Skinny or Quic?

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prat33k

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#310780 21-Nov-2023 13:07

Hey all,

I'm looking for your thoughts on switching from 2degrees to either Skinny or Quic.

I'm facing numerous issues with my current 2degrees plan and am considering switching to either Skinny or Quic for their 1G plan. Here are my considerations for both:

Price: Both are similarly priced at around $95/month. Skinny offers one free month on a 12-month contract, joining which isn't a big issue for us.
Equipment: With Skinny, I have the option to use the Spark Smart Modem 3 as the primary AP for our house. Currently, I use a separate Unifi AP for all my (~30) IoT devices and a SonicWALL as the Gateway. Since 2degrees will require their Netgear router back (which I currently use as my primary AP), I'll need a new Wi-Fi solution if I choose Quic.
Network Quality: Neither service uses CG-NAT, and both rely on trusted backend networks.
Customer Support: I have rarely had the need to call support as dealing with T1 is not something I am willing to go through.

I was looking for Voyager as well for a similar service, but their plans were around $109/m w/o router.

I know a lot of people are using Quic here and might have used Skinny as well before so looking to see what your thoughts on it would be.

Thanks

Sinuation

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#3162060 21-Nov-2023 13:53

I was also originally on 2Degrees then moved to Skinny.

What got me to move from Skinny to Quic was we were having intermittent issues with intermittent, split-second disconnections. Happened frequently in multiplayer games (I'd get booted out due to DC), or just browsing in general. Skinny support was utterly worthless in this time for me. Moved to Quic and the issues went away.

Overall though, Quic is definitely not for 'average' consumers. The setup is pretty much all on you, my brother is a networking major so he's handling it pretty much. That and as you said it'll likely be more expensive for you.

Since you're already on Unifi, maybe just commit and get a Modem from them.

michaelmurfy

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#3162113 21-Nov-2023 14:09

If you already have an advanced network and would like some advanced features to match (eg - homelab type setup) then Quic is your go-to.

If you're after basic internet, don't need a static IP, don't need IPv6 then Skinny.

For transparency sake Quic are working through some teething issues due to growth currently and so a number of users are testing out a new beta network for them. This does mean until this beta network goes into Production you may see some odd issues like a wee bit of packet loss etc: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=194&topicid=307025 - honestly though, I know many people on Quic and have not really heard too much complaints here with them + they all appear to be very happy.

Lastly remember there is a free sign-up if you use somebodys referral so pick somebody on GZ to give $50 to if you do sign up to them but honestly if you're mainly self service you'll like them.

Access point wise - look at getting a Grandstream GWN7660: https://www.gowifi.co.nz/indoor-access-points/gwn7660.html

You can also pick up Skinny Smart Modem 3's off Trademe for cheap and these can work with any ISP.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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Lias

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#3162160 21-Nov-2023 16:04

What Michael said pretty much.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

prat33k

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#3162170 21-Nov-2023 17:17

Ok great! Thanks for your input, guys. I ended up signing up with Quic and used one of the referral codes from GZ as well.

Let's wait and see how long their ASAP connection date would be. Currently don't see any order on Chorus Portal for the transfer. :)

Thanks again

michaelmurfy

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#3162172 21-Nov-2023 17:40

@prat33k Will likely be early tomorrow :)

nztim

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#3162178 21-Nov-2023 18:25

Out of interest what SonicWALL do tiu use?

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prat33k

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#3162611 23-Nov-2023 00:30

nztim: Out of interest what SonicWALL do tiu use?

I just use an oldy TZ400

Also, btw for anyone still reading through - finally got connected today, and looks like my network woes have finally been resolved without me having to do anything other than changing the WAN settings on my GW from DHCP/VLAN 10 to Untagged PPPoE. As can be seen from the uptime monitor snip below where I used to get these constant dropout alerts on my phone which was also the same time all the people in my house started complaining about the internet not working. I got connected with Quic at 4 Pm today and there have been 0 drops until I actually restarted the router after 11 Pm a couple of times to do some static IP testing.

if any engineer from 2degrees is reading this - can you guys advise, why I constantly had these issues day and night and suddenly are resolved since I changed the ISP? I even created a thread a while ago but got no reasonable answer to the issue Drops on HTTP checks but not on ping checks? (geekzone.co.nz)

Edit: Also love the fact that the Quic portal is so easy to add add-ons, and run ONT diagnostics (me having worked in ISP customer care this is a godsend to do things by myself)

michaelmurfy

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#3162612 23-Nov-2023 00:41

Those drops are pretty common too! I could see why you wanted to switch. I would have lost patience very, very quickly so you've clearly got some patience!

