I may switch from Orcon to Telecom or Vodafone

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › I may switch from Orcon to Telecom or Vodafone

gareth41

742 posts

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#105162 28-Jun-2012 11:56

After hearing about all these plans with massive data allowences Telecom and Vodafone are advertising, I called up Orcon asking to increase my data, asking if they could match, all they tried to do is push the Orcon genius at me. I dont want genius. All I want is extra data. They said I can upgrade just the data but is going to be about $135 all up just to increase to 55gig including homeline. I basicly got no where with them on the phone.

So I looked at Telecom, I can get 120gig for $105, and includes my home line. Vodafone also has a similar deal 80gig and sky discounts.

Orcon currently have me on the old $89 deal where I get 30gig and the homeline, contract is now finished. Have had broadband with Orcon for the last 3 to 4 years.

So Orcon its up to you, want to keep a customer? Please call me, my orcon username is the same as geekzone username, otherwise im going to switch.

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#647558 28-Jun-2012 12:31

Let us know what the outcome is as i in the same boat. Internet only and a Telecom landline..

Regards,

Old3eyes

NonprayingMantis

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#647564 28-Jun-2012 12:41

why don;t you want the genius?

with Genius you can get 200GB for $99

Kyanar

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#647580 28-Jun-2012 13:12

NonprayingMantis: why don;t you want the genius?

with Genius you can get 200GB for $99

I'm in a similar boat to the OP.

My reasoning is that having a phone line during a power outage is always helpful. Also, in my experience Orcon has piss-poor call quality on their VoIP lines. Also, Orcon won't offer Genius to everyone anyway (I can't as I'm a business customer).

DeepBlueSky

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#647594 28-Jun-2012 13:32

I can understand; I didn't want to move from the old copper land line either for a long time, although I had been using VOIP in my works PABX for the last few years. Here is a rundown of my thoughts so far.

But I have finally taken the plunge and so far it’s great as I have only had the system operational for a few days I give it another month before I can properly comment on how it’s gone.

Benefits so far:
* $99.00 Home line and 200GB data.
* Sound quality of the calls are amazing they seem much clearer than when I had them going through the analogue line you could hear the sounds in the background of the call centre when I cancelled Telecom.
* Calls capped at around $3 dollars from memory for local and international calls to Australia.
* Free Voice mail that you can setup to notify you on a designated email address
* Free Caller ID
* Plus the supplied router can allow you to setup an FTP server to a plugged in Mass Storage device like an external hard drive. Great if you want to share photos / videos with friends and family.
* I have worked out I’ll save $50+ a month using Genius (no more land line to pay Telecom for plus savings as I will never go over my data cap), I only wished I had jumped earlier.
* The router arrived the day after I joined no buggerising around they said the day the changeover would happen Orcon kept to the agreed time this is a first, when I have moved house in the past the problem is always been the exchange hook-up, that said the phone changeover did take one more day but I had working internet on the day specified.

Possible issues
* Orcon say Genius does not work if you have some medical / alarm systems that dial out, same for Sky pay per view I guess as these systems are using old technology and need to be updated.
* If you lose power / router dies you will lose your phone too.
* Having to work out new and creative ways to waist data as I have sooo much to play with :)

I hope this helps with your thinking gareth41, I think Orcon are hamstrung to some degree as the Telecoms in this world own the analogue copper thats why they can be so cheap in that area.

coffeebaron

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#647617 28-Jun-2012 13:59

Kyanar:
NonprayingMantis: why don;t you want the genius?

with Genius you can get 200GB for $99

I'm in a similar boat to the OP.

My reasoning is that having a phone line during a power outage is always helpful. Also, in my experience Orcon has piss-poor call quality on their VoIP lines. Also, Orcon won't offer Genius to everyone anyway (I can't as I'm a business customer).

Your savings will quickly pay for a UPS

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unitedtitan

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#647822 28-Jun-2012 20:54

After several loyal years at Orcon, I have finally given my 30-day notice and will be switching to Telecom.

