Hello from Gravity Internet - the newest satellite internet provider

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Hello from Gravity Internet - the newest satellite internet provider

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kiwirock

660 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2067626 3-Aug-2018 17:41

Thanks for the unlock of this post.

I just wanted to ask a question on satellite Internet in NZ.

I like the idea of having a backup if there was an earthquake or major communications disruption, that with a generator I could still communicate online.

Which brought me to this question: Is traffic handed off to the Internet at a teleport overseas or is it sent back down to a New Zealand teleport and therefore all traffic still has to go out via New Zealand communication cables/Internet routes?

That is also a large dish to have on a roof. Where I am, it's an airport and farmland right behind me and the winds here are wild from the south. I already have a 1.2 Ku dish (but prime focus) for other stuff but I have mine ground mounted, I just wouldn't trust that size on a roof with a lot of exposed flat land behind it.

The new bird going up in 2019, what kind of dish size is required for the Ku footprint in NZ of that?

Thanks for the info in advance. I'm more curious about the routes involved for traffic.

Cheers,

Gavin.

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GravityInternet

13 posts

Geek

Gravity Internet

#2068530 6-Aug-2018 11:22

Hey Gavin,

Thanks for the questions.

Yes, satellite is definitely one of the best forms of backup communication, especially when combined with independent power sources such as solar or generator. For our connections, the traffic is routed via an Australian based teleport. This adds to the resilience of the network in the event of disaster or incidents that affect NZ's connectivity.

We have a love/hate relationship with the 1.2m antennas . They're a great piece of kit and offer the better performance, but yes, they're not small and has plenty of surface area... With regard to the wind concerns, there is the antenna aspect and also the mount. The wind ratings for the antennas themselves are:

Operational - 72 kmh
Functional Survival - 128 kmh
Ultimate Survival - 200kmh

Then the details for the mount is here:

We have customers that opt for a ground mount as well, so it's entirely your choice which way you go.

For our new bird going up next year, we will be using some nice little 75cm antennas, which will be fantastic.

Does that help? Did you have any other questions?

Thanks again for posting.

Cheers,
Gravity

hio77

'That VDSL Cat'
12982 posts

Uber Geek

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Voyager

Subscriber

#2147660 19-Dec-2018 10:40

@GravityInternet seen your service be flagged by locals here that are pretty keen to see what get delivered.

I'm interested in at what point "unlimited" has a fair usage applied? i don't see mention of it in the terms.

Given the jump in pricing between 10GB, 25GB and unlimited I'm expecting 100GB+ is something you wouldn't be keen on in peak time.

Given RBI2 isn't targeted till 2020 and a large portion of the heavily affected area is on a conklin with RBI resellers pulling out of the area, I can see quite a drive for your service in the bethells area over the next few months :)

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

GravityInternet

13 posts

Geek

Gravity Internet

#2147710 19-Dec-2018 11:22

Hi Troy,

Thanks for the post and the mention.

Firstly, I know it's semantics, but we don't really like calling it 'unlimited' as we really can't deliver unlimited internet (wish we could) when we have limited bandwidth. So when we call it uncapped, it's really just meaning that as a customer on an uncapped plan - you're never going to get one of those nasty invoices for unexpected data usage over your cap. As such, most of our customers get uncapped because it eliminates that risk/fear and allows them to do more, it's not about them wanting to chew through terabytes of data.

As for 'Fair Use', it's a tricky concept to explain succinctly and we think it is a widely misunderstood instrument. We've tried to keep our wording as clear as possible in our terms, which you can find here: https://getgravity.nz/terms-conditions/fair-access-policy You'll note there are different applications of it based on your plan type (capped vs. uncapped). If you jump down to the uncapped section, you'll see that this is really just about eliminating/mitigating any abuse from the minority in order to protect the experience of the majority. Even so, you will note that even if you were found to be in the top 5% of users, we are only going to start enforcing 'Fair Access' if, and only if, it starts to affect the 95%. Accordingly, there is an escalation process so that a user has the opportunity to modify their use. At the end of the day, we consider our customers as a community, and the Fair Access policy is a guide on how to be kind to our fellow members of the community. It's all about perspective.

