NZ data twice the speed of International?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › NZ data twice the speed of International?

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#133839 4-Nov-2013 19:34

I've got a VDSL connection with a reported connect speed of 42Mbps. Virtually anything I download from another international source peaks at only around 2.5MB/sec though (around 20MBPS), regardless of the time of day, type of file or source location.

Except if I'm downloading from Apple.

Anything from Apple downloads at a blazing 4.6MB/second. Presumably coming from a very local cache?

SpeedTests to various locations around NZ (particularly to Telecom NZ in Wellington) are peaking at 38Mbps (4.6MB/sec).

So why is anything coming to me from outside of NZ almost half the speed of anything from within NZ?

Not complaining, just curious.

(Over the weekend, Hulu and Netflix were total buffer-fests).

@KnightNZ

1 | 2

483 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7
Inactive user

#927184 4-Nov-2013 19:35

In short, due to distance.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2526
Inactive user

#927186 4-Nov-2013 19:37

Cost of capacity

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#927187 4-Nov-2013 19:37

That's a lot of degradation. Especially as throughput is much the same to Australia or the UK.

@KnightNZ

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80653 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41045

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#927190 4-Nov-2013 19:38

The packets from here to UK will probably take four or five times longer to travel around the world. This is surely something to consider?

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

AidanS

458 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 135

#927194 4-Nov-2013 19:40

stevenz: That's a lot of degradation. Especially as throughput is much the same to Australia or the UK.

It's something that is limited due to international bandwidth and capacity. By the end of 2015 three new submarine cables should be finished (The Telecom+Vodafone Aus-NZ one, Hawaiki and APX East) which will increase our international capacity and should at least ease issues like this.

It's the same problem (even worse) on my fibre connection shown below. (I get about 25Mbps down to USA and even worse to Europe), and that's a commercial ethernet connection through Vector.

-A

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#927204 4-Nov-2013 19:48

Wow, I didn't realise it was _that_ limiting. Cheers.

As for Australia versus the UK, I can download an ISO from Australia or I can download it from the UK, both files come down at the same 2.5/2.6MB/sec.

@KnightNZ

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

RunningMan

9186 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4840

#927266 4-Nov-2013 21:12

Apple use Akamai servers that are logically closer to you.

cbrpilot

964 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 555

Trusted

Spark NZ

#927536 5-Nov-2013 12:02

What programme and/or protocol are you using when measuring those speeds?

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

Sounddude

I fix stuff!
1935 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 640

Trusted

2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#927541 5-Nov-2013 12:14

johnr: Cost of capacity

Not really.

The slowdowns are caused by the effect of latency when a retransmission is required due to packet loss.

Thats why distance plays a big factor in speeds.

You could have all the international capacity in the world, but still be limited by this.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2526
Inactive user

#927542 5-Nov-2013 12:15

Sounddude:
johnr: Cost of capacity

Not really.

The slowdowns are caused by the effect of latency when a retransmission is required due to packet loss.

Thats why distance plays a big factor in speeds.

You could have all the international capacity in the world, but still be limited by this.

Very true

1080p

1332 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 152
Inactive user

#927561 5-Nov-2013 12:29

AidanS:
stevenz: That's a lot of degradation. Especially as throughput is much the same to Australia or the UK.

It's something that is limited due to international bandwidth and capacity. By the end of 2015 three new submarine cables should be finished (The Telecom+Vodafone Aus-NZ one, Hawaiki and APX East) which will increase our international capacity and should at least ease issues like this.

It's the same problem (even worse) on my fibre connection shown below. (I get about 25Mbps down to USA and even worse to Europe), and that's a commercial ethernet connection through Vector.

-A

I'm pretty sure the SxC is nowhere near capacity.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#927600 5-Nov-2013 13:27

AidanS:
stevenz: That's a lot of degradation. Especially as throughput is much the same to Australia or the UK.

It's something that is limited due to international bandwidth and capacity. By the end of 2015 three new submarine cables should be finished (The Telecom+Vodafone Aus-NZ one, Hawaiki and APX East) which will increase our international capacity and should at least ease issues like this.

It's the same problem (even worse) on my fibre connection shown below. (I get about 25Mbps down to USA and even worse to Europe), and that's a commercial ethernet connection through Vector.

-A

It's not simply a bandwidth issue. It's also the way the internet was designed, with TCP still being a major stumbling block when dealing with latency.

ISP's also have very little control over what happens once traffic leaves their upstream transit connections, it's very common to see major differences in tests using different providers in the US for example, and international capacity from NZ isn't the cause of that.

SXC isn't anywhere near close to capacity.

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 125

#928076 6-Nov-2013 11:49

cbrpilot: What programme and/or protocol are you using when measuring those speeds?

Just watching the total traffic going through eth0 over TCP.

@KnightNZ

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 459
Inactive user

#928096 6-Nov-2013 12:21

sbiddle:
AidanS:
stevenz: That's a lot of degradation. Especially as throughput is much the same to Australia or the UK.

It's something that is limited due to international bandwidth and capacity. By the end of 2015 three new submarine cables should be finished (The Telecom+Vodafone Aus-NZ one, Hawaiki and APX East) which will increase our international capacity and should at least ease issues like this.

It's the same problem (even worse) on my fibre connection shown below. (I get about 25Mbps down to USA and even worse to Europe), and that's a commercial ethernet connection through Vector.

-A

It's not simply a bandwidth issue. It's also the way the internet was designed, with TCP still being a major stumbling block when dealing with latency.

ISP's also have very little control over what happens once traffic leaves their upstream transit connections, it's very common to see major differences in tests using different providers in the US for example, and international capacity from NZ isn't the cause of that.

SXC isn't anywhere near close to capacity.

Steve is right here, if you were doing UDP file transfers rather than TCP I know people who have managed to max-out their UFB connections internationally.

The Southern Cross Cable has plenty of Capacity (and our Aussie friends use is pretty hard from what I understand) and Telecom has purchased a fair amount of capacity on it too.

So unless the backhaul from your ONT to the Telecom Handover was congested (unlikely right now considereing the UFB uptake) then the TCP round-trip would be what is killing you. So perhaps look to have UDP based file transfer product rather than TCP.

cbrpilot

964 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 555

Trusted

Spark NZ

#928098 6-Nov-2013 12:22

stevenz:
cbrpilot: What programme and/or protocol are you using when measuring those speeds?

Just watching the total traffic going through eth0 over TCP.

So a single TCP connection or multiple? How many?
It is possible for high latency links to be effected by a phenomenon known as Bandwidth Delay Product.

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

1 | 2