I am about to move to a rental in Otumoetai, Tauranga, and need to set up a broadband connection. I'm fairly ignorant on the technicalities.
Are there any opinions on the best ISP to use? I have a preference for EOL (a local company), at the moment from what I've read and what I think I need, but there isn't much on them.
Others on my shortlist are Snap / Vodafone / Telecom / Orcon / Flip / Wireless Nation & Netsmart.
I previously had TelstraClear cable in Wellington, so a little spoilt on speed, I don't think I'll go with them now because their reviews appear to be poor in general, and they've been swallowed by Vodafone anyway

The issues which seem to be important to consider are:
Wiring & devices from 'street' to pt of interaction (ie laptop, in my case) ;
Current provision of ADSL+ or better, as well as plans for next year+ ;
Outage frequency ;
Customer Service ;
Upload/Download speed ;
Consistency of performance over an average 24hr period (esp at peak times) ;
Actual average speed vs reported max speed ;
Distance from house to cabinet/exchange ; and
Latency (wrt Gaming / VOIP)

Lots to consider I know! So if I'm asking to much I apologise...