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New ISP/proxy on the block

Most Kiwis have, at one stage or another, discovered that access to some service or product they'd really like to use is barred -- simply because we live in NZ.

Whether this is one of the BBC services, Hulu, Netflix or any number of other regional services that specifically exclude users from off-shore, or whether it's just that you're constantly redirected to a local version of an international website -- it's a pain.

MaxNet, a long-time Kiwi ISP, has just launched a new ISP brand that may interest those websurfers who want to sidestep such regionalisation. It's also interesting for another reason.

Called fyx, the new service effectively offers a US-based proxy-server and, perhaps more interestingly, something of a price-breakthrough with no data-caps.

Before you get too excited, fyx only offers no data caps because they charge for every GB of data you send or receive -- there's no flat-rate.

However, with a data-rate of just $0.34 per GB and a fixed fee of $34.34 per month, this service looks set to lower the bar for internet costs in NZ.

With these prices it really does become viable to hook into some of the legal movie download services such as Netflix, a 5GB movie costing just $1.70 to download.

Even those who just plan to use the Net "as usual" may benefit from the lower prices associated with only paying for what you use.

When I first read that you pay for every GB I thought to myself "that could get expensive" -- but not so.

If I were to download 100GB it would still only cost $34 plus the $34.34 monthly fee -- a total of $68.34. That's pretty reasonable really -- in fact it's less than I pay right now.

Of course the unanswered questions are just how fyx will perform.

Will it stagger along at peak times, constrained by bandwidth to the extent that those movie downloads take forever and YouTube stutters to a halt?

I note also that although fyx are pushing the foreign-IP aspect of this service, they're not guaranteeing any benefits that might be had from it. If you sign up to one of these US-based movie download or streaming services and they discover that the IP range fyx is using really doesn't carry US traffic then you could be left high and dry -- having paid your monthly subs but no longer able to access what you purchased.

Apparently many of these services are very pro-active in tracking down and excluding IP ranges they suspect of being used as proxies by overseas Net-surfers.

So, will fyx deliver on its promise?

Will it become a victim of its own success and crumble under excessive use and the effect that might have on bandwidth?

Might it force other ISPs to consider also offering a strictly "per GB" pricing option?

Whatever happens, I'm just glad to see that someone's starting to breath a little life back into an industry that, for far too long, has been boring as hell and lacking in spark.

Who remembers "the good old days" when you paid for dial-up by the MB or by the hour?

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