Performance of 2degrees 3G/4G? (Mostly Auckland)

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Performance of 2degrees 3G/4G? (Mostly Auckland)

Aaroona

3196 posts

Uber Geek

#177770 13-Aug-2015 17:19

I got an offer from Vodafone to jump up a plan to $49 for 2.5GB of data, umlimited calling and texting, yada yada.

I went to have a look at 2Degrees and they have a similar plan, except they offer Roll-over data.

Now while I don't use any latency sensitive apps on my mobile, I am curious to know what the performance is on 2 degrees, mostly in the Auckland CDB, and maybe even in comparison to Vodafone (if that data is available).
Does anyone have this info that they may have generated themselves, either from speedtests or other metrics?

I'm considering the jump after being a Vodafone customer for ~11 years or so, solely for the fact that I know that I don't use my data every month, so roll-over would be nice- something vodafone does not offer.

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#1365739 13-Aug-2015 17:25

I tried 2d a while ago when they had an offer at the start of the year with a student sim that got some bonuses. I left because they wouldnt sort the bonuses out and had horrid customer service. Anyway, for the time I was with them it was a noticable drop from spark network quality. Lots of edge around the place. Lots of emercancy calls only. Went back to spark. When spark did their nasty anti-competitive carryon I went to vodafone. Didnt really notice any difference other than a couple of places that I know their coverage is less than optimal.

So I would say you would regret the change to 2degrees. But porting it easy in anycase. Change over and if you dont like it change back. The only way that telcos will up their game is when people walk from them, so the more often you do that the better IMO.

Richard rich.ms

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#1365801 13-Aug-2015 18:18

I was skeptical due to an earlier experience but changed from telecom to 2d maybe a year ago. I have had zero problems, i get strong 4g performance most places i go around ak, even 3g speeds have been satisfactory. Rollover mins/data is so worth it, is quite amazing how quickly they can build

mercutio

1392 posts

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#1365814 13-Aug-2015 18:27

i've got 2degrees on my cellphone, and vodafone stick, and am in auckland. internet is fine as long as in 4g area, but in 3g areas performance is terrible. compared to 3g on the vodafone stick there's a HUGE difference. cbd should be 4g and fine though.

cooljoo

89 posts

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#1365831 13-Aug-2015 18:52

You need to turn on Data Roaming on 2Degrees. That way it will roam on Vodafone's network if there is no signal.

dwl

371 posts

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#1365834 13-Aug-2015 18:59

cooljoo: You need to turn on Data Roaming on 2Degrees. That way it will roam on Vodafone's network if there is no signal.

Will roaming onto Vodafone give you 4G if they have it on the site or are you limited to 3G if a 2D customer?

richms

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#1365837 13-Aug-2015 19:03

Only roams to VF when you are in the boonies. When indoor in the city etc it doesn't help. That's why you get emergency calls only - either there is no 2d at all or I can't see their 2g because I've set the phone to 3g only out of desperation at finding it sitting on 2g all the time. I would equate 2d to where vodafone were years and years ago for decent 3g coverage.

Richard rich.ms

mercutio

1392 posts

Uber Geek

#1365839 13-Aug-2015 19:07

dwl:
cooljoo: You need to turn on Data Roaming on 2Degrees. That way it will roam on Vodafone's network if there is no signal.

Will roaming onto Vodafone give you 4G if they have it on the site or are you limited to 3G if a 2D customer?

roaming is turned off if you're in auckland. even if there are no 2degrees towers around. if you're more than 20k from cbd i'd guess then vodafone has better coverage.

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mercutio

1392 posts

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#1365842 13-Aug-2015 19:15

cooljoo: You need to turn on Data Roaming on 2Degrees. That way it will roam on Vodafone's network if there is no signal.

yeah that's what they made it sound like when promoting 2degrees in the first place. but that's only enabled in areas 2degrees doesn't decide they want to try and cover. (small towns etc) and huge blocks of area like west auckland are designated as covered areas - where west auckland is a huge area, and some of the further out places don't have any towers. plus lots of trees etc, mean that there can easily be 0 coverage 7km from a tower.

there are dead spots with all providers though. like where i am now has good 2degrees and vodafone coverage (signal strength is good with 2degrees, but i think there's congestion), but bad telecom coverage. it's just the way it was promoted sounded like you'd get at least as good coverage as vodafone.

cooljoo

89 posts

Master Geek

#1365844 13-Aug-2015 19:21

Wow 2Degrees needs to step up. OP have you thought about Skinny $46 plan? 2.5gb rollover data and unlimited calls using Spark's network.

