Woosh Wireless

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Woosh Wireless

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#11020 14-Dec-2004 14:04

it's a good thought but not one that works on the company Mac laptop... its a slow little beast but it's the only one i've got.... nope... at the moment the external is the only option i have.
You work in Wellington Freitasm? what the coverage like in the CBD?

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41036

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#11022 14-Dec-2004 14:09

In Wellington, yes. Quite good, speed and coverage around here (Midland Park, The Terrace). Much better than when I tried the same modem in Auckland!

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

more-Ron

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#11091 16-Dec-2004 12:13

Have just started using Woosh. Funny, after browsing this forum and other user comments on the service I just about flagged the idea - but thought I'd give it a whirl anyway since they claimed a 30day moneyback period.

Anyway, thus far the most painful experience was purchasing the frickn thing. The guy selling it (Vodafone outlet) wasn't too clued up and I certainly wasn't expecting a 15 minute 'interview' in order to purchase it.

Though we live in a relatively central Auckland suburb the area we live in is notoriously bad for RF signals (TV, Radio, Mobile) and thought I'd be returning the modem after a brief tutu. To my suprise the signal strength and quality are great. They must have a site rather conveniently located as I didn't need to hunt for optimal reception at all.

Though we are only talking a weeks worth of connections the service has exceeded expectations (admittedly these were low after scanning forum feedback). Haven't yet been dropped, download speeds are in the 30k range and haven't noticed any regular slowdowns. I don't play online games so can't comment there but 64k radio streaming works well. Running MS XP on 3GHz Intel P4 on 875P mobo if you are wondering...

I should thank PARADOXSM for his post as I've setup as per his guide. My system also locked up a couple of times while running a USB cable but now the modem is plugged straight into a switching hub no such problem. This USB lockup seriously needs addressing... and I obviously wouldn't be so content if I couldn't run an ethernet connection.

No I am not a Woosh employee, marketer, PR type or fanboy. Just thought I'd post a postive experience of the service - will update if/when it turns to custard...

Ciao, more-Ron

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41036

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#11092 16-Dec-2004 12:40

I can't complain either. Speed in Wellington is really good and coverage in CBD is ok. Check my blog section here on Geekzone where I comment about some connection options and my conclusion is that Woosh is worth having.

Had a bit of trouble with billing but after posting on my blog I got a phone call and everything is sorted and working now.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41036

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#11096 16-Dec-2004 15:50

Now I'm back in front of my computer... This blog is about what wireless services to use (where I complain about the Woosh service), and this blog is when Woosh called me to fix the billing problems.

As I wrote in the previous post, all good and automatic payment is working ok now.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

kirjava

69 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#11141 17-Dec-2004 21:55

Heya - if you want to use woosh on a Mac/PC running Linux/bsd/other tcp/ip and etherent compiant OS then you have to grab an ethernet adaptor.

AND - you have to borrow someones windoze box to configure the username/password on your router, but then it should work sweet with Mac etc.

Cheers,

Rene

Personal Homepage | Hawkes Bay IT Group | Hawkes Bay Linux User Group

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

delt0r

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#11474 1-Jan-2005 16:02

Well i'm still in my 30 day money back garntee period.

When i first called the help was honest. Thay said that if online gaming was what i was after, like quake, then i shouldn't consider them yet. But otherwise there a 30 day money back period anyway. So i tried it.

My reception was going to be marginal at best anyway, i'm on the edge of two cell sites. And at first i had problems. Things would disconect etc all the time. The bandwidth was not a issue. 250 kps all the time any time of day. But i need to download large files from time to time (300Mb) and disconetions where a issue.

But again the help desk was very good. Sure thay are not all techs , but then enginneers don't anwser telephones (not the good ones anyway). Since i had run out of bandwidth, thay added an extra gig for the trial period for more testing on my part. Thay also offered to send out a technichian to set the booster up free of charge.

I have since found a postion for my booster thats gives me a full uninterupted connection. So i'm gunna keep my connection. It is very cheap -$20 for 6 months and $40 for the last 6 months of my contract.

