Unsatisfied Xtra Go Large Customer?

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NZsnoopy

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#10838 15-Dec-2006 01:17

I recieved a very disturbing letter from xtra today that stated im one of the unlucky few whose connection speed has slowed since the so called unleashed broadband began which has confirmed my suspiscions. From a solid 3500kpbs/5GB cap to an estimated 1152kbps/Unlimited...

Xtra's answer for why this is happening was quote:

Unfortunately, we cant avoid this reduction in speed: it's a result of the way broadband technology works. Introducing download speeds as fast as your line allows has caused more interference on phone lines and this, in turn, can result in slower connection speeds for some customers, particularly for people who live a long way from their phone exchange

As i am not sure how far away from the exchange i am, nor how to find out (maybe someone can help me on that) maybe that is the cause, it could be a fault in my phone lines/router/connections, I highly doubt this though as the problem has only become known since the switch to the Go Large plan.

I am an average user mostly gaming/Voip and some HTML/FTP downloads/uploads (basically use around 10GB est. a month), I never use p2p. So I can live with the slower DL speed however I dont want to be paying $50 /month for a substandard service when some other customers pay the same and get better performance.

So my question is what action do I take?

Xtra's so called "recommendations" quote:

In light of all this, we fully accept you might want to reconsider things, so heres a list of the options that are available to you:
* Stay on your current plan
* Change to xtra dial up
* Cancel the service

I have been considering changing ISP's, Orcon in particular as they have a very appealing news headline on their homepage "Go Large goes nowhere, fast! Why is broadband faster with Orcon..." they also offer interleaving off which appeals to me as i am an avid gamer, but will I experience the same problem due to the quality and obvoius overloading of my lines and exchange?

What do you think?

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#55522 15-Dec-2006 01:43

Since you only average 10Gb a month then would would be better off on Orcons 15Gb plan for only another $10 per month. They also seem to give better performance than xtra and have great overage charges..

The Go Large plans are handicapped and perform nowhere near as well as the full speed ones.

NZsnoopy

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#55525 15-Dec-2006 03:01

Thnx for the quick reply. Are you with Orcon?

After looking at Orcons deals they are very customer orientated, their deals seem very reasonable. 15GB max/max $59.95 w/tolls+ 2 months free for switching ISP's is very appealing to me. I think I will do a bit of forum crawling to find out how other users in my position (xtra 2 orcon) find Orcon's performance before I decide.

Hmm, i might check out some of the other plans out there before I commit to one, i've been happy with xtra for so long i havent bothered to check other deals out there.

BTW: Part of xtra's "im sorry your connection is crap but there is nothing we can do about it" letter was that I would be recieving 1 month credit to my account, gee thnx xtra I feel much better now...

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#55528 15-Dec-2006 07:14

I had exactly the same problem as you, the letter from telecom tipped me to Orcons Max/Max plan. Took 24 hrs to arrange and my speed increased immediately. They are great to deal with and I just wish I had changed sooner.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

bonkiebonks

389 posts

Ultimate Geek

#55532 15-Dec-2006 08:08

I'd recommend Xnet. They're the best ISP I have been with so far, although I'm no longer with them because of their high charges - but then again, they've revised their prices, and are now among the most competitive in NZ.

If you use only 10GB, you'll get FS/128k for only NZ$44.95, or FS/FS for NZ$60.19. Their overage charges are much better than Orcon's plus, they charge at a smaller unit of 1MB, meaning, you pay for what you use. In the case of Orcon, you buy huge data blocks (in 5GB blocks), and whatever you don't finish by the end of the billing cycle will go to waste. Orcon charges NZ$10 for 5GB, and Xnet charges 0.1cents or NZ$0.001 (that's less than a cent per MB!) which works out to be NZ$5.12 for 5GB.

With Xnet, switching from another ISP is generally faster because you don't have to switch your tolls to them to get discounts on broadband.

Bung

6480 posts

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Subscriber

#55536 15-Dec-2006 08:54

NZsnoopy: I recieved a very disturbing letter from xtra today that stated im one of the unlucky few whose connection speed has slowed since the so called unleashed broadband began which has confirmed my suspiscions. From a solid 3500kpbs/5GB cap to an estimated 1152kbps/Unlimited...

