Woosh Wireless new plan

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Woosh Wireless new plan

rocktap

44 posts

Geek

#2823 25-Nov-2004 12:40

Hi there,

I read in this morning's Herald that Woosh are offering new rate of $ 19.95/mth for 256k service. The article failed to mention that this rate only lasts for 6 months, then its back to standard $ 39.95. either the Herald forgot to mention this in their article (unlikely) or Woosh 'forgot' to tell the Herald (very likely). Ultimately I think this marketing ploy will backfire on Woosh.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41024

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#10423 25-Nov-2004 12:53

I think Woosh is a great service, but with Telecom New Zealand's T3G and their coverage Woosh is looking less appealing - even though it's cheaper than T3G.

Add to this their terrible support. My cheque account has not been debited for four months now, and my Woosh account is growing. I've sent a signed form, e-mailed then and called, but nothing seems to work - they simply can't do the right thing.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#10443 26-Nov-2004 17:37

The Woosh coverage in the Wgtn region is improving as we speak, the Newtown Vodafone site (cnr John St/Adelaide Rd) has had new Woosh panels on it for the last week or so and there are also new panels in place for the first Lower Hutt site (Queens Drive).

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41024

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#10444 26-Nov-2004 17:46

They also released a new PC Card, so users have the option of less cables around.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#10459 27-Nov-2004 09:53

Is there anybody on here who has used one of the cards yet? Considering all the issues with signal strength and users needing external aerials to use their current modems it will be interesting to see how well these new modems perform. Hopefully with a lot more sites in place now the problems won't be as bad.

smugfop

21 posts

Geek

#11021 14-Dec-2004 14:07

Judging by the speeds I get in Grafton with a seperate modem and one of those surf board looking booster ariels you will need to be strapped to the basestation with bungy cords to get anything more than dial up speeds.
Anyone got any hints on recent latency beating upgrades and how to get a decent connection? I max out at about 80Kbps and a ping rate of 800 at best to Nova servers.
Any tips of any sort on getting a decent connection to woosh would be pretty handy right now

DjShadow

4222 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1322

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#11374 29-Dec-2004 12:12

When would the lower hutt woosh site be going?
I'm nearish the Queens Drive site but the woosh site says no coverage yet

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

smugfop

21 posts

Geek

#11418 30-Dec-2004 09:54

I've got it sussed!!!! After about an hour of moving the ariel around i'm getting a reception of delta 9 and the ping rates are right there with what i expect from dial up............i've even headed into my favourite online game "deltaforce2" which needs some pretty fast ping rates and kicked some serious butt to my old standard.
I'm now a very happy woosh customer, xtra can kiss my glutimus maximus.

lance4k

74 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#11473 1-Jan-2005 14:22

why don't u ring up woosh and complain to them. if u don't they'll never fix the problem guys. u pay all that money and u dont' get the speeds they advertise, then complain!!!!!!

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#11716 10-Jan-2005 20:38

I've got no idea when the Queens Drive site is going live, might pay to ring them and ask. Woosh are in the process of deploying 5 new sites in the hutt valley at the moment, all on their own masts (Wgtn CBD sites have all been co-sited with Vodafone). One in Naenae has been up for several months, Regent St Petone went up before Xmas, the mast is in place for the one in Croft Grove in Moera and they have just received planning consent for a site in Epuni next to the railway station.

paradoxsm

3000 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#12560 7-Feb-2005 00:00

woosh have "new" account plans with even smaller data caps possibly due to the saturation on some of the wireless sites providing degraded service. (slow)

# Woosh Elevate - $29.95 (including GST) a month with a 200MB high speed data cap;
# Woosh Express 1 - $39.95 (including GST) a month with a 1GB high speed data cap;
# Woosh Express 3 - $49.95 (including GST) a month with a 3GB high speed data cap
# Woosh Express 10 - $69.95 (including GST) a month with a 10GB high speed data cap.

