ISP for Heavy Users

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ItsJustPeter

5 posts

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#268197 4-Mar-2020 16:35

So my family has been having a not so great time with Spark and are wanting to change.

We are currently on Fiber 900mbs down/up on Spark.

I have read a few posts and some things online, but a lot of them are either a few years old or just websites listing their prices.

My family are quite heavy users, a lot of downloading, gaming, streaming most of the time at the same time.

Which ISPs would you generally recommend and why?

If there are any questions that you would like to ask please feel free.

Thanks,

Peter

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TEAMnetwork

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#2432592 4-Mar-2020 16:42

What is wrong with your connection at the moment?

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

RunningMan

8963 posts

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#2432599 4-Mar-2020 16:53

Spark are generally considered to be good. What is the issue you are having?

ItsJustPeter

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2432600 4-Mar-2020 16:53

It seems my parents are unhappy with Sparks customer service as a whole.

I'm not 100% sure on why they are changing but they are, so I just wanna make sure they don't choose an ISP that doesn't give stable connection / suffers from bad routing / ping spikes.

muppet

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#2432605 4-Mar-2020 16:56

I just started jogging and eating right, my ISP has been very understanding.

RunningMan

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#2432610 4-Mar-2020 17:07

@muppet, best you mix it up with some resistance training as well as the jogging.

ItsJustPeter

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#2432617 4-Mar-2020 17:15

@muppet and @RunningMan No recommendations on an ISP and why you'd recommend them?

networkn

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#2432621 4-Mar-2020 17:25

I like Voyager, good support solid service, pretty cost-effective. I have Orcon at home, no issues. BigPipe gets good reviews from experienced people here. 2D gets good reviews similarly.

Maybe avoid myRepublic, Trustpower and Stuff Fibre?

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snnet

1410 posts

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#2432622 4-Mar-2020 17:26

To be very frank, I've been a customer of every mid to large ISP in NZ (all of the ones who have subforums here) and I have to say with 100% certainty, without any financial or other personal gain incentive, that Spark operate the best overall. That would include Bigpipe and Skinny now they use the same network. I have many friends who jump ship all the time - they started with Spark and all of their issues were between their property and the cabinet (chorus), and they thought jumping ISP would fix their issues even though I'd told them it wouldn't - and I get constant messages and calls about this and that not working now and this is worse and now we're locked in and blah blah blah. I'd strongly suggest your parents clarify the issue they're actually having before thinking changing will fix it - unless it's perhaps the price - but when it comes to the competition you get what you pay for!

RunningMan

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#2432623 4-Mar-2020 17:27

ItsJustPeter: @RunningMan No recommendations on an ISP and why you'd recommend them?

Yes, as per my first post, Spark. They have a good reputation for both network performance and customer service, hence the question about what issue you were having with them.

If you have already decided to move rather than attempt (further?) resolution then Voyager and 2degrees are also well thought of for the same reasons. There has been some disquiet about the way 2degrees has implemented a change to CG-NAT recently and that has deterred some people, judging by recent comment here - they are generally still frequently recommended, but just an extra factor to consider, depending on exact requirements.

networkn

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#2432626 4-Mar-2020 17:28

I'd agree about understanding the issues you are having prior to moving. 90% of theads here talking about issues with ISP's turn out to be a combination of poor education, user fault, or issue with wiring or customer equipment, or wildly unrealistic expectations.

Sometimes, if we are super lucky as a community, it's all of those things :)

It's exceedingly unlikely a 900Mbps connection wouldn't service all but the heaviest of users in NZ, and your household sounds like most 4-5 person modern homes :)

slingynz

154 posts

Master Geek

#2432627 4-Mar-2020 17:30

I have slingshot because it's cheap. 3 months free through https://broadband.geekzone.co.nz/

I haven't needed to call support so can't comment on that side of things.

ItsJustPeter

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2432629 4-Mar-2020 17:34

networkn:

I'd agree about understanding the issues you are having prior to moving. 90% of theads here talking about issues with ISP's turn out to be a combination of poor education, user fault, or issue with wiring or customer equipment, or wildly unrealistic expectations.

Sometimes, if we are super lucky as a community, it's all of those things :)

It's exceedingly unlikely a 900Mbps connection wouldn't service all but the heaviest of users in NZ, and your household sounds like most 4-5 person modern homes :)

I have had no issues on Spark in terms of performance.

The reason my parents want to change is largely due to their experience with the support from what I can gather. I'm just trying to steer them into an ISP that is on the same performance wise as Spark is.

cyril7

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#2432630 4-Mar-2020 17:34

Most of us signup, maybe make contact with the isp once or twice during the initial stage, then never speak to them again when we might change our plan or similar.

So what aspect of customer service failed big enough to want to change.

As others have said Spark are pretty good, probably pricey, but technically good.

Cyril

ItsJustPeter

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2432631 4-Mar-2020 17:36

cyril7: Most of us signup, maybe make contact with the isp once or twice during the initial stage, then never speak to them again when we might change our plan or similar.

So what aspect of customer service failed big enough to want to change.

As others have said Spark are pretty good, probably pricey, but technically good.

Cyril

Again, I do not know the specifics of why they are changing other than that they want to change away from Spark.

As they have decided to change, I just want to tell them an ISP that is on the same performance wise as Spark.

cyril7

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#2432632 4-Mar-2020 17:38

OK then I suggest they look at 2d or voyager.

Cyril

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