Thinking of switching from Full Flavour fibre to Trustpower. Advice?

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Baboon

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Topic # 201302 12-Aug-2016 14:46

G'day.

I currently pay $99 per month to Full Flavour here in Tauranga, for 100/20 Mbps (though effectively a bit higher than that, oddly and pleasingly enough) unlimited. I can sign a new 12 month contract with them to save $4 an bring that down to $95 per month.
If I leave FF I will have to buy my own Roku Streaming Stick (they loan one for free) - figure about NZD$90 to buy and import, yeah? But that wouldn't be a huge burden, and I have been eyeing the new faster 2016 model, as my older one runs many apps rather slowly, nowadays.

Till recently the above has been either the best deal available for me (or so close I preferred to stick with the good service I get now), given I need at least 100/20 unlimited and I love my Roku. But today I leant Trustpower has some new plans, including:

$59 first year, $89 second year onwards
100/20 Mbps

$69 first year, $94 second year onwards
100/50 Mbps

Both requiring 24 month contracts.

I'd probably go with the first, as I've been comfortable with only 20 Mbps up, doing most of my heavy uploading at night.

As to savings, I figure:

((95-59)*12)-90+100=442 (Truspower discounted first year's price difference, minus cost of new Roku, plus $100 increase in TECT cheque resulting from addition of internet to current power contract with Trustpower)
((95-89)*12)+100=172 (regular price's difference after first year, plus $100 increase in TECT cheque)

So $442 saved in year one. $172 saved every year afterwards.

Seems worth it, but I wonder if I'm giving up any speed or reliability in moving to Trustpower. I do get good, slightly faster than I pay for service with good friendly local customer support (not that I require it much) from FF.

Can any current Trustpower fibre customers tell me what kind of speed and reliability they receive, please?

TIA :-)

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

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Reply # 1610727 12-Aug-2016 14:46

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:

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

nitrotech

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Reply # 1610744 12-Aug-2016 14:53

It's been a few months since terminating our trustpower fibre accounts however as a general rule we had good daytime speeds - full line speed to Auckland and Sydney respectable speed to LA but there was a night time slowdown.

Support with TP is truly awful - but hey, how often should you need it?

timmmay

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Reply # 1610746 12-Aug-2016 14:57

2degrees fiber have a similar offer for unlimited 100/20, $59 a month for a year, then $95 for a year. Performance and service are both good - I think it's an NZ based call center.

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CcMaN

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Reply # 1610747 12-Aug-2016 14:58

nitrotech:

It's been a few months since terminating our trustpower fibre accounts however as a general rule we had good daytime speeds - full line speed to Auckland and Sydney respectable speed to LA but there was a night time slowdown.

Apparently this has improved

https://truenet.nz/story/2016/06/may-2016-urban-broadband-report

Baboon

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Reply # 1610754 12-Aug-2016 15:05

nitrotech:
It's been a few months since terminating our trustpower fibre accounts however as a general rule we had good daytime speeds - full line speed to Auckland and Sydney respectable speed to LA but there was a night time slowdown.

Support with TP is truly awful - but hey, how often should you need it?

Huh, as a long time power customer of their's, I have to say I've had good support from them, with prompt answering of their phone the majority of the time. What issues did you face, if I may ask? Though as you say, if everything's working, customer support isn't that huge a deal. But it is nice to have.

Cheers :-)

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

coffeebaron

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Reply # 1610767 12-Aug-2016 15:28

Personally I would not go with Trust Power. I have heard and experienced some not great Trust Power experience - performance being a major. Also they are known for their aggressive under cost pricing for their broadband offerings squeezing out the smaller players; not a company I will support.

Chorus has spent $1.4 billion on making their xDSL broadband network faster. If your still stuck on ADSL or VDSL, why not spend from $150 on a master filter install to make sure you are getting the most out of your connection?
I install - Naked DSL, DSL Master Splitters, VoIP, data cabling and general computer support for home and small business.
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richms

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Reply # 1610774 12-Aug-2016 15:33

I would not bundle a highly performance variable product like internet with power, the chances of needing to move are too great to want to have to deal with swapping power companies at the same time if you have to leave them.

Richard rich.ms

sbiddle

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Reply # 1610778 12-Aug-2016 15:36

2 people support this post

Do you support a company who aggressively sells a product below cost with a lock-in period just because they can subsidise losses by charging you more for electricity?

I see the real issue here as an ethical one. If you support such a business model then fine - but it's something I have great issues with.

myfullflavour

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Reply # 1610779 12-Aug-2016 15:36

CcMaN:
nitrotech:

It's been a few months since terminating our trustpower fibre accounts however as a general rule we had good daytime speeds - full line speed to Auckland and Sydney respectable speed to LA but there was a night time slowdown.

