Orcon Gigantic Fibre - your experiences. thoughts and answers

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28964 posts

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Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#2320194 19-Sep-2019 11:22

IMHO you're being unrealistic with your expectations and it's pretty clear that Orcon is not targeting the type of customer you are.

The NF18ACV is a great device deployed by a number of different RSP's but it's clear it doesn't suit your requirements. The great news is there are 80+ providers of UFB service providers out there with plenty of smaller and specialist providers who will meet your requirements and allow you to deploy your own WiFi solution that meets your requirements. My suggestion is to look at one of them.

There is not a one size fits all solution for covering a large property with WiFi, and Google WiFi is NOT the answer to many problems either.

everettpsycho

72 posts

Master Geek

#2320269 19-Sep-2019 12:11

My frustration with adding a mesh router was lack of information available generally. I've worked it out by doing but running 2 routers isn't a simple out the box solution and those not that technically minded it can be confusing that you can't just plug anything in to anything. I'd love a provider to offer an upgrade to a fully supported mesh system in place of their standard routers as the extra device can cause a lot of problems. People like simple set ups and good WiFi speed and coverage so pairing the two into an easy to use reliable offering could be a winning combination.

Jeeves

302 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2320275 19-Sep-2019 12:20

I don't get it. One of your beefs is the NF18 modem which you currently have that doesn't have good enough Wifi coverage, so you have hard wired the out of reach devices. If that the only beef with it? Is there any other reason why you want a third party modem?

If it just the wifi signal, why not sign up to Orcon, get the new modem and hard wire it exactly the same as you currently have, until such time the Google Wifi arrives, which will then provide you with the coverage needed? You're probably only talking days/weeks?

I too think you're being a teeny tiny bit unreasonable. This is a residential connection for residential people with residential requirements (Ie: simple) at a residential price point. If you are running an online business and this is critical to that, then you need to look at business connections.

MikeB4

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#2320308 19-Sep-2019 13:12

I am an Orcon customer. I am on the gigantic plan. I am using the Orcon supplied router with Wifi turned off. I am using the Google Wifi with three nodes and it is working great. I have a difficult home for both wired and wifi and the Google system is supplying wifi to all parts of my home (and outside) at very good speed. I can get above 150mbps download in all rooms with some devices getting upwards to 450+ mbps download.

I previously had a Netgear Orbi set up but that died a messy death. The Google system was a piece of cake to set up and the Google instructions could be followed easily by my 8 year old grandson if he needed to set one up. From memory I think all up it took about 10 minutes to set up all three nodes.

Mike
Change Management Consultant
The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

He waka eke noa

richms

23294 posts

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#2320313 19-Sep-2019 13:21

It sounds like the OP needs to get an IT integrator to look after things if they are concerned about not being able to setup the google wifi, and will not have support for it from the ISP.

To me expecting that is as unreasonable as expecting trustpower to help you out when the free fridge or soundbar doesnt work properly, its not part of the internet connection.

If you need to swap routers out for your own one, and you want to buy a landline service then look elsewhere because the residential plans deliver it on the router that they supply, without other options. A correct business service will let you use other gear, but Im not aware of business telephone services being sold by orcon alongside a residential grade internet connection.

In other words, microbrewery tastes on a speights budget.

Richard rich.ms

wratterus

937 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2320340 19-Sep-2019 13:53

I would also agree that you have unrealistic expectations to be honest. The size of your house & lack of any structured cabling is not Orcon's problem. The Google Wifi config is not their issue either - it is a promotional 'addon'. The majority of ISPs in NZ do (unfortunately IMO) use the router for the 'landline' phone. Spark are the only decent provider that I know does use the ONT - there may be some others I'm not aware of that do (not counting TrustPower & My Republic).

With the correct config, you can run a compatible router of your choosing, then put the Netcomm behind this just as an ATA if you want to get away from the Netcomm that much. You can also just disable the wireless on the Netcomm and use only the Google WiFi.

Voyager & 2Degrees will supply you SIP details to use in your own ATA, but obviously if you have any issues, they can't support this until you put their own equipment back in. You could also consider porting your number(s) to a VoIP service like 2Talk and just going for a straight 'naked' Fibre connection with no phone service, then you can use whatever router you want.

It sort of seems that someone who wants what you want would normally know enough to achieve it all themselves, and if not, then finding an IT specialist to help you achieve what you want is the way to go, not blame Orcon for something that really isn't their issue.

Rambaldi

219 posts

Master Geek

#2320343 19-Sep-2019 13:57

It's getting a bit ridiculous how many people are just repeating each other. Do some reading before you post and if you have nothing to add, resist the urge.

