Best Process to switch ISP in 2024

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KrazyKid

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#315990 5-Sep-2024 11:34

I am not in contract with my current ISP and have signed to switch to a new ISP.

As part of the switch infomation given to the new ISP I gave them my old ISP account number.

Do I need to advise my old ISP that I am leaving or is this done as part of the switch process these days?

DMWellington

33 posts

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#3279245 5-Sep-2024 11:43

In my experience (have swapped twice in the last 12 months), it just happens and I didn't need to do anything with my previous provider.

Aucklandjafa

522 posts

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#3279249 5-Sep-2024 11:53

If you don’t need to give 30 days notice, give your new ISP/GSP your account number and they’ll sort it. If you do need to give 30 days notice, give notice with your current ISP, then tell your new ISP you want a new connection (say the day before your disconnection day) and to activate it on the second port of the ONT.

rossnixon

37 posts

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#3279258 5-Sep-2024 12:25

Your will find that the process for swapping ISPs varies.

I swapped two days ago.
Then I got a call from Chorus who said I had TWO active connections to my ONT.
I had to then call my old ISP to tell them to disconnect me from their service.

So you can't always rely on a new ISP to advise your old ISP.
In that way it can be different than when you swap electricity/gas providers.

Aucklandjafa

522 posts

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#3279259 5-Sep-2024 12:32

rossnixon:
Your will find that the process for swapping ISPs varies.

I swapped two days ago.
Then I got a call from Chorus who said I had TWO active connections to my ONT.
I had to then call my old ISP to tell them to disconnect me from their service.

So you can't always rely on a new ISP to advise your old ISP.
In that way it can be different than when you swap electricity/gas providers.

Yeah, if you are migrating/porting your connection over, pays to check with your old ISP that they’ve received a migration notice and that your account/connection will close on x date

mattwnz

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#3279298 5-Sep-2024 14:58

I have a similar issue with changing Fibre ISP. I however want to avoid being double billed by two different ISPs by more than a few days. The new ISP said it could take anywhere between 5 days to 3 weeks to switch,. This would mean that I would get double billed for up to a month, or would lose my current connection. Is there anyway to get a new ISP to confirm exactly how long it will take without signing up, or to schedule a switch over date? I was told by my current ISP that I would need to cancel by the date I have paid up to, and they asked if I wanted to cancel on that date. But I don't want to do that if it takes the new ISP longer to do their connection.

rossnixon

37 posts

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#3279319 5-Sep-2024 16:16

Hi Matt

Your new ISP can only guess how long Chorus will take to do the switchover.
They say 5-7 days, but that includes sending you a modem. So you can likely cut that down to 1-2 days or less.

If your new ISP has done a Credit Check promptly, and got your payment details, then it'll just depend how busy Chorus is.
For me the switchover this week took about 18 hours. I'm just guessing that switching from one VOCUS supported ISP to another that they support made it easier.

I got a txt from Chorus within a few hours asking me to move my ethernet cable to LAN2, which I did the next morning. No ONT or modem restart was required.
Checking www.whatismyip.com was the only way I could confirm the change had occurred.

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Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#3279393 5-Sep-2024 21:38

rossnixon:

Hi Matt

Your new ISP can only guess how long Chorus will take to do the switchover.
They say 5-7 days, but that includes sending you a modem. So you can likely cut that down to 1-2 days or less.

If your new ISP has done a Credit Check promptly, and got your payment details, then it'll just depend how busy Chorus is.
For me the switchover this week took about 18 hours. I'm just guessing that switching from one VOCUS supported ISP to another that they support made it easier.

I got a txt from Chorus within a few hours asking me to move my ethernet cable to LAN2, which I did the next morning. No ONT or modem restart was required.
Checking www.whatismyip.com was the only way I could confirm the change had occurred.

Not quite correct - Assuming it's a fibre connection in a Chorus region, a transfer can be completed in as little as 2 working hours from the time it's submitted to Chorus, and all RSPs know this (and must choose an exact time [top of the hour only] when they place the order). For example, If a transfer request was submitted right now (9:40pm) for asap, it would be completed by 7am tomorrow. If submitted at 7:30am, it could be completed by 10am. Other LFCs will have their own SLAs which I am not familiar with, but there is no guessing a due date/time with Chorus fibre transfers. How busy Chorus is does not play a factor - transfers are entirely automated and exceptions requiring human intervention are extremely rare.

Copper PSTN/DSL transfers are a different ballgame - those generally do take significantly longer, between 2 and 5 working days from memory.

There are two options to shift Chorus fibre to a new RSP - the transfer process and the multiple primary process. Each have their own benefits and drawbacks.

Transfer: As above, your new RSP submits a transfer request asking Chorus to transfer the existing connection from the old RSP to the new. Once the due date and time is reached, the cutover is virtually instant. There can be double billing issues if the old RSP mandates a 30 day notice period ie they charge the customer for 30 days following the disconnection of their service in lieu of advanced notice. This can usually be mitigated if the customer calls the losing RSP to say they are leaving on X date (30+ days into the future), and then instructing that RSP NOT to place a disconnection request with Chorus.

Multiple Primary: Under this process, the new RSP simply asks Chorus to activate an additional connection on a spare UNI port on the ONT (there are 4). The way I approached this as a customer in the past was to ask my new RSP to connect on Port 2 on X date 30+ days in the future, and then I called my old RSP and asked them to disconnect my old service on X + 2 days. The benefit of this method is the new service connects on Port 2, and I then have a couple of days to setup my new router and ensure it works, do a hot cutover of all my devices and then wait for the old service on Port 1 to disconnect. The downside (if you can call it that), is that I will get double billed for those 2 days. I found this the easiest method to avoid any potential billing snafus.

When changing providers, it always pays to know which if the above processes the gaining RSP plans to use. If in doubt, you should ask or even tell them which one you want.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd