Xtra Go Large plan - really slow in Auckland

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Xtra Go Large plan - really slow in Auckland

lchiu7

6476 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#16450 10-Oct-2007 22:56

Was visiting a friend in Auckland who lives in the Remuera area (524xxxx). He is a legacy Go Large plan but has only used 2.2G so far this month. His PC, a P4 3.2G with 512Mb and a SMC DSL router seemed pretty decent but I noticed his internet speed was pretty slow. Did a quick speed test to speedtest.net to Napier and then Wellington and got ping times in the 150ms range(!) and speeds download/upload of about 120 kbs(!)

Just bringing up xtra mail (how hosted by yahoo) would take nearly 30 seconds for the page to come up and another 15-20 seconds for the logn to complete.

Downloading files from xtra.co.nz/speedmeter got about 3000kbs but that is hardly a good test since how often does one access Xtra's local servers?

Tried calling Xtra help desk but they were not particularly helpful asking that we did did the speedmeter test over a few days and record the results.

My friend is reluctant to move from Xtra because he has had a xtra.co.nz e-mail address for 8 years and doesn't want to change it.

Having hardly experienced DSL before (I use TCL cable myself) I can't believe this is normal but am wondering if it is the norm for Xtra and therefore why there are so many complaints about its service

Anybody with thoughts on this?

Thanks

Larry

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

1 | 2

Exited
4929 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#90562 10-Oct-2007 22:58

I would suggest looking at the Go Large plan. Its highly probable that could be affecting performance.

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

nzbnw

2374 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Spark NZ

#90563 10-Oct-2007 23:05

I agree with cokemaster. By the sounds of it Xtra Broadband Go or Express may be a better option based on the usage in play here.

Can you confirm the router sync speeds? 120kbs?

nzbnw

paulchinnz

Circumspice
793 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#90565 10-Oct-2007 23:20

Alternatively if Go Large is still $60/month then Adventure is the same price but full speed down and 120kbps up with 10GB limit (returned to this after a few months putting up with Go Large ... greed never gets one any where eh).

nzbnw

2374 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Spark NZ

#90566 10-Oct-2007 23:41

Go Large is $49.95 with tolls, or $59.95 without tolls.

nzbnw

rb85

115 posts

Master Geek

#90598 11-Oct-2007 09:45

I think with a throttled 128 upload speed your experience will not be as great when compared to a plan with a no limit upload speed.
Other factors of course come into play.
How far away from the exchange you are.
The quality of your line etc.....

"....am wondering if it is the norm for Xtra..."

Yes I think this is the norm for the Go Large Plan, not neccesarily Xtra.

Would other GZ'ers agree?

paulchinnz

Circumspice
793 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#90618 11-Oct-2007 11:11

I didn't think 128kbps up was much of a problem if all you were doing was surfing, emailing and downloading a few sizeable SC vods.

stu28

273 posts

Ultimate Geek

#90629 11-Oct-2007 12:29

lchiu7: Was visiting a friend in Auckland who lives in the Remuera area (524xxxx). He is a legacy Go Large plan but has only used 2.2G so far this month. His PC, a P4 3.2G with 512Mb and a SMC DSL router seemed pretty decent but I noticed his internet speed was pretty slow. Did a quick speed test to speedtest.net to Napier and then Wellington and got ping times in the 150ms range(!) and speeds download/upload of about 120 kbs(!)

The upload speed sounds a bit quick as it shoud be about 20KB/s ( I am also on Xtra Go Large in south/east Auckland & I get 16.3 KB/s)

but the download speeds sound sort of normal for Xtra Go Large, as you can go from less then 90KB/s to 300 KB/s on the speedtests / normal downloads.

I just did a speed test at nzdsl.co.nz & I got: 341.6 KB/s

Having hardly experienced DSL before (I use TCL cable myself) I can't believe this is normal but am wondering if it is the norm for Xtra and therefore why there are so many complaints about its service

I don’t know about other Xtra plans, but I don’t think they would be as bad, but they could be, as it all really depends on the line & the exchange, & I think I read somewhere that the Remuera exchange could be overloaded.

Hope this helps

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

lchiu7

6476 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#90657 11-Oct-2007 14:54

Just to summarise. He is getting 128kbs download speeds using speedtest.net on a Wellington server! And even if here getting throttled on Go Large he has only used 2.4G this month.

I didn't have time to access the router but I suspect that's fine since we were able to download a file from xtra at 3000kbs

I think his plan is not the right one but even so, the speed is pretty poor

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

jpollock

600 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#90660 11-Oct-2007 15:21

Telecom will let you keep your email address, for a small monthly fee (NZ$2-3). It might be a legacy on-demand dial-up plan, it might be something else, but they do (or did as of March this year) offer it as a service.

I don't think they let you retrieve your email from anything other than the web interface though.

---
http://blog.jason.pollock.ca

MuShrOomKing

13 posts

Geek

#90661 11-Oct-2007 15:22

im using the go Large plan,

its up and down all the time,

He can stay with xtra, change plan and he will be much better off.

cokemaster

Exited
4929 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#90691 11-Oct-2007 17:38

lchiu7: Just to summarise. He is getting 128kbs download speeds using speedtest.net on a Wellington server!

The wellington server is expected to have issues as its going through city link and has peering issues with xtra.

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

cokemaster

Exited
4929 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#90692 11-Oct-2007 17:41

jpollock: Telecom will let you keep your email address, for a small monthly fee (NZ$2-3). It might be a legacy on-demand dial-up plan, it might be something else, but they do (or did as of March this year) offer it as a service.

I don't think they let you retrieve your email from anything other than the web interface though.

I believe you may find that you may need to switch to the smallest dial up plan ($5 per monthy)... would be worth checking.

Xtra had 'free' secure remote email recently (instead of an additional $2.50 per month) and with YahooXtra, secure connections are allowed regardless of internet provider (providing you have an account of course).

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

Zimsar10

210 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#90693 11-Oct-2007 17:41

Why people remain on Go Large, then complain about performance, when it's a known issue, is beyond me.

Switch to another ISP or a different plan, problem solved.

cokemaster

Exited
4929 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#90698 11-Oct-2007 17:57

Well, Telecom did provide up to 3 months credit for those users of Go Large, they were given the option to change plan, keep on it, or disconnection (waiving the contract disconnection fee of $90).

Back then - I changed and the difference was amazing for international speeds.

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

lchiu7

6476 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#90703 11-Oct-2007 18:10

ZIMsar10: Why people remain on Go Large, then complain about performance, when it's a known issue, is beyond me.

Switch to another ISP or a different plan, problem solved.

My friend is not that IT literate and had no idea what plan he was on and the potential issues with it. Be that as it may, I always thought Go Large only got throttled when you started to download excessive amounts of data and 2.3G/month doesn't sound excessive to me. Still it might make sense to change plans

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

1 | 2