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Skinny Jump - Free Wireless Broadband Modem and Prepay $5 for Every 35 GB of Data @ Skinny

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Came across this and found it interesting. Doesn't work for me but for people who struggle to pay a full internet bill, this might just suit.

Skinny Jump – Zero-Frills Broadband Deal

Deal at a glance:

  • Price: $5 for 35 GB of prepaid wireless broadband per 30-day cycle.
  • Total monthly cap: Up to 210 GB if you renew six times in a month.
  • Bonus: Automatic 15 GB free data added on the 1st of every month.
  • Modem: Provided free, but must be returned if you stop using the service.
  • Contract: None. No credit checks, genuinely pay-as-you-go.
  • Top-up limit: Max 6 renewals per month. Try for a 7th and you’re blocked.
  • Data expiry: Each 35 GB chunk expires after 30 days—no roll-over.

  • Target users: Designed for digitally excluded Kiwis—families, seniors, job-seekers, social housing, refugees, etc. If cost is your only barrier, this is what’s for you.


What You’re Actually Getting
  • Ridiculously cheap broadband (35 GB for $5, plus 15 GB bonus).
  • No nasty surprises—no contract, no credit check, no sneaky over-use charges.
  • Limited bandwidth—210 GB max per month; they’ll stop you dead after that.
  • Data vanishes after 30 days—use it or burn it.
  • Modem free—but if you bail, you gotta bring it back.
  • Intended purely for basic use: browsing, emails, streaming lightly, checking online stuff.

Bottom line:
This isn’t for power-users. It’s a damn good option if you're scrappy, on a tight budget, and only need basic connectivity. No fluff, no frills—just dirt-cheap broadband for those who otherwise can't access it.

Skinny Referrals

Referral: random (28)

Referee gets 4GB rollover data, referrer gets $20 account credit. Referee must activate new sim and buy a $16 or above 4 weekly rollover plan.

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closed Comments

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  • +4

    Eligibility conditions:

    Families with children
    Job seekers
    Seniors
    People with disabilities
    Refugees and migrant communities
    Those in social housing

  • Would this be suitable for a motorhome?

    • +1

      Yes, and no, you have to be fixed to an area so you can’t actually travel around the country.

    • I've heard of someone taking their modem in their campervan. Can't remember where from but it was oddly specifically about skinny jump. As always with all these things, noone actually gives a shit so you can just go for whatever you want. Just keep in mind the plug is 240v and it's probably not as power efficient as the portable types.

      • Yeah, it's just their terms and conditions. Yes, I had a friend they shifted house and had the spark modem, rang up spark and they said it was gonna cost $100 to change Area. I said just ignore, and move it and it made no difference.

    • you can, but they dont want you to do it as they check your cell site coverage , where your based

  • +2

    Max 6 renewals per month. Try for a 7th and you’re blocked.

    Based. Charities don't mess around

    • +1

      This isn't a charity, it's gov funded subsidised wireless broadband.

      The language used in the post is just chatgpt outputted garbage. This is one of the easiest conditional things to get, they don't give a shit at all.

  • +3

    This is actually a great plan for elderly folk who don't consume online media and only use internet for emails, basic browsing etc.

    • +2

      Absolutely, installed it for an elderly person it's supplements cell phone data and she can watch YouTube and TV online no problem.

  • +1

    Does anyone happen to know the download speed?

    • +2

      If its wireless probably depends on signal

      • Depends on signal and how 'well used' the tower is that it is connecting to.
        I think that wireless bb connections may get priority over cellphones since the WBB connections are geolocked.

    • +1

      I think it was around 40 Mbps but that can vary at different times of the day and your location from cell tower, plenty of speed for YouTube and Netflix but with limited data Netflix would chew it up quickly.

      • Strongly advise Cheapies who are new to Skinny Jump to beware up front that users have experienced long periods of very low speeds. Which with the (Skinny Jump) Spark 4G Wireless broadband depends on the time - day and location of your local - accessable Spark cell tower, especially the common tower users overloading issue ! :(

        • +1

          I have spark wireless broadband and speeds are supposed to be around 60 Mbps but I have seen speeds higher and quite a bit lower even though I am only 400 m from the tower and high use times during the holidays I've seen speeds of 20Mbps and sometimes even cut out completely.

    • https://ibb.co/VWwWFn4T

      55-90 down. From a while back

    • yes its about 50 + mbps up about 90 ish mbps down 4G network

  • I assume this would come with a sim card?

    Would it work to put that sim card in a phone for data? Have some family that just mostly use their phone for Internet.

    • It does work the other way around I put a kogan Sim in Telecom box and it worked by changing some of the settings, but when you sign up for wireless Internet, it is specific for that area.

    • +1

      If you take the sim out of the modem and put it in a device, it would likely work. But if the connection moves to a location too far from the geofenced location, it'll likely get flagged and locked down.

      • +1

        bugger
        We’re sorry, this address is in an area that has reached the maximum number of modems that can be connected to its cell tower.

    • -1

      It does. Standard Skinny (/Spark) wireless bb hardware, now deploying Futura by sounds ofv it (4G). Briefly tested Jump sim in Deco 4G but couldn’t get it to work (specified apn). There’s an interesting blog that talks a bit about the tech and rollout https://diaa.blog/category/skinny-jump-modems/

  • Its 4g or 5g network

    • +1

      Hardware provided is definitely 4G, I’ll be trying acquaintances sim in 5G hardware and report back

      • (Curious to know on this Q, thanks. Any result yet….?)

    • +1

      its 4g

  • I used this when I was very tight with money . I used it for two months you return it when you dont need it .
    any one who is having hardship can get this .
    If you have a school going child you can also get cera which is free 200 + gb data every month + you can pay to get some more .
    you get 4g data about 90mbps max at hornby, christchurch .

  • I have a question on this. I have a friend that this would suit perfectly, but she uses 150-200GB per month, so she will need to top up 5-6 times each month. Is there an option to automatically top up via debit card? Or does it have to be done manually every time (which would get tedious)

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