From...

Orcon@Home Bronze - Max/Max $51.06 + 2GB included + 100GB add-on for Orcon@Home Bronze (Max/Max) $81.78 + Telecom Phone Line $54.17 = Total $187.01

to...

Telecom Home Broadband Package (Phone + BB 120GB) Total $115.00

Savings of $72.01... should cover the winter electricity bill.

I require the POTS line so genius was not an option. About 1-month ago I did call Orcon to see whether they could give me a better price on the non-genius plan considering the competitive pricing out there with other ISP's... was told no. Then I saw on this forum an annoucement that they were reviewing the non-genius plan pricing but there have been no real updates on that.

It's the soldiers on the front line in Orcon I feel sorry for... they must field a few calls about the above but their hands seem tied. In my opinion, someone in Orcon management needs their you know what kicked.

richms

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#647832 28-Jun-2012 21:05

The only way they will learn that people dont want the genius "service" is when people start leaving. And it seems that is starting to happen.

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gareth41

742 posts

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#647841 28-Jun-2012 21:23

I've also discovered, sitehost is cheaper than orcon for domains so moving them across. Already have a vps with sitehost and a while ago moved all my websites from orcon hosting to a single vps running apache/mysql with virtual hosts, already saving a lot on hosting. Plus any wordpress joomla sites hosted with orcon ran very slow because of mysql database being slow

Kyanar

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#647973 29-Jun-2012 08:11

coffeebaron:
Kyanar:
NonprayingMantis: why don;t you want the genius?

with Genius you can get 200GB for $99

I'm in a similar boat to the OP.

My reasoning is that having a phone line during a power outage is always helpful. Also, in my experience Orcon has piss-poor call quality on their VoIP lines. Also, Orcon won't offer Genius to everyone anyway (I can't as I'm a business customer).

Your savings will quickly pay for a UPS

That doesn't address the poor call quality issue. (Nothing like making a phone call and then ending up just hanging up because you can't hear the other party due to the static). Nor does that address the issue that as a business customer, I'm not allowed to get Genius anyway.

old3eyes

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#648000 29-Jun-2012 08:46

NonprayingMantis: why don;t you want the genius?

with Genius you can get 200GB for $99

I had Orcon's fone service once. Never again..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Linuxluver

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#648013 29-Jun-2012 08:59

gareth41: After hearing about all these plans with massive data allowences Telecom and Vodafone are advertising, I called up Orcon asking to increase my data, asking if they could match, all they tried to do is push the Orcon genius at me. I dont want genius. All I want is extra data. They said I can upgrade just the data but is going to be about $135 all up just to increase to 55gig including homeline. I basicly got no where with them on the phone.

So I looked at Telecom, I can get 120gig for $105, and includes my home line. Vodafone also has a similar deal 80gig and sky discounts.

Orcon currently have me on the old $89 deal where I get 30gig and the homeline, contract is now finished. Have had broadband with Orcon for the last 3 to 4 years.

So Orcon its up to you, want to keep a customer? Please call me, my orcon username is the same as geekzone username, otherwise im going to switch.

Orcon did the same to me a a few months back. I wanted to change my data quota but they required I throw in my landline, too.

I went to Telecom....and for $105 / month I get my landline and ADSL2 (24mbit) and 160GB of data / month. (Update: Hmm. Thinking. I may have paid an extra $20 / month for a lot more data....and then in May they doubled it...)

Orcon were bought by Kordia and Kordia touts themselves as being a business-focused ISP.

It shows. If you're a residential user you're presented with take-it-or-leave options.

Take the hint. Leave.

