Whirlpool

Hey, I'm new to the country and just moved into a new apartment in Sydney. I'm looking to get both phone + internet. I was looking at Netspace and their Home 2 + 40 bundle plan. I'm a fairly heavy internet user plus play online games. I'm just looking for the best bundled plan I can find and this one seemed fairly appealing. Since I have no experience with any ISP's here I thought I would ask. So, are people generally happy with Netspace?!?
Thanks!

You'll find the majority of people that come to post in their ISP specific forum are those having problems, the rest of us our off using our connection :]

I'm on ADSL2+ in QLD and have no issues at all.

Welcome BMR! THeyre great ! Luv em

I've only got telstra to compare them to so to me netspace are the glorious shining gods of ISP's apart from the last few days where i've had some stability problems which seem to be fixed i've barely had any problems or outages for the past 8 months.

Look elsewhere.

While things work, it's like any other ISP. But life is not always smooth sailing. Here are the troubles:

1) Non existence helpdesk.
2) Seems to be NetSpace specialty of not responding to customer e-mail requesting for help & information.
3) Never trust or use Netspace's other business venture such as the phone service - Encircle. Its Brisbane access number has been disconnected. Possible couldn't afford to pay. Email to (no)helpdesk met with total silence.
4) Netspace does not have 24x7 support

Don't consider Netspace.

Rover writes...

1) Non existence helpdesk.

I was on phone for 5 mins and was helped and all good. Longest I have had to wait was 25mins, But all questions answered no problem

BigMonsterRodeo writes...

So, are people generally happy with Netspace?!?

I've been with them about 5 months now on 1500/10 and have had no real issues that have made me wanna change. There's been the odd downtime and authentication issue and speed does "APPEAR" to slow afta midnite although I can't prove it.

I reckon most ISP's are much of a much and as long as you can troubleshoot your own hardware / software I think Netspace are as good as any (their voip service using a softphone is of excellent quality which for me gives them a big tick)

However if you found another ISP that gave you a better deal in terms of download quota / speed / bundled phone etc then I would definitely look at them.

GooD LuK amigo :)

Been with them for years. They're very reliable, reasonable value, the helpdesk knows what they're doing, and they're a stable company. You could do much worse.

I've only been with Netspace for 5 weeks and have experienced several problems, some due to my ignorance (newbie syndrome) and others that fall within Netscapes purview.
1/ Long waits (35 min av.) to helpdesk
2/ Excessive lag to US. sites
3/ Overcharge on my C.C.
4/ Throttling during off peak periods

But in all fairness, once I was able to talk to a tech. he was polite, helpfull and provided me with the information that I requested in a manner that I could understand.

Once the overcharges were bought to Netscapes attention prompt credits were issued without any problems.
Well we won't discuss throttling - Netscape deny doing it, period.

BigMonsterRodeo,
Afer reading hundreds of posts on WP I have reached the conclusion no ISP's are perfect, some are just poorer overall value than others.
For what I was prepared to pay $39.95 1500/256 5+5G I am more than satisfied with what I have and will continue to deal with Netspace.

Never had any major problem in 6 years or so, though sent an email to sales last Saturday and am yet to receive a reply - quite a sub-par performance as far as I am concerned.

Advice to everyone: don't go Netspace!

Honestly

NETSPACE ADSL = Fantastic

NETSPACE ADSL2+ = Catastrophe

I have never had any issues when i used to be on ADSL with Netspace, speeds were great and always reliable and my latency in playing games all around Australia were 30-40 which was fantastic

Now.... ADSL2 BEWARE!!! especially if u play games, don't be surprised if u get 90-120 latencies in every server which is annoying me at the moment because everything is going through MELBOURNE... Otherwise, Speeds are fantastic and i always max out what i sync even peer to peer.

It's got it's up and downs i guess and i'd prefer Netspace over any privder even with TPG offering 150GB, that's still worthless, who the hell downloads that much anyway?
But the only problem on ADSL2 is gaming and it's that's really important to you than remember that everything is routed and ADSL may be better than ADSL2.

I have been with Netspace for 3 years and have no complaints.

bad pings
crap customer service
slow speed

I've been with Netspace since 2001 or 2002. The exact date I don't remember.

They have had their fair share of problems with the reliability of their connection as well. So although they can be generally good in most areas, they still stuff up every now and again.

My main concern is the incompetence in their help desk staff. Maybe they can't afford proper training or the staff are just outright lazy. They don't seem to return your calls or return your emails. They may tell you information and what may be going on about your connection but they are slack at actually executing what they promise. I have heard on these forums how hard it is to disconnect from Netspace and that is exactly it.

1. Help desk take up to 60 minutes to answer your call. Several times after waiting that long, they disconnect you. Average wait I have experienced is about 45 minutes.

2. The help desk does not seem to remember the details from your previous conversation. When I sent in my letter of cancellation via fax, I wished for them to disconnect the service prior to my next billing cycle. I may not have stated the urgency of the cancellation, fair enough, but when I rung up the next day to confirm the fax was received, I specifically clarified to the help desk staff that I wanted it to cancel immediately. They told me they would see to it, and I thanked them for it and waited for the disconnection to take place.

In 3 days time, I rung up again, to chase up for a status of the disconnection, and they told me exactly the same thing when I first rung up. Even though the previous call I have specifically requested for immediate cancellation. I told them again I wanted it cancelled straight away, and they informed me it will be done in a few days.

