REQUEST: New Zealand Broadband

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2011, April 29 - 9:59pm

bertyboy

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Joined: 2009 Jun 14

REQUEST: New Zealand Broadband

To those that already live in this land of rain (ironic, coming from Scotland). any suggestions for a good broadband package ?

I'll be in central Auckland near to One Tree Hill. I'm used to an old BT package that gave me truly unlimited broadband - I'd get the phone call from BT India every so often offering to "upgrade" me to a package that limited me to 30GB or 40GB per month - not what I want, even though I may only use half of that.

So is there any truly unlimited broadband on offer in NZ ? Tried a few comparison sites, but all the deals list 20GB, or 30GB, or 40GB. Or what do you use ? and are you happy with it ?

I've been living off MacDonalds free wifi at Green Lane for the last week.

Comments

2011, April 30 - 3:55am

MikeTomTom

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Joined: 2009 Dec 7

Hey bertyboy, I missed you by one day - I flew out of Auckland yesterday after 2 months in NZ. I've been setting up a holiday home in the B.O.P. near Tauranga. We went with telstraclear.co.nz because it had the best options for our situation, i.e. they provide phone & data plans that were flexible for our coming and goings (tho not unlimited as you are wanting). That and in regional NZ, the choices are even more limited.

They call it broadband but it is slow. DL speeds aren't so bad but wait till you want to upload 100MB or more

I think in Auckland you should get a better choice of data providers. If you're familiar with newsgroups, ask in nz.comp. Amongst the trolls and bashers you'll likely get some more informed (than my poor) local knowledge, which could be helpful. If you haven't got access to NNTP, then sign up up for a free news server such as Eternal-September or Solani.org

2011, April 30 - 9:19am

bertyboy

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Joined: 2009 Jun 14

Funnily enough, I'm back in the B.O.P. tonight, near Tauranga (call it the Mount). I'll get connected to the newsgroup later.

The comparison sites would be great if only people would post their experiences of their providers. This happens in the UK, like thinkbroadband.com. Got bank account and new home, now we need a car ...

2011, April 30 - 11:39am

(Reply to #3) #4

MikeTomTom

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Joined: 2009 Dec 7

Consensus (for telstraclear) is sort of 50/50 from what I can gather, some have no problem, others have a rough time. Billing has been an issue in some cases. Help desks are in the Philippines or there-abouts... No probs here with the service other than s-l-o-w uploads... and then a couple of days back we downsized to a $3.00 plan because we were leaving but keeping the service running, the speed drop was bad after that both up and down. Making a Skype call after the downsize and opening a web page at the same time, there were noticeable drop-outs in audio occurring - lots of voice skips (wouldn't even bother attempting a video link). Barely better than dial-up.

Cars... We got ours from a direct Japanese importer in Tauranga. There are some good bargains to be had in that area (2nd hand direct imports of late model cars). Auckland would have better (zillions more) choices tho' especially if thats where you are going to be spending most of your time. Trade Me is also another well used avenue for buy/selling in NZ. Most Kiwi's haven't even heard of eBay AFAIK.

Whoah!!!!! Just did a "Preview" on this post to check for typo's etc; and wasn't asked to do the CaPtChA Waltz. Don't tell me the admins have come back from their holidays at last

2011, April 30 - 10:01pm

bertyboy

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Joined: 2009 Jun 14

direct Japanese importer in Tauranga.

Hehe, I know the exact dealer you mean. Just back in the Mount for a few days until I get back to Auckland about mid-May to get in the new house and to meet my container ship with all my furniture and Macs. Can wait until then before looking for a good deal on a used Toyota or Honda. SO different from the UK, where good reliable 2nd hand cars (Toyota, Honda) cost only a few grand less than new - so we usually ended up buying new.

It looks like it's going to be TestraClear for the first 12 months anyway. I can bring more money over from the UK when the exchange rate improves (substantially please) and we'll move even closer to central Auckland and get a new ISP.

2011, May 2 - 12:05am

MikeTomTom

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Joined: 2009 Dec 7

Man. What a bummer I've just left the BOP. We could've met up for a coffee or a pint or 2
Good luck with the car hunting. We ended up buying a Nissan Primera. a beautiful car to drive, economical to run and well appointed as most Japanese cars are.

2011, May 2 - 11:37am

bertyboy

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Joined: 2009 Jun 14

May end up with an old Landcruiser, or Highlander, or big RAV4. Two kids and frequent trips over the Kaimai so need a safe ride, a big boot and a bit of power. Reckon you missed the rain on the BoP, it's rained non-stop 24 hours/day since you left / I got back.

Did a quick look on trademe for Mac stuff, in BoP, very little, but over 1400 items in Auckland. Hehe.

2011, May 2 - 1:34pm

Bolkonskij

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Joined: 2009 Aug 3

Glad to hear you arrived well in NZ, bertyboy! While I have nothing to add to the topic I'd like to say that I enjoy your conversation about NZ ... did you consider setting up a blog on your "emigration experiences"? Would be fun to read. After you get broadband access again, that is, of course

2011, May 2 - 2:19pm

j_damage•69

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Joined: 2009 Apr 17

Welcome to New Zealand Bertyboy hope you enjoy your time here! I live waay down the south island in Dunedin. Only been up north couple times and found it very different from what we have down here, busy wise.. Quite enjoyed it though of course I go on trademe a bit to buy items from allover the place though. Good luck with your internet situation! Im on telstra clear with 20GB monthly, rounds to about $30 depending on how much you use.

My next mac experiment is handling a logitech gamepad for OS9 and DOS games

Cheers.

2011, May 23 - 9:18am

#10

bertyboy

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Joined: 2009 Jun 14

Mmm, took a long time to get the phone line and broadband set up, with Telecom for now, on a no-term contract. But it's up and running now and I've got nearly 17Mb/s download, nearly 3x the speed I had back in the UK with BT.

Time to start trawling TradeMe in Auckland for old Mac kit and software.