NZ: internet and cellular connectivity

While in New Zealand we of course wanted internet connectivity, for navigation, planning, entertainment, and work — Jenn worked for the first week of our trip, and I kept in touch with my customers and clients.

Like in the US, coverage can be mixed in NZ, with some areas with limited or no reception. To ensure we could get connected when needed, we planned four options: Starlink, cell-based Wi-Fi in the van, and two phone cell plans.

The van rental came with a Wi-Fi hotspot, which had an unlimited (but rather slow) plan on NZ’s 2degrees cell network. We didn’t use this very often, since it wasn’t very fast, maxing out at about 12 Mbps down, 10 Mbs up, but typically much slower. But it was definitely nice to have.

Jenn and I each got a travel eSIM for our iPhones. To maximize coverage, we each got different networks; I had a One NZ 40 GB travel plan, and Jenn got a similar Spark travel pack. I figured that 40 GB was plenty of capacity, and it was; we each used a bit less than half. These plans were designed for visitors to the country, so lasted for 90 days then expired, rather than a regular prepay account. They included voice, text, and data; there are international providers that just have data, but we wanted the safety net of voice and text, though only used those features a few times. These cell networks of course varied depending on where we were, but I measured them at around 90 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up.

Finally, we also used Starlink satellite connectivity. I brought our Starlink Mini dish and its cables in my carry-on suitcase. It may seem silly or futuristic to bring a satellite dish in a suitcase, but it’s really small, about the size of a laptop, and was super useful. Like in the US, we used Starlink as our preferred network when around the van. I measured it at around 250 Mbps down, 30 Mbps up.

I mounted the Starlink Mini dish on the metal roof of our campervan, using a magnetic mount that I had delivered to Nev’s place:

I wasn’t sure about getting powerful magnets through airport security (the guidance I read wasn’t clear), so felt it was safer to order one for delivery to NZ rather than bringing that too… plus less bulk in the suitcase.

I routed the Starlink cable across the roof and down the side, held in place with Command Strip clips (that were easily removed at the end of the trip, without leaving any residue), then through the passenger door:

The Starlink cable was plugged into a 12V to 24V step up adapter:

Which was in turn plugged into the 12V socket on the Ecoflow battery, so it would continue to run when the van was in motion:

At least until the battery ran flat; it only lasted about five hours running the Starlink; it was a rather small battery. We could have plugged it into the 12V outlet on the van, but five hours was enough most of the time, and we could fall back to cellular options other times.

Between the Starlink dish and three cell plans, we usually had internet coverage when we wanted it.