This cycle basically repeated a few times, for the last two and bit weeks. I rung them yesterday and today, and have finally got confirmation that they have sent in the application for cancellation. Now I don't know whether to believe them or not as they certainly did not deliver their promises previously.

Although it may not sound awfully frustrating, each time I tried to come into contact with Netspace, I would need to call in, wait 40 minutes or so on average just to reach the help desk. Mind you, this does not include the random disconnection you get after waiting for more than an hour, which has happened to me at twice already.

And for those who have a full time job, it basically means eating your lunch in your break, with the phone in your ear, and a extremely large phone bill.

Their sales side on the other hand answers the phone pretty much immediately. But tough luck asking them for support help, since they are only sales.

The only thing they are probably decent at is providing an above par score in connection reliability. But other than that, most other important aspects of ISPs such as competitive pricing and the help desk efficiency are not up to scratch.

Netspace 4 months with me! Could I leave if I could? Defintely. But I dont know how other adsl services are, as I was with cable for 6 years.

Downtime about 1.5 weeks (their fault). On the phone on hold 2-3 hours.

Cable = Downtime I think maybe 1-2 days. On phone only to sign up and to disconnect.

Its all good here. Had an outage the other day for about 1 hour in QLD but apart from that its fine. You have to expect an outage here and there especially with the dry and very windy weather we are having.

I have recommended NS to a number of people and they are all happy as well...

Amazing...

All Good Happy, Stable Service

I really think all ISP's have their faults, so no matter who you go with there could be problems. I was with Netspace over 2 years ago and I enjoyed their service, they might have had the odd outage here and there but no ISP is perfect, I will be going back to Netspace soon.

I have been with Netspace for over 3 years and in the past it has always been 'better the devil you know' when they have stuffed up, taking over 30 mins to answer a question incorrectly and NEVER respond to my emails.

I would switch, but i can not do with any down-time at the moment.

Lately i have found them to be worse then ever. Wait times for support have been over 40 mins +, i sent 3 emails for an issue i had and received a call from an overseas call center 3 WEEKS later... the poor lady on the phone had no idea and had to keep going and asking her supervisor. In the end she was apologising to me profusely. When i said that i would be shortly be switching companies they had no response and the call center lady even agreed when i explained my situation and was sorry, but her supervisor did not seem very interested..... nice.

In the beginning they were very good. Speeds and assistance was great. Now my internet drops out - not a massive amount, but enough to be annoying. I get strong lag at night and speeds are slower. In the beginning i would get an e-mail when they release a new plan which was the same price as what i was on, but offered more GB's per month. Now i get nothing from them - just 'you are over your limit - want to upgrade!'

(My fault for not checking their site, but seriously...an email would not go astray) - they were offering an extra 10gb per month for the same $ i was paying to new customers, and had been for some time. They never bother to respond to that one, and i had to go onto their website and switch the plans myself.

I am on Whirlpool because i am looking at switching. 2 years ago i would (and did) recommend Netspace, now i think that they just don't care about existing clients, are understaffed and i have issues with speed (on a 1500 plan).

My Dad, my brother and I had all been with netspace for over 6 years. When we joined up they were great - fantastic customer service, great value for money.

All three of us have since left in the last three months due to the plans and their lack of customer service.

Dad and I both had problems with the Internet connection. Had to wait 35 minutes to get to the call centre. When we did get through they offered no help at all but to call the modem company - open 9 to 5 Monday to Friday only. It was a system setting that my brother managed to fix (something TCP/IP) that Netspace could have fixed.

And their plans no longer offer any value for money. There are much better plans available that don't require a contract. Dad and I have since moved to AAPT and we're very happy. My brother churned to TPG but I have not spoken to him about whether they're any good or not.

Do some research before you choose Netspace!

Scarecrow79 writes...

received a call from an overseas call center

Netspace does not have overseas Call Centre(s). Their Centres are all located in Melbourne.

Is the rest of your spiel also based on inaccuracies?

Grossburger writes...

Netspace does not have overseas Call Centre(s)

He prolly spoke to someone who sounded foreign and made an assumption, cos, you know its not like Aus is a multicultural society or anything.

Suze writes...

There are much better plans available that don't require a contract.

None of Netspace's plans require you to enter into a contract, so no idea what you're basing this complaint on...

Had to ring customer service to change rate plan, changed down to the lowest possible plan as I now use a HDSPA enabled mobile card on my computer as it's faster and more relaible. When the contract with Netspace is up I will churn.

Anyways tried for a period of 4 days to do it online, wouldn't give me any rate plans to change to.

Saturday tried again, I had a list of plans, but when selecting one, it just came up with an error. That happened all Sat and through to Sunday morning.

Called customer service first thing (10am) Sunday morning, was told the wait would be 3 minutes, was on hold for 35 mins.

Spoke to a fairly nice, but not that knowegable rep, asked me about the error and said "oh, that's a new error" said he would report it to get it fixed. He changed the plan so all good for now

My issues:
How can you not be able to change a rate plan online for over a week - Not Good Enough
Calling first thing on a Sunday morning, 35 min wait - Not Good Enough

Pathetic once agian Netspace and my advice to everyone again

DO NOT JOIN NETSPACE

Slow Customer Service
Lies and deception on behalf of the whold company when there is a problem with their network and speeds
Slowing of downloads via torrents at night

DO NOT JOIN NETSPACE

I had been with Netspace for 10+ years, until I decided to have the audacity to want ADSL2+ and I was going to have to wait a minimum of 2 weeks, apparently that was fair and reasonable.

