How can we help?
-
Topics
-
Why isn't YouTube loading
Having trouble loading YouTube? there is a quick way to tell if it is an issue with our services or not.
If you can watch videos online through another platform (say Netflix) this is a good indication that something is up with youtubeWhere Can you check for outages?
- Check our Network Status page. This is updated by our Networks team when there is an issue/outage on our network.
- Check with YouTube (chances are it is YouTube that is having streaming issues- shocking we know! but these things happen). We would recommend checking their help section or they may even have something up on their social media channels about it.
Can't see any outages? It might just be your connection/device, try some of these general troubleshooting steps for your connection
If you wish to speak to us regarding any other technical issues, please contact us.
Your company VPNIf you're having trouble with your company VPN, go online and confirm if you can browse the internet normally. All working normally? You'll want to follow up with your company as the software is setup and managed by them. We can't support something we have no control over.
Otherwise, let us know if your having any issues with your internet service or modem – our technical team are more than happy to help!
Need something else?
Check out our technical support sections for more help and information:
Frequent Disconnections & Internet DropoutsLearn how you can resolve your internet disconnections and receive the best overall online experience.
Troubleshooting Process
To help resolve the disconnections you are experiencing, select your broadband service and complete the steps provided.
-
-
Before we begin
This will help us determine the exact kind of internet disruptions you are facing and to ensure we are accurately diagnosing the root cause. You will require access to:
- Ethernet cable
- Your modem
- Computer/laptop
Click the right arrow to begin the troubleshooting process!
-
Step 1: Testing over ethernet
Connect an ethernet cable to one of the LAN ports on the back of your modem and the other end to the ethernet plug on your computer. Test the connection to confirm if you continue to experience disconnections or dropouts. If disconnections persist, we recommend testing another ethernet cable.
-
Step 2: Testing over WiFi
Remove the ethernet cable from your computer and connect to your modem WiFi network. Test the connection to confirm if you continue to experience disconnections or dropouts. If disconnections persist, we recommend testing with another device. Please note that our modems are only designed to support a range of up to 10 metres.
-
Step 3: Determine your issue
Did you experience disconnections over ethernet?
This means your modem, jackpoint, phone cable or the Chorus network could be the cause behind your disconnections. We recommend completing an isolation test before contacting our team.
This indicates that the problem is Wi-Fi related. We recommend referring to our Wi-Fi troubleshooting section for your particular modem.
-
-
-
Before we begin
This will help us determine the exact kind of internet disruptions you are facing and to ensure we are accurately diagnosing the root cause. You will require access to:
- Ethernet cable
- Your modem
- Computer/laptop
Click the right arrow to begin the troubleshooting process!
-
Step 1: Testing over ethernet
Connect an ethernet cable to one of the LAN ports on the back of your modem and the other end to the ethernet plug on your computer. Test the connection to confirm if you continue to experience disconnections or dropouts. If disconnections persist, we recommend testing another ethernet cable.
-
Step 2: Testing over WiFi
Remove the ethernet cable from your computer and connect to your modem WiFi network. Test the connection to confirm if you continue to experience disconnections or dropouts. If disconnections persist, we recommend testing with another device. Please note that our modems are only designed to support a range of up to 10 metres.
-
Step 3: Determine your issue
Did you experience disconnections over ethernet?
This means your modem, ethernet cable or the Fibre network could be the cause behind your disconnections. We recommend completing an isolation test before contacting our team.
This indicates that the problem is Wi-Fi related. We recommend referring to our Wi-Fi troubleshooting section for your particular modem.
-
What should I do now?
If you find that you’ve performed all these steps, and you haven’t found a possible cause for your broadband issue, contact our team. We will complete some final checks with you before reporting a fault.
Port FilteringTo protect our customers from cyber attacks, we network block inbound traffic (TCP/UDP) associated with the following ports. If you have an onsite email server (business email server), NAS servers, Web server or remote admin access to router, then network port filtering may impact you. To resolve this, simply log onto MySlingshot and on the main page select ‘Off’ under Port filtering.
