Anyone with Nova broadband?

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885 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2176237 11-Feb-2019 10:48

meowsqueak:

After requesting the router password, Nova refused in writing to provide access, which completely prevents us from setting up the LAN side of the router or configuring it in any way. What's more, they left it in a state with two unsecured wireless access points which allow anyone to connect to the router without a password. This is completely unacceptable! The contract with Nova has been cancelled immediately and I would wholeheartedly recommend that everyone avoids them like the plague. What a total fiasco!

Wow. That is unbelievable.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2176258 11-Feb-2019 11:30

LOL! Someone at Nova doesn't know how to configure their ACS.

GregM

79 posts

Master Geek

#2176260 11-Feb-2019 11:32

Hmmm, I'm moving in a month and going from Rural and using wireless to in town with Fibre, so was looking at moving to Nova. Not sure if I want to now....

BarTender

3606 posts

Uber Geek

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Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2176397 11-Feb-2019 13:11

I think if the pricing reflected similarly priced CGNAT ISPs where you don't get a real IP address unless it's a static IP.

Considering they only have two /21's and one /22: https://bgp.he.net/AS136795#_prefixes then that's a maximum of 5k subscribers so a niche provider in all respects.

The problem is providing internet service is a race to the bottom as realistically having true unlimited internet for sub $90 and knowing that you will attract the internet vampires that unless you are large enough to have that sustained by other paying customers it is almost impossible to have a profitable offering.

Nil Einne

469 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2210341 3-Apr-2019 20:09

Have I missed something? I assumed one of the reasons for offering broadband was for bundles with power but looking at their website, I actually don't see any real proper bundle. I mean okay there is this https://www.novaenergy.co.nz/broadband-energy-bundle but unless I'm confused it's no better than getting each separately. I mean don't get me wrong, if Nova have really decided not to go down the bundle discount route I think that's a good thing since even Vocus ISPs SlingShot/Orcon now do that to try and reduce churn by making it too complicated for you to move and also generally giving worse rates if you got the best for each. I'm just surprised. Or is it because they're still getting their feet rather than going down the TrustPower route of just jumping all in straight away and damn the consequences?

Anyway with the credit up to $350 now, it's actually fairly tempting for a standard fibre plan if you don't mind the CGNAT. Over 12 months at ~$730, it's better than the Slingshot/Stuff/Orcon 6 months half price or 3 months free offers (~$765). Not quite as good as BigPipe's 3 months (~$720) although you have to be away from them for 3 months for that. Way better than 2degrees' $200 account credit assuming you don't have an postpaid mobile plan with them and don't care about the Amazon Prime (~$820).

The router thing is somewhat concerning although assuming they've still set it up so a factory reset will return to an unbranded settings, it seems if you don't have a phone line and know what you're doing it's no big deal. Just factory reset it, disable TR069 and assign whatever settings are needed and you're good to go. I guess the only issue is updates. I'm not sure if standard Netcomm updates will work and technically you're probably violating some TOS by installing them yourself You could re-enable TR069 every so often, but there is a risk they will burn in changes preventing access to the router.

Of course you could just use your own router. Assuming it's a NF18ACV these seem to be okay for my gigabit plan in a small house but like most Netcomm's they're not that good even compared to by 2 year old TPLink AC1900 which is hardly that fancy. The interface is also a bit crap and my IPv6 seems to regularly die requiring a restart. (Although I'm not sure it's the router.) Mind you the router thing raises questions over how well their technical staff have considered what they're doing so even with your own router it's not free of concern.

What settings do they use anyway? DHCP? PPPoE? Do they require vlan tagging?

Nil Einne

469 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2210371 3-Apr-2019 21:15

Looking at their T&C https://www.novaenergy.co.nz/general-terms-residential-internet-phone & https://www.novaenergy.co.nz/smart-home-broadband-phone-special-terms-12-month-term I noticed a few things. Firstly it is indeed a NF18ACV. They do mention that they will not provide the username & password for the router so that's something. But they tell you not to have unsecured wifi, despite them supposedly not properly protecting the wifi on the devices the supply and not allowing you to change it!