Luckily I had to the good fortune to move away from them and use another ISP's ADSL2+

Netspace were generally fine when I was with them, however, their customer service of late is catastrophic, I would say, massive cost cutting is in place and it is showing. They simply do not care anymore and don't give a damn.

cliffo writes...

Never had any major problem in 6 years or so, though sent an email to sales last Saturday and am yet to receive a reply - quite a sub-par performance as far as I am concerned.
Few emails, few ticket numbers still no contact after 2 weeks - They used to reply my emails within 3 days (I'm talking last century), but now hopeless.

BH

BigMonsterRodeo writes...

So, are people generally happy with Netspace?!?

I was told if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. So I think I will leave it at that...

i love them because im on a grandfathered plan .. if i was choosing a new provider, netspace would be last on the list, because of their silly data limits and high prices.

Rover writes...

2) Seems to be NetSpace specialty of not responding to customer e-mail requesting for help & information.

I got a reply after a couple of days when I submitted an e-mail as a prospective new VOIP user.

Still waiting over a week for a reply to my e-mail about disconnecting so I can go to another provider for ADSL 2+.

I think it just depends on the question.

Scarecrow79 writes...

In the beginning i would get an e-mail when they release a new plan which was the same price as what i was on, but offered more GB's per month. Now i get nothing from them - just 'you are over your limit - want to upgrade!'

(My fault for not checking their site, but seriously...an email would not go astray) - they were offering an extra 10gb per month for the same $ i was paying to new customers, and had been for some time. They never bother to respond to that one, and i had to go onto their website and switch the plans myself.

I also fell foul of this. My first upgrade to a higher download plan (256 2/2 to 256 5/5) was automatic as per the (then) Netspace policy to automatically upgrade existing customers should a better plan be introduced at the same price.

By the time the 256 10/10 plans were introduced, this policy had been removed (without any notification) from the Netspace site and the plan upgrade had to be requested.

Fair enough to change the policy but I think it would be reasonable to expect that existing (loyal) customers are advised.

For me, this signaled the beginning of the decline of a (to that time) near faultless service from Netspace.

Also, to upgrade to ADSL2+ (been out of contract on ADSL1 since August 2005) will cost me $100 where a person with no history with Netspace can get the same for $60)

Based on these experiences and the increasing incidence of drop outs, I have stopped recommending Netspace to friends & relatives.

Vor writes...

I got a reply after a couple of days when I submitted an e-mail as a prospective new VOIP user.

Still waiting over a week for a reply to my e-mail about disconnecting so I can go to another provider for ADSL 2+.

I think it just depends on the question.

I think you'll find, it's to do with where the email goes... Sales or Support.
The emphasis is always on Sales...new money.

As a test, Ring Sales, then ring Support and see how you go :)

Lester,
I had to phone Netspace with regards to an account enquiry today and was expecting the usual 30 min wait to customer service and guess what? My call was put on hold at 12.06 and I was advised of a 2 min wait ( yeah like I really believed that lol) but to my surprise at 12.09 the service rep. answered the phone, rectified the problem in 2 min and I was gone at 12.11. Now all I have to do is find something to occupy the 35 min I had allocated to dealing with Netspace (insert smile here)
With luck this service will become the standard not the exception

Hopefully for their sake.

Those who stay with Netspace and are happy with the service, are usualy the ones that haven't experienced anything better.

CMYK,
Fair comment, I was with Optus prior to joining Netspace and their service was certainly better - right up till the point where line rental was increased to $55 henceforth I voted with my feet and moved to Netspace purely for financial reasons and am prepared to suffer a slightly degraded product for the cost saving involved.
While not for everyone this suits me for the present.

Netspace were really good for a long time, but have seriously lost the plot over the past couple of years.

I waited two hours 40 on hold for support, shortest support has been 25 minutes. The people at the other end have no idea other than the FAQ's.

Submitting support tickets / emails gets no reply. This is just not good enough, their support manager should be sacked. Even if it takes a week for a reply you can blame staff shortages, but not no reply, that just stinks of they don't care.

I'm getting off this sinking ship.

dfraser writes...

Netspace were really good for a long time, but have seriously lost the plot over the past couple of years.

I agree.. from this year, Netspace has been absolutely terrible.

Jikx writes...

from this year, Netspace has been absolutely terrible.

I certainly have not recommended anyone connect with them for the major part of this year.

I have, however, directed a few dozen people look at other ISPs that have not had such a poor showing (real or perceived) recently.

Netspace used to be an automatic 'recommend' - it is now a 'recommend to avoid' as sweeter pickings can often be had elsewhere within the price/data allowance people tend to specify. The problems with customer service should have been sorted out months ago, but ridiculously long waits are still a frequent event.

Then there is their general network performance for high end plans that appears to be a joke.

I'm sure having some issues with clients accounts, moving to ADSL2, i've got a client with a phone which has been cut off 10 days before the expected swap.

Lets see if netspace knows what could be going on... Where has the quality gone that was clearly with netspace 3-4 years ago...

I have had a good run with NS apart from when my credits on the Encircle service disappeared an e-mail telling me that I had run out of time or whatever reason they had for taking the cash.

The Virgin Offer is tempting and moving to ADSL2+ has been in the all too hard basket for a few months …

It is good that I did defer the move, as I would now be in possession of two modems and a Voip box, along with a plan for 6 months.

The NS ADSL2 is good value but too much for the low end user …

Jikx writes...

I agree.. from this year, Netspace has been absolutely terrible.

Has anybody seen any feedback from a Netspace rep lately?

