UFB - what are my data and voice options?

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Jonski

265 posts

Ultimate Geek

#157648 8-Dec-2014 12:31

You may have seen the woes I've had in getting UFB in another thread: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=40&topicid=157449

So if I do want to change ISPs for data, and also have a landline, what are my options? I have a very light need for a landline- it's for my mother to call me, and it's for cheap long-duration calls to Ireland. Not a lot else. Also, I don't want any highly-technical SIP setups to perform, as I want it to "just work" and my wife to be able to manage the connection if I'm not available.

Telecom! charge $30/month more for essentially the same service (80GB @ 100/50) than Vodafone (80 GB @100/20). Orcon are even more expensive (100 GB @ 100/20 or 100/50 with international calling thrown in). I might be interested in My Republic, but they don't do international tolls at very good rates and I'm not a gamer.

Who else should I be considering? After recent experience, support and service is very important to me. Is there an easy way to do naked UFB and configure my own SIP trunking? Perhaps an easy way to turn iPhones on the domestic Wifi into landline replacements?

Any other ways to get creative without too much technical involvement?

Alternately, what would you do for a greenfield UFB install? Pick and choose the best bang for your buck.

TIA
Jon

I reject your reality and substitute my own!
- Adam Savage, Mythbuster

toejam316

1462 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1190561 8-Dec-2014 13:00

Well I believe your iPhone can be used as the primary device for a SIP, so I'd say a 2talk plan configured on your iPhones would do you well - the $10 plan includes 250 minutes to ireland

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1190593 8-Dec-2014 13:48

Do you even need a landline? As 2degrees do an option for $20 per month that gives you a landline number that connects to your mobile. Vodafone probally do the same. It would mainly depend on what the toll charges from your mobile to Ireland are like. Either way I say go with someone other than Vodafone for UFB solely because they already provide you with ADSL. This means both connections are completely independent. So you can choose when to disconnect the ADSL after you are happy that the UFB is working properly. Also if you want to keep your current landline number. You will need to port it before you disconnect the line that it is currently on.

ChrisNZL

309 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1191646 8-Dec-2014 15:09

What's your price range?
If I'm looking at the various ISPs correctly, these are the sort of plans I imagine you might consider? (eg 100 Mbps down, 80 GB, phone with calls to Ireland):

Spark: 100/50 UFB, 80 GB, phone, $125/month. Ireland 33c/min.

Vodafone: 100/20 UFB, 80 GB, phone, $95/month. Ireland 26c/min.

Orcon: 100/20 UFB, 100 GB, phone with unlimited calls to Ireland, $108/month.

WXC: Max/Max UFB (so maybe 200/200? you'd have to check), unlimited data, phone, $99/month. Ireland 5c/min.

Snap: 100/20 UFB, 80 GB, phone, $85/month. Ireland 10c/min.

MyRepublic: 100/20 UFB, unlimited data, phone, $99/month. Ireland 20c/min.

And then there are Skype's rates to Ireland: 3c/min roughly.

Just read your thread a bit, sounds abysmal :(

I've found Snap's customer support to be great, as is WXC's.

Is 80 GB going to last you?

Creator of Tallowmere. Working on Tallowmere 2.

DarkShadow

1647 posts

Uber Geek

#1191648 8-Dec-2014 15:12

Getting VoIP setup at home isn't hard at all.

Buy an ATA
Plug it in
Press a few buttons on the 2talk site
Done

Your family members won't notice a difference if you don't tell them. They just pick up the phone and dial as normal.

Inphinity

2780 posts

Uber Geek

#1191651 8-Dec-2014 15:19

ChrisNZL: What's your price range?
If I'm looking at the various ISPs correctly, these are the sort of plans I imagine you might consider? (eg 100 Mbps down, 80 GB, phone with calls to Ireland):

I'll note you've not taken in to account in the cost comparison that some of the providers here offer capped calling options, e.g. Spark $4.50 for up to 2hrs, Vodafone $5 for up to 2hrs. So some of the cheaper per-minute rates, work out more expensive when you're talking calls that are regularly 30min+ for example. Obviously without understanding the volume & duration of calls it's hard to quantify, but on first glance it looks like from your info that MyReplublic's calling is cheaper than Sparks, at $0.20/min vs $0.33/min, but with a $4.50/2hr cap, Spark actually is cheaper for any calls between 23 and 120 minutes in duration. Though as you've noted, Skype is pretty cheap...

OP, have you considered just using Skype, with a local Skype number?

Behodar

10427 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1191661 8-Dec-2014 15:56

Where do you live? Not all ISPs service all towns.

Jonski

265 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1191695 8-Dec-2014 16:40

ChrisNZL: What's your price range?
If I'm looking at the various ISPs correctly, these are the sort of plans I imagine you might consider? (eg 100 Mbps down, 80 GB, phone with calls to Ireland):

Spark: 100/50 UFB, 80 GB, phone, $125/month. Ireland 33c/min.

Vodafone: 100/20 UFB, 80 GB, phone, $95/month. Ireland 26c/min.

Orcon: 100/20 UFB, 100 GB, phone with unlimited calls to Ireland, $108/month.

WXC: Max/Max UFB (so maybe 200/200? you'd have to check), unlimited data, phone, $99/month. Ireland 5c/min.

Snap: 100/20 UFB, 80 GB, phone, $85/month. Ireland 10c/min.

MyRepublic: 100/20 UFB, unlimited data, phone, $99/month. Ireland 20c/min.

And then there are Skype's rates to Ireland: 3c/min roughly.

Just read your thread a bit, sounds abysmal :(

I've found Snap's customer support to be great, as is WXC's.

Is 80 GB going to last you?

Thanks Chris. I had a bright idea and went and looked at Consumer's website, and see that Inspire, Actrix and Snap are top-rated ISPs for service etc. Given Snap's competitive pricing, I'll definitely look more closely at that. What are people's experience here? Yours sounds good. (Memo to self: check out their forum pages)

80 GB will do me "for now". Especially if Snap's $5 for unlimited youtube is taken into account (kids). To answer someone else's question, I'm in Auckland (North Shore) and so LFC is Chorus. A couple of months has gone by and still nobody has put fibre down my drive. Once I get DSL running again, I'll lay a complaint with VF and cancel my UFB and sign with someone else.

I'm not sure that Skype is the answer for all telephony- it's officially not a telephone replacement and you can't call emergency services. I don't ever expect to, but it's something I need to consider. To answer another question, we make 2-hour calls to Ireland once or twice a month, so the cost does add up.

I'll look at 2talk and see if there's anything there for me...

Cheers
Jon

I reject your reality and substitute my own!
- Adam Savage, Mythbuster