Why is the E5 wifi router so expensive ?

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jonathanreid

24 posts

Geek

#69262 5-Oct-2010 13:49

Some comparative pricing for Huawei wifi router - all prepay

three.co.uk
USB modem GBP29.99
E585 Router GBP49.99

Vodafone Aus
USB modem AUD49
E585 router AUD99

2Degrees
USB modem NZD99
E5 router NZD279 ???
I normally expect to pay a slight premium on products for local support but this seems excessive or am I missing something ?

pageweon

393 posts

Ultimate Geek

#388239 5-Oct-2010 13:56

well first off im guessing that those other ones would be locked to a specific provider so even with prepay it would be worth their while discounting the hardware, whilst the 2 degrees one could be purchased and then taken onto voda or tesltra with the minimum of effort

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jonathanreid

24 posts

Geek

#388266 5-Oct-2010 14:23

The unlocked version in the UK is 65GBP - a modest price increase.

I would happily pay a reduced price for the 2degrees one if it was locked to them for 6-12 months

Teeps

501 posts

Ultimate Geek

#388296 5-Oct-2010 15:11

jonathanreid: The unlocked version in the UK is 65GBP - a modest price increase.

I would happily pay a reduced price for the 2degrees one if it was locked to them for 6-12 months?

Where are you getting the unlocked price from? Unless things have changed, three.co.uk will not sell you an unlocked modem and also will not unlock a phone or modem at any point even when you've completed a contract with them

scottjpalmer

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#388309 5-Oct-2010 15:27

It is also worth mentioning that VFs equivalent is/was $400 to buy outright.

jonathanreid

24 posts

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#388461 5-Oct-2010 20:42

The 65GBP unlocked UK price was from Ebay/Amazon, so probably unlocked by a third party (ie not entirely legit)

The Vodafone NZ device is quite different, and expensive overseas also. In Aus you can unlock the E585 immediately for an extra charge and it ends up costing NZD225, not a huge savings over NZ but still a more palatable price.

w2krules

491 posts

Ultimate Geek

#392999 18-Oct-2010 04:30

Also remember that it comes with 2GB of data from 2 degrees.

Mobile anything is expensive in NZ - I recently noticed the Vodafone shop at Sydney airport had a prepay Vodem stick with 1 GB of data for $49.

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SaltyNZ

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#393079 18-Oct-2010 10:31

w2krules: Also remember that it comes with 2GB of data from 2 degrees.

Mobile anything is expensive in NZ - I recently noticed the Vodafone shop at Sydney airport had a prepay Vodem stick with 1 GB of data for $49.

Eh, I was going to say ours was $49... but it's actually $99. Doh. Still, things are heading in the right direction now - down - at least. :-D

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kingjj

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#393185 18-Oct-2010 14:43

SaltyNZ:
w2krules: Also remember that it comes with 2GB of data from 2 degrees.

Mobile anything is expensive in NZ - I recently noticed the Vodafone shop at Sydney airport had a prepay Vodem stick with 1 GB of data for $49.

Eh, I was going to say ours was $49... but it's actually $99. Doh. Still, things are heading in the right direction now - down - at least. :-D

If your in Chch you can still pick up a Prepay Vodem with $30 credit for $30 at selected vodafone stores. Part of a post-quake special that I for one took full advantage of :-D

timmmay

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#393254 18-Oct-2010 17:31

I have a newer version of the Huawei, the E585, I got it from trademe for about $200. It was from 3 in the UK, but it was unlocked when I got it, apparently it's not too difficult to do.

w2krules

491 posts

Ultimate Geek

#393279 18-Oct-2010 18:13

Yeah, I wish I'd known about the E585 as it has a screen. But it's not too difficult to set up a URL to the device to monitor what's happening.

One of the reviews I read said that 3 will unlock it if you buy enough credit. They're also available in Oz, but will be locked.

You can roam onto the Vodafone 3G network with 2 degrees and it's $6 for 50 MB. Not unreasonable for occasional use, although it's probably easier just to use a Vodafone SIM!

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