Note: Network port filtering will not impact your normal internet browsing, video streaming or email services.
Port Number
Inbound Traffic - SS
20
FTP data
21
FTP data
22
SSH (Secure Shell), File transfers
23
Telnet
25
SMTP (email sending)
53
DNS server
67
Bootstrap server, DHCP
68
Bootstrap client, DHCP
80
HTTP server
110
POP3 server
135
remote manage DHCP, DNS server
137
NetBIOS name service
138
NetBIOS Datagram
139
NetBIOS Session
143
IMAP server
161
SNMP
162
SNMP
443
HTTPS server
445
SMB over IP
547
DHCPv6 server
593
HTTP RPC remote procedure
1900
(SSDP) the discovery of UPnP devices
2049
NFS (file shares)
5431
UPnP port
5060
VoIP / SIP
A local area network (LAN) is very small network comprised of computers and peripherals, as a home internet consumer, a LAN would normally only be large enough to provide internet throughout your home, however a LAN can also be as large as an office space.
The router we provide you manages the network layer connectivity for the LAN but you may have to configure your devices to be recognised by other devices on your LAN and access the internet.
An example of home networking is creating a media server hosted on your LAN which your TV, wireless devices and desktop computers will be all able to access and stream the content from the server.
Slingshot does not provide support for LAN setup but there’s plenty of information on the internet to help guide you.
How to manually configure the DNS in your modemDNS Server Details
IPv4 address:
Preferred DNS Server: 202.180.64.10
Alternate DNS Server: 202.180.64.11IPv6 address:
Preferred DNS Server: 2404:4400::1
Alternate DNS Server: 2404:4400::2Router/Modem: Netcomm NF18ACV (New GUI)
- Login into your router to see how to do this.
- Once you have log into your router click Internet.
- For ADSL: Click DSL, for VDSL: VDSL10 or for Fibre: ETHWAN10.
- Click More Options and manually enter in the IP addresses.
Router/Modem: Netcomm NB604N, NF4V, GF1v, NF18ACV (Old GUI)
- Login into your router to see how to do this.
- Once you have log into your router click
- Advanced Setup
- DNS
- Select the below radio buttons and manually enter in the IP addresses.
Be sure not to make an error with the IP addresses else you may not be able to resolve web pages, if you make this change and noticed you’re unable to resolve web pages please double check you have entered the correct ones. Also, we recommend using our DNS to help resolve websites promptly, using other DNS may increase latency and therefore may increase load times of web pages.
The NF4v, GF1v, and NB604n may not have the option to configure IPv6 IP addresses but could become available as new firmware is released.
Router/Modem: Fritzbox 7490
- Log into the router – see here for how to do this
- Click on Internet
- Account information
- Click the DNS Server
- Enter 202.180.64.10 in Preferred and 202.180.64.11 in the Alternative
- Click apply.
What does the Slingshot helpdesk support?The Slingshot Helpdesk will do their best to help you get connected to the internet, and help you with any internet connection related problems. This list is intended to clarify exactly what it is that we do and do not support.
Slingshot Homeline and/or Tolls
- We support Slingshot customers' use of our Homeline and Tolls product.
Internet Connection (Broadband or Dial-Up)
- Establishing and maintaining the connection from the exchange to your house/premises.
- Connection speed issues from our modem/router over Ethernet.
Modem/Router
- We support getting you online with the modem/router we provide and support, and we will attempt to help set up and troubleshoot all other compatible modem/routers but will refer to you to the Vendor of that device if required.
- We will configure the wireless only on the modem/routers we provide.
- We support and troubleshoot the connectivity of only one fully functional device to your modem/router, any other devices will be supported as best effort.
Wireless
- We will investigate wireless speed and stability issues, but have no control of your surroundings which can interfere with your wireless.
- We support the modem/routers basic wireless configuration only if it’s a modem/router we have supplied.
