If Your Internet Is Bad You Will Feel Bad

Hate slow internet? Well, you should. It could be shortening your life.

Ericsson Consumer Lab did a sure-to-be-completely-scientifically-legit study that suggests that slow internet can literally drive you crazy. Well, not crazy, but it will drive your heart rate up.

Web page loading delays led to an average of 38 percent heart rate increase. Video stream delays caused stress levels to increase by a third. It’s easy to imagine that if you were really on edge, as many people are in our fast-paced modern world, this could literally kill you. Killed by bad internet. Damn. That’s a bad look for your tombstone.

rest-in-packets

The study looked at participants’ “brain activity, eye movements and pulse while completing tasks such as browsing web pages and watching video clips.” Sadly, there was no mention of what sort of video clips participants were watching, because, as anyone can tell you, some online videos are much more pulse-pounding than others.

“To put (the results) in context, the stress incurred is equivalent to the anxiety of taking a maths test or watching a horror film alone, and greater than the stress experienced by standing at the edge of a virtual cliff,” the report said.

Dear. God.

At Bigpipe, we were already doing everything we could to make everyone’s internet nice and zippy, as evidenced by our multi-award-winning ads* but now our mission has even more importance. Say bye-bye to buffering today, which is a seriously big deal. Do you know what else is a big deal? Getting your first 3 months free, when you sign-up to any Bigpipe unlimited broadband plan on a 12-month contract term.

It might save your life.

*At some indeterminate point in the future. Maybe.

Offer is available for new customers and ends 31 Jan 18. Includes free Bigpipe modem and connection (worth $148). Ts & Cs apply.




Move house or change broadband plan – nice ‘n easy with Bigpipe!

Good news everyone!

The Bigpipe Code-Elves have been busy, slaving away in their dank sub-basement coming up with fantastically useful improvements for all you wonderful Bigpipe customers. Spare a thought for them; dab their sweating brows with a metaphorical moist towelette, as we reveal…

Moving house & changing plans made easy!

People love to move house and/or change their Bigpipe plan. We know this because our customers tell us when they do. In the past, it’s not been the easiest thing in the world, and that’s no good. When you’re moving house, the last thing you need is the hassle of figuring out your broadband connection.

So we’ve made it nice and easy and super-quick for you. Here’s how to do it!

If you log into your Bigpipe account dashboard, you’ll now see this spiffy-looking widget (without all the red bits, obvs, that’s us)

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Aw yeah, look at that! All you gotta do, if you want to change address (or change your Bigpipe plan at your current address) is click one of those handy green buttons.

Changing plan

Changing plan is as easy as clicking “CHANGE PLAN” and selecting from the available plans at your address. We recommend giving this a go, right now, to see what plans are available at your place – we find a lot of people have a fibre upgrade available, and don’t even know it! Have a crack, because changing Bigpipe plans is free, and you might be able to get a vastly better fibre connection for the same price as our Fast plan – only $79 a month.

Changing address

Just fill out the address where you’ll be moving to (you’ll have to pick an address from the list of options that appears when you start typing), and whether you’ve already shifted. Or you can add a preferred connection date.

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Now you’ll get to select the Bigpipe plan for your new address. Your current plan will be highlighted. Any Bigpipe plans not available at your new address will be greyed out. In this example, all our plans are available at the new address! Sweet!

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Let’s select the fastest plan we’ve got, Bigpipe’s Elite.

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It’ll ask you to confirm the details you’ve entered (make sure they’re all correct!)

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Once you’ve clicked the green CONFIRM button, you’ll see the below screen:

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And if you check back at the Bigpipe dashboard, you’ll see that your move of address is being processed!

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And that’s it! Next time you’re moving house, or if you want to try a different Bigpipe plan, do it the easy way – just log in and choose your new plan or move.

moved house




Good Elite News Everyone!

Alright, Elite customers! It’s almost time to upgrade you from your already-fast 200/200 megabit experience to a blazing-fast next-gen world. (And if you’re not an Elite customer yet, there’s no time like the present!)