We would love to help the residents of Bethells and be part of the solution. We are here for the long haul and have significant upgrades in our sights next year and beyond.

Thanks again for your post and have a safe and happy Christmas.

Regards,
The Team @ Gravity.

atomeara

320 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2147815 19-Dec-2018 14:49

hio77:

@GravityInternet seen your service be flagged by locals here that are pretty keen to see what get delivered.

I'm interested in at what point "unlimited" has a fair usage applied? i don't see mention of it in the terms.

Given the jump in pricing between 10GB, 25GB and unlimited I'm expecting 100GB+ is something you wouldn't be keen on in peak time.

Given RBI2 isn't targeted till 2020 and a large portion of the heavily affected area is on a conklin with RBI resellers pulling out of the area, I can see quite a drive for your service in the bethells area over the next few months :)

Bethells is getting upgraded to VDSL with fibre backhaul around May 2019! :yay:

BUBA will be mostly gone by the end of 2019 (as per the latest broadband coverage report)

Legacy broadband cabinets are getting upgraded to ISAMs with ADSL 2+ and VDSL*

*Where backhaul can support VDSL. Some backhaul is not being upgraded.

Right now the focus seems to be on the South Island with a large amount gone by March/April 2019.

hio77

'That VDSL Cat'
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#2147856 19-Dec-2018 15:14

atomeara:
Bethells is getting upgraded to VDSL with fibre backhaul around May 2019! :yay:

BUBA will be mostly gone by the end of 2019 (as per the latest broadband coverage report)

Legacy broadband cabinets are getting upgraded to ISAMs with ADSL 2+ and VDSL*

*Where backhaul can support VDSL. Some backhaul is not being upgraded.

Right now the focus seems to be on the South Island with a large amount gone by March/April 2019.

Interesting. Didn't know that was public information now ;)

Question still stands. Edmr or fibre.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

atomeara

320 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2148029 19-Dec-2018 17:13

The whole list (bar about 10) show UPGRADE as PLANNED, 1/3 have dates.

https://sp.chorus.co.nz/report/broadband-coverage

Bethells will be fibre, my Chorus contact couldn't tell me but relayed what the program manager allowed them too.

I know some others outside Auckland are eDMR / there is no planned backhaul upgrade.

I am aware of at least 6 others in Auckland being upgraded to fibre, 4 in Kaukapakapa, 1 in Shelly Beach and 1 in Titirangi. Because the Auckland Transport Road works map shows Downer doing an excavation from where the current fibre is to the existing cabinet and it is named after the broadband cabinet.

As far as the South Island goes most have had published network events for the work, so there is no hiding that either.

atomeara

320 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2148030 19-Dec-2018 17:19

I was told 2 years ago it was 400k to do fibre to Bethells, so it is fibre

eDMR would have to bounce off at a minimum one other hill before it can get to Muriwai, Piha or Waitakere.

There are 94 broadband connections (as of Aug 2018 at Bethells), the pay back is about 8 years on my maths on fibre.

I am waiting to see what they do with Optio Bay on the Coromandel but that won't be decided until next FY starting June/July 2019

kiwirock

660 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2339829 17-Oct-2019 14:58

Kacific1 is earmarked for launch on November 11 on a Falcon 9.

kiwirock

660 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2339836 17-Oct-2019 15:13

https://www.spacecoastlaunches.com/launches/spacex-falcon-9-jcsat-18-kacific-1/

The satellite specs:

https://kacific.com/technology/#kacific1-satellite

Looks like they wholesale in 1Gbps increments to their ISPs.

kiwirock

660 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2349115 6-Nov-2019 21:34

https://www.facebook.com/Kacific/photos/a.858190350919493/3172242986180873/?type=3&theater

Boeing ships Kacific to Space X.