- We will support up to one device on your wireless LAN (local area network), any other devices will be supported as best effort.
Mobile
- The setup of SMS, APN and MMS.
- Network faults and calling faults for any device using a Slingshot SIM that is approved for use on our network
- Our mobile application
Email
- We support Slingshot customers' use of our webmail product.
Operating Systems
We support all Windows and Mac Operating systems to the best of our knowledge, as long as it is still supported by Microsoft or Apple.
This can be found here:
Web Browsers
We support internet access by the following web browsers
- Microsoft Internet Explorer/Edge
- Mozilla Firefox
- Chrome
- Safari
- Navigate to the Control Panel in the Start Menu by searching for it
- Click on Network and Internet and then Network and Sharing Centre
- In the left-hand menu, click on Change adapter settings
- Right Click on the Ethernet adapter and then select properties
- Under Ethernet properties, highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click properties
- Check Use the following IP address and enter the necessary router details (this can vary from router to router), also check Use the following DNS server addresses as well and manually enter a DNS address (eg 8.8.8.8)
- Click on OK to Save settings and then click OK on the properties page
IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) addresses are stored in an easy to read 32-bit format, making it easy to configure home networks and routers. For example 192.168.0.1 is a IPv4 address and so is 8.8.8.8
IPv6 is designed as a replacement for IPv4 as IPv4 only had a limited number of public address available. IPv6 is a 128-bit format that is written as a hexadecimal and can be written like 2001:4860:4860::8888 or 2001:4860:4860::8844.
IPv6 would only affect your public facing address for now as everyone is assigned a unique number when you go online.
What is Malware/Spyware?Malware is short for Malicious Software and it categorises a variety of hostile or intrusive software such as Trojans, Ransomware, Adware and Worms.
This is software that can be downloaded to your computer or mobile phone without your permission and can go by undetected too. These programs are designed to harm your computer or device and can steal your private information as well such as your Banking details.
The best way to prevent malicious software is to keep your PC and your mobile devices up to date with the latest security patches as well as using reputable antivirus programs.
How might Copyright Infringement occur?Copyright infringement can be a very difficult topic to discuss - and ultimately, if you're the account holder, then you are responsible for everything that is downloaded using your account details.Preventing copyright infringement on your account can be technical and quite difficult. Please read the below information, and if you need any further clarification, please contact our Technical Support team on 0800 89 2000.
Some common causes of copyright infringement via the Internet are listed below:
- File Sharing Applications: A computer system in your household may have file sharing applications installed upon it. These applications have many uses, but they can be used to share material that is protected by copyright.
- We suggest that you check your computer for any programs or applications that you are not familiar with.
- Viruses or Trojans: Some computer viruses or trojans may take control of some functions of your computer and then use your computer for copyright infringement.
- We suggest that you install and use an antivirus program to check your computer regularly for infections. Slingshot offers a comprehensive antivirus software called ESET NOD32.
- Other Users: If you share your Internet connection or computer system with other users, such as your family or co-workers, then these individuals may be using your connection to infringe copyrights.
- We suggest that you monitor the usage of your Internet connection or home computer.
- Unsecured Access: If you use a wireless modem, you may not have secured it to prevent others from using your Internet connection. If copyright information is downloaded from your connection through an unsecured connection you may be held responsible as the owner of the broadband account.
- We suggest that you consult the user guide that came with your modem for further information on how to configure your wireless modem to prevent unauthorised access, or contact our technical support team.
- Hosted Material: If you host a website, then this may have been hacked and infringing copyright material could be incorporated without your knowledge.
- We suggest that you inspect your website to ensure that no copyright protected content is incorporated within it.
Tips for staying safe online
A good rule of thumb is to never give your personal information out especially credit card details.
Always try to validate who you may be dealing with, if it seems suspicious then do not interact
There are trusted services which you can complete financial transactions with on the internet but triple check with that business verbally over the phone if you’re unsure the website or email is legitimately from them.
Application updates
Applications will often release updates, this helps to ensure new features work and interact with other computer processes at their best, it can also help patch security holes in the application.
