Farmside offering Satellite Broadband installed for only $12 !!!

Just in case anybody is interested, Farmside has a special offer going timed to coincide with Fieldays and in celebration of their 10th birthday:

- Satellite Broadband installed for just $12 (normally $229), both figures include GST.

- Monthly plans start from $56 (1GB data cap).

In order to get this deal, you have to sign up before 31st July for a 24-month term. Full details are here:

www.farmside.co.nz/satellite-v1

Take note that the pricing on their website excludes GST, which is fine for professional farmers, but potentially misleading for those of us who are not GST registered, hence I have quoted the GST inclusive figures above.

This is by far the cheapest installation deal I have seen for Satellite broadband. The sign-up cost has plummeted from about $2000 10 years ago to $12 today. Not a bad saving [^]

make sure you definitely want it for the full 24 months. we had farmside and upgraded our package, we had been with them for a few years when it came to move, but we were only 10 months into the 12 month period for the new package and despite having been told we could change the package back if we didn't use all the data, when it came to disconnecting it they wanted $299 which as the new owners were taking over the connection we thought it was disgraceful. After much argument they agreed to waive the fee, but then charged it, and it took another 3 months to get them to refund the money.

So read the small print very, very carefully

Interesting comment re Farmside's disconnection policy Kai. It is really stink that they insisted on charging you a disconnection fee when there were only 2 months to go, and you had lined up the new owners to take over the connection!

My current ISP have written into their contract that they will waive any disconnection fee in the event that the service is transferred to a new owner -- and that's they way it should be. They are certainly not losing on the deal if a new owner takes over the contract.

It's a bit short-sighted on Farmside's part really, because by insisting on charging you the fee (which you eventually got back anyway), they have left a bad taste in your mouth, and I imagine you wouldn't deal with them again if there was any other choice. For anyone in this position, it is possible to sign up to the equivalent Farmside service via Vodafone, which may be a better option, depending on the individual circumstances.

In the past, when signing up to a package with a term commitment, I have waited for it to expire, and then left it to rollover on a month-by-month basis. That way, I am free to leave at any time.

Recently, when signing up for RBI Wireless, I was offered an option to purchase the equipment up-front, with no fixed term. This is the option I have chosen, even though it meant passing up a subsidy. Upon reading the fine print, it turned out that even if I paid a disconnection fee, I still wouldn't own the equipment, which struck me as a bit odd. This way I have no ties to my ISP, and can move elsewhere if things don't work out. So far, they have been great to deal with though, so I am a happy camper.

Definitely it always pays to read the fine print carefully, as you point out!