help with choosing a wireless/satellite isp or some advice on wired. HELP HELP HELP

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › help with choosing a wireless/satellite isp or some advice on wired. HELP HELP HELP

theprok

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#75699 22-Jan-2011 00:45

hi all im new to this website/forum and have a problem id like help with im currently living in clevedon a rural area in south auckland and am experiencing problems with my broadband so heres the story.

i am currently with telecom and have moved to a new house, before moving we had to make sure broadband was available at the new place so we rang up telecom and they did checks and said there was a broadband connection and that the neighbouring propertys also did we also had the previous occupants of the house do a speedtest via speedtest.net and they were getting down speeds of 0.77mbps and around the 50-60ping mark not to sure wat the up was but i think you get the picture . i knew we were not going to get fast speeds but those speeds seemed fine to me prefer having that than dial up XD

have gotten 4 technicians for the past week and to no avail all i seem to get is "you are to far from the exchange 7.3k's"

but for the first 3weeks living in the new house the internet was fine after that we started getting random disconnections some for short periods of time and now its just seems to have a mind of its own. after a 5min phone call it seems to 'help' the dsl connect although im not to sure but it seems to connect after a 5min+ phone call.

i then found out by the 3rd technician that they had so called "upgraded" the exchange we were on with optic to the exchange and made the cutoffline 3KM'S!!!! some upgrade that was! we had moved in on the 12th of december and the change of the exchange was on the 10th but it hadnt fully gone up and running but now it has and its giving me problems!

so now i have given up all hope on telecom and there crap customer service been with them for years and i am on a 60gb advanced business user plan! i even asked what options i have and all i got was pretty much this "sorry you are to far we cant help" after asking them wat are my options

FINALLY!! THE LAST TECHNICIAN was real down to earth and gave me some advice he said going with wireless broadband is an option or satillite so now im on the hunt for a new isp. one he mentioned i think it was wired country i googled them and it came up with compass communications and what they offer and the prices seem the best so far but i dont knw if they service my area

so any help would be appreciated ALSO ANY INPUT ON GETTING MY WIRED CONNECTION SORTED!

just a few things ill be using the net mainly for

streaming/downloading and gaming so wireless would be preferred for lower latency

also value for money and speed

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ANYONE WHO TAKES THE TIME TO READ AND RESPOND TO THIS! :D

and real sorry to the messy layout and typos fairly new to this forum :)

mikenzb

371 posts

Ultimate Geek

#429742 22-Jan-2011 06:44

You could try Woosh
http://www.woosh.com/ContentClient/Internet/InternetPricing.aspx
They have wireless plans if you go down the page abit.
*Wireless* The Fusion Plan Is 20GB And 1 Phone Line for $81.95

raytaylor

4017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#429944 22-Jan-2011 17:35

Avoid Satelite if at all possible.
This means avoid Farmside or anyone reselling a farmside (ipstar) connections.

Its costs a huge amount to install, and when you do get dsl broadband in your area, they charge $298 to come out and remove the satelite dish (compulsory when you disconnect)

A customer of mine just found out about my microwave network covering his area and ended up paying $700 to leave farmside - early disconnection fees and costs all up.

Being in the south auckland area, there should be a couple of wisp's that cover you.

Can you see the sky tower at all?

With that dsl upgrade, it may not be an upgrade because of the way you are affected by it.
When telephone lines run down the street, the dsl signals between lines running in the same bundle interfere with each other. This means the house furtherest away has the worst signal because all the other houses closer to the exchange will be putting interference into your line.

DSL will go over good quality copper, up to 7km. But if you have interference then that will drop down to 4-5km. When they upgrade the exchange, with the fibre cabinet, all these interfering houses suddenly get a better speed and therefore more interference gets induced into your line which may mean your broadband barely connecting at 128k may not be able to connect at all anymore.

There are also settings at the exchange equipment where they set minimum speeds and line quality goals for the service. If you dont meet the goals then the modem might not be able to connect. Sometimes a good chorus tech can adjust the settings on your line to give you a goal of 256k instead of 8000k and your modem can connect at the slower speed as it might be able to meet the goal. These are known as line profiles and contain all sorts of settings like minimum, maximum speed, signal to noise ratios etc.