Hardware
Hardware can also be exploited, ensure you mobile devices and computer systems are running the latest firmware, you can go to vendor support pages for support or you maybe prompted to update if automatic updates is something your device is configured to do.
Antivirus
You should have a reputable antivirus application installed on your devices and allow it to update as required.
Websites
If you’ve gone to a website and downloading something which you’re not 100% sure about then do take some caution, software which does not have a certification could be malicious
Email attachments
If you do not know the sender and the attachment or link was not requested by your from a contact then do not click on the link or open the attachment, this is a very common method of trying to gain information or access to your machine.
Passwords
Also create a complex password for services like banking logins, PayPal or accounts which may contain sensitive information. For example, password should contain lowercase and uppercase alphabetic characters, numbers and special characters. The longer your password is the longer it can take to crack, for example 12 characters can take up to 200 years to crack with the current technology available.
Wiring insurance is an optional add-on to your Slingshot home line and broadband services. It covers the cost of repairs for faulty wiring inside your home that could be impacting your Slingshot services.
Wiring Insurance Features
-
This optional assurance covers the cost of on-site repairs to faulty internal wiring relating to the homeline and broadband connection, up to and including the Jackpoint on the wall. This includes:
- Interference on your phone line or the line not working that is caused by the internal copper wiring and R11/BT Jackpoints.
- Broadband faults such as frequent disconnections to the broadband service or a loss of broadband connection caused from internal copper wiring or Jackpoint faults
- If your Splitter becomes faulty the cost of repair or replacement will be covered
-
- Wiring from the Jackpoint to other devices such as modems and computers.
- Ethernet wiring from the modem to other Ethernet sockets in your house
- Changes that are not related to a fault, such as moving, adding or changing sockets.
- Repairs to wiring or sockets that have not been installed to by a qualified technician.
- External cabling between your premises and another building on your property.
- Set-up of a new broadband connection and wiring at a new or existing premise.
- The purchase and installation of a Splitter.
- Repairing damage caused by natural disasters, building alterations, refurbishments, animals (including rodents), insects or vandalism, these are usually covered by insurance policies
Wiring Insurance FAQs
-
Wiring Insurance is highly recommended; it acts like insurance if something goes wrong with your internal wiring or sockets.
- For a small fee of $3.95 per month, Slingshot can arrange for a qualified telecommunications technician to come to your premises and repair your internal wiring and sockets.
- If you do not take Slingshot Wiring Insurance, you will be responsible for the repairs inside your premises. This means that if any repairs are required, you would arrange your own local electrician to carry out the work. Alternatively, you can request Slingshot to organise a technician to complete repairs although you will be liable for charges up to $230.
-
Wiring Insurance is $3.95 per month and you are required to retain this service for a minimum of 12 months.
-
You can add Wiring Insurance to your account during sign up or at anytime through your Slingshot My Account. Instructions for this have been provided below.
- Login to your Slingshot My Account.
- Choose My Plan from the options above.
- Select 'Change Now' on the 'Insurance' section.
- Choose Wiring Insurance and click Submit.
This will add Wiring Insurance to your Slingshot account immediately.
-
If a technician carries out repairs inside your premise, Slingshot will on-charge the costs involved. This can be up to $230.
What is the difference between Kilobits and Kilobytes?
Data transfer is always measured in bits
Bit per second, equals 1 bit
1000 bits make a kilobit (kbps)
1000 kilobits makes a megabit (mbps)
1000 megabit make a gigabit (gbit/s)
Data storage in bytes.
8 bits make a byte (B)
8 bytes make a kilobyte (KB)
1000 kilobytes make a megabyte (MB)
1000 megabytes makes a gigabyte (GB)
When you see a transfer rate on your internet it’s very likely to be shown as mbps not MB.
1megabyte is equal to 8 megabits so dividing your transfer rate by 8 will show you the data size you are transferring.
