With the pending (no official announcement yet) termination of the Spark paging network likely sometime in the next 2 years what are the alternatives options?Paging is good as it is reliable & cheap but as a platform the underpinning technology is no longer favoured and apparently expensive to maintain/replace.I currently use paging to send account information to customers. I will now need to start thinking of alternatives solutions to do this. A webapp, push notification seems like the best alternative but I can't guarantee my customers have internet / smart device access. Does that leave me with SMS as the only option?Thanks
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Alternatives to Paging
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Has anyone managed to get MMS working on a Nexus 4 on Telecom
Hi everyone - I've got a Nexus 4 on Telecom, which has been grand apart from the fact that MMS doesn't work. I can send MMS messages, but are not about to receive them.All other functions work just fine.I've had the Telecom store look at it (they recommended that we run a factory reset on the handset (made no difference), and after a couple of hours trying to work it out said that "they couldn't help as it wasn't a Telecom handset).I've set the APNs as per http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=39&topicid=64219 (SMS and all other services are working fine - just MMS that is proving frustrating).Has anyone else managed to get their Nexus 4 doing the MMS thing on XT?Jono
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virtual spark number
Hi,Currently with Vodafone and looking to switch to spark. Current plan includes a virtual land line number that goes to my mobile.I want to go on the $79 open plan with Spark but need to have the virtual number (paying extra is OK) and need both mobile and virtual numbers ported to spark.I have been into two Spark shops and they said they couldn't help as virtual number "might" be a business option and they only do consumer, sent an email with no reply and tried to use the live chat three times to no avail.Anybody know if this can happen?Ta
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Toll bar on Voice over Fibre
I have ADSL+copper landline and want to switch over to fibre+VoF. I have a permanent toll bar on my copper landline right now and want to keep it with the VoF. The CSR on the chat on the website says it's OK and it'll transfer straight over. But when I come to order it two phone reps told me it's not possible and I had to get the $4/month feature pack with Call restriction instead. Would like to confirm if it is possible to have the toll bar moved across to fibre.
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Slow New Fibre Connection
Hi everyone,So after 4 months of waiting (corporate body etc), I finally have fibre installed. It's not as fast as I expect though. I selected the Fibre 100 plan from Spark, but speedtest.net shows a download of 35Mbps, and an upload of around 10Mbps. I've tried with both wifi and ethernet connection to the modem, both give the same results. Initially I wondered if it was the unblock-us DNS settings interfering with things, but after changing them all back to the Spark ones, no change.I have spoken to the help desk, and I'm waiting for Ultra Fast Fibre to make sure the network is all correct.What could cause this slowness?
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Telecom refusing to unblock port 25 on residential connections?
A friend has just had a spark ADSL connection installed into his house.Being a bit of a geek, he runs his own Linux mail, web & FTP server.He's contacted spark to get port 25 unblocked on his connection, and they're refusing. Stating that they won't open it for residential connections.Their website states nothing of the sort.He's changing retailers and considering a complaint to the Commerce Commission at this point.Anyone else come across this?
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Cheap, simple cellphone?
My Telecom R100 (4 or 5 years old) has a dying battery, so I think it's likely I need an new cellphone.I'm retired and only need a phone for emergencies (which tend to happen fairly often at my age).I feel that a prepay might be best but I'm open to suggestions.Ideas?Thanks for reading :-)
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Strange DNS issues
I'm having some strange DNS issues and wondered if someone more knowledgeable than me might be able to help out.I have a personal domain and a Spark residential account with a dynamic public IP. I use a free Cloudflare account as a dynamic DNS service to resolve vpn.mydomain.co.nz to my public IP. I run a couple of VPN servers on my home networkand update the Cloudflare DNS records every time my public IP changes, using a script on my Raspberry Pi and the Cloudflare APi.Recently I've been noticing that quite often (but with no regular pattern), my domain is resolving to the wrong IP address. The IP address is always the same - 122.57.100.228. It's not just my personal connection that resolves incorrectly - sites like https://www.whatsmydns.net confirm that it's resolving to the wrong IP from multiple international locations. Throughout this time (a couple of weeks now), my public IP has remained constant.I've done a bit of troubleshooting but haven't got anywhere yet.First of all, is 122.57.100.228 an address with any significance or relevance within the Spark network? From what I can find online it's just a standard public address within Spark's pool.There are a few things I have up my sleeve to try but would appreciate any comment on the IP address in question before I try something else...