Ray Taylor

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Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here

theprok

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#430003 22-Jan-2011 20:26

@mike thanks for the advice have looked at there plans but i dont think they service my area and am really after a bigger plan with more bandwidth as im a heavy user >.<"

@ray taylor THANK YOU for the great indepth explanation. also no i cannot see the sky tower at all XD i live a long way from town but i live up on a mountain and i get a clear view of what i think is waiheke island and what seems to be a network tower of some sort the 4th technician from chorus had his telecom t stick with him and we tried outside and did a speed test via speedtest.net and he seemed to get a solid 1.00megabit down but at times the signal strength seemed to fluxuate he suggested i could possibly get some sort of antenna installed to boost the signal but didnt go any further than that.

also is it possible to have a router with wireless? as i wish to network a few computers and wireless devices

raytaylor

4017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#430038 22-Jan-2011 22:01

Vodafone sell a device that connects to a vodem and creates a wifi hotspot for up to 5 computers i think.
Its about $300.

Waiheke - or one of those islands has a wisp that may be able to help.
http://www.ynet.co.nz/

Typical range for 5.8ghz is 20km from one of their towers if they happen to have a sector antenna pointing towards the mainland.

External antennas for vodems and tsticks are listed on trademe incorrectly under the wireless networking category. They go for about $200 but a local radio repair shop might be able to supply one cheaper.

Ray Taylor

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raytaylor

4017 posts

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#430040 22-Jan-2011 22:03

Oh also check out compass communications.
They have a bunch of towers around auckland - i dont know auckland very well but they might be able to help.

Here is a list of the mast locations for compass and the areas each mast covers
http://www.compass.net.nz/residential/internet/line_of_sight.asp

Ray Taylor

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Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here

theprok

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#430053 22-Jan-2011 22:55

@ray taylor hey thank alot have been looking around and compass seems like my best bet was one of the ones the technician also suggested although he sai "wired country" and they seemed the best priced was just abit skeptical as to whether or not they were 'legit' haha but im guessing they are now

also ive been looking at antennas and wouldnt have a clue what im looking at but if i was to purchase one where would it plug into and how does it work?

and the hotspot thing from Vodafone is nifty but im guessing youd have to be using there network but they just dont offer large amounts of data and are quite pricey

compass 60gb plan seems perfect for me

one last question the antenna they install does that act as a hotspot? or is it just a receiver and theres a modem type device to control what can use the network?

thanks once again :D

raytaylor

4017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#430065 22-Jan-2011 23:41

This here is a 5.8 ghz antenna (next to sky dish) that I have at one of my customers houses.
The antenna has a network cable that runs down to a router or to the customers computer.
If they want to, they can install a wireless router for wifi around the house

=== I am guessing the antenna compass install would be similar to this ===

Wired country is legit, although i think compass bought them out and took over their network.

The external antenna for a vodem or tstick looks like a yagi or mini uhf antenna which you mount on your roof or outside your house. Then by a short cable (5m) you connect it to the cellular device.
As you say, telecom and vodafone have pretty low caps - woohooo massive 8 gb lol
There is usually a little mini connector behind a cover on your cellphone, tstick or vodem.

Ray Taylor

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theprok

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#430081 23-Jan-2011 00:38

thanks alot :DDDD i fully understand it all now haha. i am going to ring compass up on monday and hopefully im able to get it i live at 450 otau mountain rd clevedon and they have a tower at 171 mcgregor rd if you want to google it and give your opinion would be helpful XD.

and yea telecom and Vodafones data caps are what i would call email checker worthy LOL

raytaylor

4017 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#430093 23-Jan-2011 03:43

Hmmm
Looking at google earth you are surrounded by trees.

On the plus side you are only 5km from the tower.

A radio mobile profile looks like this
If you live at the house i think is yours, and they use 5.8ghz, AND there is an antenna on the tower pointing your way then you may be in luck. Though those trees may still be a problem.

I was thinking that you might have hills interfering with the fresnel zone of the link but the cross section of the land is looking good and trees or hills shouldnt get into the oval part of the link.

The above was worked out using a link of a 14dbi antenna transmitting at the tower, and a 23dbi antenna at your end with average hardware of 23dbm transmit power. At 5.8ghz this link looks good.

I dont know what hardware they will use or what frequency but i would assume if a sector antenna on the tower is pointing your way then you are in luck - trees conditional.

Of course trees have been known to dissappear during the early hours of the morning.

edit: line of sight means line of sight, nothing less. So no trees in the way at all. And the fresnel zone has to be clear - thats the white long oval between the radio antennas - so only if there was a really tall building on one of those hills in the way would that be a problem.

Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here

mikenzb

371 posts

Ultimate Geek

#430100 23-Jan-2011 07:15

theprok: thanks alot :DDDD i fully understand it all now haha. i am going to ring compass up on monday and hopefully im able to get it i live at 450 otau mountain rd clevedon and they have a tower at 171 mcgregor rd if you want to google it and give your opinion would be helpful XD.

and yea telecom and Vodafones data caps are what i would call email checker worthy LOL

Well all i can say is GOOD LUCK. :)