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Choosing the best ISP to meet your needs while
maintaining the cheapest price possible can easily become a daunting
task. We have created this page in order to help you make the best
possible choice when searching for a New Zealand ISP.
Contents:
1. Things to
ask yourself when choosing your ISP
2. Information on New Zealand
ISPs
Things to ask yourself when choosing your ISP:
1. How much money am I willing to spend? - Before
you start, make sure you have set boundaries about how much you are
willing to spend each month on internet access. Do not let the
information provided by ISPs force you into spending more than you are
comfortable with.
2. Do I want
dial-up or broadband? -
Click the connection types to find out more information about them. Most
ISPs are both a broadband ISP and a dial up ISP so make sure you make
this decision before proceeding. The basic difference between the two is
that dial-up doesn't allow you to surf the web and talk on the phone
simultaneously and is a lot slower that broadband. An advantage of
dial-up is that it is a lot cheaper, as low as $10/month, apposed to
around $30/month. You can also download as much data as you desire from
the internet without restricting your speed, where as broadband usually
has a fixed amount that can be downloaded each month. It is also
important to note that it is usually not the best idea to get a dial-up
connection AND an extra phone line as just having a broadband connection
is generally cheaper.
3. How much time am I likely to spend on the
internet? - Dialup plans are usually based around the number of
hours per week you use the internet. If you don't use the internet very
often, say a few hours per week, then it is best to subscribe to a plan
which charges by the hour. If you regularly use the internet then
you will want to get a plan which gives you a set number of hours per
month. Some ISPs will give you the option to spend unlimited hours on
the internet while only having to pay $10 per month. Note: Remember to
ask about whether or not your toll calls must be does through the ISP,
as this is sometimes a requirement of low price plans and can often
affect the overall price of the service.
4. How many things will I download each month? -
Broadband plans are based around the amount of bandwidth (amount you
download or upload) you are allowed to use each month. Again this
depends on the amount of time you spend on the internet, but also
depends on the size of files you are likely to download - such as game
demos, movie trailers, or music. Xtra has
a handy little table which shows how much bandwidth is on average used
on what things.
Click here to view this table.
5. What optional features do I need? - ISPs
offer varying add-on features, such as email accounts, anti-spam
filtering, and even free personal web space or websites. Its a good idea
to check out what these are for the ISPs you are interested in.
6. Do I have children? - The internet can be a
dangerous place and it is easy for anyone to stumble across content
which is very offensive. If you do have children then I recommend that
you use an ISP such as Maxnet which
uses up to date software to prevent sites with offensive content from
being displayed on your computer. For more detailed information of
internet safety please visit -
www.netsafe.org.nz. Additionally software can be downloaded onto
your computer which can block specific content from being viewed on your
computer. Information on the software can also be found on the Netsafe
website.
I am currently building a list of the New Zealand ISPs.
It is a tad limited at the moment but if you check back later there
should be more information.
Below is
information on New Zealand ISPs, gathered
from
wikipedia.org and
from the ISPs
themselves.
Note: We are looking to extend our database of NZ
ISPs, so if you are a ISP Provider or someone who knows a few things
about ISPs then send us an email to
isps@isptalk.co.nz. |