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Issues with South African Websites, almost certainly a Spark Issue.
Hey Geekzone. I've been having strange issues with South African websites.The two big ones I've tried, are South African Airways (flysaa.com), and Their Dept of Home Affairs Website. (www.home-affairs.gov.za) fail to even load. I have reported this issue to the MyBroadband (The SA Equivalent to Geekzone), as I first thought it was their side, and they said they were working fine, then I blamed Unotelly, as that's known to act up on occasion, but I changed the DNS servers, still nothing, then I used a USA VPN, and I attempted, to try that way, and hey bravo both websites come up perfectly, and I was able to do what I needed to do. So I'm sure the issue is Spark side.Can someone please look into it, and confirm if there's a problem.Both Mobile data, and fixed line VDSL have the same issue. Thanks
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Google gmail linking and sending confirmations to wrong gmail acct and xtra emails.
Not sure if this is correct place for this subjectgoogle tracking your every move? big data matching?this what happened and want to know if people have come across thissituation and way to unassociated gmails with ones own account.so this is what happened last week.mom got dad a new smartphone but couldnt remember his email passwordso I logged on mine pc and tried to login to gmail on browser and try the password I thought it was (as I setup his old phone for him years ago)and seems they beefed up security.. it came up with verify who you are.. is this your phone number and shows end 3 digits,.. and provided moms mobile number.. I thinkshe used his google email on her phone at one stage. didnt even list his old phone number at all.so I typed in her phone number rest of it and sure it worked and activated his gmail again..so now would login tothe new smart phone to activate play store and down his apps etc.then the next thing that happened was i got emails to my own gmail and xtra accounts saying someone has logged into your account is this correct. wtf.so now they think dads email is another one of mine now cos I logged in via my pc??they are doing data matching pc ids etc maybe old cookies?I deleted emails as I knew it was talking about what we just did as listed dads gmailnow I dont know how to remove his linking to me. for my google accountcould be dangerous,, imagine if dad did something it could be me thats blamed LOLso again any way to login to google account and unselect gmails of other peoples under my name as I didnt find anything when looked and if I unselect will itdestroy his email setup again.. or should I just ignore it and leave it as isas nothing has happened since.
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VDSL to Fibre now losing IP address
I am now on the Spark Fibre plan after being on VDSL, the issue I am having is that when I am watching Netflix on the TV thru my Amazon Fire TV I suddenly lose the connection and I have to come back to the computer and reset my Unotelly quickstart to update the IP address as it has changed. All the time I had VDSL I never had this issue, the only times I had to reset the IP in Unotelly was if rebooting the Router or after a power cut. But since I have changed to Fibre the IP address seems to change periodically for no reason.I have contacted Spark, but no luck there.Can anyone advice me me on what could be causing this issue. My router is the standard Spark Huawai HG630b (installed when changed to fibre) I am also not really interested in having to pay for a static IP address, as I never had the issue before and feel I am paying enough now.also hope I have posted under the correct section.thanks for any advice,David
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Switch to Fibre Unlimited Data plan, lose static IP?
Hi there. I'm currently on the Fibre 100 150Gb data plan. Technically as I'm a TiVo owner we've been on the unlimited data plan (data usage hasn't been tracked for the last 3 years or so) but that changed at the start of the month with data now being tracked. I was considering upgrading to the 500Gb data plan but I see that's no longer available. I can switch to the Unlimited Data plan at no extra charge but I'm very wary about whether that will affect my static ip address which I need for working from home. Speaking to two Telecom staff I've gotten opposite answers - one said that I'll be able to keep my static ip address at no extra charge, the other said that if I switch to Unlimited Data I'll then have to pay another $15 / month for the static IP. Is anyone able to give me feedback on what the reality is? Will I have to start paying for a static ip (arrrrgh - one line in a text file somewhere!) or has anyone had experience of moving to Unlimited Data, keeping their existing static ip and not having to pay an additional fee? Thank you!Phill
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Who has the lowest cost landline?
Hi, My situation:Rural location, internet connection by RBI wireless. Wishing to save costs on phone services by moving to VOIP. But after the recent weather event in our area with widespread cellular outage for a lengthy period I am wary of putting all communication eggs in the cellular basket. So, wanting to retain the landline for emergency use. Does anyone provide a low cost no-frills landline? At one time you could pay less and forgo the free local calling, but neither Spark nor Vodafone appear to offer this now. Any ideas very welcome... Aside: The 'ancient' technologies - PSTN phone line and AM radio can be relied upon when all the new stuff falls over...
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Does Spark/Skinny do HD voice?
I recently moved from VF to Skinny (Nexus 5) and noticed that I lost HD voice when calling my wife on VF (iPhone6). The call quality was not great at all and I don't know if it's a network issue or handset issue. I presume HD voice is not implemented across networks but was wondering is it available intra-network on Spark?That and because of coverage issues with VF I am now going to move my wive's prepaid to Skinny also. We were in Greytown yesterday and she had no coverage at all and I had H on Skinny which was good enough to have a high quality audio conversation with a friend in the US using Viber.
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Slooooooooooooow ADSL 18/07/2015
My internet just all of a sudden got very slow.Takes ages to load anything, downloads going at 200 bytes per secondAnybody else?I am in Wellington. Something to do with the weather?
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I think spark internet has a problem.. many website outside nz slow loading or timing out
I think spark internet has a problem.. many website outside nz slow loading or timing outsuch as myepisodes.com to see what on tv todayand some FB gamesanyone else noticing this?im on Fibre connection.,, reboot routers and powered on and off stuffmade no difference..of course might local to Christchurch where Im at.
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Looking at switching to VoF
So, I got the Spark fibre switch letter a week or so ago. However, when my fibre was connected, they never did any of the prep work for voice, so I'm not 100% sure how the config works. Are they using the voice ports on the fibre ONT, or running it off of the fibre modem? Just trying to figure out how hard it will be to hook the wiring up... I have a semi completed structured cabling solution that I'll use the opportunity to switch the phone wiring over to, and will rip out the old phone cabling at the same time.
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Cant access Spark business Domain name email account -
Today I cannot access my business email account either through my normal approach (Apple Mail) or through the web. On webmail it just times out - server stopped responding.Anybody else having problems. I am in Wellington sitting at airport about to travel to Melbourne and I need to be able to get my business mail.
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The trials & tribulations of getting fibre installed at work
Hi Allthe trial & tribulations we are having trying to getting fiber installed at work.the story so farThe middle of June we signed up with Spark to get fiber installed in our office, with the first date for installation on the 26th of june.we then had 4 chorus tech's come to the sight to determine the route of the cable from the chorus box in the common foyer to our office. This route was agreed with the building owner & chorus at the time. ( the tenant below us, already had fiber installed in there office ). A few days before the 26th we got an email saying the install was postponed till the 7th of July. (no reason given)The 7th rolls around & nobody turns up. the next day we wring spark to find-out why there was a no show, only to be told that the contact cell no. was wrong, & they could not contact anybody. If they had rung the office number or turned up at our office they could have spoken to lots of people.the next day they gave us for the install was the 17th of July, and you guessed it that day came and went, with another chorus no-show.Spoke to spark again this morning & even they did not know why chorus did not come.we now have a new date of the 28th of july. we will not be holding our breath. Greg
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Poor ADSL speeds in our new house. Neighbours 15x faster
We have put up with very slow ADSL speeds since we moved in. It was only when I was setting up a new router for one of the neighbours that I realised they had significantly faster connectivity. (15mbps vs our 900 kbps)We are semi rural which I initially attributed the slowness to, and was looking at RBI wireless on 4G 700, just so I could do things like work from home, watch netflix etcJust to rule out the issue being my router, it was tested at the neighbours, and worked just fine.I suspect it may have something to do with the state of the cabling to the house. When we moved in, there was no phone and internet, despite Spark advising it was all set up. Begrudgingly they sent a tech out, only when we agreed to pay for them if it was found to be an issue with the wiring at the house. Long story short - tech tested and found the fault at the street, and had to use the second cable pair to the house. Does anyone know if Spark keep records of connection speeds on a circuit - I want to know if it was running faster prior to this cable damage, as ultimately I should be able to get much faster connections than I am currently.I would like Spark to fix this if possible, as we have been a customer for a long time, and like them as a provider. If we go RBI, then it is not through Spark any longer for internet or phone.
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