So Long Orcon

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › So Long Orcon

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215 posts

Master Geek

#260692 2-Oct-2009 21:09

indeed :D

Kyanar

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#260978 4-Oct-2009 14:11

DasKid: So dear Orcon.

1: Hire four more geeks to fix the existing faults on the network. With at least one senior in the mix.

2: Sort out the upstream issues. Serious investment time. Ditch another 10 marketing people if you have to.

3: Refocus the company. It's about the customer you muppets. You have a seriously insular office culture at the moment and that's bad.

My pointless two cents. I'm still a customer, but I don't know for how much longer. I just can't decide which great NZ ISP to jump to next.

Ditto that, and I have to add a couple more things:

4. I don't give a damn what it will cost, get equipment in the cabinets. I don't care if you need to up the costs a bit to pay for it! I am sick to death of 2Mb speeds on a connection that craps out after every 69MB of download at full speed (which is in reality 160Kb/s). And if that wasn't bad enough, the CSR telling me "yeah, I get that too" - uh, what?

5. Tell Chorus to get off their arses and fix the issues they find. If they have to hire more staff to do it, then they need to do it - I don't care. And remember - you're my provider - it's your job to be chasing this stuff up, not mine. I don't like that the CSR tells me every time "yeah, I can see that fault - I'll just add a note".

TechSol

298 posts

Ultimate Geek

Technical Solutions Aust

#261367 5-Oct-2009 18:22

Okay... so update time..... but firstly a disclaimer:

I have only been connected to telecom for a few hours... the service level could very well drop to nothing, however it is nearly 6:30pm at the moment, and the service is blistering

------

The swap over happened without a hitch which was a great start....

Youtube buffers an HD (yes.... HD) video in about 5 seconds to half way of a 4 minute video... I tried some really obscure ones to try and avoid the telecom youtube cache (and hence get realistic speeds) and couldn't really fault it.

Speedtests... I am synched at 5 mbits down and 500kbits up.... speedtests to Auckland *AND* LA are 4.8mbits down and 476kbits up. (On Orcon I used to synch at 8mbits up, 750kbits down, and actual speedtests were giving me 200kbits down and 300kbits up... what a joke)

All pages load with a snap that I haven't seen in a long time on Orcon.

This is using the same modem and everything (just changed username in the settings) so I cannot blame modems / lines / solar flares for the difference in service level between orcon and telecom.

Like I said... I have only been connected a few hours.... I guess I will post another update in a week and let you know how things are going, but so far my experience with telecom, their CSRs, and the broadband itself gets 5 stars.

zCelicaDude

171 posts

Master Geek

#261380 5-Oct-2009 19:06

This is exactly the same performance I had when I changed to Telecom, glad I wasnt blowing smoke all this time and that somebody else who moved from Orcon > Telecom has achieved the same useful internet experience (it actually works.. where as orcon.. well.. it didnt work)

Lurch

1061 posts

Uber Geek

#261491 6-Oct-2009 05:12

zCelicaDude: This is exactly the same performance I had when I changed to Telecom, glad I wasnt blowing smoke all this time and that somebody else who moved from Orcon > Telecom has achieved the same useful internet experience (it actually works.. where as orcon.. well.. it didnt work)

Did the exact samething.. Orcon+ to Telecom.. webpages are very "snappy" now which on Orcon they havent been for sometime now.

No issues with Youtube and WoW is back to behaving itself again :-)

alliao

321 posts

Ultimate Geek

#261584 6-Oct-2009 11:40

Lucky people... my connection to LA is below 1Mbps..... how did you guys test? I tried speednet also some direct ftp/http transfer with families in LA.

rdjacobs

143 posts

Master Geek

#261618 6-Oct-2009 12:08

alliao: Lucky people... my connection to LA is below 1Mbps..... how did you guys test? I tried speednet also some direct ftp/http transfer with families in LA.

I test with speedtest.net and I think it really comes down too your how good your line is and how close you are too the exchange. My mate is 3 kms from the exchange on adsl2 and gets 2mbs to LA
myself I'm 1.5 and i get 5mbs to LA, plus other factors time of day etc and if your provider is giving there customers the much need international bandwitdh and sometimes that runs out so then you just got too wait for an upgrade :)

Hatch

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Hatch (affiliate link).

ping182nz

188 posts

Master Geek

#261631 6-Oct-2009 12:17

I am thinking of changing from Orcon to Telecom also.

Used to get very good speeds, but my speedtest.net results have been on the decline for a while.

I have also been waiting for about 1 month for Orcon to switch me from a business plan to a residential plan... I finally got an email from provisioning team saying "We're processing it right now" but two weeks have passed since that email and still no change!

The lack of speed and the lack of processing customers requests in a timely manner is just about the last straw for me, ORCON WAKE UP!

Just look at my speeds, and how they have changed! It cannot just be that the test servers are different... can it?

01-10-2009

02-06-2009
06-02-2006

alliao

321 posts

Ultimate Geek

#261663 6-Oct-2009 13:16

rdjacobs:
alliao: Lucky people... my connection to LA is below 1Mbps..... how did you guys test? I tried speednet also some direct ftp/http transfer with families in LA.

I test with speedtest.net and I think it really comes down too your how good your line is and how close you are too the exchange. My mate is 3 kms from the exchange on adsl2 and gets 2mbs to LA
myself I'm 1.5 and i get 5mbs to LA, plus other factors time of day etc and if your provider is giving there customers the much need international bandwitdh and sometimes that runs out so then you just got too wait for an upgrade :)

i know what u mean, i am about 500 to 800m away from my exchange. My sync rate is around 16Mbps. So the bottleneck's obviously not local..

I am on orcon as well, and recently changed over to Telecom wholesale line as well..