And finally it seems if you use your own "modem" you're technically not eligible for plan and so can't get the credit. I wonder if they have any intention of enforcing this or just a more extreme case of 'if you use your own device don't expect us to offer any support if something goes wrong'?

noroad

951 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2210389 3-Apr-2019 21:32

Nil Einne:

What settings do they use anyway? DHCP? PPPoE? Do they require vlan tagging?

PPPoE, vlan 10

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garretts

12 posts

Geek

#2228131 30-Apr-2019 18:59

Does anyone know the sip settings?
We are looking at going to nova but want to use our own ata

Printertech

81 posts

Master Geek

#2261304 20-Jun-2019 10:06

I signed up on the door salesman's iPad last night for the $650 rebate for connecting Electricity, Gas, and internet. After speaking to Nova helpdesk this morning I will be using my 5 days grace to cancel the contract.

My main reason are the limits on the router.

1:I have security cameras that require Port forwarding. They can do it but inconvenient.

2:I lose the ability to monitor my router on my phone App.

3:I can't set the password so have to reprogram all my devices

I don't like the idea of losing control of my modem and Bigpipe have given excellent service with Asus router for $10 less per month.

Apart from these concerns, their energy prices were slightly higher than my existing ones with Mercury.

The $650 was so tempting, but the conditions that go with the contract are not.

I could not find one positive review for Nova Broadband on the internet.

noroad

951 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#2261341 20-Jun-2019 10:44

Printertech:

I signed up on the door salesman's iPad last night for the $650 rebate for connecting Electricity, Gas, and internet. After speaking to Nova helpdesk this morning I will be using my 5 days grace to cancel the contract.

My main reason are the limits on the router.

1:I have security cameras that require Port forwarding. They can do it but inconvenient.

2:I lose the ability to monitor my router on my phone App.

3:I can't set the password so have to reprogram all my devices

I don't like the idea of losing control of my modem and Bigpipe have given excellent service with Asus router for $10 less per month.

Apart from these concerns, their energy prices were slightly higher than my existing ones with Mercury.

The $650 was so tempting, but the conditions that go with the contract are not.

I could not find one positive review for Nova Broadband on the internet.

Ask them for a static ip, it is a non advertised but standard offering. PM me if there is an issue. Are you wanting to use your own router? unless you are using the Nova voice offering there is really nothing stopping you using any PPPoE/tagged capable device.

Bluntz

29 posts

Geek
Inactive user

#2261509 20-Jun-2019 14:54

GregM:

Hmmm, I'm moving in a month and going from Rural and using wireless to in town with Fibre, so was looking at moving to Nova. Not sure if I want to now....

You should really call 2 degrees.

quickymart

13956 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2261601 20-Jun-2019 18:47

Speaking of power providers trying to do internet - anyone had any experience with Contact?

quickymart

13956 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2265389 26-Jun-2019 21:53

And speaking of Contact...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/113615702/contact-energy-is-impossible-to-reach

doubletop

62 posts

Master Geek

#2310641 4-Sep-2019 14:10

I must have been a lucky early adopter and managed to log on to my modem make some changes and back them up.

Subsequent updates by Nova locked me out but retained my settings. To get round the lockout I just did a factory reset and uploaded the backup, made any changes I wanted , saved them again and all was well until the next change.

Or it was until the 27 Aug 2019 change which has modified the factory admin/admin password so even after a factory reset I can't get back in. The techs at Nova have been very helpful but only as far as getting the modem back working which means I'm now on a vanilla config.

Dumb on their part and very short sighted that the LAN features of the NF18AVC cannot be configured by users.

So now its time to look around .

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2310647 4-Sep-2019 14:22

Little late here but did any of the people trying to login to the Netcomm rotuers from Nova try admin for the username, and the last 6 digits of the router's MAC address as the password? Any letters would be lower case, and the MAC is printed on the base of the router.

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