Please recommend the best Internet-providers for a foreigner...

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Please recommend the best Internet-providers for a foreigner...

eranro

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#9176 27-Aug-2006 04:24

Hi there!

I am an alien in Auckland, looking for internet-provider.

I almost went for Ihug, but stopped for a second when I browsed a bit on these forums... So now I am a bit stumbled, and don't exactly know what to go for...
I must say that the cap you have at maximum downloads down here, is sooo old compared to my homecountry! It's like what it was back home five years ago..

The things I am looking for, is at least:
3.5Mbps Down
128Kbps Up
10Gb or more in that stupid max-cap... And not too expensive if you actually go OVER that cap.

Hope there are some friendly people in here to help me get this sorted.
I had Ezynetworks for one and a half week. Boy that was horrible!

cokemaster

Nate wants an iphone
3941 posts

Uber Geek

Mod Emeritus

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#44774 27-Aug-2006 11:04

I'd probably recommend Xtra. Its not the cheapest show in town but they can be the most convenient. Just order, place it on your Telecom account and pay it in one bill. Generally no direct debits needed unlike some other ISP's that may require you to have a direct debit to use their service. Support is relatively good too and its one of the few ISP's that allow cellphone calls to their support number.

If you're a light user then I recommend the Go, Explorer or the Adventurer plans (1, 5, and 10 respectively). As with most 'flatrate' plans they do have a data cap and then will throttle down to 64kbps afterwards. I must warn you about going on plans with excess charges though as 2c per MB is a bit excessive and can result in massive bills if you are not careful.

Again, you can probably get more bang for your buck from Orcon, Ihug, or Xnet but be sure you're ready to plan the blame game when you have ADSL problems. They usually will blame Telecom and then do nothing. if you're going with Ihug look out for their on/off peak plans as they can really bite you if you're not careful, in addition their support number can and will place you on hold upto 45 minutes (in my experience, some people have had different results).

Edit: I just reread your post and saw 10gb+.In that case the adventurer plan is probably best but there are better plans but tend to get extremely expensive.

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

bonkiebonks

373 posts

Ultimate Geek

#44777 27-Aug-2006 12:12

I recommend Orcon, and Slingshot, although you could sign up with Xtra first to get their free modem with no term contract, and then churn over to Xnet or Slingshot at no extra cost, plus the freedom of no term contract.

Slingshot gives you one of the cheapest plans with generous data caps (or the option to purchase additional data blocks at reasonable prices), and also one of the cheapest toll calls around.

I have been with Ihug about two months back, and found them to be pretty reliable, although I've heard many complaints against them in recent weeks. Look around for a thread on Geekzone about Ihug's reliability. You might also want to check out the forum on GPForums. There are a lot more opinions there that are more representative of the general perception of the public towards broadband in NZ. http://www.gpforums.co.nz/forum/Broadband/?s=

eranro

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#44787 27-Aug-2006 17:15

Thanks a lot for your nice replies!
Very much appreciated!

I'll look into the forum you posted, bonkiebonks - and I will let you know what I go for when I've decided. :)

maninimepo

72 posts

Master Geek

#44898 29-Aug-2006 03:51

eranro: Thanks a lot for your nice replies!
Very much appreciated!

I'll look into the forum you posted, bonkiebonks - and I will let you know what I go for when I've decided. :)

Where did you move from?

My family and I are planning on moving over next year - and the broadband solutions look awful.

Here in the UK, I am on 10mbps download, with 1mbps upload, with no cap. This is on a fibre network, that is currently being upgraded in some areas to carry upto 100mbps download speeds, which will be used to carry TV on demand and phone.

The ADSL network in the UK is far behind this, as the top down speed you can reach is 8mbps, although the network is slowly being upgraded to ADSL2+, giving 24mbps.

So when I look at the options available in NZ, they seem rather slow and incredibly expensive.

A download cap in the UK is uncommon, and even accounts that have one don't inforce them. :D

eranro

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#44899 29-Aug-2006 04:23

maninimepo:
eranro: Thanks a lot for your nice replies!
Very much appreciated!

I'll look into the forum you posted, bonkiebonks - and I will let you know what I go for when I've decided. :)

Where did you move from?

My family and I are planning on moving over next year - and the broadband solutions look awful.

Here in the UK, I am on 10mbps download, with 1mbps upload, with no cap. This is on a fibre network, that is currently being upgraded in some areas to carry upto 100mbps download speeds, which will be used to carry TV on demand and phone.

The ADSL network in the UK is far behind this, as the top down speed you can reach is 8mbps, although the network is slowly being upgraded to ADSL2+, giving 24mbps.

So when I look at the options available in NZ, they seem rather slow and incredibly expensive.

A download cap in the UK is uncommon, and even accounts that have one don't inforce them. :D

I moved down from Norway myself. The best connection I ever had in Norway was 10mbps UP and DOWN, to approximately NZD$50 per month (around 15-20 pounds... ?). And no data-cap ofcourse. Data-cap is something antique in Norway, it is never mentioned anymore.

Regularely though, the general household around in Norway stays within 1mbps to 3.5mbps.

I'm actually stunned of how different it is down here, with this "old" data-cap (aweful, I hate it), and they are STILL bragging about that broadband is 80x faster than Dial-Up! lol... Dial-Up ? What is that? Ooohh yes, I remember those squeeeking noises of my old modem......... IN THE 20th CENTURY!

...

Sorry for that. No need to get aggrievated.

Anyway, I have come to a conclusion. I will be ordering Slingshot's Ultra ($79.95p/m-3.5mbps/512 - datacap at 10Gb, then $10 for next 10Gb). Hope I will be content with that.

maninimepo

72 posts

Master Geek

#44900 29-Aug-2006 06:13

I love the sound of 10mbps upload speed !

Here is the same - the average connection speed I would say is probably 2mbps, and for surfing it's fine.

I only like 10mbps as I do lot's of downloading and uploading. Unfortunately the upload speed doesn't come without the download, and even then it's not great.