Plug and Play: How Nova Energy and Entelar Group are Reimagining WiFi in NZ

As a multi-utility provider already offering electricity and gas services, expanding into broadband seemed a natural progression.

However, Nova quickly discovered the traditional single-router solutions commonly available in Kiwi homes were failing to meet many customer expectations.

“We really wanted to solve WiFi performance for our customers,” says Wayne Collins, Nova’s Telecommunications Product Manager.

“Traditional single-router solutions were failing to meet the demands of modern New Zealand homes, where families expected reliable connectivity across multiple rooms and devices.”

“We realised that it was quite a big driver of calls into our call centre too and we were doing a significant amount of troubleshooting around poor WiFi experiences.”

Nova’s challenge, then, was to find a solution that combined technical performance with everyday simplicity. It wasn’t enough for the product to deliver better WiFi; it also had to fit seamlessly into customers’ lives, working reliably without adding complexity.

With a focus on simplicity and performance, Nova spent the next six months rigorously testing different WiFi solutions in real homes (their own) to uncover what would work best.

“We carried out extensive testing before settling on the Nokia product,” says Collins. “We explored many alternatives during these in-home trials—checking range, stability, and speed room by room to measure coverage and system performance.”

It became clear that mesh technology could solve the coverage problem, but it still needed to be presented to the end-user in a straight-forward way, particularly when it came to the initial set-up.

Ultimately, the decision to partner with Nokia and Entelar Group (at the time, Telegistics) was driven by one crucial differentiator.

“What really made the difference was being able to distribute the product without relying on the manufacturer’s app,” Collins says. “That gave us the freedom to keep customers engaged through our own app, rather than pushing them toward a separate platform we couldn’t control.”

To make the vision a reality, Nova needed Entelar Group to help navigate the technical complexities behind the scenes.

At the heart of Nova’s Powerful WiFi solution is a sophisticated coordination process that the customer never sees. Entelar Group manages the complex ecosystem involving Nokia as manufacturer, specialised provisioning teams, and delivery partners, with each component synchronised to deliver a smooth customer experience.

At Entelar Group’s provisioning facilities, every unit—whether new or refurbished—goes through a careful preparation process that eliminates technical barriers for the end customer.

For new deployments, units are removed from packaging, paired together, and configured with the most recent Nova software. After white-listing and configuration, the devices are relabeled, repackaged with a Nova sleeve, and prepared for delivery—all pre-paired so customers experience true plug-and-play functionality.

“Nova’s competitive advantage is in delivering true plug-and-play WiFi functionality for the customer,” says Stephanny Diaz, Nokia Vendor Partner with Entelar Group. “We support that by managing the entire technical ecosystem—coordinating with Nokia on manufacturing, handling specialised provisioning, managing inventory across our warehouses, and orchestrating delivery partnerships.”

For the customer, that means an ultra-simple set-up user experience: “Take the beacons out of the box and plug in the first one, wait for the blue light then plug the second one in and wait for the blue light again” says Collins. “You can then move the second beacon closer to the part of the home where you need stronger WiFi and you’re all set up.”

Beyond new deployments, Entelar Group’s commitment to sustainability is evident in their comprehensive refurbishment program. Each returned unit is cleaned meticulously by hand before being reset. The devices then go through the same configuration process as new units—paired together, configured with the most recent Nova software, relabeled, and repackaged in custom-made boxes, reaching the customer in all but as-new condition.

The scale of Entelar’s provisioning and refurbishing capabilities is significant. The team has completed 5,000 refurbishments already this year (with 2,000 processed in April 2025 alone) and another 10,000 currently in the pipeline. Each device can be refurbished up to three times before end-of-life, creating a circular approach that aligns with both Nova’s and Entelar Group’s sustainability commitments.

“We’ve seen steady customer growth every year,” says Collins. “We’ve had really good uptake, especially among our existing energy customers.”

“All of our customers who sign up for fibre broadband will get two Nokia Beacon 2 units by default,” Collins says. “We currently offer these mesh units free of charge while they have their broadband with us—no additional fees for good WiFi coverage like a lot of competitors charge.”

A pair of Nokia Beacon 2 units has an RRP of over NZ $400 and provides WiFi 6 coverage of up to 140m² per unit, featuring intelligent channel selection and EasyMesh certification. Customers pay just $15 for delivery and can bundle broadband with other Nova services.

Beyond the commercial benefits, the solution has delivered some operational improvements— particularly in regards to reducing customer calls about WiFi performance issues, and improving customer satisfaction ratings.

“Perhaps most importantly, the solution has achieved its core objective: introducing Powerful WiFi which is affordable, simple to use and available for everyone.”

The Nova Energy and Entelar Group partnership is a vivid demonstration of how genuine collaboration can transform a market challenge into a sustainable competitive advantage.

“Our partnership operates on genuine mutual trust,” Diaz notes. “When we need to process warranty claims or refurbishments, whether it’s 1 or 1,000 units, we maintain complete transparency with Nova throughout the decision-making process.”

When distributors become true partners—managing complex coordination, providing technical expertise, and sharing risk—the result is solutions that seem effortlessly simple to customers while delivering measurable business value.

This trust operates reciprocally.

By focusing on customer experience, rather than just technical specifications, Nova—in tandem with Entelar Group— has created a solution that local competitors are still struggling to replicate.

For organisations seeking distribution partners who can turn technical challenges into competitve advantages, Entelar Group’s approach shows how the right partnership transforms market obstacles into customer wins. Get in Touch.