Best ISP for multiple users?

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PSlover14

145 posts

Master Geek

# 176932 16-Jul-2015 15:20

Hey guys, its been a while since i've visited the forum,
Our current internet is utter crap, its with Telecom (Spark as you will), and its an old plan called "Total Home Broadband 120GB". On our WiFi we have 2 android phones, an android tablet, a Xbox 360, a PS3, around 6 Computers, but mostly 3 at a time, and we are blowing through our internet really quickly. I would like to switch away from telecom, as their customer support is really bad from my experience, but we need to keep our Xtra email addresses. Firstly, does Spark still offer that $5 a month to keep the email address, and do they have landline only packages, as we have looked into other providers that are cheaper, but which is the best for us. We live in Norsewood, a rural town south of Waipukurau, so in the Tararua region, so obviously we can't get MyRepublic or any UFB plans, but we are supposedly eligble for VDSL. Is it any better then our current ADSL2+ line, and how much is it for unlimited?

TL:DR: Who is the best internet provider for VDSL that offers Unlimited naked broadband and is cheaper then Telecom/Spark, and can we keep our Xtra email and Telecom phone line.
Cheers,
PSLover14

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145 posts

Master Geek

# 1345529 16-Jul-2015 15:21

Also, forgot to mention but if it can handle 720p streaming to Twitch that would also be awesome too.

macuser

2120 posts

Uber Geek

# 1345531 16-Jul-2015 15:24

One person supports this post

You will be best off just staying on Spark if you want to keep your landline with them. Upgrade to VDSL.

You are probably not going to get better speeds with another ISP, and you are not likely to get a better deal with another provider unless you move your homeline with them also.

n4

956 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1345536 16-Jul-2015 15:28

If you want to switch away from Spark because of bad customer service, why would you want to keep your landline with them? Also, as mentioned above you won't get a competitive plan from anywhere else unless you switch broadband and phone together. Best deals are likely to involve switching to VoIP for you landline (usually meaning voicemail, caller ID etc is free too).

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# 1345537 16-Jul-2015 15:30

" ...we are supposedly eligble for VDSL."

That's the crunch.

1. Put your address into the Chorus Broadband Capability Map - can you get broadband >20Mbps?

2. Check your modem stats. What is the downstream attenuation on your ADSL connection? - this will give you a rough idea of how good your VDSL connection may be.

Sideface

PSlover14

145 posts

Master Geek

# 1345542 16-Jul-2015 15:40

n4: If you want to switch away from Spark because of bad customer service, why would you want to keep your landline with them? Also, as mentioned above you won't get a competitive plan from anywhere else unless you switch broadband and phone together. Best deals are likely to involve switching to VoIP for you landline (usually meaning voicemail, caller ID etc is free too).

We would like to keep the landline just for convenience, and it would be cheaper then VoIP supposedly, and some people in our part of town have had problems with landlines from other companies (Compass mostly, but they supposedly are/were vodafone at the time). The customer service thing was only to do with our broadband, wherein they told us our router was broken and we needed to buy a new one that was overpriced for what it is, we have never had a problem with the Spark landline, only Spark broadband. We need to keep the Xtra email due to people such as Fonterra and other farming companies having that as our contact email, so its easier to keep the email.

PSlover14

145 posts

Master Geek

# 1345543 16-Jul-2015 15:44

Sideface: " ...we are supposedly eligble for VDSL."

That's the crunch.

1. Put your address into the Chorus Broadband Capability Map - can you get broadband >20Mbps?

2. Check your modem stats. What is the downstream attenuation on your ADSL connection? - this will give you a rough idea of how good your VDSL connection may be.

On our modem (A Spark Supplied Technicolor Gateway)where do you find the downstream attenuation? Where as in where on the router settings.

and heres the chorus thing:

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

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# 1345544 16-Jul-2015 15:44

PSlover14:
n4: If you want to switch away from Spark because of bad customer service, why would you want to keep your landline with them? Also, as mentioned above you won't get a competitive plan from anywhere else unless you switch broadband and phone together. Best deals are likely to involve switching to VoIP for you landline (usually meaning voicemail, caller ID etc is free too).

We would like to keep the landline just for convenience, and it would be cheaper then VoIP supposedly, and some people in our part of town have had problems with landlines from other companies (Compass mostly, but they supposedly are/were vodafone at the time). The customer service thing was only to do with our broadband, wherein they told us our router was broken and we needed to buy a new one that was overpriced for what it is, we have never had a problem with the Spark landline, only Spark broadband. We need to keep the Xtra email due to people such as Fonterra and other farming companies having that as our contact email, so its easier to keep the email.

I don't even think it is possible any more to have your landline with one company and broadband with another (on the same copper pair) and tbh your reasons for not changing voice provider don't seem to make much sense.

I would recommend you look around for bundles and keep an open mind about who's hosting your landline, and how.

xpd

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# 1345559 16-Jul-2015 15:49

PSlover14:
n4: If you want to switch away from Spark because of bad customer service, why would you want to keep your landline with them? Also, as mentioned above you won't get a competitive plan from anywhere else unless you switch broadband and phone together. Best deals are likely to involve switching to VoIP for you landline (usually meaning voicemail, caller ID etc is free too).

We would like to keep the landline just for convenience, and it would be cheaper then VoIP supposedly, a

$10 a month for 2Talk - 2000 local mins. Moving to that shortly, will drop our internet/phone bill from $130+ to around $100 a month.