If there are problems with the network, I would like to hear something from NS like they know what the problem is and we are working on it - even if they cant fix it right away - rather than just silence.

Don't Bother with netspace.. look at TPG, Internode or iinet they are much better. don't be fooled by comments.

Service has been rock solid for me and everyone else I personally know using Netspace.

Ghostrider2k7., sounds' like you're grumpy over one weekend when their help desk must have been in melt down.

It would be great if wait times were never more than a few mins. But do you really believe that TPG or any other ISP helpdesk is gonna answer the phone any quicker when there's a widespread problem? No chance.

IMO Netspace is still one of the best value propositions around.

Sols

solsgp writes...

Ghostrider2k7., sounds' like you're grumpy over one weekend when their help desk must have been in melt down.


Hi Sols,

Thanks for your feedback. I'm not grumpy about it at all. I am just trying to get my point across. I am in the IT industry, so I know how it feels when there is a melt down. I work in a Big corporate environment and deal with the helpdesk on a daily basis.

But do you really believe that TPG or any other ISP helpdesk is gonna answer the phone any quicker when there's a widespread problem? No chance.

I never said on my post that moving to TPG will be better. Let me ask you Sols When you call Netspace how long do you wait on the line to get someone? what was the longest time you waited and when you got someone on the other line did you complain?

Anyway I'm not disrespecting you or anything.. I'm just trying to get my point accross. I have been a customer for 6 and a half years so I have been loyal all these years.

Ghost

After months of being depressed with Netspace (and support quality), phone call with Michael at NS Support gets a big thumbs up. For once I didn't have to deal with the monotony of standard tech support rituals and dancing in circles to see if I've plugged my modem in correct.

Of course being that I finally get someone good on tech support on phone, the problem fixes itself while we're on the phone without either of us doing anything at all. (Bets on telstra exchange problem).

I have been with Netspace for almost three months now. There hasn't been a problem at all. I am in Queensland. I am on the 512 Active Flat Rate plan and find this plan to be great value. I haven't had a need to call Customer Service recently, only when I first connected. I found it easy enough to get through most times then but I usually can make my call during the day and well outside of 'peak' times.

I agree that it would be good to see a Netspace rep provide us with a forum response from time to time. A friend recently went to broadband and he was tossing up between Netspace and AAPT. He went with AAPT because he saw their Rep's comments frequently in the Whirlpool AAPT forum and believed this showed a greater commitment to Customer Service.

Every now and again I run through the Broadband Choice section and check what other plans there are available for my purposes. My Netspace 512 Active Flat Rate plan comes up in the recommended results every time.

havnt called them in 6months...all good yano what they say bout grass greener on the other side ? aint broke dont fix it .....

Netspace seem rather quiet these days...

Certainly not one of the market leaders like the use to be several years back.

Thomfam writes...

Every now and again I run through the Broadband Choice section and check what other plans there are available for my purposes. My Netspace (xxxxxx) plan comes up in the recommended results every time.

Ditto. I keep hearing about how other ISPs offer more economic deals, and keep checking, but for my area and my purposes Netspace keeps popping up at the top of the list.

I've been a customer for over 5 years and, apart from being a little annoyed when they discontinued publicising changes to their catalogue of plans, never had issues of concern.

The most annoying thing for me is the various speed & ping difference depending on the time of day
I am on a up to 8000k plan

Early Mornings
Download 5600k
Ping 80ms

Afternoons
Download 4500k
Ping 110ms

Weeknight Evenings
Download 3500k
Ping 150-200ms

With Optus where I have a 1500k connection
Download at any time 1300k
Ping 30-45ms

People always take into consideration quota and monthly plan rate.

I was with Bigpond, I reckon it the lower download limit, etc Bigpond still seems less of a pain in a butt to be with!

Its like driving 200km/h in a Ferrari or 200km/h in a Camry.

The Camry might still do 200km/h but its a pain in the butt over the long run.

Maybe its just ADSL I'm not sure, cable it much more user friendly

I am also in the IT industry, and I connect approx 5 people or businesses per month to new or churning ADSL plans. For many years prior to 2007 I recommended Netspace without question. Now, I do everything I can to get new customers onto Internode, and am also churning all my current customers away to Internode. I am also considering trying out TPG for my personal ADSL use, as a point of comparison.

FACT: Anyone who churns from Netspace to Internode on an identical 1500 speed plan says: "Wow, Internode is heaps faster!".

Anyone who calls Internode for telephone support or enquiries after being with Netspace says: "Wow, Internode is heaps faster!".

Anyone who emails Internode support after being with Netspace says: "Wow, Internode is heaps faster!".

I told Netspace many many months ago that if they did not lift their game with regard to slow speeds, bad pings, data shaping, support waiting times, total system failures from time to time, running advertising campaigns to increase subscriber numbers without preparing their network for the growth etc etc etc, then I would take as many customers away from them as possible.

To date, I have taken no less than 20 businesses and individuals away from Netspace. I have also assisted at least 30 more to signup with Internode (and avoid Netspace at all costs).

The result: I got even. Netspace lost MORE income from their ever-shrinking income stream.

My recommendation: Stay away. If you go there, chances are you will end up with the sort of loathing of Netspace that was forced upon me by their increasingly amatuer approach to business. They must learn that the 'cheapest common denominator' is not the prize that they think it is.

Investigations writes...

I got even.

Well you do seem very biased.

Internode does not have

to Internode on an idenitcal 1500

such a plan for me. Luckily I do not have slow speeds, bad pings, data shaping, long support wait times or system failures. Do your customers realise that not all Netspace customers have suffered as you obviously have and that they are being used by you as some sort of weapon for a personal vendetta.