I'm wondering if it is perhaps a Sonicwall bug (but then again @nztim is a Sonicwall fanboy). It'll be interesting to see if the drops happen if you were to switch back to DHCP/IPoE when this has been released to the general public via Quic.

Also in regards to the Quic portal - there are more interesting self management things coming (not sure if I can talk about that part just yet!) that may tickle your fancy just that little bit more. They've been really busy behind the scenes.

nztim

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#3162618 23-Nov-2023 05:44

TZ400 only routes at 500mbps so only good for a 300/100 connection

They're still a rock solid firewall though

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nztim

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#3162619 23-Nov-2023 05:57

This will be the dreaded DHCP client bug, when the SonicWALL requests a DHCP update it drops all connections for a split second,

Fix is upgrade firmware to 6.5.4.12 or use PPPoE

You could have just switched to PPPoE with 2degrees rather than change ISP

The other way to fix it if you don’t have maintenance contract to upgrade firmware and you need to use IPoE is to adjust your outbound NAT policy to not use Source Port REMAP

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prat33k

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#3162737 23-Nov-2023 10:17

nztim: This will be the dreaded DHCP client bug, when the SonicWALL requests a DHCP update it drops all connections for a split second,

Fix is upgrade firmware to 6.5.4.12 or use PPPoE

You could have just switched to PPPoE with 2degrees rather than change ISP

The other way to fix it if you don’t have maintenance contract to upgrade firmware and you need to use IPoE is to adjust your outbound NAT policy to not use Source Port REMAP

Interesting input, thanks for that. I didn't know about the 500 Mbps limit. I would assume it to be much higher as some of the crappy ISP routers from ages ago were able to do basic 900 Mbps routing in my experience (looking at Netcomm for example). I haven't tried doing the full isolation test to confirm the max bandwidth yet but will try that over the weekend. I also don't need any of the security tools so will try, to compare as well.

For the SonicWALL FW, I am already running the firmware you suggested (SonicOS Enhanced 6.5.4.12-101n)

Also, this does not explain the drops when I was using Mikrotik before I had this SonicWALL in place, and I used to have these exact issues while on 2degrees.

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nztim

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#3162896 23-Nov-2023 16:02

prat33k:

For the SonicWALL FW, I am already running the firmware you suggested (SonicOS Enhanced 6.5.4.12-101n)

Weird that should have been fixed in 6.5.4.12

if you go back to IPoE try unticking the source port remap box on your outbound NAT policy

Sorry screenshot is from my newer Gen7 SonicWALL but it's in the same place under advanced section of the NAT policy.

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myfullflavour

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#3163017 23-Nov-2023 19:20

At this point Skinny would be far more reliable.

Quic last 10 days, tons of packet loss and long periods without service:

Another ISP last 10 days, zero issues:

hsvhel

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#3163054 23-Nov-2023 21:33

myfullflavour: At this point Skinny would be far more reliable.

Quic last 10 days, tons of packet loss and long periods without service:

Another ISP last 10 days, zero issues:

Long periods without service is a bit rough, apart from running on secondary connx this morning
It’s been tolerable for price point and size of ISP

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prat33k

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#3163325 24-Nov-2023 17:04

nztim:

if you go back to IPoE try unticking the source port remap box on your outbound NAT policy

Yeah I don't have the IPoE connection anymore so unable to test. Would be nice to replicate and see once Quic brings the option to use IPoE as well and see if this happens still.

myfullflavour:

Quic last 10 days, tons of packet loss and long periods without service

Yeah I have noticed a bit uptick of packet loss since I moved from 2d to Quic as well. I changed on 22nd to Quic -