I don't need mobile service so thats no never mind with the booster.

Its really quite simple. if you want to try it do so. If you don't like it --return everything within 30 days and get your money back. Can't argue with that.

For refrance:
OS is FC3 amd 64 bit port (redhat) using the PPPoE with ethernet. Woosh will flash the modem for you if you get it off them.

ps i'm a uni student -- not a walker wireless or woosh emplyee or otherwise.
pss there are new kernel module drivers for the usb option. But i have not tried them

bjorn

192 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#11476 1-Jan-2005 16:50

Have they fixed the huge latency as yet? Any new firmware upgrades for the modems ?

DjShadow

4222 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1322

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#11667 8-Jan-2005 20:01

I was on holiday in Auckland the other week and gave Woosh a try at the Albany DSE.
It was one of their new modems and didn't have a booster anntenna hooked up.

I tried a few sites like Bandwidthplace.com's speed test and came back with a 30k per sec result which I was happy with, also tried a few test pings - tried mail.orcon.net.nz (something local) and got pings in the 120-180ms range which is a fair improvment.

I tried woosh once using their original modem at Harvey Norman Invercargill not long after it started there and the pings were around the 400-450ms so I can say it has come a long way!

T_1_M

21 posts

Geek

#11874 16-Jan-2005 17:51

Thinking about buying a modem second hand on trademe

Anyone know of any differences between the first and second generation modems (besides visually)?

Also the modem is most likely going to be hooked up to a wireless router and then used to service my homes internet requirements. Does anyone know whether it is very friendly with routers and this setup since its not ALWAYS connected etc? I have a type g netgear router if that helps.

Not sure if i should go jetstream, but setup costs are a bugger when i keep moving....

Oh well, hope you can give me some answers.

Oh and also while im here, anyone know anything about woosh doing voip... It was in the pipeline a year back but guess they still havnt got the latency down enough.

Cheers

Tim

paradoxsm

3000 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#12540 6-Feb-2005 02:18

There is practically no "Internal" difference between the second and third generation modems.
the first generation is quite different.

I much prefer the second gen for home use, but I definatley prefer the third for portability

Second gen Pro's. (p1c)
Tough. it's made from a cast alloy, no way of killing it.
The indicator lights are the best of all the modems, informative and visually simple.

Cons.
Heavy for portability,
Battery not replacable
sometimes fiddly fold up antenna
booster antenna connection is very homemade and "afterthought" looking

Third generations pro's (p1D)
Light as a feather
takes "nokia" blb-2 batteries as the power supply. You can buy them and little standalone chargers off trademe for spares
solid feeling booster antenna connector
ultra portable.

Cons,
Weak, don't press that power button too hard, oops. dead modem.
Display is near to useless, just has green flashing lights, that flicker in stupid patterns argh

probably best to stick with the third unless the second is going real cheap, the seconds can also be quirky with batteries going flat,.

Enjoy.

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.

Juan Incognito

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#12596 8-Feb-2005 11:29

I used to sell Woosh (through DSE), had a lot of interest in it from customers, however the sign up process was not always perfect, which lost Woosh some custom. I once had a customer who wanted one of the business products, with a high monthly fee, but an error on the specific signup page meant the only way he could sign up was through a residential plan (the signup page wouldn't accept any cellphone number for some reason). Spent about 30 minutes on the phone to Woosh, they couldn't help, it was kind of surreal.

smugfop

21 posts

Geek

#13423 9-Mar-2005 14:23

I attempted to sign up with DSE in Albany and the word incompetant sprang to mind, after 1 hour of phone calls and hanging around they finally told me they couldn't sign me up and i should try another shop where they knew how to sign people up.
When i eventually did sign up i found woosh to be hopeless, the bandwidth was pathetic and the ping rates were unbelievably bad, but they are better now i hear some say....this was 2 months ago and they are still hopeless.
Saying that after much tweaking and fiddling i have a reasonable service (if i ignore the ping rates) although 1Gb is nowhere near enough for 1 month and when they slow me down to the so called 56k its more like 28k and i have even been down as low as 320bps for a few hours.
The moron of the story is woosh is ok'ish if like me you don't want to pay silly money for a phoneline and isp sign up (i still feel ripped off by tele"con")
If your an online gamer or want VOiP forget it, or does someone know of something coming up?

