South Island Roadtrip - Telecom or VF for best coverage ?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › South Island Roadtrip - Telecom or VF for best coverage ?

AklBlue

21 posts

Geek

#77353 15-Feb-2011 11:24

Just about to embark on a 4 week roadtrip around the south island, and want to know which network will give me the best coverage and reliability while I'm on the road. I'm going to buy a USB device with prepay this Friday.

I've looked at the coverage maps from both networks and they look similar, so which is better ??

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#439883 15-Feb-2011 16:26

XT's coverage is probably marginally more extensive in the South Island than Vodafone's but it's going to vary on a case by case basis, depending on the area which has stronger signal.

Vodafone's prepay Vodem "pack" is currently $79 and comes with 2GB data (must be used within 2 months), top ups are $10 for 100MB and $30 for 512MB.

Telecom's prepay T-Stick is $99 and basically comes with $29.95 credit which gives you 512MB. Note: Telecom's billing works a little differently so read up on it.

I didn't see any special promo's for Telecom atm, so Vodafone looks the better deal to me.

Buttonmash

361 posts

Ultimate Geek

#439889 15-Feb-2011 16:34

Telecoms billing alone makes them a better deal. Unless this has changed since I last looked at it. Vodafone charge you the $30 at the start of the month. Telecom charge your $0.10 per MB until you hit $29.95 (300MB) then the next 200MB are free.

The benefit of this is when you're back from the South Island you can leave it in a cupboard. Go away for a weekend, use it briefly and get a $5 bill. Then ignore it again. Vodafone are much more frustrating.

wongtop

565 posts

Ultimate Geek

#439895 15-Feb-2011 16:43

I agree with the above two posts. If you are only going to use the device for the next month or two go VF.

If you are going to use the device ongoing on an occasional basis, go Telecom, its less management just make sure there is $ on the account and you are good to go. VF (and 2degrees) is a bit of a pain for occasional use - if you want to minimise your spend you have to remember to cancel the BB plan before it auto renews, and if you forget to renew before you start using you will get hammered by the casual rates.

graemeh

2078 posts

Uber Geek

#440154 16-Feb-2011 10:44

XT had much better coverage for our South Island roadtrip.

The pricing is also much better for occasional use as others have said.

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#440164 16-Feb-2011 10:53

Coverage maps may look similar but take the time to look closer at the specific areas you're traveling to and where you intend to spend the night (ie:where you'll use the device)

Overall the differences may be small but there are places where they may be significant to you for a day or so

sleepy

334 posts

Ultimate Geek

#440175 16-Feb-2011 11:01

Having recently just done this trip i found i had to use xt and 2 degrees as sometimes one worked and not the other. Neither was great north of Nelson or down the west coast.

But Enjoy the trip the west coast is always worth it. So is probably Dunedin -Picton
but have done it too many times

AklBlue

21 posts

Geek

#440188 16-Feb-2011 11:17

Thanks for all your replies.. barring any late coming endorsements of Vodafone, it looks like on balance that Telecom XT is the better choice so far...

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johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#440197 16-Feb-2011 11:43

AklBlue: Thanks for all your replies.. barring any late coming endorsements of Vodafone, it looks like on balance that Telecom XT is the better choice so far...

Get a device that supports U850/U900 and give us the feedback after your trip

AklBlue

21 posts

Geek

#453034 29-Mar-2011 09:10

johnr:
AklBlue: Thanks for all your replies.. barring any late coming endorsements of Vodafone, it looks like on balance that Telecom XT is the better choice so far...

Get a device that supports U850/U900 and give us the feedback after your trip

I'm back in Auckland and can report that the South Island is awesome !! Some amazing scenery, places and friendly people wherever we ventured.

I bought a Telecom T-Stick for the laptop and also bought some national data on my 2Degrees mobile phone just for email, so I figured I was pretty much covered for all eventualities.

Since during the day we were mostly driving or doing local activities, I only got to test my Internet connections during the evenings at the numerous campgrounds where we parked up for the night, so not really that scientific. Anyway I can report that both Telecom and 2Degrees roaming (on Vodafone) were pretty much the same, and it seemed that they had similar coverage. However the Vodafone network would step between H, 3G, E, and G, while XT was always on HSDPA.

We had data coverage on both networks on all our stopovers except one night down in the Catlins where neither worked. Also there was no signal on my mobile while walking the Abel Tasman, nor while I was at Milford Sound. Unfortunately I was unable to test the XT network at these two spots.

So by my unscientific reckoning I have:
Coverage = a tie.
Connection quality/speed = XT

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#453057 29-Mar-2011 10:27

AklBlue:....edit... Anyway I can report that both Telecom and 2Degrees roaming (on Vodafone) were pretty much the same, and it seemed that they had similar coverage. However the Vodafone network would step between H, 3G, E, and G, while XT was always on HSDPA.

Thats what you'd expect as XT is only an HSDPA (3G) network, whereas VF's 97% coverage is a mix of 2G and 3G with some areas being only one or the other and most being both.