Changing to Orcon....Good idea?

Forums › Vocus (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre and CallPlus) › Changing to Orcon....Good idea?

BLKR32

39 posts

Geek

#27360 23-Oct-2008 12:21

Hi Guys,

Im currently a Slingshot customer, and have been putting up with the RIDICULOUS speeds over the past 3mnths...(3-9kb/s on a good torrent) and have been looking @ a new ISP. From the looks of things from this forum...Orcon is the way to go in regards to consistant speeds, am I correct in saying this? i noticed that there was a issue a couple of days ago but this seems to be fixed now.

Im also looking @ the purple plan...but it says that you cant have a homeplan...instead run VoIP? whats the difference...and what r the charges for VoIP?

otherwise i'll have to with silver which is same price, but 10gb less a month...

and from calling up and changing over, how long am i to expect to change over...a plan change with slingshot took over 10 days...lol

any help would appreciated

thanks

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2208 posts

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#173049 23-Oct-2008 14:06

You'll get a mixed bag of opinions on here. There was a 50 page thread before which was overwhelmingly against Orcon and their slow international speeds, but that thread has now been locked.

I have the Purple+ package (15GB plus an extra 25GB for $99.95 per month) and I have very consistent and fast speeds 24/7, for me I do not experience the slower speeds that other people will tell you about during peak times.

You mentioned the issue from a couple days ago which also affected me, but it was put right within 24 hours and there were plenty of updates from Orcon staff via this site. I submitted a support ticket when the problem first arose and got a reply literally within five minutes from them acknowledging there was an issue. This was the first problem I'd experienced with them since joining about six weeks ago, and I was very impressed at how quickly it was acknowledged and then resolved.

The other benefit is that you won't be locked into a contract, so if you do experience poor speeds then you can just cancel the service. That would still be a pain for you, but at least you wouldn't be handing over free money for them just to leave them.

Hope that helps a little bit.

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BLKR32

39 posts

Geek

#173062 23-Oct-2008 14:31

cheers corksta

yea, i did read through that post about the international speeds but had noted it had been resolved. i've been on broadband for around 7-8yrs now...and have consistantly gotten good speeds...up until 4mnths ago..so im thinking it might be the whole shaping bs on slingshots behalf. i've called their help-desk and this has left me less confident.

wow...5mins...thats a huge step up over slingshot, they wont even acknowledge what the problem is...
i think it would be a move in the right direct.

if people could also post their opinon's it would greatly appreciated.

thanks

duncanblair

248 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#173073 23-Oct-2008 14:53

Hi BLKR32,

Just to answer a couple of your questions:

- The Purple+ plan is naked broadband, so you wont have a dial tone or be able to make calls over your landline unless you use a VoIP service. We don't currently offer a VoIP service, but there a number of products that you can use depending on how important being able to call from your landline is. The charges for these services vary greatly, I am sure some Geekzoners will be able to provide some good suggestions.

- Silver+ is the same price, but does have homeline rental included in that price (hence the lower data cap).

- Changing over usually takes around 4-6 days, but depends on a few things.

Hope that answers your questions.

And yes, Orcon is the way to go, but of course I would say that :)

b0rg

92 posts

Master Geek

#173230 24-Oct-2008 00:39

Further to Duncan's post, if you're going on to one of the ADSL2+ plans, it can take a bit longer to switch, up to a couple of weeks.

But it's worth it. I've switched from Telecom network with an ADSL2+ exchange, wholesaled through another ISP, to an Orcon network, and my speeds increased by about 2Mbps. I'm too far from the exchange to get the real benefits of ADSL2+, so that increase was a nice surprise.

Also, I haven't had the international issues previously mentioned so I'm guessing it is resolved.

So far, they've been great!

Note: previously got around 3mbps on the last network.
This test is from the new Orcon connection:

Ragnor

8035 posts

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#173234 24-Oct-2008 01:03

Note: This based on my current understanding of how UCLL and UCSL works and may not be 100% correct...

Something you might want to bear in mind if you choose Orcon or Vodafone currently...

If you live:

1: In Auckland in an area where Orcon (or Vodafone) has installed equipement in the exchange
2: Some distance from the exchange (eg: you get a sync speed below 7mbit on ADSL1 currently)
3: In an area where Chorus is cabineting or has cabineted

You will not be able to be connected to the cabinet until sub loop unbundling is sorted out (aproximately sometime next year maybe).

So on Orcon (or Vodafone) this means effectively your connection is copper the full distance to Orcon's equipment at the exchange.

On every other ISP that doesn't have equipment in the exchange and uses telecom equipment you will be put on the cabinet. This means your connection will be copper the short distance to the cabinet, then fiber to the equipment in the exchange generally this means you will get a much much better sync speed.

Here's an image from Internode (an Australian ISP) that shows how distance to the cabinet/exchange affects sync speed in your adsl modem/router.

speakerguru

20 posts

Geek

#173306 24-Oct-2008 11:08

The big issue here is not so much the plan you get, it is the service or lack of it you receive.

