Rural Broadband

Wireless broadband works by using the same signal that your mobile phone uses to transmit and receive data. By using the same towers and satellites that power mobile networks, we can also give access to broadband to people who live in areas that do not have a hard-wire connection (a copper of fibre cable in the ground).

These terms are interchangeable and mean the same thing, though it can sometimes cause confusion in the case of our unique BlueDoor plans that run off our own towers, rather than cellphone ones. It is the service of providing internet by way of a signal instead of a wire, in simplest terms.

Head on over to our plans page and fill in the form and one of our team will be able to tell you what is available at your address. Between our range of services, we are able to cover a majority of New Zealand households with one plan or another.

Dial-Up. This is the oldest form of internet and runs on the copper cable that also runs your phone. For this reason, it is incredibly slow and not used for this purpose anymore. ADSL. This is the next step up for the internet, which again runs on a copper cable that has it’s own unique line to provide faster speeds. VDSL. The faster step up from ADSL, VDSL uses the fibre network to the cabinet locally on your street, and from that cabinet then runs on the copper wire to your house. Due to this, it is the closest thing to Fibre besides Fibre itself, and is often enough to run multiple streaming devices in a single household with no issues. Fibre. This is the fastest type of internet that is only available in very select hubs. It is a fibre-optic cable from your home to the internet hub, and offers very fast speeds at fewer locations. Rural broadband. Rural broadband offers speeds faster than ADSL, and runs on the 4G network that your mobile phone uses. In this fashion, it is able to offer broadband to homes in rural areas that may not have hard-wired access to any hubs or connection points. Satellite. Satellite broadband uses satellites to effectively get signal access to areas that may not be covered by 4G mobile towers. It is comparable in speed to VDSL and more, and is widely available, making it a notable solution for people in hard to reach areas.

Yes! You can. Using VOIP (voice over IP), you can have a phone line without needing a copper wire. This means you can ditch your standard copper phone, or have access to a normal phone line if you didn’t before, for an additional $20 + GST per month on any of our applicable plans*. *There is a one time porting fee of $15, and $50 for the VOIP unit itself. The VOIP plan includes free local and national calling.

Wi-Fi refers to a wireless router that can connect multiple devices by being a “middle-man”. In this sense, you can have a WiFi signal in your house and still have no internet, as that router also requires an active internet connection to then send and receive external data. WiFi systems run for closed or local networks as well as for internet, such as CCTV, or to connect multiple office computers to a printer and/or other devices. Broadband is the term that refers to an active internet connection.