Best ISP For Gaming ? Currently with 2D want to change.

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Best ISP For Gaming ? Currently with 2D want to change.

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370 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3461160 13-Feb-2026 10:17

DjShadow:

Have you logged a ticket with your ISP indicating your experience, so their helpdesk / NOC has a chance to have a look?

I have. Their helpdesk is next to useless.

Took me 2 days of explaining in different methods to get them to understand the issue is not specific to my house.

* Ohhh it's your router - no I plugged the computer directly into the ONT when I was doing the testing.

Ohh if you connect to your ONT with wireless it is going to cause issues - My ONT does not have wireless.
Ok you will need to buy one of our routers or rent one of our routers so we can diagnose the issue - No I plugged directly into the ONT so its not a router issue.
* Ohh Ok make sure you are not connecting with wireless - My ONT does not have wireless function.
* Ohh it's your computer then - No I already explained that a friend pinged the server from their house using spark then brought the same comptuer to my house and got the same ping as me to the server using 2dgrees
Ohh when they did it did they connect to the ONT with wireless - no my ONT does not have wireless function they plugged in with an ethernet cable.
* Ohh did you try a new ethernet cable - Its not the ethernet cable or I would have issues with all servers and issues with the internet in general.

This went on for two days, me explaining over and over in different ways. the frustrating part was it was a different person every time they responded and every person said " I will be taking personal responsibility for this ticket" Never heard from that person again.
Most useless pack of desk rats I have ever dealt with.

They did escalate to a higher level in the end but then I came here looking for an alternative ISP because their helpdesk is just garbage.

Sorry for the Rant but they are so frustrating.

heretohelp

370 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3461163 13-Feb-2026 10:26

darylblake:

To be honest, if you are on fibre, you will notice a minimal difference. Yes some networks might peer better and you will get better latency to some places. But others might be slightly worse.. and we are talking a few MS here in most cases.

Game on a cabled network on fibre. If your gaming on WIFI then you have the potential for more problems than the ISP.

I would be more inclined to shop around for a better deal (financially).

The issue I have at the moment is 2 Degrese up stream is adding up 2 - 3 seconds of ping. This particular test is only 300ms to the server I want to use. This is low for 2dgreese it can be as high as 420ms
I can deal with 250ms max before the service gives me issues.
2 Degreese helpdesk is next to useless.
I think I have decided to pull the trigger on Monday and go with Primo Wireless as they are a local ISP here in my town.
I deal with them a we bit through my employment for client technical internet communications.

Hu? did i do that?
16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.

MichaelNZ

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#3461164 13-Feb-2026 10:34

heretohelp:

I have. Their helpdesk is next to useless.

Whether their helpdesk is 'useless' or not is irrelevant. NOC are not dealing with this.

heretohelp:

They did escalate to a higher level in the end but then I came here looking for an alternative ISP because their helpdesk is just garbage.

What you are asking for is not something anyone offers.

You could switch but what are you going to do when they change their routing policy or something else happens and you are at or over 250ms to the West Coast.

Look for servers in NZ (but not on Spark) and Australia. You will likely have a lot more consistent experience.

WFH Linux Systems and Networks Engineer in the Internet industry | Specialising in Mikrotik | APNIC member | Open to job offers | ZL2NET

MrPrimo

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Master Geek
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#3461168 13-Feb-2026 10:43

I was shown this by a forum user, so I am just popping in to add my 2c to this, Primo does not do any CG-NAT at all, never has either, every customer gets their own IPv4 address, and they can be made static if if you want for $5 per month on a residential plan, or the static is free on a business plan.

Primo - Connecting Taranaki
www.primo.nz

xpd

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#3461169 13-Feb-2026 10:54

ISP's are for the masses, they can't cater to everyones needs and wants.

If you want responsive route changes etc for your particular needs, you'd need to run your own ISP or be paying megabucks for a dedicated connection and even then good luck as you're still reliant on 3rd parties.

XPD / Gavin

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heretohelp

370 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3461188 13-Feb-2026 12:08

xpd:

ISP's are for the masses, they can't cater to everyones needs and wants.

If you want responsive route changes etc for your particular needs, you'd need to run your own ISP or be paying megabucks for a dedicated connection and even then good luck as you're still reliant on 3rd parties.

I understand that but when one ISP has a 3 second ping difference to all other ISP's then you come to a forum like this to ask for people's opinion on who you can change to if you are not getting a straight response from the current ISP's support.

Hu? did i do that?
16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.

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heretohelp

370 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3461191 13-Feb-2026 12:10

MrPrimo:

I was shown this by a forum user, so I am just popping in to add my 2c to this, Primo does not do any CG-NAT at all, never has either, every customer gets their own IPv4 address, and they can be made static if if you want for $5 per month on a residential plan, or the static is free on a business plan.

Thanks yes I am probably going to be pulling the trigger for the move to Primo on Monday or later next week.

At the moment I have purchased a 1 month VPN until I work a solution out for what I want todo.

Hu? did i do that?
16Mb (EDO RAM), K6-II processor, 2Mb of onboard graphics. 32k dial up modem. 12 speed CD ROM. 5¼-inch floppy drive. 500Mb HDD.

MichaelNZ

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#3461198 13-Feb-2026 12:28

heretohelp:

I understand that but when one ISP has a 3 second ping difference to all other ISP's then you come to a forum like this to ask for people's opinion on who you can change to if you are not getting a straight response from the current ISP's support.

Your graphic literally shows 300ms latency which is a long way off the 3 seconds you claim above.