Internode do have 1500 speed plans. Speed comparison (or what you get V's what you paid for) was my point.

surely writes...

Do your customers realise that not all Netspace customers have suffered as you obviously have and that they are being used by you as some sort of weapon for a personal vendetta.

They don't care, so long as they get 'better'. They take my recommendations as good enough, as I have a strong reputation, particularly in helping businesses minimise their downtime without adding prohibitive costs.

Frankly, enough was enough and I could not afford to be embarrassed one more time by Netspace. When THEY failed, customers would say to me "but YOU recommended them".

Since the strong referals to Internode, not ONE customer has voiced ANY complaints to me. I know that 100% reliability doesn't exist, but Internode have actually delivered it to my referals.

SOHO's and small/medium businesses don't care about PIPE to download UNIX images 5 times a month, Grandfathered plans or off-peak rubbish quotas. What they DO want is full-speed Internet and phone support during business hours - yes even at 4.55pm when Netspace Support is handed over to kids who used to work at McDonalds.

You don't have to flame me if you don't agree - just write your OWN experiences as this is a summary of mine, not an argument.

uhh sorry but one thing i dont like is internode happy band wagoners

go tell it to your fans in the internode forum they'll love you
the OP is asking what do you think of netspace not how good internode is

I would still be recommending people go elsewhere while Netspace dig themselves out of the hole management got them in.
If they keep improving, like they seem to be at the moment, they'll be recommended again.

allocated writes...

uhh sorry but one thing i dont like is internode happy band wagoners

So.... I should say something like "when comparing Netspace to ISP 'X' " ?

Then people will want to know who 'X' is.

I am telling it like it is. I even say that I will be trying TPG for comparison. No shill here, believe me I go where the milk is pure and the honey is sweet. If 'X' lost their current edge then I will go to 'Y'.

Does that meet the suggestion of completely muted impartiallity? :)

Anyway, Netspace are leaning like that not-so-big tower in Italy. Always seems about to topple.

What I think of Netspace....

Well, a year ago, Netspace was great, Dead set, I'm sure most of you agree on that.

Then there were talks of Netspace bringing in ADSL2+; excellent great more positive things coming from Netspace. This is where the broken promises started happening, the poor customer service, average call waiting times, no answers, the usual "Netspace apologises for the inconvenience and there is no ETR" stuff, not really telling the people, who pay for the service much. I believe we are entitled to that, regardless of what we signed up for I think we are entitled to it.

Once ADSL2+ was launched, people are like "YES SIGN ME UP SIGN ME UP" 3 weeks later they're still stuck on Dialup. Sure you can go on and blame Telstra, but its poor management. Then once you're signed up and going, "I HAVE CONSTANT DROP OUTS AND HIGH PINGS", well think of it like this, I'm from NSW on Netspace ADSL 1500/256 connection, connected to a Sydney pop. I have no issues. Now I think it would be common sense that issues would arise it you have clients from around australia going to the one pop, being Melbourne. Once again, poor management. An option would have been. "ADSL2+ is currently only available to Victorian customers at the moment" but then they'd lose money or interest from customers who wanted to upgrade. I wonder how many they lost because or their organisational skills and troubled customers. Did they lose or save money? Who knows, only time will tell.

Now we come to more recent times, with the P2P 'shaping' or so we (the users) say. Netspace had "No comment", and most people would assume something is up there. It's really not good enough with these no answers to the customers. Lost more customers there because they denied it all and nothing was being done about it. Funny enough it was effecting those customers on the ADSL2+ connection.

Now, this is just my opinion. I'm happy with Netspace, I don't have to call them, Don't have anything wrong with my connection. I'm happy. But I won't be going anywhere near their ADSL2+ plans until there is a POP in Sydney., and the alleged issues have been rectified.

I have never been with a worse company than netspace.

Their internet speed was fine, but so was aapt, optus and telstra for me. But whenever there was a problem with my internet or my account in general (ie billing errors, of which there were a couple) I would have to wait on hold for up to an hour. The shortest time I was ever on hold for was 9 minutes, but an average of about 25 minutes. They only have a few people in their office, I have talked to the same people several times... and when I changed address, things really fell apart...

I told them a week and two days before I moved what my new address would be and they told me that my phone account would be active at my new house by the time I moved in... long story short, it is two and a half weeks later, and the application to change address HAS NOT BEEN PROCESSED! I may have to wait up to another two weeks for internet and a week for the phone.... and to top it all off I have been charged for a full months internet and phone service that I did not receive. I made a formal complaint with the telecommunications ombudsman, and was told I would be entitled to compensation...... but when I rang netspace they told me that I had waived my right to compensation by waiving the CSG or Customer Service Guarantee. That was partly my fault for not listening to the contract properly but you don't get to see it in writing and they move through it INCREDIBLY fast. Plus you HAVE TO WAIVE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE GUARANTEE to sign up with netspace anyway....

This is a brief summary of this whole problem and there have been a myriad of smaller ones, but to sum up DO NOT GET NETSPACE. I cannot say this strongly enough. I cannot afford to cancel my contract now, but as soon as it expires I will go straight to another company.

DO NOT SIGN UP WITH NETSPACE. EVER.

EDIT: I was just called back by netspace (the first time they have actually called back when promised) and it seems my phone is now connected. I find it funny that within a few hours of telling them I had made a formal complaint to the tco they suddenly connect my phone after having not have been able to do it for weeks. They still have to get back to me about internet and getting reimbursed for charges but they were very vague on that. Regardless, my experience has been completely terrible, and I will be changing isp's as soon as my contract expires.

