[Avalon]

Ok, we are on dial up - and its killing me! You have no idea how frusrating it is trying to post on here this week after months of broadband :(

So, as far as we can find, we have 2 main choices:
Satellite or Wireless.

Both are going to cost, but thats not actually an issue (its going to be much cheaper than trying to do this in the UK - where my parenst have been battling BT for months just to get a bleeding phone line)

I know its a long shot - but has anyone on here done this?

Any info or experience would be helpful at this point! Im really really hating this - and its going to get worse when we start working from home.

Thanks

[jubjub]

We had this issue back in the UK, our area had "the wrong kind of cable", bit like leaves on the line fiasco!

Anyhow, we tried satelitte and found it to be not up to much, you get reasonable download speed from the satellite, but your upload speed is dial up, that bit does not get any better! Despite paying a small fortune to get it put in, we binned it after a couple of months. It is also weather dependent, if it rains it goes off!

Cant help with wireless experience, but it should be better than satellite anyway, apparently woosh is OK but only with 40k of the CBD in Welly, after that it could well be rubbish! Guess you wont know until you try.

[Avalon]

Thanks JubJub. Ill bear that in mind - especailly as that may be the route my parents have to go down!

Wireless does sound better - you dont need a dial up to send out (and it costs half the price) - we just dont know if we can get it yet.

We were looking at about $4k for satelite here - does that equate with the Uk cost?

[Singel]

In today's paper, a broadband provider Woosh, launching phone service :
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=%1E%FB%F8%C5%28%B5%BCE

Woosh website :
http://www.woosh.com/ContentClient/WhyWoosh/WhyWooshOverview.aspx

:cheers

[Avalon]

Yeah - looks like we are stuffed for whoosh - they dont cover our area.

Oh well, on with the search

[jubjub]

Woah, $4k :eek: , think it cost us around £300 for the dish/cabling connection, then around 30-40 a month after that, plus you still needed at isp for dial up at around 15.

I would definitely not bother if its gonna cost that much, its just not value for money.

Luckily BT got their act together in our area after a about year, so normailty of broadband was restored, otherwise hubby was seriously looking at moving!

[jonSE]

Hi Guys,

You might want to look at this as there here is a govt initiative for broadband coverage in rural areas. It might cover where you are.

www.probe.govt.nz

Cheers

Jon's missus

[bozandhelen]

Hi Avalon

I'm back! - The PC was packed up as part of Helens de-cluttering plans so I've had to temporarily borrow a laptop from work! (last time I leave her alone in the house!)

You might try the onspeed.com system which we use for some of our remote access users when working on dial up in foreign countries, it does lots of smart compression and filtering and you can use it in NZ.

I was a bit sceptical when it was first proposed to us and it wont help you if you want to do voip or streaming (It canna break the laws of physics captain!) but it does feel a bit like broadband for normal web surfing.

I'd also echo the sentiment of others that satellite is crap for normal surfing but good for downloads (well it was in 2002!)

Boz

PS Good luck in the new house!

[Avalon]

Ok, looked at probe, but no info for our area as yet.

We actually have someone from a wireless company coming round this week to do a survey. Apparently there is a mast somewhere near here, so thye have to see if they we can access it from here.

Then we have to pay about $2k for a radio mast!!!!

This is actually likely to be our best option - we get broadband and 2 voice lines.

[Avalon]

Boz,

We turned our utility room into an office to declutter!

Ill look at that website and see what we can do.

The house is starting to get sorted - but we have only used the jacuzzi twice in the last week because it keeps raining!

Alan starts his new job today, so we had to get up really early to get him to the train.

But hey - its peacful at last. Im typing and all i can hear are birds in the garden, no sirens. Bliss.

[sizzlingbadger]

Hi Avalon

Bit of a subject change.

Congratulations on the move
:cheers

How did the move go ?