Xtra's answer for why this is happening was quote:

Unfortunately, we cant avoid this reduction in speed: it's a result of the way broadband technology works. Introducing download speeds as fast as your line allows has caused more interference on phone lines and this, in turn, can result in slower connection speeds for some customers, particularly for people who live a long way from their phone exchange

What prompted this letter, had you complained or did Xtra just send it? If the estimated 1152Kbps is from a speed test site have you checked the modem diagnostics for the actual connection line rates? The speed test results will be down to Go Large and even changing to any other Xtra plan will improve them. You're stuck with the modem reported speeds regardless of plan or provider.

sbiddle

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#55547 15-Dec-2006 09:49

Insight is discussing the broadband issue on Sunday Morning. National Radio after the 8am news.

NZsnoopy

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#55557 15-Dec-2006 10:25

What prompted this letter, had you complained or did Xtra just send it? If the estimated 1152Kbps is from a speed test site have you checked the modem diagnostics for the actual connection line rates? The speed test results will be down to Go Large and even changing to any other Xtra plan will improve them.

Xtra just sent it, it was very wierd. I guess the amount of complaints xtra has recieved about GO Large prompted them to test customers' lines.

About my line speed, yes I have been checking my line speeds frequently. At the moment my modem diagnostics is reading 2208kbps/160kbps it has increased over the last week. However I just checked my line speed @ speedtest.net: 1807kbps/115kbps. During peak times this figure drops dramatically so I guess the figure xtra came up with is an average estimated line speed.

You're stuck with the modem reported speeds regardless of plan or provider

Are u sure? Before switching to Go Large i was on 3.5Mb plan and my modem diag was always at a solid 3400/160

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Bung

6480 posts

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#55560 15-Dec-2006 10:41

This part of Xtra's letter is probably right "Introducing download speeds as fast as your line allows has caused more interference on phone lines and this, in turn, can result in slower connection speeds for some customers, particularly for people who live a long way from their phone exchange". 2200Kbps line speed is your lot ( less overheads 1800Kbps download)unless you can experiment with other brands of modem as some can get better results than others. Xtra should have admitted that Go Large is further restricting your download speed compared with their other plans

bradstewart

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#55571 15-Dec-2006 12:12

Yes i switched from xtra to orcon. My speed went up and I pay less as well. Couldn't be happier. I'm also averaging 250-300KB/sec when downloading torrents. Previously I would be lucky to get 25KB

dan

1134 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#55600 15-Dec-2006 18:03

bradstewart: Yes i switched from xtra to orcon. My speed went up and I pay less as well. Couldn't be happier. I'm also averaging 250-300KB/sec when downloading torrents. Previously I would be lucky to get 25KB

Same, i recommend Orcon

NZsnoopy

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#55625 16-Dec-2006 10:00

Thank you guys for all your informative replies.

After going through a couple of ISP's websites (Orcon, Slingshot, woosh, Ihug and a couple of others) and some forum crawling I have decided to go with Orcon max/max 15GB + tolls (the advice I got here, thnx). I signed up this morning and am hopeful that my overall internet connection improves because of this.

Anyway, I will post back here with speedtest results etc...as soon as I get connected with Orcon.

Eddie

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#55654 17-Dec-2006 00:21

Hello people,

I'm a newbie here and know not much about internet... and would like to hear some of your suggestions.

I've received a "im sorry your connection is crap but there is nothing we can do about it" letter today from Xtra and they quoted that my maximum download speed is only 544kbps (I'm on a Go Large plan).

After reading the posts above, some of you guys suggested/are moving on to another ISP.

I'm looking at moving to Orcon but before I do that I would like to ask some questions which you may be able to help out.

1) If I move on to another ISP, will I still get the slow connection? Since the phone exchange will still be located in the same position.

How does this actually works??
I thought the phone lines are Telecom's anyway so whatever ISP I join (e.g. Xtra/Orcon) I will still get this slow connection?

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

bonkiebonks

389 posts

Ultimate Geek

#55655 17-Dec-2006 00:50

Well, if your sync speed is 544kbps, then switching to another ISP wouldn't really help at all.

Eddie

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#55656 17-Dec-2006 00:59

But I'm sure I've had fast internet before their "Go Large" introduce.

What's your suggestions??

NZsnoopy

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#55657 17-Dec-2006 04:49

It sounds like your in the same boat as me, I would suggest switching ISP's only because what other action can we take? Either try switching plans with Xtra, (Xtra recommends we use Dial-up, which is like saying "trade your F1 car for a Mini"), we could just put up with our crap Go Large plan or have no internet connection at all, both are not reasonable solutions.

As soon as my Orcon connection is enabled I will let you know how much better/worse it is than Go Large here, but my advice to you is do some ISP research and find a "NON-Go Large" plan that would suit your internet usage.

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