Was it a stuff up by them, or their suppliers. I've done a bit of shifting over the years and my experience getting a new phone line can get tricky. And if NS are using a Telstra line, well we all know Telstra put profits ahead of service.

About the charges, it will be like any other new connection. NS take the connection fee and one months charges to prove you can pay. If the connection can't proceed then you get a refund.

NS said they do thousands of connections a month and sometimes crap happens. Perhaps you could post your username or any other NS references here so that NS could tell us what happened and what they are doing about it?.

Sols

solsgp writes...

And if NS are using a Telstra line, well we all know Telstra put profits ahead of service.

And if Netspace was a decent reseller they would say something to Telstra and get the problem sorted, but they, are pig headed bastards and only think about the profits.

NS said they do thousands of connections a month and sometimes crap happens.

Yes thousands of connections for a month, and im going to win $10million on lotto Wednesday night.

Yes crap happens it sure does, but it shouldn't happen when you can almost set your watch to it.

About the charges, it will be like any other new connection. NS take the connection fee and one months charges to prove you can pay.

You sign up for a 24 month contract, no connection fee. However there is a disconnection fee for when you choose to leave if the service is bad or you want to churn away, so you end up paying a "connection" fee after all.

DON'T. I've been using their ADSL since August 2003 and they've gone off, particularly during the last year.

I'm a tech and use my customers ADSL day in and day out - lots of them - and they're almost all more responsive than Netspace.

Lately I'm measuring them and I'm getting a third of the speed that I should, whilst other ISP's give what their customers pay for. And that's just ordinary driver downloads over HTTP - torrent downloads are throttled to almost nothing, though Netspace will deny it until their mothers disown them.

I used to recommend them to my customers. In all conscience I can't do that any more.

I'm currently building a case to take to the TIO and Consumer Affairs, then I'm going to churn to a company that gives me the speed I pay for.

Don't say you haven't been warned.

david1st writes...

david1st

First post. Hmmm.

One third of the speed. Seriously?

Been with NS since 2003. Likely out of contract then. Strange you need the TIO or consumer affairs to help you churn away.

Wait, let's see which ISP in your profile. Doesn't say!

Anonymity is a wonderful thing. NS reps seem to be quite active in here. Perhaps you could identify yourself and they'll investigate and solve your issues.

Contrary to your experience david1st, I am extremely happy with the service as are all my family and friends on NS.

Sols

solsgp writes...

am extremely happy with the service as are all my family and friends on NS.

I think we all know that!

solsgp writes...

NS reps seem to be quite active in here. Perhaps you could identify yourself and they'll investigate and solve your issues.

OH...since about a week or two ago, when there must've been a policy change by management. Maybe they could see the damage they were doing by being ignorant.

Lester

Lester Burnham writes...

OH...since about a week or two ago, when there must've been a policy change by management. Maybe they could see the damage they were doing by being ignorant.

Hahahaha, Oh so true..

A couple of months ago i was pretty annoyed at netspace, poor adsl2 plans, regular outages

but then node / iinet increased prices /decreased value, and its been a lot more stable.

so at the moment, i am satisfied with netspace

i have been a netspace customer for many years and have never had one problem with them. and as of today i have adsl2+ and love it. thats my 2 cents.

Lester Burnham writes...

OH...since about a week or two ago, when there must've been a policy change by management. Maybe they could see the damage they were doing by being ignorant.

Lester

Hahahah that must be joke of the day

They only reply to the easy topics such as:
"I can't change my rate plan"
"I had a terrible sign up experince"
etc etc

I'm on a 1500 plan and I can only download a driver, hosted on an akamai website with the shortest tracert I have ever seen (my router - 2 netspace routers and then akamai) at 50KB/sec. I tried this on three different machines here on two different nights - after peak usage hours. Downloading the same file on a customers 1500 bigpond connection yielded 1500KB/sec.

I emailed tech support with full details. They asked me to do the usual test of downloading directly from them (150KB/sec). I confirmed that my gear was AOK, gave them full details of all tests run (including URL's) and asked them why this should be so.

They replied with the same form letter as the first time - reboot modem, download test file from netspace, isolation test, blah, blah, blah.

They're either too busy to actually read what I've written, giving me the runaround and hoping I'll tire of the game, or they're too stupid to understand plainly described diagnostic information.

I don't need Consumer Affairs or the TIO to help me churn. They should know if someone is selling a product that is not being delivered.

Anonymity? My netspace ticket number is #2356544.

Furthermore: Something that really teed me off was the modem they supplied to my father when I signed him up about a year ago. The cheapest, nastiest netcomm job I've ever seen. USB only. Power supplied by USB which meant that it only got line-sync, well after the computer had booted up. It had to be used with a rubbishy login client which couldn't be set to run automatically on bootup. Last time I looked, the best thing about broadband is that it's just always there.

Actually what really made me mad was their attitude about this modem. It was dismissive, almost contemptuous. I offered to give it to the person I was discussing this with so he could try using it for a week. Funny, he didn't accept.

For me Netspace has been great. Can't say I've experienced any of the issues the whingers here rant on about. So much negative energy coming out of them no wonder nothing goes right for them!

Dont really have much else but praise for netspace. Admittedly the price im paying for a 512KB, may not be as competitive as other folk, but reliability wise im very content with the service attained. In the span of 3 or so odd years with netspace ive only ever experienced 5 or so outages, and thankfully havent had to as yet to resort to telstra for any issues with my connection.