[robothamma]

Hi Avalon,
Whereabouts in the wairarapa are you? We will be moving to the Tararua region and want rural so we could experience the same problem as you when it comes to Broadband :uhoh Let me know how you go on please :nice1

Michelle

[Nicola]

We have just signed up for a Data Card network connection with Telecom. We are moving around a bit and did not want to have to arrange connection each time. If the signal is low the speed is slow like dial up, but if you get a good signal we have found it quite good so far.

Down side is only one of our laptops has the correct slot for sticking the data card in. We are trying to find an expansion slot which will connect to the usb port on the other laptop. If anyone knows where to find one I would appreciate it.

[bluenickie13]

OH MY GOD! Someone tell me that NZ aint that remote that there isn't any broadband! It would be like having my arm cut off... Please put me out of my misery, oh please please please!
Nickie

[sizzlingbadger]

Don't worry Nickie a lot of places have broadband. It's just the remote parts that can't get it.

We're on the edge of a small town in the Wairarapa and thankfully have broadband.

:-)

[Avalon]

Sizzlingbadger,

The move went really well. 2 days of lugging boxes and trying to unpack (with PM jacuzzi breaks! - there has to a REASON we spent so much on the house!). A few breakages, but nothing too much to worry about. Crown were really efficient in the end. I have decided - no matter where we have been - the guys doing the work have been fantastic, Its always been the office that have really screwed things up!

Robothamma,

Ill keep you posted. We live about 10-15k outside Carterton (to the east). This is pretty rural - there are several other houses here, but none "next door" so to speak. It takes about 15 mins to drive to carterton from the house. If you have a map that shows it, we are near Gladstone / Ponatahi, on a road called Ahiaruhe. It just so happens thatw e live on the same road as the laughable Stonehenge Aotearoa (Or Chickenwire Henge as we call it).

We have a lovely view of a range of hills between us and the Tararuas. Todaym we can see the Tararuas in teh background with snow on them (and as long as it stays over there - it will be fine).

Bluenickie,

Really its no differnt than the UK. I have never had broadband till I lived in Welly. Ross on Wye probably wouldnt have got broadband for another few years, and we may never have got it because we lived a few miles out!

Most towns have it here. Telecom wouldnt extend it to here originally because by not doing so they saved 10k (Well, Teresa Gattung has to fund her pay rise somehow I guess!). Of course, to put it in, they want to charge us 50K! Go figure.

May not have broadband, but hey - I can hear birds singing! That does amazing things for my soul!

[bluenickie13]

Oh thank goodness for that, was terrified... No bb makes nickie not a nice person!

[baboonworld]

Boz,


The house is starting to get sorted - but we have only used the jacuzzi twice in the last week because it keeps raining!



Thats the best time - get one of those cheap gazbo's from the warehouse!

[Avalon]

As of the 28th Deecmber - we not only have broadband - but we have wireless connections through the house and garden, and a stonkingly fast connection too! A few people who understand these things are actually jealous at how fast it all goes.

So, for the record: We used a company called Wisenet ( www.wise.net.nz )

Thier head office is in Auckland, but they have a branch down here, and others I believe - not sure where they cover. We dealt with a guy called Jeremy in masterton.

They have been troopers, and despite thinking at first that they couldnt help - they kept coming back to do more tests and to chat to us about options. They listened to what we said, adn in the end - the solution we went with was something that my OH nad dad thought of.

We are now the proud owners of a radio dish stuck in our garden behind a tree - pointing to a mast on a hill in the distance. We even have a more powerful signal than one of our neighbours - so they are going to move his mast. Originally we were going to bounce of his equipment - but we cant as there are trees in the way. There were lots of problems to get round - but each hurdle - they dealt with and found a solution.

I dont have the final costs - ill post as soon as I know and we have the bill. I expect it to be about $2-$2.5K for the equipment. It would have been about 1k less if we could have bounced from the neighbour (and part of that is a payment to him for our share in his set up costs - that way - the more that take up the service - the more the cost gets spread - rather than the first guy getting lumped with large set-up costs). Our monthly bill should be around $60.

So - hats off to WiseNet - and I guess a finger or two to Telecom! :nice1

[Smiler]

You are just showing off :p



















:laugh


D x

[Avalon]

Yep! :laugh