New Zealand users: Wifi / 3g connection?

[Devilheart]

Hello,
I've decided to spend my christmas holidays touring in New Zealand with my friends but unfortunately I'll have a job meeting on December, 20th at 21.30. This implies a skype video call back in Europe. On that day I'll be in Auckland. I'd like to know two simple things:

1)Is there a place where I can make such call undisturbed? Places like conference rooms or internet cafes are fine, as long as I can have a private space and the place is still open at that hour. Money is not really an issue

or

2)How much reliable are 3G connections in New Zealand? I've been thinking about getting a NZ phone number and enjoy some mobile connectivity, but I'm afraid of latency issues

Any help is appreciated. Thank you

[mips]

http://whygo.com.au/
http://www.otago.ac.nz/aucklandcentre/facilities/videoconferencing.html
http://videoconferencingbookingsystem.com/videoconferencingrooms/Auckland/New%20Zealand
http://www.video-conferencing.com/video-conference-interview.aspx

Dunno about 3G but LTE should be ok if available in NZ.

[KiwiNZ]

Most hotels have rooms you can do this as do some cafe's. The are numerous internet cafe's. Auckland Airport has rooms you can use and free WiFi.

Our 3G networks are very reliable.

[mips]

Our 3G networks are very reliable.

But what's the latency like? 3G and lower is generally associated with poor latency compared to wired solutions. 4G/LTE will address this. Latency is a killer for real time comms. Besides the latency associate with the NZ-EU route (approx 400ms ?) you now have to add the 3G latency on top of that which can't be good.

[KiwiNZ]

I travel almost weekly, I do 3G conference video calls on a regular basis I have no issues, but as I have said there is a free public WiFi available so this can be utilised as well

[mips]

I travel almost weekly, I do 3G conference video calls on a regular basis I have no issues...

Are they local (NZ) or international (EU) based conferences? Would be interesting to know.

[mastablasta]

if you are staying in a hotel it would best be to use that connection as it is probably better than 3G. if you plan to sleep outdoors or something then this option is out...

but the point is that if international internet connection to the island is slow (probably is not) then it doesn't matter if you have LTE or 3G.

for example in Indonesia you have quite fast and well connected internal internet. 3G is quite fast though not always. usually it is fast in the evening. but international connection is so slow. so domestic sites there load really fast but going international is a different matter.

[KiwiNZ]

Are they local (NZ) or international (EU) based conferences? Would be interesting to know.

A mixture,although international tends to be longer so I will use WiFi.

[Devilheart]

Thank you all for you answers. Some more info:

1) We rented an RV. We'll be moving around the country during the day and we'll probably staying at camping sites during the night

2)Last time I've checked, the latency between NZ and Europe is 350-400ms using landline connection. Seems acceptable, as long as it stays constant, more or less

3)Can you suggest me a mobile operator? Money is not really an issue

[KiwiNZ]

Thank you all for you answers. Some more info:

1) We rented an RV. We'll be moving around the country during the day and we'll probably staying at camping sites during the night

2)Last time I've checked, the latency between NZ and Europe is 350-400ms using landline connection. Seems acceptable, as long as it stays constant, more or less

3)Can you suggest me a mobile operator? Money is not really an issue

Given that you are travelling around NZ and will be in remote zones the best Telco for this is Telecom http://www.telecom.co.nz/home/

[lisati]

Given that you are travelling around NZ and will be in remote zones the best Telco for this is Telecom http://www.telecom.co.nz/home/

+1.

Newer handsets from Telecom (if you decide to purchase one while here) should work with SIM cards from any of the other providers here, but the reverse isn't always the case.

Edit: one thing to watch is that if you bring your own handset, Telecom uses the 3G 850/2100 band. The Huawei Ideos X1 (a.k.a. u8180) I purchased from Telecom understandably can connect to this band, but I've seen specs for versions from other countries which don't include this band.

[Devilheart]

Given that you are travelling around NZ and will be in remote zones the best Telco for this is Telecom http://www.telecom.co.nz/home/I'll be arriving in Auckland on dec 18th so on the 20th I'll be still pretty close. The other days are not so critical as the 20th.


+1.

Newer handsets from Telecom (if you decide to purchase one while here) should work with SIM cards from any of the other providers here, but the reverse isn't always the case.

Edit: one thing to watch is that if you bring your own handset, Telecom uses the 3G 850/2100 band. The Huawei Ideos X1 (a.k.a. u8180) I purchased from Telecom understandably can connect to this band, but I've seen specs for versions from other countries which don't include this band.Well, my handset is an iPhone 4s, but I'd like to avoid using a handset in order to avoid tethering issues. I'd like an usb modem to plug into my notebook (Macbook pro late 2011)

[3rdalbum]

We do international Skype video calls over 3G from Australia to Mauritius. There is certainly some latency, but it is usable. If 3G in metropolitan New Zealand is the same quality as in metropolitan Australia you wont have any problems.

[Devilheart]

In the end I bought a sim card from telecom nz and made the call from kaitaia. Everything went smoother than expected. Thank you all