Using Australian telco provided Wifi router + modem in NZ

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  quasar on 28/11/2017 - 12:31

  +1

  It kinds of depends on what NBN product you had in Australia, FTTH (fibre to the home) or FTTN (VDSL, which are most of NBN deployments in Australia). When you get to NZ there's a decent chance that you'll get FTTH if you live in the 33 biggest cities and towns, and if you do most ISPs will require you to do VLAN 10 tagging so your router will need to support that as well. Fibre speeds here also go up to 900Mb/s so if you wanted the fastest product available and actually make use of it the router will need to be able to handle it.

  To be honest you're probably better off just getting one of the ISP provided modem/routers when you get here, most of them provide it for free if you're on a 12+ month contract.

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  marlinz on 28/11/2017 - 06:43

  try https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp they maybe able to offer some help

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  bullettime on 01/12/2017 - 11:38

  Thanks guys for the great responses.
  Hopefully things play out and we move to NZ in the new year.
  If we do, we will get the modem + router from an ISP there.

  • 

    marlinz on 02/12/2017 - 13:31

    I would check out with people before you sign up with anyone

    Because there are isps some people avoid

    • 

      bullettime on 02/12/2017 - 16:44

      Thanks for that!
      Recommendations for ISP's then?
      I was looking at 2 Degrees briefly, seems to be a reputable ISP?

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        marlinz on 03/12/2017 - 06:38

        i have no experience with them so i cannot comment, i am with Spark i have ever had any problems , even from when on adsl through to vdsl and now with them on fibre 100/20

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        Kenkade on 03/12/2017 - 22:37

        If you were to look, best value and choice would be bigpipe, its an off brand of spark with no contract so if it sucks you can get out asap, catch is theres no phone support aka you can only contact them via app/emails. Only thing your router needs to do is to be able to make "Connection to an external modem or router." All other isps require vlan10 tagging except for bigpipe, if you were to choose another good isp it would be 2degrees(snap) although they arent as good anymore but still better than most.

        All you need to know is to stay away from slingshot/flip/trust/orcon/myrepublic, every1 else is fine

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        quasar on 03/12/2017 - 22:51

        Bigpipe's a good option if the existing connection is already there, ie you're getting ADSL or VDSL, or the place is already wired up for fibre. If you need to get fibre connected then I'd avoid as the email only helpdesk has been pretty poor lately, there's a lot of complaining about it on Geekzone. I was with them back in 2015 and found them to be OK, I'm now with 2degrees Gigatown fibre and before that had ADSL with Orcon, there's a lot of hate for them (a lot of it is deserved) but I never had any problems with them and their support people on Geekzone are really good.

        Bigpipe doesn't require VLAN 10 tagging but Spark definitely does. MyRepublic also doesn't require it but I'd avoid them.

        2degrees are decent, good speeds and have their helpdesk in Christchurch, if you're a downloader they have no fair use policy.

        Orcon has been improving lately and have been smashing it in the Truenet monthly reports (October is here), they also have an excellent deal for the next couple of months where you can get adsl/vdsl/fibre for $40/month for the first 6 months and then $80/month for the remaining 6 months of the contract, you can find the deal here. The other nice thing is they've ditched their outsourced Filipino helpdesk and moving it back to NZ as of tomorrow. They were also one of the first ISPs to ditch their fair use policy, although to be fair they were kind of forced to.

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  bullettime on 04/12/2017 - 12:02

  Thanks a lot for all of your product recommendations! Will have to have a read of things - but first need to make sure i get the job, here's hoping :-D

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  Nil Einne on 08/12/2017 - 23:32

  By modem do you mean it connects to the phone line, and you intend to connect it to the phone line for ADSL or VDSL? If so, bear in mind that it will likely work without issue, as I understand the way the telepermit system works, even if you can buy the exact same model with the exact same firmware here, you're technically not allowed to connect it to the Chorus network unless it's telepermitted in which case it should have a telepermit stick on it. Practically I don't think even the Chorus techs tend to care, but FWIW.

  The other point is if you live in a fibre area and your landlord (if you have one) will allow it and don't have neighbour or apartment issues, I will suggest you get fibre. If you're getting fibre, your router may work OTOH, ISP supplied routers are often shitty. If they are xDSL modems as well, they are often even worse. Personally, I'd consider a decent router especially when you have fibre you tend to have lots of options.

  If you aren't yet in a fibre area, depending your you requirements you may want to get VDSL. You mentioned you were on the NBN so I presume you're used to speeds beyond ADSL. You may be able to use your existing modem for this although note if you sign a 12 month contract most will provide you one for nearly free (generally just pay shipping). For that reason you can also get the cheap crappy ISP ones on Trademe fairly easy. VDSL is probably a little harder, still even 2+ years ago it wasn't that hard for me to get the Huawei HG 659 for about $50 on TM and that was one of the better ISP supplied VDSL modems at the time (although still quite crap). Note if fibre is coming soon, many ISPs will let you upgrade within the contract period without breaking the contract although you'll have to stock with them.

  As for ISP choices, I've found they can be much of a muchness. MyRepublic for example tends to have a bad rep on GeekZone but while I wouldn't say they are that bad. Personally I'd concentrate on looking for a plan and speeds that suit you, and contract etc. Remember to consider things like whether the ISP uses CGNAT and if that matters to you, if you want a static IP how much it costs etc. They are nearly always having promotions although the precise promotion often varies so it may depend on that as well. BigPipe were mentioned above but they're IMO a little expensive if you want a 950/500 plan.

  That said, there are some ISPs I'd avoid. Unlimited Internet have or did have a fairly extreme fair usage policy where they gave you 7 days to switch without warning if you use too much. IIRC they didn't even have any decent usage monitoring. TrustPower I'd be cautious with them since they seem to be really concentrating on the low end of the market.