There are a number of companies in New Zealand competing for the top spot for the worst run organization. There is no doubt that vodafone are far in front at this stage but people like Orcon are catching up fast.

They all let themselves down by making it dam near impossible to talk with anyone there.
I waited over an hour to speak with someone today about my faulty phone line that I am paying a high monthly fee for.

The fault has been there since the day I signed up with Orcon and despite support tickets and phone calls I get no response.
For the record I spend over $200 per month with Orcon and one would expect they would care about this revenue.

It appears that customers these days are no longer customers, the companies treat them like Robots, and by the way WITH Robots, I was unable to pass a Robot with Orcon today, I actually hung up after an hour of brainwashing electronic music.
Great value for $200 per month huh!

BLKR32

39 posts

Geek

#173320 24-Oct-2008 11:42

duncanblair : thanks again for the info much appreciated :D

b0rg : cheers :P yea, even if it took a month...i dont get much use out of my slingshot plan @ the mo so wouldnt make too much difference lol

Ragnor : from calculations im just ova 2km from exchange and i get about 7800kbps on ADSL1, so does that mean i dont have to worry about that?

speakerguru : i actually work for Vodafone, so I know how poor service can be, and why the service can be so crap. imo i would rather a isp to have crap customer service (not saying orcon has crap customer service) and good internet over the crap customer service and crap internet im currently getting as im ultimately paying for the internet, not the ppl on the phone to help...but cheers for the feedback, every bit helps in this day and age of 100,000,000 crap isp's and that golden 1 that is right for you :P

speakerguru

20 posts

Geek

#173324 24-Oct-2008 11:50

I have no compalints with the Orcon plan, only the lack of service and inability to contact anyone there.

However they are heaps better than Vodafone, I was recently in Europe and could not send text from my phone with my NZ sim. I sent untold emails to vodfone NZ and never received ONE reply.

I have also tried to contact them here but no luck, only some stupid person in Egypt.
They were on fair go and I know why. Roll on a worthy competitor.

BLKR32

39 posts

Geek

#173991 28-Oct-2008 08:57

yea, i do have agree with you there, egypt customer service @ the best of times is poor and their knowledge of stuff is poor also.

our email team has been riddled with low levels of staff and large amounts of corrospondence coming through so eventually they will get to it lol. not the best customer experience i know.

as for not being able to roam, only 3 reasons why that wouldnt of worked.

1. you dont have roaming provisioned on ur account

2. the network for that country was having issues

3. we dont have a roaming agreement for that country

but from the sounds of it, you couldnt roam in any country, which tends to suggest you dont have it provisioned...not that that helps you know :P

speakerguru

20 posts

Geek

#173994 28-Oct-2008 09:15

Regarding Vodafone roaming:

I did have roaming authorised, all the countries visited had roaming agreements. The problem was TEXT, I could receive text and make calls but could not send text.

None of this was the issue.

The fact that USELESS Vodafone in NZ did NOT respond to my emails was the point.

They are a totally and utter useless company and as soon as there is a viable alternative in NZ I will be changing. Vodfone do not care about their customers at all.

speakerguru

20 posts

Geek

#173996 28-Oct-2008 09:18

By the way, a week has now gone by since I sent a critical TICKET to Orcon about my phone line.

I have still not received any response or contact from anyone there. Maybe Orcon are trying to match Vodafone with the attitude "JUST IGNORE CUSTOMERS"

jackyleunght2002

233 posts

Master Geek

#174009 28-Oct-2008 10:37

Hi speakerguru

What wrong with your faulty phone line???

speakerguru

20 posts

Geek

#174100 28-Oct-2008 15:40

The tone is not clear, the answerphone is also distorted and we cannot understand any messages that are recorded. The ring tone is like a fax.

How is that for a start?

msian

93 posts

Master Geek

#174160 28-Oct-2008 17:19

thinking of moving to orcon.. seeing the gold and platinum plan as there is option to call international number.. if i take the gold plan.. i have to add 10 bucks i think for an international num and my bill will come to around $110.. problem is i wont use even a quater of the bandwidth for my broadband so its abit exp... i hope there will be something cheaper in the near future.. same plan but cheaper maybe coz 5gb data.. how do u guys find orcon now? speed wise all ok? also.. I dont really understand .. if i join orcon will i get adsl2+ speeds? i went on telecom website and under the "check if u can get adsl2" it said i will only get it in 2011.

binzi

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#180517 26-Nov-2008 20:10

I've just been 'discontinued' by orcon as they dropped their basic budget lowest priced broadband plan. I will probably upgrade to thier Silver package and dump the Telecom home line, which is perfect for me. BUT, does anyone know about Snap? (www.snap.net.nz)
Apparently they are what Orcon used to be, namely good with service. I'm not a tech-saavy guy, so I dumped Slingshot years ago when they treated me like an idiot (which I am, but) and Orcon started as helpful. Unfortunately, Orcon has gone the way of Slingshot and now only deal with IT tech-types... but they are the only ones left with a plan that suits me.
Has anyone dealt with Snap?

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