How to get a decent internet access?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › How to get a decent internet access?

MagicSquirrel

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#155979 15-Nov-2014 10:36

I'm getting so sick and tired of ADSL service around here in Pirongia village.
We started with Slingshot couple of years ago and swapped to Vodafone after Slingshot went shambles with their speeds.
Then happy one year with Vodafone until couple of months ago ADSL dropped off completely for a day and a half.

After outage was sorted out things looked pretty good (2Mb down during non-peak times) until last few weeks it has been barely enough for working from home with RDP and VOIP.

Latest results from Saturday morning which for sure is not peak time?

Where to go next? Change ISP?
I'm guessing speed is down due exchange which to my knowledge was build around the same time as Christ was crucified.

[offtopic]
Maybe NZ would be more interesting for IT companies if basic infrastructure was good enough to support doing business successfully outside 3 biggest cities. Right now it feels like software development is being driven off from NZ by greatly overpriced and substandard service from internet providers.
[/offtopic]

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#1176227 15-Nov-2014 10:36

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

Sideface

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#1176242 15-Nov-2014 10:42

See PeterReader.

Your downstream attenuation?

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michaelmurfy

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#1176243 15-Nov-2014 10:42

Looks like you're on a Conklin. You either have to move house, go to Vodafone RBI (Wireless), search for a wireless provider or cope with the speeds you're currently getting. Changing ISP's will do nothing to improve speeds in your area and there is no plans to improve the speeds you're getting under fixed line RBI.

Without knowing more (your line sync etc) we can't really comment further. Do what the robot says too please.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

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quickymart

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#1176244 15-Nov-2014 10:46

Maybe you're in the same boat as the person in this thread?

michaelmurfy

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#1176245 15-Nov-2014 10:49

quickymart: Maybe you're in the same boat as the person in this thread?

More like Outram by the looks of things... http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?topicid=147241

johnr

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#1176247 15-Nov-2014 10:54

Changing ISP will make no difference as the copper will still be connected to the overloaded Conklin cabinet

mattwnz

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#1176259 15-Nov-2014 12:12

The only option is probably to move. But you should get professional advice first, by checking you actual connection to see what is physically possible. Somewhat ironically, UFB is only being installed in the most populated areas, and the rest of N, which often usually have substandard internet speeds anyway, are going to miss out at the moment. So it means that those areas that get it, will become more populated and with higher house prices. Maybe they should be installing it in the less populated areas with cheaper house prices, if the government are truly committed at getting people into affordably priced homes. There are some lower priced areas in NZ that have had UFB installed such as Masterton, but that is still quite a large town compared to most towns in NZ. The rural broadband RBI options I have seen, to me look substandard with tiny quotas, which are not comparable to ASDL and UFB plans, so not including those as a realistic option, unless I have missed something.

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MagicSquirrel

40 posts

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#1176320 15-Nov-2014 15:32

I just have to keep on hoping that some day a truckie or a farmer crashes into that exchange and it has to be replaced.

On other threads people seemed to have a bit flawed logic on how out-dated hardware replacement cost should be higher for people living outside big cities.
Imho, a piece of hardware that serves 1000 users costs exactly the same regardless of where it is being installed.
If cost is remarkably higher per paying customer then wrong type of hardware has been used -> hardware that can handle a AKL suburb with 5000 households and costs moonbeams should not be installed to Pirongia with 300 households.

Jase2985

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#1176321 15-Nov-2014 15:37

but when the hardware is standardized and can serve say 200 people in Auckland and maybe 80% of that gets used compared to where you are that serves maybe 50 people you can surely see the issue. there may not be a smaller/cheaper option out there.

figures are an example, i have no idea how many connections there are on a board or in a whisper cabinet

the cost per connection ratio is prohibitive and would take a long time for chorus to get their money back from it. they are a business after all

quickymart

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#1176347 15-Nov-2014 15:52

MagicSquirrel: I just have to keep on hoping that some day a truckie or a farmer crashes into that exchange and it has to be replaced.

On other threads people seemed to have a bit flawed logic on how out-dated hardware replacement cost should be higher for people living outside big cities.
Imho, a piece of hardware that serves 1000 users costs exactly the same regardless of where it is being installed.
If cost is remarkably higher per paying customer then wrong type of hardware has been used -> hardware that can handle a AKL suburb with 5000 households and costs moonbeams should not be installed to Pirongia with 300 households.

It would most likely be replaced with whatever is there now.
You need to bear in mind that backhaul costs to the Conklin/exchange are far, far higher in a rural area than they are in an urban area (where the exchange is typically closer).

toejam316

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#1176357 15-Nov-2014 16:41

Yep, pretty certain you're on a Conklin - off the top of my head there aren't any remote ISAMs, only ASAMs, around Pirongia, which are (I believe) all Conklin systems. Hell, even directly off Pirongia Exchange (which is only a small UAX across the road from the four square) you will only get ADSL 1.

Unfortunately, your best bet is RBI or move - I doubt Chorus are gonna be upgrading that stuff any time soon, due to population density, there are quite a few cabinets that have fiber right next to them that haven't been upgraded yet.

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

Cbfd

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#1176358 15-Nov-2014 16:45

If your off the exchange its an asam which im pretty sure is due for upgrade under the rbi in the next year or so

RunningMan

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#1176363 15-Nov-2014 17:04

MagicSquirrel:
On other threads people seemed to have a bit flawed logic on how out-dated hardware replacement cost should be higher for people living outside big cities..

The logic isn't flawed.

The cost for the plant may well be the same, but you have failed to consider the cost of getting a connection to that equipment. The cost per km to run fibre to a remote area is quite significant. You also may not have considered the economics of scale - there is a finite physical distance that an xDSL connection will work at - the higher the population density, the less equipment required to service a given number of households.

The price for the piece of hardware is only a small part of the solution.

Ultimately, different products and services cost a different amount in different areas - most people have a choice of where they live - you can choose to live somewhere where there is better infrastructure for internet services, but I'm sure there will be a tradeoff against something else that is important to you.

The more remote the area, the higher the cost of things like fuel and internet services, but the flip side is cities like Auckland and Christchurch have far higher accommodation costs. There's pros and cons to every location, and available internet services is one of those considerations.

Rikkitic

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#1176364 15-Nov-2014 17:05

mattwnz: The rural broadband RBI options I have seen, to me look substandard with tiny quotas, which are not comparable to ASDL and UFB plans, so not including those as a realistic option, unless I have missed something.

We have RBI wireless and coming from dial-up, I am absolutely thrilled with it. We are with a small local provider called Netspeed and they recently boosted our data cap from 15/15 to 20/20 gb (peak + off-peak). So far (several months) there has never been an issue with the connection. Speeds go up and down quite a lot but usually between the advertised 1-2 mb/s. We pay $80 a month. This is essentially a rebranded Vodafone package, except we don't have to put up with any Vodafone crap. If we ever have a question, we just ring or email the person in charge (may be the owner, not sure) and we always get an immediate response. The service is fantastic.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

MagicSquirrel

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#1176472 15-Nov-2014 21:43

RBI is not good enough for working from home around here.
Vodafone cell tower south of Pirongia mountain works fine during the winter but was cutting off at least once a week last summer.
One of there parents at school is involved with that as he gets outage notifications when milking stations lose connection and gets outage details from Vodafone later on.
Most of the times it is same story - overheating. We were wondering how hard can it be to either sort out a shade or solar powered ventilation system to keep bloody thing from overheating.

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