Naturally, you’ve got questions about this process. We’re pleased to report that it should be nice and painless for you. Here are the details, in a convenient bulleted list:

  • Dates: We’re upgrading Elite customers between 1 and 8 October. When your upgrade goes through will depend on where you’re located – we expect Christchurch and Hamilton upgrades to be done a bit earlier, and other regions to take a bit longer. Regardless of your location, we currently expect the upgrade should be complete by 12 October. If yours is not done by then, please get in touch.
  • We don’t expect any downtime: There should be no need to reconfigure or restart anything. However, if you’re on Elite and you’re not getting higher than 200/200 speeds by October 12, try the ol’ on-and-off-again. If it still doesn’t work, drop us a line.
  • Max speed: We want to be very up-front about this. Due to technical limitations, the absolute maximum speed you can expect to get under perfect conditions is around 930Mbps down/480Mbps up. It may be possible to get faster than this. However, it is very likely that your speeds will be considerably slower. it depends on a lot of factors. Our network engineers have suggested that the fastest a customer with good equipment on a wired connection should expect from Elite is around 600 – 900 Mbps download / 300 – 500 Mbps upload (although it’s certainly possible that some connections will be faster.) This is likely the case for other ISPs, not just Bigpipe. Don’t worry – this is still insanely fast!
  • Your router: Check that your router can actually manage Elite speeds. It may be fine with 200/200 and baulk at anything higher, so it pays to have a look. Googling it is the best option.
  • The Bigpipe Modem: While Bigpipe modem (the Huawei HG659 modem/router) is technically capable of gigabit switching, our internal tests show it can achieve maximum speeds of around 500 Mbps upload/download when routing actual internet traffic in a real-world environment. Your results may vary. We have had customers achieve speeds in excess of 800 Mbps on speedtests when using this modem.
  • Your computer / device: We’ve now reached a magical new era when the internet connection is actually faster than many people’s home computer can handle. If you want to get the most from Elite, your computer must be fast as well. If your device is not up to it, you will not be able to get high speeds. The recommended spec for the computer is an Intel i5 CPU or above, and you will absolutely need a gigabit ethernet adaptor.
  • WiFi: There is a very good chance that your speed on devices connected using WiFi will not hit anywhere near max speeds (see here for Reasons.) Our advice is to always measure speeds using a wired/Ethernet connection to an actual computer, as a mobile device (iPad, smartphones, etc) relies on WiFi and simply won’t be up to it.
  • It might take a while to get up to speed: Allow at least 24 hours of consistent connection to let the hyperdrive spin up properly.
  • Speedtests: Speedtests often don’t reflect real-world performance. They’re like taking a car out on a racetrack and driving it at full speed – it’s very different to everyday driving on the road! Your speedtest results will vary – often massively – depending on where you are sending traffic to and from. If you’re looking to take your line for a speedy spin, the server you use must also be fast enough to serve you at max speeds. If you’re running speedtests, we recommend you use speedtest.net’s Auckland Spark server. Here’s a video on how to switch to the correct server: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toI84pQnvPo

And that’s it for now! Enjoy the new Elite goodness, and as always, if there’s something we haven’t covered above, feel free to leave a comment. If you’re having trouble and you’ve run through the above checklist, drop us a line and we’ll suss it as soon as we can.




Max Speed Bigpipe

Bigpipe is very pleased, stoked even, to announce it will begin offering unlimited, naked, max-speed fibre connections for $129 a month

Chorus last week announced that it was set to begin offering “Gigabit” plans nationwide from October 1, 2016.

Customers on Bigpipe’s Elite plan, who currently receive speeds of 200 Mbps upload and download, will be upgraded to max speeds speed free of charge. The Elite plan will keep the same name, but it will be upgraded to allow speeds of up to 900 Mbps download and 500 Mbps upload.

The usual Bigpipe cool stuff will apply to the new Elite plan: no term contracts, no throttling, no data caps, and great online support.

Customers who sign up for Elite fibre between now and the upgrade will also get max speeds as soon as they become available. From October, anyone who signs up for the Elite plan in an area where Bigpipe offers fibre connections will get gigabit speeds automatically.

Bigpipe is already starting the process of upgrading customers on its Elite fibre plans to max speeds in areas serviced by Enable and Ultrafast Fibre, and we look forward to having customers in areas serviced by Chorus connected to max speed fibre from October.

Customers on the Elite plan, who currently receive speeds of 200 Mbps upload and download, will get the max speed upgrade as soon as it is available.