But if netspace review there plans and lower prices or add more data allocation, they'd be almost the perfect isp imho.

Netspace = the worst ISP EVER!

For the last 3 days the internet has been dropping like a $2 hookers panties

Sir.Moe writes...

For the last 3 days the internet has been dropping like a $2 hookers panties

I don't think it's been staying up that long... More like a pair of old jocks with no elastic. Only just come back up here this morning now. :(

No relevant notifications on the newsdesk, so I must be imagining it, or trolls are changing my network gear while I don't look.

After 6 years we are leaving netspace for another ISP. Poor customer service -- "your call will be answered in ...40 minutes", email replies as though they were written by a 12 year old, plus it just took forever to even open up this forum response due to the speeds being unbelievably slow as of late. It took them 2 months to rectify one issue we had with a simple change of phone number.

Netspace you are losing previously dedicated customers.

Edited how many years we were with Netspace. As of today we are no longer a customer.

ive been with netspace for a long time...about 4years i think..
havent had any major issues, a couple of downtimes but they are so rare, that i cant even remember the last time it happened...

im dissapointed with the value of netspace...
for a cheaper price i can get adsl2+
yeah its less downloads, but i dont download much at home so it doesnt bother me.

i forgot to mention, that the adsl2+ value is terrible...

so im leaving in november.

Again I've been with Netspace for "love you long time" but increasing outages have eroded my confidence... that and no ADSL2 in Ringwood. Oh nearly forgot they're too expensive.

been with them since 2000, on an old plan so id bet they wouldnt are much about me but they do, still get all support i need, still get all the speeds i need, still free pipe i LOVE netspace wont leave at least till they take away free pipe

TWO more gripes. My previous major gripe was to do with tech support ignoring my clear description of a download speed problem. Well, I sent them another email explaining the problem, and received yet another brain-dead reply - "many others may be downloading from this site" (it's akamai - bandwidth to burn) "there may be other programs downloading data on my machine" (netmeter says no)".

Now they shaped me because I was cutting it close on my limit and my son youtubed me over the top (after I told him to stay away from the wretched site). Well, that was yesterday - the day my fresh monthly allowance started - and, indeed, according to their account tools I have my new allowance, BUT I'M STILL SHAPED.

I am now convinced that their tech support have a policy of wasting users time rather than actually doing anything to help. I have NEVER received an email from tech support which indicated that they had even made a rudimentary attempt to actually read an email I sent them, let alone write a coherent reply which actually addressed my issues.

I was going to offer the advice: "If you're REALLY into self-flagellation, you're going to love netspace. I think the rest of us should avoid it the same way we avoid bedding down with members of other species." But I won't - that would be rude.

david1st writes...

I have my new allowance, BUT I'M STILL SHAPED.

Powercycle the modem (turn off, 10 seconds, turn on)
Netspace shape the session, so unless you restart the session, you will continue to be shaped.

and received yet another brain-dead reply

Speed issues are next to impossible to diagnose via email. Call them, jump through their hoops, if you're unconvinced, accept the $100 incorrect call out fee and get a tech out to check the line.

I have ADSL2+ 10

I lost my connection last thursday morning and was on the phone to the Helpdesk when I got home from work on Thursday evening. I knew it wasn't a problem with the line on the premesis because I had line sync. After doing a diagnostics test, the only test which it failed was ' connect with PPP server'

It took them 4 days to get back to me in regards to the issue, another day to send a tech out to verify what I already knew and then another day after that for them to finally get my connection back up and running.

Although it took 6 days to get my connection up and running again, it's faster than what I've had with other ISPs. I was with iinet a few years ago and it took them 3 weeks to send a tech out and another one to have the issue rectified at the exchange.

After having switched - with no downtime as advertised - from 1500/256 DSL1 to DSL2+ all was great for a short while. Then started to experience the Netcomm NB5 modem issues reported on other threads - modem would slow to a crawl, etc. (f/w upg. didn't fix). Punted it, got a Netgear DM111P.

Straight after turning it on, DSL line modulation dies. Ring Netspace ~9-10:00 at night. Answered after not a long wait, tech. goes through usual sequence of excluding cause (doesn't take too long - I work in telecomms. myself..). Concludes it's a problem at the DSLAM - lodges a docket with the wholesaler. Warns me could be 2-3 days depending on the nature of the problem.

Next morning - they're on the phone promptly informing us that it's due to the DSL2+ DSLAM software bug (triggered by Broadcom chipsets like DM111P has - also in other threads) that's now on the NS Newsdesk & in the FAQ. Switched us to DSL1 modulation temporarily until DSLAM is patched (still much faster than old plan - marginal reduction from 2+ at our distance from exchange).

I was out during initial phone calls so they talked my wife through the connection process. They also made follow-up calls on my return to check all is OK.

FAQ & Newsdesk notification of the issue were lodged that day or the next. Does that rate as good & highly competent service to me? Yes it does - excellent for a mere home-grade plan.

I read the same horror stories here as everyone else. They're not my experience - I seldom need to interact with Netspace people because their stuff just works for me. On the occasions I've done so the experience has been positive - sometimes greatly so.

BG

what was the name tech support person, that you talked to originally, black goose?

Can't remember I'm afraid. Some of the subsequent followup was with Mark - I think the same guy who posts here.

Like I say though, have dealt with a few different NS people over the years and have no complaints so far.

