How would you rate 2degrees for mobile

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › How would you rate 2degrees for mobile

tripp

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#222996 7-Sep-2017 08:52

So thinking of making the jump later on today on their $70 plan for 25gigs.

Just want feedback on how people find them, any issues with mobile data etc.

I did try them about 2 years ago and lasted about 3 weeks before moving back to spark as I was having real bad data issues in albany during the day (music not streaming, youtube very low res, mail taking forever to show up). I was using an iphone at the time and now moved to android.

So any feedback would be great :)

Cheers

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#1860148 7-Sep-2017 09:30

Been a couple of years since I tried them, but also had issues when I did, mainly while on holiday outside of the city, with data connection dropping, etc.

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timmmay

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#1860169 7-Sep-2017 10:03

3-4 years ago I had problems with data coverage inside a building two doors from the beehive. I moved to Spark, problem solved. It's probably gotten better by now, but within areas they claim to cover themselves you can't roam.

E3xtc

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#1860175 7-Sep-2017 10:11

Its fine. Different providers seem to have different spots where coverage isn't great/perfect. At times I wish it was better, but meh, I don't loose sleep over it. Whenever I have had to use the phone/data, it works, and the price is good. So job done - from my perspective.

scottjpalmer

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#1860181 7-Sep-2017 10:21

E3xtc:
Its fine. Different providers seem to have different spots where coverage isn't great/perfect. At times I wish it was better, but meh, I don't loose sleep over it. Whenever I have had to use the phone/data, it works, and the price is good. So job done - from my perspective.

^^ what he said

sidefx

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#1860191 7-Sep-2017 10:40

E3xtc:

Its fine. Different providers seem to have different spots where coverage isn't great/perfect. At times I wish it was better, but meh, I don't loose sleep over it. Whenever I have had to use the phone/data, it works, and the price is good. So job done - from my perspective.

This would have been fine by me - when not in 2 degrees coverage no data, when in coverage data works.

The issues I was having at the time though were extremely annoying in that my 2 degrees phone would sometimes say it had good or even great signal but data just refused to work, while my work phone on vodafone worked perfectly and friends spark phones also worked fine.

I vaguely recall doing some research and concluding at the time it had something to do with the way it was sometimes roaming to vodafone when out of 2 degrees coverage then not switching back, or refusing to roam to vodafone because there was a weak 2 degrees signal... I forget the details. No doubt I could have fiddled with settings, etc on the phone but at the end of the day I always found vodafone "just worked" while I had weird and frustrating issues when on 2 degrees when outside the city. It always worked flawlessly in the city though.

(Can't actually recall how long ago this was, might have been more like 3-4 years ago. I guess I should try again some time.)

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alasta

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#1860266 7-Sep-2017 12:28

I have had no recent problems with them and would be comfortable to recommend them.

The only reason I'm moving away from them is they don't have affordable global roaming, and I can get a $10 package discount with my home wireless broadband provider.

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DarkShadow

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#1860272 7-Sep-2017 12:47

alasta:

I have had no recent problems with them and would be comfortable to recommend them.

The only reason I'm moving away from them is they don't have affordable global roaming, and I can get a $10 package discount with my home wireless broadband provider.

I saw some vague promises of roaming price changes on their twitter. No hints on when though.

SaltyNZ

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#1860325 7-Sep-2017 14:07

sidefx:

(Can't actually recall how long ago this was, might have been more like 3-4 years ago. I guess I should try again some time.)

Yeah ... a few things have changed in the meantime. For one thing, a lot of additional LACs have been closed so jumping around to Vodafone and back is much less of an issue.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

wonderferret

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#1861528 9-Sep-2017 20:02

I've been using them since day one and never had any issues in Auckland and Whangarei rural coverage. The roaming agreement with Vodafone works really well for me YMMV

richms

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#1861602 10-Sep-2017 00:02

3/10 I would rate them.

Still see plenty of edge on them when I use them. That phone has no band 27 so perhaps they have that in those areas, but VF is always good 3g or working 4g in the same places. I am just swapping the active sim for data and the 2d one is really horrid to use compared to VF in the same handset.

Richard rich.ms

KiwiSurfer

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#1861689 10-Sep-2017 09:46

Having used all three networks I find 2degrees is nowhere as good as Vodafone though not too far behind Spark. They have built out their own rural network and as a result they no longer roam on Vodafone in many areas. E.g. they used to permit roaming on Vodafone anywhere north of Albany. Now roaming is forbidden all the way to Dargaville—even though their coverage has yet to match the footprint of Vodafone's coverage.

For example coverage in Mangawhai is pretty poor if you are not LOS of the 2degrees site on on the hills. Vodafone has a hilltop site plus two township sites which makes a huge difference. Vodafone is great all over town but 2degrees can go from great to crap just by walking behind a building that blocks your LOS to their only site. There's also some RBI sites that Spark has co-located on but not 2degrees so only VF/Spark has coverage. One example is Paparoa on SH2 which means only VF/Spark has coverage all the way from Auckland to Dargaville.

Even urban coverage in Auckland can be pretty poor. I know of some streets in Glendowie, Auckland (which isn't exactly rural) that still has no service (but gets good service on the other two). This has seen a number of my friends switch back to Vodafone/Spark. One of my workplaces in Kelston has my phone dropping to EDGE speeds occasionally switching between 4G/3G/2G every now and then.

However I've stayed with 2degrees so far because the pricing is hard to beat. My partner is with Skinny so I will avoid Spark and their MVNOs to make sure we don't end up with phones on the same network (in case of emergencies etc). I almost made the jump to Vodafone recently, then 2degrees came out with their 10Gb for $55 plan so ended up just switching from prepay to postpay.

If you can I'd ask around and see what the coverage is like where you are so you can make an informed decision. They are very good in many areas so the chances are good that you'll be fine. :)

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Linux

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#1861786 10-Sep-2017 12:06

I am doing some testing between 2Degrees and VodafoneNZ at the moment around Auckland North Shore as I was interested in the 10GB carryover prepay plan from 2Degrees but so far many places only have 3G+ even the centre of Northcote no 4G on 2Degrees

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Edit: disclaimer I use to work for VodafoneNZ and recently have been made redundant

michaelmurfy

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#1861787 10-Sep-2017 12:16

Linux:
Edit: disclaimer I use to work for VodafoneNZ and recently have been made redundant

I think I know who you are now.

Anyway - my rating for 2degrees is pretty low. I used them on a business phone before and had many call drops and tested them recently only to find no coverage in many places I am. Spark and Vodafone don't have this same issue.

At the moment really I can't recommend 2degrees. They're great assuming you've got coverage but there are better networks in NZ if you care about Speed and Coverage.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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tripp

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#1861795 10-Sep-2017 13:11

Ok so it's been a few days on 2degrees and have to say it's better than it was. But still not as fast as spark. I will stay with them however as you can't beat them on price.

So I'm happy and have 26gigs to play with over the next 4 weeks :)

pervmonkey

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#1861870 10-Sep-2017 15:37

I've been using 2Degrees for years and have no complaints. They have coverage everywhere I need it, generally 4G and speeds are fine. I've never needed to contact customer support so can't comment on that.

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