Jase2985

9626 posts

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#2320659 19-Sep-2019 19:03

Rambaldi:

It's getting a bit ridiculous how many people are just repeating each other. Do some reading before you post and if you have nothing to add, resist the urge.

welcome to the internet

everettpsycho

72 posts

Master Geek

#2320661 19-Sep-2019 19:08

Jase2985:
Rambaldi:

It's getting a bit ridiculous how many people are just repeating each other. Do some reading before you post and if you have nothing to add, resist the urge.

welcome to the internet

Welcome to the internet.

Sorry I couldn't resist 😁

insane

2415 posts

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#2320702 19-Sep-2019 21:08

Rambaldi:
It's getting a bit ridiculous how many people are just repeating each other. Do some reading before you post and if you have nothing to add, resist the urge.

I don't believe anyone who's adding their +1 has read the OP end-to-end, or at least understood it.

I'm totally dumbfounded.

On the plus side, Vocus are looking for a Product Manager for data products so hopefully they'll find someone soon.

chordalgain

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2320760 19-Sep-2019 21:41

@MatteGreen

Thanks so much for your last reply and I appreciate and respect the way in which you have approached this discussion and the information you have provided. It has helped.

Some of the info that you and some others on here have provided have enabled me to resolve the potential modem issue with an alternative hardware option. I have discovered information on the Orcon website that indicates how to use and install this alternative, so that encourages me.

Those I had spoken to at Orcon previously were obviously unaware of that information being on the Orcon site, but it was quite detailed and had obviously been provided as a solution to a problem others have also encountered previously. If it had been brought to my attention by Tech Support it would have made things a lot easier.

So right now I am of a mind to continue with the order that was placed with Orcon. If I could feel free to email you if I encounter any further obstacles it would be appreciated, however I do appreciate that your involvement is more to do with Social Media and possibly also Marketing support etc, and not Tech Support.

As far as the delay in the arrival of the Google WiFi hardware goes, I have found a way to get around that, and so will allow wait to see what sort of delays are encountered.

All the best and thanks again.

chordalgain

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2320774 19-Sep-2019 22:08

@sbiddle - @everettpsycho - @Jeeves - @MikeB4 - @richms - @wratterus - @Rambaldi - @Jase2985 - @insane

I just wanted to thank you all for your comments and suggestions ..... it is much appreciated.

My apologies for the long and detailed start to this conversation ... it sounds like it might have been too much for many of you, but hey that's okay. I would much rather provide details so you had the opportunity to understand the situation I encountered and was attempting to resolve, rather than just slagging off .......

I'm sure we all encounter situations at one stage or another where we find customer support that could be improved upon .... after all that is what makes or breaks many businesses. In those situations staying quiet and saying nothing and simply getting aggravated will never do anything to improve the situation.

In this situation I encountered @MatteGreen who actually works with/for Orcon and he accomplished far more in a few sentences than anyone I had spoken to at Orcon .... so a big thanks to him for that.

All of you have given me something positive to consider over the last 24 hours and I have gone away done more research and believe I have found a solution.

Here's wishing you all a great weekend .....

MatteGreen

52 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

Vocus

#2320896 20-Sep-2019 08:32

Hey @chordalgain

I've been happy to help out here, if you ever need to be pointed in the right direction then definitely just let me know!

Cheers,

Matt

linw

2164 posts

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#2321061 20-Sep-2019 11:25

Yep, Matt is a huge asset. His predescessors, sounddude and bameron, have also been miracle workers!

Great combination with Geekzone.

superman

41 posts

Geek

#2331210 6-Oct-2019 08:31

Been on Orcon Gigabit plan for 11 months now, coming up for renewal soon.

In a 4 bdrm, NF18 supplied router gets around 200 down 300 up over wifi through 2 walls, seems pretty reasonable.

Have owned the Google Wifi not through Orcon but at the same time as i've had the plan with them, honestly cannot recommend G Wifi at all and i'll explain why,

No way to force devices to run on 5GHz or even separate the networks - it will do this for you automatically, but what this means is that youll walk out of what GWifi thinks is acceptable range or signal strength for 5GHz and it will put you on 2.4GHz, unfortunately a lot of devices will get 'stuck' on 2.4GHz until you reconnect even if youre right next to the router with your device. Really annoying.

No longer updated or cared about, seriously they're quite old now and Google clearly has no plans to update it. Better bang for buck definitely out there with way more features for even the slightly advanced end user.

Seriously has very little for you to tweak. This thing was designed to be easy to use for the non technical minded.

Only problem i've had with Orcon themselves is over the past couple of days our connection has been a bit jittery particularly to Aus, could be nothing to do with Orcon though.

Only reason i'm looking elsewhere is their poor router selection and the possibility(?) over lower international latency with 2deg.

Cheers.

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