I sympathize with others - on either side of the phone - consumer broadband equipment on each end of the wire + the bucket of bolts in between still have their perplexing range of problems. Sometimes takes me some time to have the "ah-ha!" moment & I'm a telco industry veteran. This is the first time there's been a real "hard" issue at the NS/wholesaler end. Almost invariably it's the consumer-grade tat at my end when things don't work. All the same, I still don't want one these "home gateway" offerings from other ISPs (e.g. BP) where the gear is locked-down and the carrier manages it for you. Gives me one of those "bad feelings" they talked about in Star Wars..

BG

i have been with netspace since like 2002 ?

never had a problem to be honest!

AS mentioned by a number of people, I have been a long term Netspace user and is now looking to get out of it. My problems with Netspace:
1) From day one when they only populated 1 out of their 3 POP servers with my credentials and hence I could only check mail 1/3 of the time. Not familiar with Netspace topology but perseverance and some detective work managed to collect enough hard evidence to educate their tech staff of their mistake. Initially they did not believe me.

2) They have a habit of not replying e-mails. I have caught them with wrong account data.

3) Not providing 24x7 support as available in other ISP.

4) Not good value as compared with other ISP.

All in all not happy with Netspace.

I've just signed up with Netspace about 2 weeks ago on an ADSL 1500/10 plan. I've been on dialup up until now with another ISP. Working from home more often forced the change. I am located in northeast Victoria.

So far, my contact with Netspace has been a good experience. The sales people answered my questions quickly as did their tech support. I recall reading about others being put on hold for 40 mins etc and I timed my 3 calls to tech support just for interest sake; all less than 5 mins.

Telstra's Next G mobile broadband would have been the best solution for the bush but its too expensive, no shaping, their tech people don't know their own equipment, you don't get a free backup dialup account and extra emails cost extra.

As for the ADSL service, its like most other ISP. But I have always been very impressed by the Tech Support at netspace. I have always found them very polite, efficient and knowledgeable.

I remember one particular call some time ago that was very difficult and the female tech support person helped me all the way through it, extra kudos for her....

They were okay a earlier when I joined but I wouldn't recommend Netspace right now cause of the constant slow-downs and drop-outs. Tech support is very meh not bad but nothing to scream about.

i am also a long time user of netspace. never had any troubles good speed etc. but after being told it was going to cost me to upgrade frome adsl1 to adsl2+ along with a minimum $10 call spend on my phone (i use voip) they lost a customer. i was so suprised that a netspace employee contacted me to confirm my disconnection and it was just like easy walk in the park i really thought that they were going to contact me to try and keep my business but no. i always thought it was cheaper to keep a happy customer than to attract a new one. loved the service that i had for all the years and i hope that my new isp can provide me the same.

mitch37 writes...

I have been with Netspace for 3 years and have no complaints.

Ditto!

SinHarvest writes...

I wouldn't recommend Netspace right now cause of the constant slow-downs and drop-outs

Umm what slow downs and drop outs, sorry i not seen or noticed any of these... but then i'm in a different state.....

i've been with Netspace for such a long time since 98 and only with adsl for the last 3 years could be 4 lost count, however, adsl hasn't been on our exchange all that long, when it first come here i just missed out, had to wait (patiently) for new ports, one major outage 2 weeks later when i first joined, i still to today don't know what happened... tho today still as peachy as it was from day one, so my experience hasn't changed....

Haven't had any major drama's with them but I think they could keep their support centre open abit longer. I once had an issue that I narrowed down to a dns problem as I could ping public IP addresses I knew off the top of my head but couldn't resolve names to IP addresses. Tried to call them only to find that they had closed for the night and they gave me the option to leave a message.

So thats one improvement I could see from them. Longer hours of available customer support.

kruddler writes...

Only just come back up here this morning now. :(

Sir.Moe writes...

the internet has been dropping

kruddler/Sir.Moe,

If there are no relevant notifications posted on the news-desk then we will not be aware of any wide-spread issue that could be causing your issue.

It is likely the issue is particular to your individual connection (e.g. Line issue, local DSLAM, modem etc.) and therefore we will need to carry out initial troubleshooting with you to correctly identify the issue (e.g. If this is a drop-out issue, is it just the PPP session dropping, or the line sync as well?) and if we're unable to resolve the issue, then escalate this to our upstream provider.
The U.P. can perform further line tests and if required send a technician to your local exchange for further troubleshooting. If your issue is continuing please contact our Technical Support team on 131 456 (option #3 from the main-menu) so we can assist you in resolving this issue.

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems

Rover writes...

populated 1 out of their 3 POP servers

Rover,

That is a rare error that you have experienced. Unfortunately with intermittent errors such as this, it will take some investigation to correctly identify the cause, our current POP auth. setup is a load balanced system, so you generally would have been authenticating on a different auth. server each time hence the intermittent failure.

2) They have a habit of not replying e-mails.
All e-mails you send into our queues should provide you with an auto-response ticket number. If you are not receiving an auto-response this would indicate the e-mail has never been received by us and there may be an communication error occurring. If you have received an auto-response and no further reply, I'd be interested to know the ticket numbers so I can investigate this further.

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems

SinHarvest writes...

cause of the constant slow-downs and drop-outs.

SinHarvest,

We're currently not aware of any wide-spread issues in VIC with slow dataflow or drop-outs. If you are still experiencing this issue please contact our Technical Support team on 131 456 (option #3 from the main-menu), they will be able to further investigate your issue with you and if required lodge a fault with our upstream provider.

Regards,

Mark
Netspace Online Systems