I made a GIF of John Cena going Super Saiyan

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The Bigpipe Big Guide to WiFi

One of the things we hear often from our customers is that their WiFi is not working. We get a lot of messages like this: 

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It’s understandable why people get confused. To many, WiFi is the internet. It’s the technology that your phone, iPad, and lots of other devices use to get online. But, often, “WiFi” isn’t the same as “My internet connection.” In the example above, the problem almost certainly has to do with the WiFi, and the Bigpipe connection is fine. It’s always tough when we get one of these messages because it’s difficult to explain that we can’t usually affect how well your WiFi works. We just supply the connection. Put more simply: 

WiFi is not the internet.

wifi-diagram

Think of Bigpipe as a water company – one with really big pipes, naturally. We deliver the water to your property and take care of the water meter. Nice and easy. WiFi is like your internal plumbing and other things that allow you to get at the water – taps, faucets, showers, and so on. And laptops and iPads and smartphones are like cups and kettles – things that allow you to get at the water and use it. 

The main difference between us and the water company is that if there’s something wrong with your WiFi, we’ll do what we can to help you fix it – but we can only do so much. Fortunately, we know a bunch of tips and tricks that you can use to get your WiFi as good as it can be.

What if I've got a Bigpipe modem?

If you’ve got a Bigpipe modem, it’s a bit different to bringing your own modem to our service. As you’ve purchased it from us, you’re entitled to a refund or exchange if it turns out to be faulty because of a manufacturing defect, and this includes faulty WiFi. We’re also able to get a bit more in-depth with troubleshooting. Not to mention that it should “just work” right out of the box – the Bigpipe modem comes pre-configured for our service, no matter what sort of connection you have. However, we almost always find that, no matter what sort of modem you’ve got, a problem with the WiFi comes from one of the causes outlined below – and the fix should work too 🙂

How do I know if the problem is with Bigpipe or my WiFi?

The easiest way for you – and us – to tell whether a problem is related to your WiFi or to your Bigpipe connection is to test using a wired connection. If the WiFi doesn’t work, it could be any number of problems. If a wired connection doesn’t work, chances are the problem is on Bigpipe’s end – and it’s much easier for us to diagnose and fix it.

How to get your WiFi working well

 

Everything in its right place.

WiFi propagation

This is what WiFi looks like to Superman. Poor Superman.

WiFi works using radio waves. Anything that emits or gets in the way of radio waves – for example, TVs, microwaves, other routers, cordless phones, walls – can interfere with your WiFi connection. For best results, place your router carefully. Make sure there are as few walls as possible between your devices and your router. Don’t put your router with other electronics like your TV. Give it its own special, privileged spot high on a shelf, like you would a valuable painting, or a cat.

And, if you can, try and place it somewhere in your house that is closer to where you like to use the internet.  Either in the middle of your house, or, if you like doing a lot of streaming to a big screen (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?) then place it in a good spot with line of sight to your streaming device.

 

Change the frequency

frequency

Back in ye olden days, about five years ago, every WiFi enabled device used the 2.4 gigahertz frequency. Now, in our shiny new modern era, most WiFi devices can make use of 5 gigahertz frequencies – and so they should. 5 GHz is almost always better.

Giga-what?

When it comes to modem frequencies, you’ll see the term “gigahertz”, or GHz, a lot. Don’t let the jargon hertz your brain – all this means in practical terms is that 5 gigahertz tends to be better with modern devices.

If your modem or devices support 5 GHz, use it whenever possible. While 5 GHz comes with a few caveats – some older devices don’t do as well on 5 GHz WiFi – it tends to be faster, and having more bandwidth means there’s more room for more devices to connect at once.

Most modern modem/routers output 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies simultaneously, by default. You can set the different frequencies to have the same login details, and then all you need to do is make sure to connect your iPad, laptop or phone to the 5 GHz network instead of the 2.4. Easy!

 

Make sure your network is secure

If you haven’t set up a wireless password for your WiFi network, do it. DO IT NOW. 

If you don't have one, get a WiFi password now! Make your dreams come true!

If you don’t have one, get a WiFi password now! Make your dreams come true!

Why? Because if you have an open wireless network, everyone can use it. And if you have an open network, we can guarantee that everyone is using it, right now. Your weird neighbours are using it to access websites with names that rhyme with “Horn Pub”. German tourists in the van down across the road are using it to have long Skype conversations in German with their German friends and German family and German Shepherds. Hackers are using it to hack into the mainframes and turn your computer into a mindless zombie slave. Of course, if you’ve got Bigpipe, you don’t have to worry about data caps, (and if you don’t have Bigpipe, you should get it here!) but if there are a bunch of strangers using your WiFi, it can make still your connection really slow. Set up a username and password for your WiFi network. Make it a good one. Or your connection will be terrible.