munkysquidhybrid

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#13651 17-Mar-2005 18:58

Its so good to hear some positive stuff about Woosh here. Positive feedback is what they need, because they've lost my patronage and at least three other people I know of. We're all from Invervegas, and please bear in mind this is just the problems we've had down south; I have no idea what its like elsewhere.

They got my attention because I don't have a phone line and the whole mobile thing sounded great. So I signed up last June, at the meer cost of $199 (no booster aerial) and $45 charges for the rest of the month. Nice. I couldn't wait for the "always on, high-speed wireless internet with unlimited downloads".

Claim #1: It's always on.
Truth #1: The service disconnects at random times for random durations, no less than once a week and even though its meant to redial, it doesn't (my firmware is v1.0.7).

Claim #2: It's high-speed.
Truth #2: They claim it to be a 250kb connection. Bollicks. Its about 115kb down here. Its never been faster than this, but it has been a whole lot slower. A lot. And thats before they cap you to 28kb (or worse).

Claim #3: It's wireless.
Truth #3: While essentially true, they neglected to mention that the coverage in Invervegas was barely outside of the CBD. In fact, roughly a third of their coverage was over the reclaimed swamp that bridges the CBD with the airport! So considering you could walk across their useful coverage zone in 10 minutes, the idea of me using it at friends and families houses was quickly quashed. (Note: Nine months later, their coverage is over two-thirds of the city. But try someone elses out at your place before you buy - and don't rely on its mobility).

Claim #4: It's unlimited downloads!
Truth #4: Sure, its unlimited. So long as you read the fine print - "Woosh reserves the right to limit excessive downloads". Ok. So whats excessive? The guys at the shop assure me they've never heard of a problem with that clause, and half the people who have bought Woosh are P2P users. Great! I'm in downloading heaven! Then Woosh decide a few months later that by "unlimited" they meen "15GB". A couple of months after that, they decide by "unlimited" they meen "10GB". Then they decide that to retain your 10GB of "unlimited downloads", you have to pay an extra $15! But don't worry - the cost won't go up for two years! Hooray!

So here it is. I thought Woosh was fantastic - the roaming didn't worry me because they were expanding, the speed was still more than acceptable for surfing the net, and I could download 1GB for $1. Thats the Woosh I joined. Now I think Woosh is the biggest farce in the ISP game - 1: They can't get resource consents for new sites, so the coverage is very slow to expand;
2: My Mum laughs at the speed of my internet;
3: And 1GB now costs $5.50 to download. Until 2007. Then it's $7.

They are not to be trusted. They cannot deliver on their claims. They change the rules and their prices whenever it suits. This is all after a mere nine months! I'm out.

-MunkySquidHybrid.

P.S: If you're currently using Woosh, ring up, stay on hold for 35 minutes, and then get them to put you through to the "Cancellation Department" (I guess it really is that bad if they need a whole department for cancellations). Tell them you've had enough and want to cancel your account. They should offer you two months free "to reconsider". Talk about desperation.... ;)

cokemaster

Exited
4937 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1089

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#13667 18-Mar-2005 00:03

"P.S: If you're currently using Woosh, ring up, stay on hold for 35 minutes, and then get them to put you through to the "Cancellation Department" (I guess it really is that bad if they need a whole department for cancellations). Tell them you've had enough and want to cancel your account."

Telecom XTRA still has my worse helpdesk of the decade for taking so long to answer calls. I used to get around 40m - 1 hour on hold (during peak times though).

Air New Zealand baggage service comes in a close second with calls on hold top 1 1/2 hours...

Off topic, I know :(

Haven't used Woosh but here in PN there is a place I know which uses 'Walker wireless'?

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4