While 300ms is slightly on the high side for NZ / US RTT its not unreasonable.

The lowest time you show there is 128ms and that's in Auckland so it will be better regardless of anything else.

You haven't said what this graphic purports to represent and the fact there is only ~170ms (0.17th of a second) difference between the best and the worst. Or about 1/18th of the number you claim. You claims are not adding up here.

Furthermore the fact the best result shows a 25% packet loss - which is fatal level - suggests whatever this 'test' is, something is not good.

WFH Linux Systems and Networks Engineer in the Internet industry | Specialising in Mikrotik | APNIC member | Open to job offers | ZL2NET

MaxineN

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#3461200 13-Feb-2026 12:38

MichaelNZ:

heretohelp:

I understand that but when one ISP has a 3 second ping difference to all other ISP's then you come to a forum like this to ask for people's opinion on who you can change to if you are not getting a straight response from the current ISP's support.

Your graphic literally shows 300ms latency which is a long way off the 3 seconds you claim above.

While 300ms is slightly on the high side for NZ / US RTT its not unreasonable.

Umm...

That is currently double the average compared to the competition and does show a less than desirable path. It would be good to get an explanation.

@duffles or @aspired

Can we also get a proper MTR (not a tracert/traceroute, an MTR, using WinMTR or mtr if on Linux)?

Routes do change all the time yes, however the good thing about being an ISP is that you don't always have to take one path, you may have multiple.

Edit, nice edit, yes we should get proper testing done by the OP and presented here. I also think threads like these are just bad as ISPs do try their best and yes have a variety of peering, PoPs and choices, however it's pretty bad faith if there's no actual data to back the issue which in this thread there's so little.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

MichaelNZ

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#3461203 13-Feb-2026 12:44

MaxineN:

That is currently double the average compared to the competition and does show a less than desirable path. It would be good to get an explanation.

Nothing much to see.

We have multiple T1 connectivity and the difference between the best and worst to the USA is 70ms. Add on top the 16ms for a trip for Napier. Its not twice.

WFH Linux Systems and Networks Engineer in the Internet industry | Specialising in Mikrotik | APNIC member | Open to job offers | ZL2NET

xpd

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#3461209 13-Feb-2026 13:23

Has the OP actually posted some IP's that they're basing their tests on ? (I might have missed them)

XPD / Gavin

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MaxineN

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#3461210 13-Feb-2026 13:24

xpd:

Has the OP actually posted some IP's that they're basing their tests on ? (I might have missed them)

Nope.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

SpartanVXL

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#3461274 13-Feb-2026 16:07

MichaelNZ:

Whether their helpdesk is 'useless' or not is irrelevant. NOC are not dealing with this.

What you are asking for is not something anyone offers.

You could switch but what are you going to do when they change their routing policy or something else happens and you are at or over 250ms to the West Coast.

Look for servers in NZ (but not on Spark) and Australia. You will likely have a lot more consistent experience.

In all fairness if it really is double like 350-400ms then someone probably should look at it. OP has a better chance here to get support with someone at 2D who will understand and actually check instead of banging their head against a script.

Also that game service isn’t going to have any servers down here. They often have ping limits too so exceeding 300ms just outright stops you from using it.

For now OP keep using the VPN, but pretty much all ISP’s will have decent ping to west coast US. It’s SEA that’s a bit harder to get consistent routes for.

bfginger

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#3461327 13-Feb-2026 16:43

MrPrimo:

I was shown this by a forum user, so I am just popping in to add my 2c to this, Primo does not do any CG-NAT at all, never has either, every customer gets their own IPv4 address, and they can be made static if if you want for $5 per month on a residential plan, or the static is free on a business plan.

It may be worthwhile adding that positive information to the Help ^ Support and FAQs webpage on the Primo website. Not many people may care in percentage terms but those who do are more likely to recommend to others. Information for fibre BYO routers like vlan tagging requirements, DHCP and/or PPPoE support plus MTU in the FAQ should be useful too.

There are a couple of broken links in the Primo Home Phone section of the the Help ^ Residential Fibre page.

MichaelNZ

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#3461330 13-Feb-2026 17:01

bfginger:

Not many people may care in percentage terms but those who do are more likely to recommend to others. Information for fibre BYO routers like vlan tagging requirements, DHCP and/or PPPoE support plus MTU in the FAQ should be useful too.

I am a geek and I do care about some of this stuff.

But objectively people who are "geeks" and consider this stuff as important are literally the most difficult and least profitable demographic.

BYO routers are a hassle too. Netcomm and Dlink are trash. In the name of security theatre Fritzbox has made itself unworkable and its cheap. People turn off ICMP and all this achieves is I can't use one of the best tools for quick diagnosis. If they do it with IPv6 it breaks.

Then the ones who have geek options like Mikrotik and FOSS Linux sometimes go and do weird configs which stuffs up their connection which they blame the ISP for.

And the ones who spend more time on Traceroute then I do are a special form of "challenge" to cater for.

I totally take a n00b who just wants to get connected with the router we provide any day...

The average user just wants an internet connection which works and if they need support they aren't on hold with an overseas helpdesk. This I can totally cater for. Furthermore, if they have used our supplied router (usually a Mikrotik hAP ac3) this has excellent remote admin capability so I can login and have a look whats going on.

This combination of customer and equipment has proven itself so many times now I can actually have a life outside IT.

WFH Linux Systems and Networks Engineer in the Internet industry | Specialising in Mikrotik | APNIC member | Open to job offers | ZL2NET

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