Spec me an ISP

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Cybergangster

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Topic # 31646 25-Mar-2009 14:56
I've been with Xnet for 14 months now and am getting tired of their service. International speeds are very poor. A year ago I could expect SpeedTest.net downloads from San Francisco to be around 1500kb/s now I'm lucky to get more than 300. This isn't limited to peak traffic either. My connection performs poorly through out the day... Enquiries to their support desk are met with a shrug and someone mumbling about congestion and I've really had enough. I'm currently browsing nzconnection.net for a new provider but want to hear from other users on their ISPs performance - particularly with speeds. My connection gets used for a lot of gaming and video streams and I'm hoping NZ has a provider who can meet those requirements. I know that my work connection on Xtra has no problems with international bandwidth but customer satisfaction reviews keep me shy of Telecom. So what's your experience and who would you recommend?

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BDFL
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Reply # 203265 25-Mar-2009 15:13
Have you done some basic troubleshooting - disconnecting other phones and devices from their plugs in the house, checked that DSL filters are correctly applied, checked the conditions of the internal wiring? Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure, my tweets, Web Performance Optimization) Geekzone Price comparison \| Amazon Kindle order page \| How to get the best out of Geekzone \| New Zealand IT Jobs \| Geekzone News \| Jinglebugs

Cybergangster

41 posts

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Reply # 203270 25-Mar-2009 15:24
Yeah - I've performed those tests (apart from the wiring) and tested with a seperate modem and computer but to no avail. My national SpeedTests come back with a good response of around 3000kb/s. But this is part of my reason for leaving Xnet - your reply was 100% more constructive than anything I've recieved from their support desk... I'm eyeing up Telstra's plans as they appear the most competitively priced at present. Any one got a reason to avoid them?

antbs

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Reply # 203328 25-Mar-2009 20:28
What requirements are you looking for? Mainly in terms of data, price and speed... Just over a month ago we moved to Orcon from Xnet. Yes I know I have been blabbing about it but really pleased with the move. Awesome speeds, no contracts, great customer service etc. We are on the Silver+ plan with 25gb addon which = 30gb of data, telephone line (caller waiting, caller ID, voicemail) for $99.99 a month. Same price we were paying with Xnet and Telecom. My best advice would to get out of Xnet ASAP. Blog Twitter Flickr RSS Feed

Cybergangster

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Reply # 203404 26-Mar-2009 08:28
Usage is between 25 & 40Gb a month. Xnet's plan suited because it was flexible and I just budgeted $80 per month. But my main drive is speed - I don't need a willy waving 24Mbs connection but I want to be able to at the very least stream YouTube during peak hrs (that's not unreasonable is it?) Altogether I pay Telecom & Xnet $190 a month - this is because we call the UK frequently (on the Talk it Up plan) and have a couple of mobiles on the Freedom plan. I'm going to speak to Telstra and Orcon this morning to see who can offer me like for like at a similar cost.

foobar

177 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 203450 26-Mar-2009 11:03
I'm a bit surprised about that performance drop-off you experience for the San Francisco speed test, for I cannot confirm this for myself. I'm also an Xnet customer. During the best of times I would get around 4.8 MBit/s down and 750 KBit/s up domestically. Internationally, it could be somewhat less. Now, prompted by your post, I just did the speed tests again for the first time in a long time, and performance for me has remained exactly as it always has been. Just now I got 4.2 MBit/s down from San Francisco, and 630 KBit/s up. That's just as it has always been. The fact that you get significantly better performance for your domestic transfers seems to indicate that it's not a problem in your setup and wiring, but I am just puzzled by your low international performance. Have you done your international speed test at different times of the day? Also to different target servers? Are the results comparable? As far as "youtube videos without buffering" is concerned: Yes, I noticed that as well, but I also heard that people on other ISPs are experiencing the same, thus indicating a systematic lack of international bandwidth for New Zealand, where switching to another ISP would not help you. Can anyone confirm the youtube-buffering issues for other ISPs?

