Business UFB Advice

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lotech

126 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#192026 24-Feb-2016 14:26

Hi all

We're moving our business in just over a month and I'm slowly reading through every UFB Business plans. But plan info can only tell you so much and sometimes I just have to ask fellow geeks here to see what they recommend or both.

We're currently on a Vibe based connection which runs via ethernet to a server room they have in the building (they used to based here). It's been super reliable with 1ms Ping and 93 down/94 up on our 100/100 connection. We do unfortunately have to pay for data overage which can be costly sometimes (we do video production). Theres only 5 of us on staff (I'm boss and IT Dept) so we're not a massive organisation and really only need reliable, fast internet (HA!) and 1 or 2 phone lines.

I've had a look at MyRepublic and they offer a couple of good services both 200/200 but one being 3x(ish) the price but is Bitstream 3 over Bitstream 2. I'd hate to loose the internet for any length of time and higher priority fixes is good and also I believe you actually get the speed you pay for. Is this actually the case? Vibe said UFB isn't exactly saturated so Bitstream 2A, which they offer, will be almost the same.

This brings me to VOIP. MyRepublics Voice offerings are basic - basically they'll supply 1 or 2 lines to the building and you have to supply the PABX/VOIP server/phones. I see there a providers who will supply a cloud based VOIP system that looks to offer some nice features at a relatively low monthly price. The main thing is the ability to transfer calls from one phone to the next and ideally not crappy handsets (currently we use atcom phones and they SUCK).

I'd hate to get lazy/overwhelmed and just do a whole bundle with Spark or similar. In a dream world I'd just get a bigpipe connection as I do at home - cheap and good.
Anyway appreciate any feedback or thoughts on this.

- Is BitStream3 worth the extra expense?

- Recommended ISP that offer Bitstream3? Price/Upload speed/Data Cap is important.

- Recommended VOIP provider. A friend is using 2talk and their cloud PABX which seems nice. Thoughts?

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#1498515 24-Feb-2016 14:26

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

you have reset your modem and router
your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing - you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap
your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing
you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

Your ISP and plan
Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)
Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)
Your general location (or street)
If you are rural or urban
If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin
If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service
If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

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atomeara

324 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 152

#1498543 24-Feb-2016 14:48

UFB SLAs are not tied to BS2, BS3 and BS3a

They all come with the same SLA! Which is 48 hours and excludes ONT failures

You can buy a higher SLA for the Bit stream service (the higher SLA cost is the same for BS2, BS3 and BS3a)

Gold SLA cuts it down to 8 hours and includes ONT.

As far as BS2 vs BS3 goes. It is only the bandwidth over the UFB network, BS3 depending on the CIR is committed to that CIR, while BS2 generally has a 2.5./2.5 or 10/2.5 commit. This is only on the UFB network, once it gets into the ISPs network and beyond it counts for nothing if they are oversubscribing links and handovers.

Generally there is very little over-subscription on the UFB networks, Chorus is generally running a max of 16 subscribers. With 2.4Gb down and 1.2Gb up, that is about 150 down and 75 up per user.

It sounds like you want a Gold SLA and a good ISP where you won't spend 2 hours on hold just trying to log a fault.

As for VoIP 2talk are good and cheap, but there support can be a bit slow and is online only, you can't call them!

BigPipeNZ

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BigPipe

#1498559 24-Feb-2016 15:03

In a dream world I'd just get a bigpipe connection as I do at home - cheap and good.

I've always considered it our job to make your dreams come true. (well, the ones relating to broadband anyway....)

Can you PM me your email address please :)

cheers

bigpipe.co.nz
https://www.facebook.com/BigPipeNZ
https://twitter.com/BigPipeNZ

lotech

126 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1498565 24-Feb-2016 15:07

atomeara:

UFB SLAs are not tied to BS2, BS3 and BS3a

They all come with the same SLA! Which is 48 hours and excludes ONT failures

You can buy a higher SLA for the Bit stream service (the higher SLA cost is the same for BS2, BS3 and BS3a)

Gold SLA cuts it down to 8 hours and includes ONT.

