semi-rural broadband, is there a solution?

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flanno

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#70748 29-Oct-2010 22:28

Hi everyone.

I have recently moved to a property just outside of Timaru. Apparently we are 7-7.5 km from the nearest telecom junction (?), though only 6km from the town boundary, and so outside the area of best coverage for broadband according to telecom. I use the internet a lot, for work and entertainment, and I really need to work out what my best options are, I am used to having a large amount of data along with fast speeds, prior to this problem I was on the 40gig plan with telecom and was happy with it.

Currently the telecom broadband, 10gig plan connection we have is filtering down the line to us ending with 141 kbps upload and 81 kbps download speeds.

So my questions are:

1. If I move to a different provider (such as orcon)and sign up for broadband, considering they probably use the same lines as telecom (??), will there be any hope of getting a faster service? the reason I ask this is that some providers promise different maximum download speeds to each other, so perhaps one with a higher maximum download speed will filter through to us all the way down the line at a slightly higher speed than telecom...

2. If I stick with telecom will it make any difference to the speed of my internet when they change to ADSL 2+ on my line/juntion? (which they will be doing in March/April next year)

3. What are my best options for getting affordable broadband with a large data limit when I am so far from an exchange? WITHOUT any huge set-up costs etc.? I've done a bit of research into farmside, scorch etc but they are just too pricey. and mobile broadband is just really a rip off!

4. if my only option is to wait for the government rural broadband initiative to kick in in this area how long will it be???!!!

and 5. has anyone managed to convince telecom to put in a junction closer to their house?? how did you do it etc, I am willing to take on the might of this dinosaur of a company!!!

So if you have any advice or ideas that I might not have explored please pass on, I am sure someone out there has been through this before...

Thanks

mikenzb

371 posts

Ultimate Geek

#397604 29-Oct-2010 23:54

flanno: Hi everyone.

I have recently moved to a property just outside of Timaru. Apparently we are 7-7.5 km from the nearest telecom junction (?), though only 6km from the town boundary, and so outside the area of best coverage for broadband according to telecom. I use the internet a lot, for work and entertainment, and I really need to work out what my best options are, I am used to having a large amount of data along with fast speeds, prior to this problem I was on the 40gig plan with telecom and was happy with it.

Currently the telecom broadband, 10gig plan connection we have is filtering down the line to us ending with 141 kbps upload and 81 kbps download speeds.

So my questions are:

1. If I move to a different provider (such as orcon)and sign up for broadband, considering they probably use the same lines as telecom (??), will there be any hope of getting a faster service? the reason I ask this is that some providers promise different maximum download speeds to each other, so perhaps one with a higher maximum download speed will filter through to us all the way down the line at a slightly higher speed than telecom...

2. If I stick with telecom will it make any difference to the speed of my internet when they change to ADSL 2+ on my line/juntion? (which they will be doing in March/April next year)

3. What are my best options for getting affordable broadband with a large data limit when I am so far from an exchange? WITHOUT any huge set-up costs etc.? I've done a bit of research into farmside, scorch etc but they are just too pricey. and mobile broadband is just really a rip off!

4. if my only option is to wait for the government rural broadband initiative to kick in in this area how long will it be???!!!

and 5. has anyone managed to convince telecom to put in a junction closer to their house?? how did you do it etc, I am willing to take on the might of this dinosaur of a company!!!

So if you have any advice or ideas that I might not have explored please pass on, I am sure someone out there has been through this before...

Thanks

i dont know why dont u try a wireless plan on woosh or something like that

Ragnor

8222 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#397620 30-Oct-2010 00:25

7km from the exchange/cabinet is very far away, you are lucky ADSL works at all at that distance.

Q: What are the line stats in your modems admin ui (line attenuation, noise margin etc)?

There will be no benefit in trying a different ADSL provider as they will just be using the Telecom wholesale service to deliver it same as Telecom retail does. The distance is the real killer here.

You can check your address here for more details on what exchange/cabinet you are connected to and the chances of there being a cabinet installed closer to your house

http://www.telecomwholesale.co.nz/maps

A local wireless provider is probably your best option, many rural areas with poor DSL connectivity will have a couple of people doing a wireless service. Asked your nearest neighbours?

raytaylor

4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#400434 5-Nov-2010 01:16

Yes you are indeed very lucky that your modem is even making a connection. Its really only rated up to 5.5/6 km.

You may want to look at a fixed wireless plan. There could be a small local provider that offers service.
I think Farmside is also based in timaru. I would advise staying away from satelite unless you are willing to bear a 2 year contract.

Ray Taylor

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