MyRepublic - New Fibre-only ISP

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6434 posts

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#1150953 9-Oct-2014 21:40

Peppery: Doesn't excite me at all looking next to BigPipe.

$20 extra gets you a gigabit router and VoIP line over BigPipe's Starter UFB, $10 extra gives you half the download speed of BigPipe UFB Pro, plus the router+voip and whatever gaming stuff they're doing. 12 month contract, plus a $50 deposit for the router.

$15 extra for the global mode stuff seems steep compared to Unotelly.

The title tag on their website says "MyRepublic | 1 Gbps - The World's Fastest Fibre Broadband" .....

seems quite misleading.
(also, is anyone else feel it is weird how they say "the ufb" instead of just "ufb")
e.g.

"Experience the Best of the UFB!"

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sonyxperiageek

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#1150954 9-Oct-2014 21:41

Peppery: Doesn't excite me at all looking next to BigPipe.

$20 extra gets you a gigabit router and VoIP line over BigPipe's Starter UFB, $10 extra gives you half the download speed of BigPipe UFB Pro, plus the router+voip and whatever gaming stuff they're doing. 12 month contract, plus a $50 deposit for the router.

$15 extra for the global mode stuff seems steep compared to Unotelly.

The title tag on their website says "MyRepublic | 1 Gbps - The World's Fastest Fibre Broadband" .....

Not to mention BigPipe have absolutely NO contracts involved!

Sony

BMarquis

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Chorus

Lifetime subscriber

#1150961 9-Oct-2014 21:52

NonprayingMantis: also, is anyone else feel it is weird how they say "the ufb" instead of just "ufb")
e.g.

"Experience the Best of the UFB!"

Lots of people say 'the UFB', even people in the industry, and it bugs me!
Seems to stem from 'the NBN' in Australia, which is actually correct.

It should be just 'UFB', or 'the UFB network'

/pedantry

Jiriteach

1114 posts

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#1150962 9-Oct-2014 21:54

Omg, $50 "setup fee" if you want a static IP. Seriously? Then a one-off $20 fee.
That's ridiculous!

-- opinions expressed by me are solely my own. ie - personal

Peppery

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#1150965 9-Oct-2014 22:08

sonyxperiageek:
Peppery: Doesn't excite me at all looking next to BigPipe.

$20 extra gets you a gigabit router and VoIP line over BigPipe's Starter UFB, $10 extra gives you half the download speed of BigPipe UFB Pro, plus the router+voip and whatever gaming stuff they're doing. 12 month contract, plus a $50 deposit for the router.

$15 extra for the global mode stuff seems steep compared to Unotelly.

The title tag on their website says "MyRepublic | 1 Gbps - The World's Fastest Fibre Broadband" .....

Not to mention BigPipe have absolutely NO contracts involved!

Exactly. I'd probably rather own my own router and I have unlimited calling from 2degrees, no need for a landline... I don't see the point.

Whinery

104 posts

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#1151361 10-Oct-2014 15:04

Exactly. I'd probably rather own my own router and I have unlimited calling from 2degrees, no need for a landline... I don't see the point.

Nobody says you can't own your own router. We just include one so that someone doesn't try to use their ADSL router and complain they can't get online, or use a cheap router that breaks at 20 Mbps and complain about our service being poor. Very few people signing up for a new fibre connection will have a spare router with gig LAN/WAN ports, so it would be bad form for us to not include one. For free.

I'm not sure what the problem with the free router is. If you don't like it, sell it on TradeMe or send it to me and I'll find a use for it.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=135&topicid=138491

See some other Geekzone posts for router recommendations. At least with ours, you won't be throwing it away because it doesn't work, has poor wireless, or is flakey.

Jiriteach: Omg, $50 "setup fee" if you want a static IP. Seriously? Then a one-off $20 fee.
That's ridiculous!

Hi Jiriteach, That's not correct. It's $20 for a static (no monthly charge), and no $50 at all. If you saw $50 for MyRepublicNZ, let me know where, and I'll get it corrected.

Thanks,
Marc Whinery
Senior Product Manager, MyRepublic NZ

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

Uber Geek

#1151393 10-Oct-2014 15:55

Thanks,
Marc Whinery
Senior Product Manager, MyRepublic NZ

Hi Marc, good to see prescence here on geekzone.

I'm sure we'd all love to find out more about the things My republic are offering that are quite different from what other ISPs currently offer.

Could you expand a little on:

1) Fibre TV. Isn't this just global mode? (same as Slingshot and Orcon do for free). If it is, why do you think you can charge $15/month for this when other guys do it for free?

2) 'enhanced video streaming' is this vs ADSL or vs other providers UFB? I mean, if you can't stream HD video on a 'normal' 100Mbps connection there must be something seriously wrong.

3) Gaming privileges. What does that actually mean? Free games?