For example: 50mbp / 8 = 6.25MB
For another example, if you’re testing your gigabyte fibre connection and test 900mbps, that has the capability of transferring 112.5MB a second to your computer, to get you’re an idea of how much capacity that is you only need 25mbps to stream Ultra HD quality via Netflix.
If you would like more detail, click this Wikipedia link for more info
What is PPPoE/PPPoA, and what's the difference between the two?PPPoE (Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet) and PPPoA (Point to Point Protocol over ATM) are two methods that Internet Service Providers use to deliver an Internet connection to households or businesses.
Most New Zealand ISPs use PPPoA, and it's important that your modem be configured correctly in order to get a connection. A lot of Australian providers will use PPPoE, so if you bring an Aussie modem to New Zealand, it may not work!
What do the broadband data allowances mean?Your broadband usage isn't based on the length of time that you're connected, rather it's the amount of data uploaded and downloaded. Data usage is generally measured in gigabytes (GB) and refers to any form of data that is either sent or received on your connection. This includes the downloading of web pages, sending and receiving email, file sharing, and live streaming. One gigabyte is equal to 1024 megabytes (MB).
One gigabyte is approximately the equivalent to:
- Visiting 8,500 web pages, or
- Watching videos on YouTube for approximately 13 hours, or
- Downloading 200 3-minute music files, or
- Sending 204,800 text-only emails or sending 280 high-resolution pictures via email, or
- Talking on your iTalk line (VoIP) for 120 hours
Yes. If you have an active monitored alarm in your house, you will require the Connection & Wiring option for your broadband installation.
This option may also be required due to circumstances like:- The internal wiring in your house
- The distance between your house and the phone exchange
With the Connection & Wiring, a Chorus technician will come to your home and install everything for you. The technician will not configure your modem, but everything else will be setup and ready to go.How do I perform a trace route?The following test can be helpful in diagnosing problems such as very slow Internet traffic or none at all.
- Connect to the internet using your Slingshot username.
- Click on '
Start
' > 'Run
' > 'cmd
' in the 'Open' field, then click 'OK'
- A black window will appear with a flashing white cursor at this cursor type the following command: '
tracert 202.180.64.9
' then press the 'Enter' key.
202.180.64.9
with the requested address.
How to copy and paste text from the DOS window.
Instead of writing down the results the following can be done instead.- Right click on the 'title bar' of the black DOS window.
- Select '
Edit
' > 'Mark
' - You can now highlight the text you require to copy the same way as Word document by holding down and dragging the mouse across the area you wish to copy.
- Once the desired area has been highlighted hit the 'Enter' key. This will copy the text into the windows clipboard.
- Next open a new E-mail or Notepad document then hold down 'Ctrl' whilst pressing 'V'. This will paste the text into the document.
- Type the command '
exit
' and press the Enter key to close the DOS window.
broadband customers are given an option to have a monthly allowance of data that can be used to download and upload information from/to the Internet. (note capped plans are not available on all fibre speeds)When you reach 75% of your monthly data allowance, we will send you a notification via email to let you know that you're approaching your monthly limit and that you can either buy a 'data block' or have your connection speed slowed to dial-up speeds.
By default, if you reach 100% of your data allowance a 5GB data block will be added to your account at a cost of $5. This is so that you can continue to browse the Internet at your usual speeds!
A data block is like an extension to your monthly data allowance. You can choose the size of the data block you wish to purchase via the My Account section of our website.
Learn about the broadband troubleshooting procedure and the checks you can perform which may restore your services. Before beginning these checks, we recommend referring to our outages page.
Troubleshooting Process
-
Power off all devices that are connected to the internet including your modem. Power on the modem first, once the modem comes back online, you can restart your other devices and then try connecting to the internet.
-
Ensure all cables are plugged in correctly and securely. Loose or faulty cables can cause loss of internet services.
-
Scenario 1: The DSL light on your modem is flashing or off, or if you are on Fibre broadband and your WAN light is off. Please refer to the Isolation Testing section.