All Speeds drop to about 64Kbps after the data caps are used up.

Remember, Roaming outside your 50KM "home area" will result in extra charges as well. $24 flat fee or 13 cents per MB

Thoughts,

The 10 GB plan is a ripoff, compared to what it was before, $54.95 for unlimited

The $29.95 plan is a good way to have a wireless dial-up. Or a cheap way of freeing up the phone line, Just $2 more than "xtra" flat-rate or even better, a way to chop the home phone totally.

Woosh's marketing plans simply eats @**. They are not hitting the right notes with consumers, and are annoying the rest. They need to focus on portability, self install wireless, and the fact it frees the phoneline at dial-up speed for 30 bucks a month.....

One advertising plea played the following.
"tired of waiting for music to download, Then you need Woosh" Go woosh, promote Piracy.
the'll give a free* copy of kazaa with every signup soon.

paradoxsm

3000 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#12561 7-Feb-2005 00:05

Forgot to mention, the existing "woosh everyday" $54.95 users keep this till 01 march 2007
the data cap of 10GB applies immediatly

Some of us are lucky, No data rating, (something in the system) and "free roaming for life" which was an aquisition offer.

Woosh has worked well for me after I modified the modem, seems like a random thing where the service will be Excellent or total CRA$%, time will tell. the "help"desk does need some work (or a training manual), I will shut up now :-P

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

Manuka

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#12994 20-Feb-2005 10:43

As a spin off from our celebrated 2004 student project "Cookware" WiFi dish mesh antenna (=> http:// www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz ), we've recently considered a similar approach to enhance marginal Woosh signals here in Wellington/Hutt. Of course 2.4GHz WiFi is near Woosh's ~2GHz IPwireless service, but usefully a parabolic reflector brings signals to a fixed focal point that's unrelated to frequency. The small Woosh modem ceramic antenna is behind the curved top indicator LEDs, & has best pick up when at 90 degrees to the Woosh site - it works better one way too ( when upright with the Woosh label/battery cover side pointing AT their site)

Gentlemen - using the same 300mm "scoop" cookware as for USB WiFI, it's been a doodle to bring weak Woosh signals up GREATLY. A typical portable trial over a ~5km link ( mostly LOS harbour but with some trees & buildings our end) raised both a miserable 1 bar strength & quality signal to 3-4 bars, with corresponding service speed improvement. Not only is this new antenna dead easy to make and adjust, but it even looks (eek!) a fashion accessory that'll suit portable work in a library etc. Covered with a jersey or plastic bag it becomes almost invisible. Recommended !

Of course Woosh market an external antenna, BUT that best suits a fixed location & hey - this is the laptop age ! In fact our "scoop" approach can even still be used for WiFi by swapping out the Woosh modem for a USB dongle. Such flexibility is handy here in Wellington where the celebrated CafeNet WiFi covers the city. Along with the original 4 Wellington City sites, the 4 new Woosh Hutt sites ( Petone, Moera, Naenae, Queens Drive) allow us capital road warriors extreme wireless Internet convenience.

NOTE: Woosh have a 6.5km radius footprint here in Wellington, & even if signals are strong ( such as 8 - 11km away across the harbour in Eastbourne) the service will annoyingly NOT connect. Don't know why they've limited to this, since similar IPWireless services elsewhere are greater - Maui Sky Fiber in Hawaii quote 7 miles (~ 11km) & even GSM/GPRS cellullar is good for 35km.

Bill of materials largely a 300mm #12" cookware scoop ( ~ NZ$10 from most Asian Food outlets - Davis Trading Petone etc) & a flexible stalk desklamp ( ~NZ$8 from The Warehouse) + screws etc. For $NZ 20 & basic hand tools you could rustle one up in a flash.
See the WiFi version => http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/btique.jpg - we'll add a Woosh variant as => http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/wooshant.jpg in a few days.

Stan. @ Massey