Aaroona

3196 posts

Uber Geek

#1366104 14-Aug-2015 09:39

richms: I tried 2d a while ago when they had an offer at the start of the year with a student sim that got some bonuses. I left because they wouldnt sort the bonuses out and had horrid customer service. Anyway, for the time I was with them it was a noticable drop from spark network quality. Lots of edge around the place. Lots of emercancy calls only. Went back to spark. When spark did their nasty anti-competitive carryon I went to vodafone. Didnt really notice any difference other than a couple of places that I know their coverage is less than optimal.

So I would say you would regret the change to 2degrees. But porting it easy in anycase. Change over and if you dont like it change back. The only way that telcos will up their game is when people walk from them, so the more often you do that the better IMO.

Hmm, that's not good! I know my mum moved over to 2D a year or so ago in Chch, and she said that compared to Vodafone, coverage was worse, but she was willing to have the trade off with Roll-over and cost.

cooljoo: Wow 2Degrees needs to step up. OP have you thought about Skinny $46 plan? 2.5gb rollover data and unlimited calls using Spark's network.

I didn't even consider Skinny to be honest. That does sound like a good deal, definitely.

mercutio: i've got 2degrees on my cellphone, and vodafone stick, and am in auckland. internet is fine as long as in 4g area, but in 3g areas performance is terrible. compared to 3g on the vodafone stick there's a HUGE difference. cbd should be 4g and fine though.

Kind of interesting that the 3G is bad on 2D. My understanding was that Snap provides the backhaul for 2D. I've been on Snap before and the performance was awesome.

dwl:
cooljoo: You need to turn on Data Roaming on 2Degrees. That way it will roam on Vodafone's network if there is no signal.

Will roaming onto Vodafone give you 4G if they have it on the site or are you limited to 3G if a 2D customer?

That's a good question actually. I will have to look into that as well... As much as I don't use a butt-load of data, it is nice being able to use 4G.

tripper1000

1619 posts

Uber Geek

#1367031 15-Aug-2015 17:13

2Degrees 3G has been fine for me in AKL. Better than the other companies in some places, and slightly worse in others. I can't comment on 4G sorry.

Really, it depends on where you work and play. I'd suggest picking up a pre-paid SIM (only $5) and try out their coverage and speed before committing your self to switching over.

One of the features I like best with 2dgrees data, other than roll over, is data sharing with other SIM's. You can share you plan data with the SIM card in your tablet, 3g stick, spare phone etc - very handy!

pdath

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1367100 15-Aug-2015 18:41

I use 2Degree's in my notebook at it works fine all over Auckland. The roll over data is great. I have about 5GB sitting on my plan available most of the time. Its comforting knowing that if I need to I can pull down a big chunk.

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eXDee

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#1367162 15-Aug-2015 21:16

2Degrees is plenty fine in auckland whenever i'm there. 4G in most places, 3G in weaker spots. Never had issues with the one exception being the transition from vodafone to 2degrees coverage and vice versa.

When you're on the motorway and have left the city limits you'll hit the transition point, where one stops and the other starts. The phone briefly cuts out before finding the new signal and connecting. This is problem for people using data on the road (and don't like brief interruptions), people who live right along this border line and people making calls in the car as they drive between auckland and hamilton.

You can roam on vodafone with 2degrees devices everywhere EXCEPT auckland and wellington. Everywhere else VF's network is accessible even when there is 2degrees coverage there and you can force the use of it if you wish. These are 2degrees original coverage zones so are not included in the roaming agreement.

However overall its great and the trade off of this minor inconvenience is worth the better value.

sbiddle

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#1367265 16-Aug-2015 08:34

eXDee:

You can roam on vodafone with 2degrees devices everywhere EXCEPT auckland and wellington. Everywhere else VF's network is accessible even when there is 2degrees coverage there and you can force the use of it if you wish. These are 2degrees original coverage zones so are not included in the roaming agreement.

Are you 100% certain of this? My understanding is roaming is locking out in ALL areas where 2d have deployed their own network.

eXDee

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#1367403 16-Aug-2015 13:27

sbiddle:
eXDee:

You can roam on vodafone with 2degrees devices everywhere EXCEPT auckland and wellington. Everywhere else VF's network is accessible even when there is 2degrees coverage there and you can force the use of it if you wish. These are 2degrees original coverage zones so are not included in the roaming agreement.

Are you 100% certain of this? My understanding is roaming is locking out in ALL areas where 2d have deployed their own network.

From my own experience, this is the case. I use it all the time around the waikato, whenever i go on a long trip down to the taupo region for example I manually set my phone to Vodafone to cut down on inconvenience of swapping in and out of native coverage. There are many towns in the Waikato that only have 1-2 2degrees towers. Here's it told in screenshots:

Other times at huge events if vodafone has bought in more capacity than 2degrees or vice versa, i'll manually swap to whoever is the most functional. Most of the time though i've got it on automatic so i can leverage 4G native coverage (one cannot access vodafone 4G)

Someone might be able to find some official policy, but from my experience everywhere but the original auckland wellington regions are fair game for roaming onto VF.

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