Scenario 2: The DSL/WAN light on the modem is solid green or blue and the Internet light on the modem is red or off. Please factory reset your modem.
Scenario 3: Modem will not power on. Please try your modem at another power point and contact our team to organise a replacement modem.
-
Scenario 1: The Optical/PON light on your Optical Network Terminal (ONT) is red. Please check our outages page for any known issues in your area before contacting our team for further assistance.
Scenario 2: The Alarm/LOS light on your ONT is red. Please check our outages page for any known issues in your area before contacting our team for further assistance.
Isolation Testing
To rule out your equipment or the physical setup of your home network as being the reason behind your loss of service, it is crucial to complete the steps outlined below. This will ensure that we are taking all the necessary precautions to avoid any technician call out charges.
-
-
Before we begin
The isolation test takes around 10-15 minutes and you will require access to your modem to successfully complete it.
Click the right arrow to begin the Isolation Test!
-
Step 1: Unplug your equipment
Unplug all phones, modems, filters or any other devices from all jackpoints in your home. Some monitored home alarms may be automatically triggered if they're unplugged, we recommend getting in touch with your alarm provider first, to let them know what's going on.
-
Step 2: Testing other jackpoints
Take your modem to a jackpoint in your home and plug it in. Test the modem directly plugged into your jackpoint without the use of a filter and turn it on. If the light labelled ‘DSL’ illuminates , then your modem has reconnected.
-
Step 3: Reconnecting your devices
Did your modem successfully reconnect?
This means your devices/equipment is the reason behind the loss of service. Plug your equipment back in piece by piece, checking the connection each time. When the problem returns you have discovered the faulty piece of equipment.
The problem may lie with your jackpoint, phone cable or modem. Try another phone cable and if that doesn’t work, try the other jackpoints in your home, testing the connection each time.
-
Step 4: Final checks
Lastly, we recommend running through steps 2 and 3 with another modem, to rule out your existing modem as being faulty.
If you find that you have completed these checks and are unable to restore your services, we recommend contacting our team. Remember to let them know that you have already completed the isolation test.
-
-
-
Begin the Isolation Test Process
The isolation test takes around 10-15 minutes and you will require access to your modem to successfully complete it.
Click the right arrow to begin the Isolation Test!
-
Step 1: Check your network setup
Confirm that your modem is correctly and securely connected to your Optical Network Terminal (ONT). Our Modem Setup Guides present information regarding the physical setup of your modem.
-
Step 2: Restart your modem
Turn the power to your modem off and wait about 5 minutes before turning this back on. Test again to check if your loss of service has been resolved.
-
Step 3: Test another cable
Test another Ethernet cable from your ONT to your modem. This is to ensure that the Ethernet cable you are currently utilizing hasn't become faulty. The Ethernet cable goes from the WAN port of your modem to the GE1/LAN1 port of your ONT.
-
What should I do now?
If you find that you’ve performed all these steps, and you haven’t found a possible cause for your broadband issue, contact our team. We will complete some final checks with you before reporting a fault.
How do I stay safe online?There’s a range of nasties out there and we want to make sure our customers stay safe online. Slingshot have our own product called Family Filter to help protect you from some of the more unsavoury corners of the internet but one of the best weapons to have in this case is information.
The team at Netsafe have great guides on topics from how to identify scams to ways to improve your home network security and many more in between. You can keep yourself up-to-date on reported scams making the rounds in NZ through Consumer Protection’s helpful scam alerts.
Do Slingshot support VPNs?While our technical support team will not be able to walk you through setting up your VPN, there should be no issues with your chosen VPN service working over our network. If you encounter any problems please contact your VPN provider or companies IT team to troubleshoot any issues
What are Slingshot's DNS addresses?Our DNS Servers are:
IPv4 address:
Preferred DNS Server: 202.180.64.10
Alternate DNS Server: 202.180.64.11
IPv6 address:
Preferred DNS Server: 2402:8200::1
Alternate DNS Server: 2402:8200::2