Wish I could get 5M to LA as well, hell even 2M is more than 100% better than 0.89Mbps...

NzKaizer

130 posts

Master Geek

#261936 7-Oct-2009 08:10

I wish to also leave Orcon, but alas can find no better options with other isp's, geekzone plase suggest.

Currently I'm using about 25-30GB a month (before even downloading anything). Paying Orcon $120 (platinium plan) a month for 3kbps rapidshare speeds.

Note my cap is only 25gb, so that's extra cost as well.

I need a larger cap, something like 50-60GB for the next few months (need to do some heavy downloading), but can't really afford to pay much more than I'm currently paying, but I need good rapidshare speeds or good torrent speeds.

I was contemplating jumping to Telecom's Big Time+telecom landline, but then it looks like while there is no data cap and I'll be able to use private tracker torrents ok, because I'll be able to upload back data, but it seems the ping times on that plan has gone to hell for everyone on it and I need good pings for gaming. Note this is also a problem on Orcon, in the last few months rapidshare speeds drops, international speeds droppped and ping sky rocketed up from what it used to be.

I really don't know what to do, feels like im just stuck with Orcon's bad pings and bad download speeds.

timslim

43 posts

Geek

#262434 8-Oct-2009 16:07

I posted a while back about my Orcon experience 'Orcon Line Speed - Take 2' - rather than double post - I thought I'd just add my story on this thread.

I've been with Orcon since at least 2005 - had dialup with them, then used their flatrate plans before unbundling came in. Have had good service, good linespeed, support for the odd Mac issue - and have recommended them to others.

Since July - when I think the cabinets were installed around my area - linespeed has been very poor. It took 3 months to get the issues sorted, with visits from 3 different technicians, emailing details to Orcon, several hours holding for Orcon, changing modems, etc. etc... I'm aware my fault got caught up in the Chorus/Visionstream strikes, and that Orcon was basically waiting for others to do their jobs. Last week a Telsys technician came to my house to check - fault had been that when cabinets had been installed my line had stayed with the exchange - and hadn't been moved to the cabinet just down the road.

Ultimately my contract was with Orcon - and the one thing that has frustrated me the most over the past 3 months is the rather bored attitude from the people representing Orcon at the other end of the phoneline. I pay Orcon to supply a service, and when that service is drastically affected - it was frustrating that Orcon didn't seem that concerned about getting it fixed. Someone else upthread said it better I think.

I'm not demanding personalised emails and chocolates on my pillow - but seeing the Iggy Pop videoclip just makes me laugh. Unless Iggy's turning up at my house wearing a Chorus technican badge - I don't really care. The Orcon reps on these forums are helpful - but no other company I know of relies on informal forum based support to correct client issues. This is not a shareware product I'm paying for, I'm not paying for Geekzone support - I'm paying Orcon to supply a service.

So on Monday - I switched across to the Total Home Package from Telecom - adding the 20gig data plan. Orcon's competing product would have cost approx $30/month more. Broadband got switched across last night - after a 15 minute conversation with Telecom - had router settings sorted. The biggest delay was from me forgetting to change my DNS settings.

Result? Well, so far speeds are noticeably faster - I'm getting 5-6mb to LA, and a minimum of 4-5Mb for national. Pings are much the same, and checking my router - latency and signal noise have not been affected by the switch. Which tells me that the quality of the physical line to my house is the same - it's service above that layer that has changed.

Those of you who claim one of Orcon's strengths is the "No Contract" policy - are right - I've not been charged for leaving Orcon. And yes - Telecom have made me sign up for 12 months. And yes - if they are rubbish after a while - at the end of 12 months I will consider moving again. That's the way the market is - the user can change. But merely having a "But we don't lock you into a contract - so we're intrinsically better" attitude is poor. (I'm not saying the Orcon reps here do that - but it seems to be one of the reasons cited by some to stay with Orcon.)

Not that Orcon need to consider what I think - but if I worked there - I'd be concerned by the number of clients who seem to be leaving because of a lack of customer service and actual 'internet service provisioning'. Wearing goofy hats and promising to send Iggy Pop around my house is one thing - actually delivering what you're being paid for is another.

Consider how long it's taken many to come around to considering Telecom/Xtra - it takes a long time to patch up a consumer relationship. Orcon is in danger IMO of doing an Xtra.

For me at least - an ISP is not an image or a brand to buy into - I just want the best supply of internet provisioning I can afford, and within the limitations/bottlenecks that are a result of living down the bottom of the planet. When my ISP of 3+ years stops doing that, and apparently not caring - then it's a no brainer to walk away.

cyril7

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#262460 8-Oct-2009 16:59

Hi Tim glad to see some progress has been made, hell of a long time to get no where. Have you requested that you line be moved to the cabinet now that the Telesys tech confirmed you are still on the home Exhange. What are your current attenuation and sync rates.

Cheers
Cyril

timslim

43 posts

Geek

#262523 8-Oct-2009 20:27

Hi Cyril,

Yes - I'm pretty sure the Telsys tech moved my line to the cabinet.

Here's current attenuation and sync rates:

Down Up
SNR Margin 13dB 12dB

Attenuation 15dB 5dB

Sounddude

I fix stuff!
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#262534 8-Oct-2009 20:58

Those look pretty good to me. They would suggest you are close to the cabinet.

I would be looking forward to getting VDSL. :)

cyril7

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#262535 8-Oct-2009 21:01

At 15dB it would suggest over 1km which is a bit more than I estimated when I checked out the house wiring some time ago, regardless, VDSL would not be much better in this instance.

Still 15dB should give 14Mb/s of better (Tim what is the sync rate you dont mention it) which is much better than the 1-2Mb/s you were getting previously.

Cheers
Cyril

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