Cybergangster

41 posts

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Reply # 203461 26-Mar-2009 11:31
Just performed another test and here's the best result I've seen in a while: http://www.speedtest.net/result/437006016.png I was using RDP to get to my desktop so that may account for a little loss in those results - but that's still not satisfactory. I've tested with servers in Sydney, Japan and the UK and the results are in a similar range.

foobar

177 posts

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Reply # 203469 26-Mar-2009 11:41
Cybergangster: Just performed another test and here's the best result I've seen in a while: http://www.speedtest.net/result/437006016.png Indeed, those times are quite pathetic. While ping is the same for me, bandwidth is significantly different. How about a far-out conspiracy theory? Did you do any kind of bandwidth usage that Xnet could have found too expensive for them, or not to their liking, so that they ended up throttling your international transfers?

Cybergangster

41 posts

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Reply # 203470 26-Mar-2009 11:53
foobar: How about a far-out conspiracy theory? Did you do any kind of bandwidth usage that Xnet could have found too expensive for them, or not to their liking, so that they ended up throttling your international transfers? Well, I know my connection is not used for torrents so they can't nix me for sharing copyrights. But you may be on to something... ...and I've just read your blog about their draconian tactics with regards to their user base and Section 92a. There really is little reason to stay with Xnet with all this nonsense.

foobar

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Reply # 203473 26-Mar-2009 12:06
One other thought: Are you located in Auckland or somewhere else in NZ? I am in Auckland, so if you are somewhere else, maybe the international traffic has to go through some other 'wiring' (at least initially) for you than for me? Anyway, assuming you are in Auckland, let's do a little test. At exactly 12:20, we should do tests to San Francisco, London, Sydney and Yokohama. Maybe do each test twice, to make sure that a temporary glitch is not distorting results. Then we also do a test from Auckland to Wellington. After that we can post our results and see what we get and can compare.

Cybergangster

41 posts

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Reply # 203475 26-Mar-2009 12:30
I'm based in Chch. Most external sources appear to reckongise my connection as being Auckland based though..? Here we go; two tests to each destination and the best result posted. San Fran: 2083kbps http://www.speedtest.net/result/437038746.png London: 1926kbps http://www.speedtest.net/result/437039272.png Sydney: 2601kbps http://www.speedtest.net/result/437039775.png Yokohama: 2278kbps http://www.speedtest.net/result/437040312.png Wellington: 3063kbps - Strangly, Wellington kept stalling on the upload and wouldn't complete the test?

Ragnor

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Reply # 203487 26-Mar-2009 13:00
Cybergangster: So what's your experience and who would you recommend? How much traffic do you use per month aproximately?

grant_k

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Reply # 203490 26-Mar-2009 13:09
foobar: As far as "youtube videos without buffering" is concerned: Yes, I noticed that as well, but I also heard that people on other ISPs are experiencing the same, thus indicating a systematic lack of international bandwidth for New Zealand, where switching to another ISP would not help you. Can anyone confirm the youtube-buffering issues for other ISPs? Well ... I can confirm that there aren't any YouTube buffering issues with SNAP, and apart from very rare occurrences late last year, there never have been in my experience which dates from early September last year. I left Xnet for this very reason: That I couldn't play YouTube videos at Peak Time (in the evenings) without buffering. And I can tell you categorically that this issue almost never happens on SNAP, certainly not since the start of 2009.

vexxxboy

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Reply # 203498 26-Mar-2009 13:36
i left slingshot for snap and have been with them for 6months and i can count on 1 hand how many times i couldnt play youtube at any time and fixing it has been as simply turning my modem of and on a couple of times, read the relevant isp forums here and you will find that snap is very quiet which is a good sign.

Cybergangster

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Reply # 203503 26-Mar-2009 13:44
Ragnor: How much traffic do you use per month aproximately? 30 - 50Gig per month.

foobar

177 posts

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Reply # 203519 26-Mar-2009 14:39
Sorry being late posing my results: Wellington: 3.5 MB/s down, ????? KB/s up, ping 45 ms San Francisco: 3.7 MB/s down, 620 KB/s up, ping 365 ms London: 3.7 MB/s down, 430 KB/s up, ping 621 ms Yokohama: 4.1 MB/s down, 714 KB/s up, ping 191 ms Wellington stalled on upload for me, just as it did for you. So, since you got 2 MB/s down from San Francisco, I think this means that the 300 KB/s you observed is intermittent? Your international speeds seemed to be quite alright in this particular test?

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