 

Change the channel (advanced)

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If you’ve been having WiFi trouble and you’re a bit more tech-comfortable than the average bear, it’s a really good idea to look at changing the channel on the router. Within each frequency band (2.4 and 5 GHz) there are a number of channels that the router uses to communicate with different devices on the network. If too many devices are using the same channel, you’ll get interference. How to fix it? Simply log in to your router and change the channel.

Of course, this isn’t necessarily simple, but it can definitely be worth having a go at figuring it out. The best way is probably to Google “change router channel [+ your router model name / number]”. There’s a good how-to guide here

 

Get a better modem/router

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Bigpipe is a BYO modem service, and most modems will work fine – but let’s face it, if your modem is more than 3 years old, it’s probably getting a bit crusty. So why not get a new one? You can get some great modems here. We’ve also started offering the Bigpipe Modem, which you can buy from us for $199 – or get it half-price at $99 if you’re a new customer, or you’re changing Bigpipe plans. To extend our analogy from before, it’s like if your water company threw in a kick-ass kettle that made 500 cups of tea a minute. And if something ever does go wrong with your WiFi, it’s a lot easier for us to help you fix it.

 

Whenever possible, don’t use WiFi

wired-connection

We get it – WiFi is convenient. But it’s also a huge pain. Because it’s just radio waves, it’s vulnerable to interference from everything from other WiFi users to solar flares. Whenever you have a device that can accept a wired (Ethernet) connection from your route – PCs, game consoles, many laptops – use it. It’s nearly always faster and more reliable than WiFi. 

The End…?

If you’re having trouble with your WiFi in the future, try these tips first. We’ve also got a bunch of other ways to optimise your connection at our Bigpipe Big Guide to Improving Your Broadband If you’ve got any tried and true tips and tricks for getting WiFi working (microwaving your router or deleting System 32 don’t count) feel free to leave them in the comments!




Get free Bigpipe for you & your mates!

So… you’re a Bigpipe customer, deeply and passionately in love with our unlimited data and no contract plans.

You want to tell the world all about Bigpipe, share the love with your friends, colleagues, and anybody who will listen.

We figured we’d make it easy for you. We’ve made it so you can get $20 for every friend you refer to Bigpipe, leaving you with more cash each month to spend on the important things in life, like streaming movies, Sour Skittles, Burger Rings, and Steam sales. Oh, and whoever you refer will get $20 credit as well. Nice!

So, here, in three easy steps, is how to get free broadband by doing virtually nothing.

Step 1:

Log in to your Bigpipe account on our website, and you’ll see a lovely little widget like this.

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Each Bigpipe customer has a unique link (it’s right there in the middle of the widget. Yours will have a bunch of letters and numbers after where it says “referralCode=”).

Step 2:

Simply share that link (just click “Copy link”) with your friends, acquaintances, colleagues, family, lovers, mortal enemies.  Anybody, really.

Stef M here clicked our handy Twitter link to tell his followers all about Bigpipe. Good for you, Stef M! You go, Stef M!

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Step 3:

……. Profit?

That’s right. There is no step 3. You don’t have to do anything else.

How does it work?

Anybody who clicks on your link will be taken to a special version of the  Bigpipe homepage with an extra little message that looks like this:

If your friend/acquaintance/enemy sign ups using that link they’ll earn $20 for you in Bigpipe credit. They will also earn an extra $20 in credit for themselves too, just for being your friend/acquaintance/enemy – and that’s on top of any other offer we might have at the time too.

It all gets automatically applied to your account – you don’t have to put in any special claim, and they don’t have to mention your name or anything.

Much like our broadband, our Refer A Friend service is unlimited – there’s no limit to how many people you can refer and how much Bigpipe credit you can earn.

So how do you get people to use that link?

We’ve made that part nice and easy too. We provide a handy button to post it directly to your Facebook page or to your Twitter account. There is also a button to copy the link and paste it anywhere on the internet – preferably where people will see it, and especially people who might be unhappy with their current ISP and in need of some Bigpipe love.

We’re sure you’re smart enough to figure out where unhappy customers of other ISPs might hang out on the internets.

The more people who see the link, the more likely you are to get those dollars flowing. It only takes a few referrals to pay your entire bill for a month.

FAQs

How many times can I use this?
As many as you like.

How many friends can I refer?
As many as you can.

How much Bigpipe credit can I earn?
As much as possible.

How awesome is this?
Very.