Recommend a Modem + Router (or Better Yet a combo) for Use in NZ Please? Moving to Dunedin

bullettime on 23/12/2017 - 15:21
Last edited 23/12/2017 - 15:22

Hi all,

After months of waiting my application process concluded with a verbal job offer yesterday. Yay!
We now plan our move to the South Island from oz.

We have no idea where we will be living as we still have a few months before we move down.
Rental more than likely in the Dunedin/Mosgiel area.

I was wondering whether any forum members could provide suggestions as to a modem + router (combo if possible, but can consider these separately) that i should purchase? Currently Ebay Australia sales have 20% off tech and i can also get cashback and GST back when i come to look for a house (so a good time to score something!).

Currently on NBN FTTN and have a Telstra modem (supplied by the ISP).

Thanks for any and all comments about this in advance.

General Discussion

Comments

  • Dunno on 23/12/2017 - 20:09
    +1

    Ask if your rental has fibre serices first, if not you are getting adsl2/vdsl unless the landlord is willing to have an install done.

    Most ISP's here will give you a free modem/router on a 12 month term(so signing up for a gigatown plan(950/500 iirc) gets you a router capable of those speeds when wired or 5G WiFi), those terms also allow you to move houses and not break the term if you connect services at the new house.

    If you do bring a modem/router over you might want one with VLAN tagging depending which ISP you go with(some require it, some don't). It's also worth checking if the rental is data wired or not(ie plenty of 1930's homes here without modern wiring where the ONT/modem/router all have to go in a single location as a result).

  • kiwijunglist on 24/12/2017 - 09:24

    Need to know if Vdsl or fibre internet
    Probably better to wait until you have accom.
    Router not that much more expensive here.
    Check pricespy.co.nz for router prices.
    You might get free one with your connection
    Your accom may already have the gear

  • quasar on 02/01/2018 - 09:59

    As others have suggested I'd wait until you get here to know what type of connection you're on, you'll get a discounted modem/router with most ISPs anyway.

    Congratulations on the job in Dunedin, it gets a bit cold and grey down here but when the weather's good it's damn good - and I still prefer the bad weather here to the 40+ days I used to (barely) live through in Perth.

    Not many rentals in Mosgiel at the moment, you'll have more luck in Dunedin. Personally I find Mosgiel a bit of a massive retirement home, the drivers out there are pretty scary.

    • bullettime on 02/01/2018 - 19:37

      Thanks, mate!
      We are super excited for the move. Thanks heaps for the advice. Much appreciated.

  • bullettime on 02/01/2018 - 19:38

    Thanks everyone for responding.
    Will hold back till i get to NZ and then likely get one off our ISP.

  • NovaAlpha on 03/01/2018 - 14:51

    Hey there,

    I personally use the ASUS AC-88U router. It is a performance router and comes with tons of features. I have a VPN server running on it and do some FTP stuff as well. You also get a free DDNS (asuscomm.com) for life and it's not like one of those duckdns DDNS where you'll have to renew your free subscription every month. You'll just need to provide a DDNS name (e.g. example.asuscomm.com) and done.

    You can also manage the router with the ASUS Router app on Google Play (unsure about iOS). It works fine on fiber (I've tested fiber with both Spark and TrustPower).

    The 2.4Ghz band is super strong. I can still get a signal from my neighbour 3~4 houses away from mine. 5.0Ghz is excellent as well, I'm getting around 195Mbps down and 22Mbps up and I'm on a 200 down and 20 up plan.

    I also use 2 powerline adapters (one is TP-Link and the other D-Link) and both get around 193Mbps down and 19Mbps up (although that is more to do with how good your electrical wiring is inside your walls).

    There are about 8 SSID access points around my neighborhood (scanned using inSSIder). So there is a bit of Wifi interference I think. On my laptop using WiFi, I get about -30dbm connected to my router (the lower the better) when I'm in the same room as the router. From 2 rooms apart, I get -44dbm. All my devices get really good signals from the router　（ｉＰａｄ　２０１７，　ｉＰｈｏｎｅ　５Ｓ，　Ｇａｌａｘｙ　Ｓ８＋，　Ｈｕａｗｅｉ　Ｍａｔｅ　１０，　ａｎｄ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｏｔｈｅｒ　ｓｍａｒｔ　ｄｅｖｉｃｅｓ）．

    My parents watch 1080p and sometimes 4K streams/shows on our Android TV box and we have multiple devices (around 20, including smart devices and web cams) and the router never choked once.

    I got mine for around $480 on Trademe, but you can find it much cheaper on Ebay for around $250 NZD (at least, it was around that price last I checked and I saw a couple selling at that price). It scores pretty high in reviews, I strongly recommend checking it out.

    Oh and last piece of advice, I recommend installing the Merlin custom firmware on it. It's a pretty straightforward and simple process.

  • sabata35 on 04/01/2018 - 08:43

    if you want to check for type of network
    https://www.spark.co.nz/discover/ufb-fibre/

    just enter an address

    I have been using linksys modem/routers - very good.

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