Gigabit Fibre question: speed

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Gigabit Fibre question: speed

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#1753394 2-Apr-2017 21:25

joker97:
jman009: Damn
So if I want full speed I have to get a descent pc and a descent router 🙈

why do you want full 1Gbps speed?

i only recommend a better router only if you have many people wanting to use it at 1/3rd speed yes :)

depending on your budget the only 2 routers worth getting:

asus rt-ac68u

asus rt-ac3200 (you get an extra antenna - which i use for my own private express lane to the router lol)

don't get anything else

What about the rt-ac5300?

nutsterrt

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#1753399 2-Apr-2017 21:38

stocksp:

What about the rt-ac5300?

That thing looks like a Mars lander. Depending on your aesthetic, it's also the ugliest thing I've ever seen! That said, unless you were in need of some serious LAN throughput I would imagine that's total overkill versus the 3200. Certainly won't make your fiber go any faster.

stocksp

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#1753400 2-Apr-2017 21:43

I'm about to wire 16 Ethernet ports round my house, so will stick with my netgear r8000 for Wifi I think

That beast of a router does look good though

Batman

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#1753401 2-Apr-2017 21:45

stocksp:
joker97:

jman009: Damn
So if I want full speed I have to get a descent pc and a descent router 🙈

why do you want full 1Gbps speed?

i only recommend a better router only if you have many people wanting to use it at 1/3rd speed yes :)

depending on your budget the only 2 routers worth getting:

asus rt-ac68u

asus rt-ac3200 (you get an extra antenna - which i use for my own private express lane to the router lol)

don't get anything else

What about the rt-ac5300?

TL;DR

Its benefits over the 3200 is not supported by most devices. Since the connection depends on the weakest link, ANY device that doesn't support what the 5300 offers cuts it down to the bare minimum. Many (not most) devices will meet requirement of the 3200. I suggest have one band dedicated to AC wifi devices only.

Jase2985

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#1753426 3-Apr-2017 05:26

nutsterrt:

Jase2985:

12-24 (depends on where and when fibre was installed by the LFC) connections share 1 2.4Gbps link

That probably has a lot to do with it, then. Previous address was in a flat in a business-heavy district that probably wasn't using much of their broadband; now, student-heavy area with probably 5+ to a flat.

Is this something Spark/Chorus monitor with any regularity to alleviate congestion? Or is it a matter of once it's installed, you're on your own?

i believe they are work on upgrading things in the near future as they are doing 10gig trials so this will increase the bandwidth a bit to those with gig connections.

sbiddle

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#1753441 3-Apr-2017 07:37

nutsterrt:

Jase2985:

12-24 (depends on where and when fibre was installed by the LFC) connections share 1 2.4Gbps link

That probably has a lot to do with it, then. Previous address was in a flat in a business-heavy district that probably wasn't using much of their broadband; now, student-heavy area with probably 5+ to a flat.

Is this something Spark/Chorus monitor with any regularity to alleviate congestion? Or is it a matter of once it's installed, you're on your own?

There is no way to "alleviate congestion" because it's not congestion. It's a system working as designed. You're not guaranteed 1Gbps or anywhere close to it - the only thing that is guaranteed on your UFB connection is your 2.5Mbps high priority CIR. The headline speeds are all best effort EIR.

nutsterrt

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#1754877 3-Apr-2017 16:42

sbiddle:

It's a system working as designed.

Fortunately for me I guess, someone within tech support thinks that system should be working better. Sent in a whole bunch of diagnostic data; guess we'll see if anything comes of it.

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Jase2985

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#1754879 3-Apr-2017 16:47

if it is indeed congestion (could be something else) what do you think they will be able to do?

lucky015

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#1754933 3-Apr-2017 17:52

Jase2985:

if it is indeed congestion (could be something else) what do you think they will be able to do?

Realistically - Upgrade the back-haul to support the product offered or withdraw the Gig product from availability in that location. While the speed is not guaranteed it's hardly fair to be selling a product to a customer which they have zero possibility of obtaining more than 50% of the described potential.

