route inside the same country.

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#2433386 5-Mar-2020 21:02

Where has the OP gone? Lots of helpful replies in here, I hope he's coming back to read them, at least.

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