Broadband and speed?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Broadband and speed?

lalalalaman

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#272624 6-Jul-2020 14:21

Hi there 😀

I need to change my broadband, and was wondering which one I should go for. I am looking for a stable and fast internet. I am currently looking at Spark, Vodafone, Orcon and 2 Degrees.

Vodafone have good deal, but heard that their service/ broadband is not the best. It seems that Spark is the best broadband, based on other post. Heard alright comments about Orcon. Also, heard 2 Degree is pretty good too. Which one should I go for and why? Customer service is not that important for me, instead a stable/ consistent fast internet.

Also, I am curious if the 900mb speed option is really 'better' than 100mb rate. It the faster option really noticeable in everyday usage? Our internet use is mostly videos online and occasional gaming. We have around 6-7 devices connected to the router. Will the 900mb speed provide an improvement?

Thank you!

nztim

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#2518009 6-Jul-2020 14:43

There is about 2 times a year where I download large ISOs where I "wish" I had more than 100mbps 99.99999999999999% of the time 100mbps is ample for a household 3 hungry streamers

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hio77

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#2518016 6-Jul-2020 15:07

nztim:

There is about 2 times a year where I download large ISOs where I "wish" I had more than 100mbps 99.99999999999999% of the time 100mbps is ample for a household 3 hungry streamers

There are definate perks from not having to wait for a large download!

i couldn't drop down to 100mbit, that's higher than my average utilization ;)

the Main perk of going for the higher plan is the large jump in Upstream speed.

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timmmay

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#2518017 6-Jul-2020 15:07

I've been with 2degrees fiber for years. The performance, routing, and customer service are all excellent, rarely if ever have any problems. Not sure what the prices are like compared with others, but I think they're good value.

I have 100Mbps down and 20Mbps up. That's sufficient for me doing online backups of standard volumes of data, one or two HD streams at a time max, that sort of thing. The extra $10 or $20 a month would't bother me if it helped but I just don't need it. For example, I might upload 1TB of backups to AWS S3 Glacier Deep Archive if I decide to go all in with online backups of high res photos and videos, it might take a week, but that's a pretty rare thing for me to do and the software will just run when the PC is on.

maslink

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#2518022 6-Jul-2020 15:22

hio77:
nztim:

There is about 2 times a year where I download large ISOs where I "wish" I had more than 100mbps 99.99999999999999% of the time 100mbps is ample for a household 3 hungry streamers

There are definate perks from not having to wait for a large download!

i couldn't drop down to 100mbit, that's higher than my average utilization ;)

the Main perk of going for the higher plan is the large jump in Upstream speed.

Agree - upload speed is a big plus, but I’d also miss the peak download speed difference - downloading a large game update for example - the difference between 2 min and 10min justifies the extra $0.50/ day or so in plan costs for me.

lalalalaman

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2518025 6-Jul-2020 15:26

Would the extra 900mb speed help for video streaming? like Netflix, youtube and other websites? Or is the extra speed more helpful for downloading big files? thanks 😅

mdf

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#2518028 6-Jul-2020 15:29

There is a blog post and series of threads talking about picking an ISP.

Start with the blog post; it has excellent information.

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freitasm

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#2518033 6-Jul-2020 15:33

lalalalaman:

Would the extra 900mb speed help for video streaming? like Netflix, youtube and other websites? Or is the extra speed more helpful for downloading big files? thanks 😅

At the moment, 100 Mbps is plenty enough for Netflix 4K streaming. If you are not maxing upload at the same time and you don't live in a flat situation with everyone streaming at the same time, then it would be good.

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timmmay

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#2518043 6-Jul-2020 15:41

You can always upgrade later easily if you want more speed. If you commit to the faster speed you may have more trouble dropping to a slower plan.

nzkc

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#2518085 6-Jul-2020 15:44

timmmay:

You can always upgrade later easily if you want more speed. If you commit to the faster speed you may have more trouble dropping to a slower plan.

I think this is good advice myself.

I grabbed the 1Gbps plan when it was on a special (or rather I got the $200 discount from 2d when they had it). I had envisaged that I'd drop down once the year was up. I didn't although I also got a job where I work from home so feel I can justify keeping it a bit more ;-) Its rare that I need that extra speed but it is useful when its needed. In particular PS4 installs and updates!

lalalalaman

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2518096 6-Jul-2020 16:20

That sounds like a good idea, going for the 100 and upgrading to 900 if needed 🤔

Hows 2D broadband like?

I dont know much about broadbands, but I heard like smaller companies (e.g. my republic, etc) use broadband lines from bigger companies (e.g. spark), is this true?

If this is true, does that mean smaller broadband companies have less stable internet? (e.g. connection, speed)

Stu1

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#2518110 6-Jul-2020 17:00

lalalalaman:
Hi there 😀

I need to change my broadband, and was wondering which one I should go for. I am looking for a stable and fast internet. I am currently looking at Spark, Vodafone, Orcon and 2 Degrees.

Vodafone have good deal, but heard that their service/ broadband is not the best. It seems that Spark is the best broadband, based on other post. Heard alright comments about Orcon. Also, heard 2 Degree is pretty good too. Which one should I go for and why? Customer service is not that important for me, instead a stable/ consistent fast internet.

Also, I am curious if the 900mb speed option is really 'better' than 100mb rate. It the faster option really noticeable in everyday usage? Our internet use is mostly videos online and occasional gaming. We have around 6-7 devices connected to the router. Will the 900mb speed provide an improvement?

Thank you!

I had Vodafone fibre for about a year it was really good no issues at all on their 100/20 plan only swapped to orcon as Vodafone won’t offer any decent deals for existing customers. Orcon has been great as well so far

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quickymart

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#2518118 6-Jul-2020 17:22

I would stay away from Vodafone and My Republic if you want anything near approaching customer service.

nztim

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#2518140 6-Jul-2020 18:17

hio77:

the Main perk of going for the higher plan is the large jump in Upstream speed.

Bigpipe’s 100/100 is still $120 a year cheaper than the cheapest gig plan

Just fix your peering lol :P

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