Apparently this has improved

https://truenet.nz/story/2016/06/may-2016-urban-broadband-report

The most recent report says otherwise about Trustpower?

https://truenet.nz/story/2016/07/june-2016-urban-broadband-report

I suggest the OP checks out the Trustpower Facebook page before committing to a 24 month contract with them.

https://www.facebook.com/trustpower/posts_to_page/

Anyway, we'd be happy to have you stay if you wish :)

richms

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Reply # 1610783 12-Aug-2016 15:44

One person supports this post

myfullflavour:

I suggest the OP checks out the Trustpower Facebook page before committing to a 24 month contract with them.

https://www.facebook.com/trustpower/posts_to_page/

Anyway, we'd be happy to have you stay if you wish :)

Eeek, that makes the people on the maccas nz one seem totally sane and reasonable in comparison.

Richard rich.ms

myfullflavour

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Reply # 1610784 12-Aug-2016 15:46

OP, can I tempt you with gigabit for $119?

One of our other gig customers emailed through these earlier:

https://www.speedtest.net/result/5546846078.png

https://www.speedtest.net/result/5546849065.png

https://www.speedtest.net/result/5546851687.png

Baboon

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Reply # 1610798 12-Aug-2016 16:05

Well, from my time as a broke student back in the day through to now, I've been a Trustpower power customer.

From my earlier experience in less financially stable days, I can say they are both aggressive and incompetent (only in terms of customer satisfaction, because I'm certain their tactics are quite deliberate) in pursuing and punishing late payment. Reading their Facebook posts to page by customers, I see nothing has changed in that regard. They obviously still muck poor customers around with threats to disconnect sent via snail mail, timed to be received either right before or on the disconnection date. And they charge fees like mad during that entire process.

All that said, being better off financially nowadays, and very rarely making budgeting mistakes, I'm less concerned about the above than their UFB speed and reliability. I've stuck with Trustpower for power because while not the cheapest, I feel good about supporting the TECT trust, and I find the TECT cheque to be a nice little 'bonus'. Sure I could save and invest the cheque amount over the year instead, but in reality it's going to just go towards weekly expenses resulting in a marginal improvement in quality of life. I consider TECT part of my charity giving every year, so that's okay :-)

Thus, back to Trustpower UFB speed and reliability - can any current customers comment and maybe provide some speedtests, please? Or relevant support issues with Trustpower internet?

I do acknowledge they can be a somewhat crappy company in other regards, but that isn't quite enough to put me off. If I was a broke student again, I know I'd feel differently. Frankly I wouldn't advise any poor person to be a Trustpower customer, based on my experience in the first half of the prior decade, and their Facebook customer posts I just read.

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Baboon

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Reply # 1610822 12-Aug-2016 16:42

myfullflavour: OP, can I tempt you with gigabit for $119?

One of our other gig customers emailed through these earlier:

https://www.speedtest.net/result/5546846078.png

https://www.speedtest.net/result/5546849065.png

https://www.speedtest.net/result/5546851687.png

I certainly can't argue with those results :-)

That said, https://www.speedtest.net/my-result/5547017178 is good enough for me to reliably stream the U.S. served video I often watch, while multitasking online. So while I find your gigabit performance impressive, I'm not sure I can justify the added expense. I live a fairly modest life on a modest income, but I'm happy because it provides well enough for most of what I want to do. But only if I budget.
And it's hard to justify (especially to those I share my life with) an additional $20/$24 over what I pay now, let along possibly cheaper plans with another ISP, given really all gigabit will let me do is watch streamed ultra high def video on screens I'm not really going to notice any difference in quality on (funnily enough only my mobile and tablet devices have the necessary resolution, and their screens are tiny. My larger computer and TV displays are all only 1080p or near in resolution, being quite old and my not really caring about home cinema and the like).

I still need to satisfy myself that a move to Trustpower wouldn't negatively impact my internet speed and reliability to the point where I can't do what I need to within a 100/20 plan. But assuming for the sake of the following argument that's not an issue, I was thinking earlier today one of two things would retain me as a customer for a 12 month contract to the new $95 per month 100/20 price: either an upgrade to my provided Roku, or matching the Trustpower permanent pricing (I wouldn't seriously expect anyone to match their discounted first year offer). But after a helpful chat with you guys on the phone, I realise neither are on the cards, and I understand why.

The trouble is, I am thinking there may be legitimate cause for concern with Trustpower UFB speed and reliability, based on a few comments I've read so far. And getting a good quality 100/20 connection is worth an additional cost to me. That I can reasonably, if grudgingly justify.

Anyway, I'm going to go search for some speedtest results from Trustpower UFB, to see what they're like. Thanks for your reply! :-)

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

mattwnz

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Reply # 1610830 12-Aug-2016 17:00

I see a newspaper company is now getting into becoming an ISP, called Stuff fibre (not a great name)

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/310506/fairfax-to-launch-isp-called-stuff-fibre

The thing is do you want to get your internet from a company who focus's on being an ISP, or one that has it as an addon service. Although I guess to survive, ISPs will need to do addon services.

myfullflavour

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Reply # 1610833 12-Aug-2016 17:11

I'm bias, but I think while the regional ISPs aren't going to be making their owners millions of dollars every year, they'll continue to be profitable as the majority of the bottom line comes from providing great service to local businesses, that isn't easily available from larger telcos.

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