internet built by locals, for locals.
To sign up, enter your address below and check whether you’re in coverage for Lightwire. Try us risk free for 30 days.
Free install
A Lightwire installer will come to your house, install a dish on your roof, place a Wi-Fi router and run tests to ensure you are good to go. This is $650 worth of value for free.
You won’t wait
With an average call wait time below one minute, when you need us, you’ll get hold of our local support team quickly.
30 day risk free guarantee
You have the ability to terminate your service within 30 days, where early termination charges (ETCs) and internet usage charges won’t apply.
Whole home wifi guarantee
Rest assured that every room in your home has total coverage with our Smart WiFi units. No more frustrating WiFi deadspots – just seamless coverage in every room.
How does Lightwire compare?
| Feature | Lightwire Fixed Wireless | Starlink | 4G Mobile Services | DSL (Copper) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technology | Fixed wireless | Low Earth Orbit Satellite | Mobile cellular network | Copper lines |
| Installation Time | ⚡ An installer will be at your home within days | 🛰️ Requires self-install & dish setup | 📦 Mostly self-service | ⏱️ May require technician visit |
| Speed & Performance | ⚖️ Reliable for daily use | 🚀 Fast but variable | 📶 Inconsistent in rural areas | 🐢 Generally slow |
| Latency | ✅ Low (great for gaming & calls) | ⚠️ Higher than terrestrial | ⚠️ Varies by tower congestion | ✅ Low but slow speeds |
| Weather Resilience | 🌦️ Good in most conditions | ⛈️ Can drop out in storms | 🌤️ Generally resilient | 💨 Susceptible to line faults |
| Monthly Cost | 💸 Affordable | 💰 High + upfront dish cost | ⚠️ Can be expensive in rural | 🪙 Often low, but poor value |
| Data Limits | ✅ Generous, peak & off-peak | ⚠️ Unlimited but deprioritised | ⚠️ Capped or throttled in NZ | ⚠️ Limited data |
| Customer Support | 🏡 Local NZ-based team | 📧 Online only, no local team | ☎️ Varies by provider | ☎️ Varies by provider |
| Risk-Free Trial | ✅ 30-day money-back | ❌ No trial period | ❌ Rarely offered | ❌ Rarely offered |
With an NPS of 60 measured in 2024, Lightwire has one of the highest recommendation scores by customers.
try lightwire today with zero risks
Don’t be held back by where you live.
55 Sec
Average Call Wait Time
(last 30 days)
63.7 Mbps
Average Download Speed
(last 30 days – measured at time of install)
99.99%
Average Tower Uptime
(last 30 days – all towers)
PICK A PLAN
- Step 1: Pick a plan
- Step 2: Fill out your details
- Step 3: We'll confirm your coverage
- Step 4: An installer will be at your place for a free installation
Not sure how much data you need?
Don’t know how much data you need? That’s okay, you can change your plan after you sign up without penalty via your customer portal. Move to a higher or lower data plan at any time with the click of a button.
Learn more about Lightwire’s NZ rural broadband plans here.
UNSURE WHAT PLAN YOU NEED BASED OFF YOUR DATA USAGE?
Use our quick quiz to help you get an idea of how much data your devices and streaming hours use, so you can make a more informed decision about the plan you choose with Lightwire.
Connecting Local
9000+ farms, lifestyle blocks, homes and businesses connected with a 4.6 stars from 300+ Google Reviews
Hiring Local
Local people, based in Hamilton, answering your calls in under 1 minute. Meet the team.
Supporting Local
140+ local schools, events, and not for profits supported by Lightwire every month.
4.6
Based on 300+ reviews
Frequently Asked Questions
Your speed will depend on a number of factors, including distance from our nearest tower, the capacity on that tower and how you are connecting to your Lightwire connection from within your house.
When we talk about speed, we are talking about the speed you can get from your Lightwire supplied router back to the speed test server on our network. This is different from the speed you can get over WiFi as the distance from your router or number of other devices connected to the same network affect the speed.
With the above detail taken into account, we see average download speeds of 64.9Mbps across the network, and guarantee a download speed of 10Mbps during peak periods (3pm to 10pm).
This means that if you aren’t getting 10Mbps or better, we will treat this as a speed fault and get it sorted for you.
In designing our plans, we have tried to find a balance between ensuring our costs are covered and keeping your costs as low as possible.
When it comes to installation, we need to install a dish on your roof that will point at a tower on a nearby hill, and install a WiFi router. All of this is done by a Lightwire engineer.
If you sign a 12-month term, we do all of this for free.
Lightwire gives you unparalleled flexibility. Regardless of which plan you sign up to, you can upgrade or downgrade that plan at any time without penalty. This is done via your customer portal.
Upgrades take effect immediately, and plan downgrades take effect at the start of the following month.
Yes. Lightwire won’t interact with your current internet company to cancel the service for you, that needs to be handled by you directly.
Unfortunately, even with the use of sophisticated software, we can never be 100% sure that we can connect a service at an address until our installer has attended site and made an attempt.
To get you connected we need a clear line of sight between somewhere on your property and one of our towers, and that tower needs to be close enough for the speeds to be acceptable.
When you sign up, we know how close you are to a tower, so we are pretty sure that you can connect. Once you lodge an order, our team manually checks whether any hills will get in the way or whether we have seen a failed install at the same (or nearby) address previously. If that all looks good, your order goes to an installer.
The last issue we usually see is that of trees. We can’t see these using our software, so it is always the last hurdle to clear.
If distance, hills and/or trees aren’t an issue, you are almost certainly able to connect. The best option is to start by lodging an order, there is no cost to you if we can’t get you connected.
Query not here? Check out our knowledge base:
Need help deciding?
give us a call
On average you’ll get a wireless broadband specialist on the phone in less than 2 minutes.
email us
YOUR SERVICE IS OUR TOP PRIORITY
You’ve made a great decision to live rurally. Make another.