Telecom's network is much better anyway. Orcon's DSL used to start and stop playing streaming video. On Telecom's network we can have two PCs streaming separate videos at the same time during the evening peak.....with no halts (Auckland). It's just better, faster, cheaper, BIGGER.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Instinct

41 posts

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#648015 29-Jun-2012 09:03

I've also given notice to Orcon. It took them over 6 months to address one of the two concerns I raised with them. the first being a speed issue. I was getting around 12mb downloads that dropped to 5mb overnight. It took them around 6 months to resolve the issue, most of this time they were denying there was an issue and blamedit on ADSL uptake in my street.This is now resolved (after several calls logged) and I'm back at approx 12mb. The 2nd issue was with the pricing. I have given them plenty of oppotunity to match competitor pricing and the retemtion team failed to deliver a reason to stay (and couldn't even come close to the likes of Telecom at $105).

Anyway, I am moving to Snap on the 11th July and I'm taking up the VDSL2 offer and keeping POTS too.
All this for much more data, hopefully much faster and all for a significantly lower cost.

jamesrt

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#648022 29-Jun-2012 09:21

I thought I'd throw my $0.02 into the ring, and state that I've just moved TO Orcon/Genius, and I couldn't be happier.

I was using Telecom for homeline and another ISP for broadband (40Gb/month, effectively); now for the same $$$ (actually, slightly less), I've got 200Gb/month; my download speed has trippled, my upload speed is 6x faster; and I finally (after more than 10 years of hounding Telecom) get Caller-ID on my home phone.

I, for one, am very happy to have made this move. I did have to ring the Support line to get my voicemail tweaked the way I wanted to, but they were quick to answer the phone, very helpful, and the required work carried out in seconds.

There will always be people with bad experiences, I'm not ignoring that - just trying to point out that there can be good experiences as well.

Instinct

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#648036 29-Jun-2012 09:49

jamesrt: I thought I'd throw my $0.02 into the ring, and state that I've just moved TO Orcon/Genius, and I couldn't be happier.

I was using Telecom for homeline and another ISP for broadband (40Gb/month, effectively); now for the same $$$ (actually, slightly less), I've got 200Gb/month; my download speed has trippled, my upload speed is 6x faster; and I finally (after more than 10 years of hounding Telecom) get Caller-ID on my home phone.

I, for one, am very happy to have made this move. I did have to ring the Support line to get my voicemail tweaked the way I wanted to, but they were quick to answer the phone, very helpful, and the required work carried out in seconds.

There will always be people with bad experiences, I'm not ignoring that - just trying to point out that there can be good experiences as well.

I'm really pleased you have a good story to tell and I wish you all the best with Orcon. Hopefully you continue to get great response times from the Customer Service team. I usally give up waiting after 15mins.. I have waited over 30 mins (on several occasions) and got cut off at 8pm when the contact centre closed.

The Genius is not a bad set up for most people but it is not the best option for some. I guess I'm just one of the 'some' :-)
I live in a 3 level home with multiple phones around the house. The hub in the middle of the house were a genius router would be placed is in a cupboard under the stairs in the middle floor. It is totally impracticle to have phone under the stairs in a cupboard, hence the need for me to keep POTS and avoiding the need to buy 5 new phones.

ubergeeknz

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#648043 29-Jun-2012 10:07

I live in a 3 level home with multiple phones around the house. The hub in the middle of the house were a genius router would be placed is in a cupboard under the stairs in the middle floor. It is totally impracticle to have phone under the stairs in a cupboard, hence the need for me to keep POTS and avoiding the need to buy 5 new phones.

Disclosure: I work for Orcon as a Voice Engineer. I'm certainly not trying to force your opinion either way but I just want to clarify a couple of points :)

Genius (and Genius Lite) allow you to plug or cable in POTS phones, it has an analog port just for this purpose.

If you have a master filter installed, and have a Phone and a DSL socket next to where your router lives, simply plug DSL jack into the DSL socket, and the Phone jack to the phone socket.

Then clip the wires on the phone side of the master filter (leave enough tail to reconnect them later if you want to).

Now all your phones will work as before, but using the Genius for connectivity.

As for voice quality, I have Genius at home and it's been crystal clear for me, as a long time phone tech I'm quite picky about these things, too. I have heard about problems some time ago but to my knowledge they are long since resolved.

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