Good to know. MyRepublic's Business 200 plan does list "Business SLA" and they verbally said it was a BitStream3 and included ONT support. So it looks like are indeed buying the Gold SLA with that service. The price difference is $106+gst and $299+gst after all.

atomeara:

As far as BS2 vs BS3 goes. It is only the bandwidth over the UFB network, BS3 depending on the CIR is committed to that CIR, while BS2 generally has a 2.5./2.5 or 10/2.5 commit. This is only on the UFB network, once it gets into the ISPs network and beyond it counts for nothing if they are oversubscribing links and handovers.

Generally there is very little over-subscription on the UFB networks, Chorus is generally running a max of 16 subscribers. With 2.4Gb down and 1.2Gb up, that is about 150 down and 75 up per user.

It sounds like you want a Gold SLA and a good ISP where you won't spend 2 hours on hold just trying to log a fault.

As for VoIP 2talk are good and cheap, but there support can be a bit slow and is online only, you can't call them!

Thanks for the info. Everything is making a lot more sense and it looks like we're aiming at the higher end of the cheap business connections - so the MyRepublic $299 plan.

As for 2Talk - theres some irony in not allowing voice based support - although if it goes down its hard to talk!

geekzone.co.nz/lotech

atomeara

324 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 152

#1498568 24-Feb-2016 15:10

Also on that note, I am not going to say which ISP to go with or not go with but they sure aren't all the same

Take a look at Truenet speeds, MyRepublic is not great.

https://truenet.nz/story/2016/02/january-2016-urban-broadand-report

There were also the recent results of how people rated there ISP's and many of the big players didn't do that well.

jnimmo

1098 posts

Uber Geek
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#1498599 24-Feb-2016 15:37

My advice would be stick with a reputable business ISP... give DTS a call, they will be able to talk re the different bitstream variants and have good priced unlimited UFB.

You'll certainly want to be ordering a connection any day now too as it can take some time for the UFB cogs to turn

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deadlyllama

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#1498607 24-Feb-2016 15:50

Silly question, if you have ethernet into Vibe's network already, why can't they sell you a UFB-priced unlimited service over the existing cable to their server room?

lotech

126 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1498619 24-Feb-2016 16:05

deadlyllama:

Silly question, if you have ethernet into Vibe's network already, why can't they sell you a UFB-priced unlimited service over the existing cable to their server room?

We're moving to a location 11km away - not sure they'll let me run a cable that far.

geekzone.co.nz/lotech

Ragnor

8279 posts

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#1498657 24-Feb-2016 16:55

DTS or Voyager imo.

myfullflavour

896 posts

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Full Flavour

#1498687 24-Feb-2016 17:39

Why don't you stick with Vibe? They offer UFB and as others have alluded, in your use case, there is no practical difference between BS2 and BS3.

jnimmo

1098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 255

#1498688 24-Feb-2016 17:44

The Kordia small business plans are quite good too - forgot about them

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Ragnor

8279 posts

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#1498699 24-Feb-2016 18:06

myfullflavour: Why don't you stick with Vibe? They offer UFB and as others have alluded, in your use case, there is no practical difference between BS2 and BS3.

They are really more of a wholesale provider/network builder rather than a business ISP, no business plans on their website etc. Presumably from what he said in the opening post they don't offer a un-metered plan.

myfullflavour

896 posts

Ultimate Geek
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Full Flavour

#1498720 24-Feb-2016 19:06

Pretty sure they do offer an unlimited business plan, which comes with a fair use policy.

I know of a number of ex-Intagr8 small business customers using Vibe.

Suggest you contact them to find out what they can do?

lotech

126 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1498731 24-Feb-2016 19:34

Thanks everyone. Yeah I called them today and they can indeed set up an unlimited UFB plan. Falls in the same price range as the MyRepublic top end plan I was looking at but their support is top notch - i.e. you call them and they answer directly to their tech guy in the office. If Bitstream2a isn't a major compared to Bitstream3 and I can dump the junky atcom phones they're currently supplying (by switching to 2talk or something) I think we have a plan.

Will still give DTS and Voyager a call tomorrow and see how that goes.

Appreciate all the feedback - as I said at the start - ISP plan info on companies pages is good to a point but the knowledge of the users here is far more useful.

geekzone.co.nz/lotech

JaseNZ

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#1498754 24-Feb-2016 19:54

We had fibre installed mid last year and are on the voyager 100/100 plan , good service and low rates, have not had a problem with them at all.

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