4) Enhanced routing. You CEO has been quoted as saying
"We prioritise packets and engineer the routes to optimise the consumer experience," Baker said. "Others turn on 'the pipe' and say it will all be fine; we spend the time to make sure we have got the optimised route and version of World of Warcraft."
What does all that actually mean? Are you saying no other ISP does this?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10598986/Internet-provider-MyRepublic-launches-in-NZ

Behodar

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#1151416 10-Oct-2014 16:25

NBR says that MyRepublic is available in all areas except Whangarei, Levin and Greymouth, however I get a "Sorry, your address isn’t fibre broadband ready right now" when I enter a fibre-ready address in Whakatane. Is the NBR article wrong or is the address checker broken?

sonyxperiageek

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#1151418 10-Oct-2014 16:31

Behodar: NBR says that MyRepublic is available in all areas except Whangarei, Levin and Greymouth, however I get a "Sorry, your address isn’t fibre broadband ready right now" when I enter a fibre-ready address in Whakatane. Is the NBR article wrong or is the address checker broken?

That's what the official MyRepublic press release says: in all areas except Whangarei, Levin and Greymouth.

Sony

Whinery

104 posts

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#1151437 10-Oct-2014 16:59

NonprayingMantis:

Hi Marc, good to see prescence here on geekzone.

Been here for a while, but until we launched (officially last night), we were under orders to not speak, as some details could change from pre-launch to launch. But now that it's official, those issues no longer apply.

NonprayingMantis:

I'm sure we'd all love to find out more about the things My republic are offering that are quite different from what other ISPs currently offer.

Could you expand a little on:

1) Fibre TV. Isn't this just global mode? (same as Slingshot and Orcon do for free). If it is, why do you think you can charge $15/month for this when other guys do it for free?

It is global mode. I've been told that the "other guy's" global mode doesn't work on some iDevices and other things because it requires some DNS trickery, but that there aren't those limitations on Fibre TV. The other thing is that GeoDodging requires local connections to the foreign servers to authenticate, and those are done on an individual basis, and that "approved" list will be published, rather than hidden as it is with Global Mode. So MyRepublic will publish the list of content providers unlocked on the customer's login page.

This should help people explore and find more content, especially the free stuff, rather than just using it to buy Netflix

NonprayingMantis:

2) 'enhanced video streaming' is this vs ADSL or vs other providers UFB? I mean, if you can't stream HD video on a 'normal' 100Mbps connection there must be something seriously wrong.

Most "other guys" are provisioning 100 Mbps links into the ADSL backbone. So the last mile is 100 Mbps, but the uplink to the content is shared and limited to average ADSL speeds.

The amount of bandwidth we are provisioning per customer (backbone and uplink) is more than "the other guys". So yes, I'd expect that a 'normal' 100 Mbps connection will have some issues with multiple HD streams, especially in peak times, and that we will have a better experience, especially at peak times.

NonprayingMantis:

3) Gaming privileges. What does that actually mean? Free games?

That's a holdover from the Singapore web site. Some content was reused. In Singapore, people with the Gamer plan get 10% discounts at a few retailers. That's on the roadmap for here, but hasn't happened yet. I've had the line removed from the site to eliminate confusion.

NonprayingMantis:

4) Enhanced routing. You CEO has been quoted as saying
"We prioritise packets and engineer the routes to optimise the consumer experience," Baker said. "Others turn on 'the pipe' and say it will all be fine; we spend the time to make sure we have got the optimised route and version of World of Warcraft."
What does all that actually mean? Are you saying no other ISP does this?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10598986/Internet-provider-MyRepublic-launches-in-NZ

Yes, no other ISP in NZ we know of does this. What we did in Singapore is peer with multiple backbones, and route to "gaming" destinations via the lowest-latency route.

Nobody else does this. I don't know anyone else in the world that does this. Everyone else uses BGP to peer based on "lowest cost" which hopefully correlates with lower latency, but doesn't always. We've gotten good results with this in Singapore. The results here are less stellar because now, and even if all the proposed new links are put in, NZ has only two routes out, HI and AU. But, we have plans in place, depending on sufficient growth, to improve the response above what can be accomplished with international transit within NZ. But we've been launched for only a few hours now, so don't have the traffic to justify major upgrades, yet.

Regards,
Marc Whinery
Senior Product Manager, MyRepublic NZ

Whinery

104 posts

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#1151441 10-Oct-2014 17:10

Behodar: NBR says that MyRepublic is available in all areas except Whangarei, Levin and Greymouth, however I get a "Sorry, your address isn’t fibre broadband ready right now" when I enter a fibre-ready address in Whakatane. Is the NBR article wrong or is the address checker broken?

Hi,

I sent a PM to send me your address, and I'll check. We should have coverage, but we are using 3rd party databases to verify addresses, and the results aren't 100%. One of the many teething issues for starting a new ISP.

