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Woi satellite broadband review
Get unlimited satellite broadband across New Zealand at the fastest possible speeds.
Is Woi satellite broadband right for me?
- What Woi offers: Unlimited satellite plans for remote Kiwis
- The highlights: Fast and reliable; two speeds to choose from.
- Watch out for: Installation more expensive for a faster plan; you don’t own the hardware after installation unless you pay for it.
Types of plans offered by Woi
Woi offers satellite broadband which gives Kiwis the ability to get connected when they aren’t able to access wireless or fibre broadband. Woi’s service is provided by Kacific satellite, the first satellite operator in New Zealand that can deliver speeds similar to the slowest fibre through a small satellite antenna installed on your roof.
There are two plans available, both with unlimited broadband but each has a different maximum download speed:
- Woi 1 offers up to 40Mbps download speeds and comes with a satellite dish of 75cm.
- Woi 2 delivers up to 55Mbps download speeds through a satellite dish of 1.2m. This plan can be upgraded to have a download speed of up to 100Mbps.
With unlimited satellite broadband, you can connect your home or business to cloud services, have Zoom meetings with colleagues, watch Netflix or catch up on the latest sport.
Product highlights
- Broad coverage. Woi satellite broadband can be accessed by anyone who doesn’t have access to stable internet or find their current connection is too slow.
- Comparative speed. Woi satellite matches the slower speeds experienced with fibre, so you can easily download files and stream TV shows.
- Unlimited data. You don’t need to worry about keeping under your plan cap as Woi’s plans come with unlimited data to use at any time of the day.
- Simple plans. Woi’s broadband plans are easy to understand with no bundled extras to bump the cost up.
- Ruralco card accepted. Sign up and pay for your Woi satellite broadband using your Ruralco card.
What to watch out for
- It will take at least 10 working days before someone can come to your place to complete the installation.
- While you should experience the same speeds during most kinds of weather, your connection may slow down if there is very thick cloud cover or a major storm.
- If you are able to get fibre at your property or a solid 4G connection then these options are more preferable.
- Woi satellite broadband has a delay of under one second due to a latency of 650ms.
Woi installation
Once you have signed up for Woi satellite broadband, a representative will be in touch to organise a date and time for installation of your satellite dish.
You can expect to wait at least 10 working days for an appointment and will need to be present so that you can agree on a good place for the satellite dish with the installer. Your service will be activated within six hours.
Our verdict
Woi satellite broadband is worth considering if you need broadband and live in a remote area and don’t have access to another decent broadband connection such as 4G or fibre. Woi’s plans are unlimited, so while you may be spending more per month, you won’t need to worry about low data limits that are seen with other satellite providers.
You have two plans to choose from depending on the download speed you prefer, but keep in mind that choosing the faster plan means paying a lot more in installation costs. Another point to consider is that it will take a couple of weeks to get up and running, so be prepared to wait a little to get connected.
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