XPD / Gavin / DemiseNZ

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PSlover14

145 posts

Master Geek

# 1345560 16-Jul-2015 15:50

ubergeeknz:
PSlover14:
n4: If you want to switch away from Spark because of bad customer service, why would you want to keep your landline with them? Also, as mentioned above you won't get a competitive plan from anywhere else unless you switch broadband and phone together. Best deals are likely to involve switching to VoIP for you landline (usually meaning voicemail, caller ID etc is free too).

We would like to keep the landline just for convenience, and it would be cheaper then VoIP supposedly, and some people in our part of town have had problems with landlines from other companies (Compass mostly, but they supposedly are/were vodafone at the time). The customer service thing was only to do with our broadband, wherein they told us our router was broken and we needed to buy a new one that was overpriced for what it is, we have never had a problem with the Spark landline, only Spark broadband. We need to keep the Xtra email due to people such as Fonterra and other farming companies having that as our contact email, so its easier to keep the email.

I don't even think it is possible any more to have your landline with one company and broadband with another (on the same copper pair) and tbh your reasons for not changing voice provider don't seem to make much sense.

I would recommend you look around for bundles and keep an open mind about who's hosting your landline, and how.

Yeah they are stupid reasons, they are the ones given to me by Dad about our internet connection, because I've said we could get it faster and cheaper with someone else, but he doesn't really want to switch, because he doesn't want to especially lose his email address, or have to change our phone number. I think he just has been misinformed somewhere, but I'm not sure.

xpd

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# 1345561 16-Jul-2015 15:51

Looking at that map, switching to VDSL prob wont be an option, and switching ISP wont be any different either.

XPD / Gavin / DemiseNZ

Server : i5-3470s @ 3.50GHz 16GB RAM Win 10 Pro Workstation : i5-3570K @ 3.40GHz 20GB RAM RX580 4GB Win 10 Pro Console : Xbox One

https://www.xpd.co.nz - Games, emulation, geekery, and my attempts at photography. Now on BigPipe 100/100 and 2Talk

http://storm.xpd.co.nz - NZ Rock at its finest (WIP)

Add me on Steam

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# 1345563 16-Jul-2015 15:52

PSlover14:

On our modem (A Spark Supplied Technicolor Gateway)where do you find the downstream attenuation? Where as in where on the router settings.

and heres the chorus thing:

According to this map you are near the edge of the ADSL area (>10Mbps) and nowhere near the (brown) VDSL area (>20Mbps)

Does NOT look good for VDSL

Sideface

n4

956 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1345564 16-Jul-2015 15:52

PSlover14:
ubergeeknz:
PSlover14:
n4: If you want to switch away from Spark because of bad customer service, why would you want to keep your landline with them? Also, as mentioned above you won't get a competitive plan from anywhere else unless you switch broadband and phone together. Best deals are likely to involve switching to VoIP for you landline (usually meaning voicemail, caller ID etc is free too).

We would like to keep the landline just for convenience, and it would be cheaper then VoIP supposedly, and some people in our part of town have had problems with landlines from other companies (Compass mostly, but they supposedly are/were vodafone at the time). The customer service thing was only to do with our broadband, wherein they told us our router was broken and we needed to buy a new one that was overpriced for what it is, we have never had a problem with the Spark landline, only Spark broadband. We need to keep the Xtra email due to people such as Fonterra and other farming companies having that as our contact email, so its easier to keep the email.

I don't even think it is possible any more to have your landline with one company and broadband with another (on the same copper pair) and tbh your reasons for not changing voice provider don't seem to make much sense.

I would recommend you look around for bundles and keep an open mind about who's hosting your landline, and how.

Yeah they are stupid reasons, they are the ones given to me by Dad about our internet connection, because I've said we could get it faster and cheaper with someone else, but he doesn't really want to switch, because he doesn't want to especially lose his email address, or have to change our phone number. I think he just has been misinformed somewhere, but I'm not sure.

You can definitely keep your phone number while moving provider (porting). Email is another story.

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PSlover14

145 posts

Master Geek

# 1345567 16-Jul-2015 15:54

Sideface:
PSlover14:

On our modem (A Spark Supplied Technicolor Gateway)where do you find the downstream attenuation? Where as in where on the router settings.

and heres the chorus thing:

According to this map you are near the edge of the ADSL area (>10Mbps) and nowhere near the (brown) VDSL area (>20Mbps)

Does NOT look good for VDSL

When I said we were supposedly eligible, that was going off the Spark broadband checker thing and the Bigpipe one as well. Although now that I think about it, should've checked the Chorus one first.

AKLWestie

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# 1345570 16-Jul-2015 15:58

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According to the map, you are in the >5Mbps area for ADSL so I don't think you can get VDSL.

I think your broadband connection is not good because of the long distance between your house and the exchange or cabinet, so changing ISP would not help.

Your best bet would be upgrading to Spark's unlimited plan to solve the problem with data cap. I have been using Telecom / Spark for broadband for a few years now and have no problem with them.

PSlover14

145 posts

Master Geek

# 1345572 16-Jul-2015 16:01

AKLWestie: According to the map, you are in the >5Mbps area for ADSL so I don't think you can get VDSL.

I think your broadband connection is not good because of the long distance between your house and the exchange or cabinet, so changing ISP would not help.

Your best bet would be upgrading to Spark's unlimited plan to solve the problem with data cap. I have been using Telecom / Spark for broadband for a few years now and have no problem with them.

Yeah I think that may be right, I think the exchange is quite inward to the village, near the top of the map. I actually don't know exactly where the exchange is, but I do know that it is much more north of us, and we are near the end of a copper cable I think, as no one lives close to us going south of the exchange. I'm going to mark yours as the answer.

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