Regards,
Marc Whinery
Senior Product Manager, MyRepublic

kiwikiwi

455 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1151444 10-Oct-2014 17:13

Whinery:
Behodar: NBR says that MyRepublic is available in all areas except Whangarei, Levin and Greymouth, however I get a "Sorry, your address isn’t fibre broadband ready right now" when I enter a fibre-ready address in Whakatane. Is the NBR article wrong or is the address checker broken?

Hi,

I sent a PM to send me your address, and I'll check. We should have coverage, but we are using 3rd party databases to verify addresses, and the results aren't 100%. One of the many teething issues for starting a new ISP.

Regards,
Marc Whinery
Senior Product Manager, MyRepublic

I guess since the report says you're not available in places like Whangarei, Levin and Greymouth. When can people except service through you to be available?

You can also follow me on twitter here @kiwifortw I do twitch streams every now and then at twitch.tv/kiwiforthewin :)

HTTP 404 Sarcasm not found.

Whinery

104 posts

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#1151450 10-Oct-2014 17:22

kiwikiwi:

I guess since the report says you're not available in places like Whangarei, Levin and Greymouth. When can people except service through you to be available?

We can take orders today for all the other UFB locations. NorthPower is being on-boarded now, and the network build to Levin and Greymouth is underway and will be available soon. Register online, and if you are in one of those three locations, you'll get notified when we can provide service to you. Likely if we took orders today for Levin and Greymouth, we'd have the network build in place before Chorus could install the fibre in your house. But we didn't want to be cheeky that way.

Regards,
Marc Whinery
Senior Product Manager, MyRepublic

mAYH3M

160 posts

Master Geek

#1151835 11-Oct-2014 14:33

Are there any fees for terminating the contract in the 3 months trial period.

It's available on my address but the trend and conditions are a bit unclear.

pchs

184 posts

Master Geek

#1151843 11-Oct-2014 15:09

NonprayingMantis:

2) 'enhanced video streaming' is this vs ADSL or vs other providers UFB? I mean, if you can't stream HD video on a 'normal' 100Mbps connection there must be something seriously wrong.

Most "other guys" are provisioning 100 Mbps links into the ADSL backbone. So the last mile is 100 Mbps, but the uplink to the content is shared and limited to average ADSL speeds.

The amount of bandwidth we are provisioning per customer (backbone and uplink) is more than "the other guys". So yes, I'd expect that a 'normal' 100 Mbps connection will have some issues with multiple HD streams, especially in peak times, and that we will have a better experience, especially at peak times.

Can you elaborate on this? You cannot buy a 100Mbps link into Chorus network, the minimum speed Chorus provision for EUBA handovers is 1Gbps. It's a pretty massive claim to say that you provision more bandwidth than carriers that own their own network (I.E Spark and Vodafone) when you are buying your backhaul off another provider (unless you have built your own fibre backbone throughout the country, which is not the case!)

NonprayingMantis:

NonprayingMantis:

4) Enhanced routing. You CEO has been quoted as saying
"We prioritise packets and engineer the routes to optimise the consumer experience," Baker said. "Others turn on 'the pipe' and say it will all be fine; we spend the time to make sure we have got the optimised route and version of World of Warcraft."
What does all that actually mean? Are you saying no other ISP does this?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/10598986/Internet-provider-MyRepublic-launches-in-NZ

Yes, no other ISP in NZ we know of does this. What we did in Singapore is peer with multiple backbones, and route to "gaming" destinations via the lowest-latency route.

Nobody else does this. I don't know anyone else in the world that does this. Everyone else uses BGP to peer based on "lowest cost" which hopefully correlates with lower latency, but doesn't always. We've gotten good results with this in Singapore. The results here are less stellar because now, and even if all the proposed new links are put in, NZ has only two routes out, HI and AU. But, we have plans in place, depending on sufficient growth, to improve the response above what can be accomplished with international transit within NZ. But we've been launched for only a few hours now, so don't have the traffic to justify major upgrades, yet.

Regards,
Marc Whinery
Senior Product Manager, MyRepublic NZ

Can you get an official technical line on what you are doing here, because this does not make much sense, are you saying you don't use BGP to peer at lowest cost? (This shows you peer with one single upstream provider, Vocus http://bgp.he.net/AS133579) and this shows that all your traffic is directed to Vocus by default http://bgp.he.net/AS133579#_graph4 I suspect you will find that most ISP's spend a significant amount of time to ensure that their networks are running at optimal performance, but do you have any evidence they don't? I don't mean to sound negative but you really need some data to backup this as they are pretty big claims, as there are many other NZ ISP's that actually have multiple upstream providers and significant peering in place.

it certainty looks like you have many peers and this is true in Singapore, but in NZ, right now, I'm not sure how you can claim this.

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