Technical limitations aside, If any company rushed a product to market they where not capable of supporting to the described maximum potential under any circumstance (for example Gig in a specific location they simply cant back-haul gig to) then they deserve the backlash they get, If the marketing team forced their hand to go nationwide when they couldn't then they deserve to get what is coming to them.

nutsterrt

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#1754958 3-Apr-2017 19:25

lucky015:

Jase2985:

if it is indeed congestion (could be something else) what do you think they will be able to do?

Realistically - Upgrade the back-haul to support the product offered or withdraw the Gig product from availability in that location. While the speed is not guaranteed it's hardly fair to be selling a product to a customer which they have zero possibility of obtaining more than 50% of the described potential.

Glad to see someone else gets it. If you promote and advertise a service, you better be prepared to actually provide it. I find it hard to believe that a company touting itself as advanced as Spark (or Chorus) doesn't know exactly where and what capacity they can provide. Of course I'm still hopeful it's just some technical glitch and they'll sort it out.

Jase2985

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#1754961 3-Apr-2017 19:39

you do realise that pretty much EVERY internet service is sold over subscribed?

you couldnt even sell a 200mbit service on fibre if you didnt want congestion back to the exchange.

its just the nature of the internet industry, and based on avearge data rates etc the likely hood of congestion is very low.

i suspect your issue wouldnt be congestion based unless all 12-24 houses around you have fibre and all are downloading at the same time.

nutsterrt

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#1755958 3-Apr-2017 20:12

Jase2985:

you do realise that pretty much EVERY internet service is sold over subscribed?

Of course. ISPs are one of many that do it to remain alive...no different than airlines or any other travel service. Oversell your product assuming not everyone will be using their connection or showing up for their flight at the same time and hope for the best...but sometimes they do.

Jase2985:

i suspect your issue wouldnt be congestion based unless all 12-24 houses around you have fibre and all are downloading at the same time.

That's what I'm hoping to figure out. Unfortunately as I said, moved from an area with very little residential population, in a building that had loads of Chorus equipment in the carpark (could've very well had a 2.4Gbps link to itself for all I know)...to an area loaded with Otago students and streaming-thirsty hipsters.

Mikek

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#1755984 3-Apr-2017 20:56

Hi Nutsterrt

If the area you have fibre in is a chorus area and is urban & was installed after approximately 2015 the ratio is 1:16 > per 2.5Gig down & 1.25Gig up.

Before approximately 2015 the split ratio was 1:32 > Per 2.5Gig down & 1.25Gig up.

If the area you are in is Rural you will have a far better split ratio something around 1:2 or 1:4

I'm unsure about the other UFB providers only chorus areas.

If you are on a 1:16 ratio I would think its pretty rare to have congestion issues due to the fibre line it's self and more like back haul issues like posters are saying.

I myself have 13 people connected just down my long driveway all on fibre, I have no such issues with slow speeds anytime of the day. That's on a 1:16 Ratio

1:32 Ratio could be far more possible that its the line & not back haul issues if say a few people had Gig E connections.

nutsterrt

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#1755991 3-Apr-2017 21:10

Thanks Mikek, interesting info. Not sure how they distributed the initial rollout of Gigatown in Dunedin so I'm not sure which situation applies. Have to be happy with the UFB initiative if you're in a rural area I'd imagine

nutsterrt

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#1757211 5-Apr-2017 17:46

Alright, general speed test-related question for the masses (I suspect at least one on these boards will be in-the-know). Aside from a link, what's the difference between the tests provided at the following links, when targeting Spark's servers at their respective locales?

http://www.spark.co.nz/myspark/myinternet/testyourspeed

http://spark.speedtestcustom.com/

I've noted that my results are considerably better (always) to the Spark link, rather than the speedtestcustom link...the former using about double the performance of the latter, but grossly inconsistent with all other testing I've tried. Do they reach out to different servers? I certainly like the look of the speedtestcustom interface, but don't like the numbers it gives me.

Thanks to anyone who knows.

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