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I love my little house, I really do but there is one issue that I am having here that is about to drive me absolutely insane. One of the things that is included in the price of my rent is wifi internet. Very nice because the cost of internet is astronomical if you are trying to do it on your own. You really only have two options if the landlord is not providing the internet. Option one: purchase wifi access from the city at $50.00 per month which may not sound that bad to those of you purchasing internet through Comcast back in the states but unlike Comcast, this internet is not fast and it is not unlimited. That $50.00 per month only allows you 5gb of internet access (not too bad unless you are going to download anything at all) and only one computer can be logged into that account at a time, meaning that you cant even split the cost with someone else. Option two: use an internet café at $1.00 per 15 minutes. The benefit of this is that the access is unlimited (download until your hearts content) but the drawback is that you actually have to go and sit in the internet café and those 15-minute increments go by way faster than you think that they will. In general, the internet access in New Zealand is incredibly slow in comparison with cable internet in the States, but the service is no shoddier than Comcast (can you tell that Comcast and I are no great friends?).
Despite the speed, having internet provided by the landlord is a bonus… until, that is, you realize that it only allows for two computers to be online in the house at the same time. Well, there are five people and four computers in this house and we have one lovely American roommate who never leaves the house and leaves her computer on all the time so that really only one other person can be on at a time. Well, internet is not why you come to visit New Zealand but sometimes, just sometimes, you really need to just quickly check your email. Perhaps, like today, someone has a job interview and needs to write down the name of the interviewer before leaving the house so that she doesn’t look like a fool when she shows up and doesn’t remember who it is she is supposed to be asking for. That sounds way more dramatic than it actually was and I did finally get to check the name before I left the house, but still how hard is it to log off the internet when you aren’t actually using it? Oh well, I guess I should just feel bad for her that she has not been able to get out and enjoy this area like she should have. Sorry for the rant.
Well, I don’t know. I fell asleep last night with both facebook and Skype running full speed on my computer. But then again, I have Comcast. Australia has the same sort of system as NZ, though, and I’ve had the hardest time trying to explain the “limited downloads” to people in the U.S. I usually resort to explaining it like a cell phone plan, which makes sense b/c one of the 2 internet companies in Oz IS a cell phone provider. But goodness, it’s confusing, and makes you wish for the unlimited wifi!