How to relocate your broadband when moving house

5 things to consider before moving

Before you pack the car and set the GPS for your new home, there are a few important factors you’ll want to consider:

1. Is there broadband access at my new place

Though most houses in New Zealand have access to broadband Internet, there are still blackspots across the country that lack the necessary infrastructure for high-speed Internet, especially in rural areas. Even if a broadband service is available at your new house, it’s important to double-check the specific type of connection you can get; depending on the technology used, you may be limited to slower broadband speeds than you’re used to.

2. Can I stay with my current Internet provider?

Depending on where you’re moving to, your new house might only have access to broadband services with a different provider from your current one. Any email addresses or phone numbers associated with your present provider will be lost in the transition unless you pay to have them ported over, and any bundled services such as pay TV or mobile phones may be cancelled or charged at a higher rate going forward.

3. What if I’m still under contract with my current provider?

If you signed up to your current broadband service on a long-term contract and that term hasn’t ended, you may have to pay some form of relocation or cancellation charge as part of the moving process. Should you choose to stick with your current provider – and your new house is within reach of its network – relocating your existing service can cost as little as nothing at all, or as much as a couple hundred dollars, depending on your particular provider.

However, if you’re looking to switch to a new provider, you’ll be slugged with a heftier early termination fee instead. This fee varies based upon how long you have left on your contract and can be as much as $500 or more with certain providers.

4. What if I plan on moving again in the near future?

Whether you’re a short-term renter or simply a nomadic individual, you might want to look at signing up for a month-to-month contract if you don’t intend on spending years at your new place. With month-to-month contracts, you can cancel at any time and not suffer any termination or relocation charges, saving yourself another headache come time for your next move.

5. What about UFB?

With 75% country plugged into Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB), there’s a good chance your new place will fall within an area already kitted out with high-speed fibre optic cables. If that’s the case, you’re on easy street: any broadband plan you sign up for will be delivered over the UFB network, ensuring you have a future-proofed Internet connection you won’t need to replace for quite some time.

However, if UFB hasn’t rolled out to your new place yet, you’ll want to be careful about which broadband plan you sign up for. Since the old copper network will eventually be disconnected as part of the UFB rollout, any non-UFB plan you sign up for will only serve as a temporary solution for your Internet needs.

To avoid unexpected cancellation fees or loss of Internet access, it’s important that you research a prospective provider’s UFB upgrade plans. Some providers will even upgrade you from the copper network to the UFB for free as soon as it’s available.

To check whether the UFB is available at your new home (or if not, when it’s slated for installation) simply head on over to Chorus’ broadband checker page.