PottsyNZ

331 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2353196 14-Nov-2019 12:15

Much better deal than IPSTAR based services (e.g. Farmside). I see the replacement sat is going up on a F9...which are also launching Starlink..which if is successfully will completely wipe out providers like this. Sorry slightly OT.

kiwirock

660 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2378668 19-Dec-2019 17:27

It looks like the launch all went well this week of Kacific-1.

thenwhat

28 posts

Geek

#2381984 27-Dec-2019 20:46

I'm tempted but first some questions:

Has anyone got any experience of using this service? The 'up to' makes me nervous. 0.1mbps is 'up to' 14mbps. I know nothing is certain but my monthly payment won't be 'up to' it will be fixed. How much is it affected by weather?

I can see the satellite (well it's position in space), but how big does the gap need to be at 200m from the dish (Fresnel bubble)? I can chop down some more of my trees (they're getting tall anyway)?

I'm guessing Kacific-1 wont be in the same position as the current satellite, won't everyone's dishes need to be re-positioned? Will this have a higher bandwidth (how much)?

I'm curious about the phone offer? Surely the latency of 130ms up, 130ms down, 130ms return up, 130ms return down = 520ms = 0.5s to get a response makes phone calls a bit interesting?

TW.

GravityInternet

13 posts

Geek

Gravity Internet

#2382952 30-Dec-2019 15:18

Hi 'thenwhat', thanks for the questions, happy to respond where we can. Here we go.

Q: Has anyone got experience using this service?
A: Yes, our customers extend the full length and breadth of the country. I'm sure some of them would be happy to chat.

Q: How much is it affected by weather?
A: Because Gravity uses larger antennas as standard, weather (rain) is almost never a problem. We had one reported instance due to recent cyclones. Wind can sometimes change the alignment of the antenna too, in which case it is a simple re-alignment that is required.

Q: The 'up to 14mbps' speeds make me nervous, what do I really get? (paraphrased)
A: Firstly, the 14mbps listed on our site currently, is not for the Kacific-1 satellite, those speeds/plans will be different. That said, yes you will always see a range of speeds depending on lots of factors - in particular peak times affect speeds the most. You are subscribing to a contended service, so for us to be able to truly remove the 'up to' clause, you would have to buy fully committed 1:1 bandwidth. I would imagine this is the same across all ISPs, I don't think the 'up to' or 'best effort' wording is unique to Gravity.

Q: I'm guessing Kacific-1 wont be in the same position as the current satellite, won't everyone's dishes need to be re-positioned?
A: Correct, and correct! Kacific-1 will end up being quite close to Optus D2 (relatively speaking). So if you're testing line of sight, use Optus D2 as a test. Any of Gravity's customers that want to move over to Kacific-1, will be able to do so free of charge - including the re-point.

Q: Will this (Kacific-1) have a higher bandwidth (how much)?
A: I'm assuming you mean will the Kacific-1 plans have higher 'speeds'? I can confirm that some Kacific-1 plans will exceed 14mbps, but we can't let that cat out of the bag just yet... we will be announcing the new plans in January 2020!

Q: I'm curious about the phone offer? Surely the latency of 0.5s to get a response makes phone calls a bit interesting? (truncated)
A: I love the use of the word "interesting" . Because yes, it can be interesting. We do not recommend VoIP via satellite if a customer has access to a reliable copper phone line. We will always challenge a customer who wants to switch from copper to VoIP via sat for this very reason. But, a) not everyone has access to copper, especially satellite customers, and b) not everyone can afford a copper phone line. So, in nearly all cases of VoIP via satellite, the 0.5 second delay is the least of their concerns. Still, despite the call being 'interesting', it is very usable and akin to the old international calling delays you would experience.

Hope that helps, please feel free to ask for any clarifications or more info. Have a great (and safe) New Years.

Cheers,
Gravity

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