4g speeds for Spark (comparison)

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › 4g speeds for Spark (comparison)

podrae

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#183713 27-Oct-2015 16:15

Hi Guys

Just ran an interesting test down here in Invercargill using three phones and speedtest.net on 4g

Note 3 n9005 5.0 Vodafone - 64mbps D 40mbps U
Note 3 n9005 5.0 Spark - 17.65 D 9.96 U
S5 SM-G900I 5.1 Spark - 14.56 D 9.35 U

What sort of speeds are you guys getting, Is Spark just not keeping up with Voda here?

PeterReader

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#1414833 27-Oct-2015 16:15

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

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corksta

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#1414848 27-Oct-2015 16:20

A couple years go when I was deciding between Spark and Vodafone I drove around various parts of Auckland as part of my job and at each stop I'd do a speed test and Vodafone was consistently faster than Spark. Clearly speed isn't the be-all end-all and lots of factors come into play when doing these tests, but your result mirrors what I was getting across the city at different times of the day and evening.

eXDee

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#1415077 27-Oct-2015 20:50

Speedtest results on mobile don't mean all that much. There's too many variables at play. Even for an unscientific attempt at a fair test you'd need to make sure you were measuring the two cell sites with the same RSSI and you'd still have plenty of flaws in that testing.

Vodafone and Spark will have different areas where one bests the other in coverage and/or speed, neither is consistently better.

As long as both are usable for what you need, in your area, pick your network based on other factors, not some speedtest results.

podrae

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1415081 27-Oct-2015 21:02

I know what you mean but I have never gotten over that speed on my phone in any location so figured that was the bandwidth on 4g or my phone was running a bit crap. That's why I ran the test on an identical phone with identical rom on different network to make sure it wasn't my phone at fault. testing on the S5 showed that it was indeed the Spark connection and not the phone.

This is in the middle of town with full signal on all phones.

Interested what other people get in other locations. I have a feeling it will be nearly identical

invers to palmy north server was the standard test aswell, so north to south

haysking

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#1415139 27-Oct-2015 22:52

I'm with spark in waverley invercargill and have been on vodafone before that

On Spark runing off the tower on the state building is slow in the day time (tested when it was the only one in town with 4g )
Not sure what this means but spark has only 10 mhz of bandwidth on there cell sites where vodafone has 20 mhz (got info from *#0011#)
Spark has Cover most of invercargill with 1800 4g where vodafone have only really cover the more busy area of town so i would go for better coverage over speed

Just my 2 cents

firefuze

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#1415147 27-Oct-2015 23:19

On Spark I consistently get 90-100mbps Down and 30-40 Up at home using a 4G modem.

On my iPhone 6s around town I get anything from 25-80 down. As mentioned by others, it varies greatly. I don't know what speeds Voda are like around Waikato area to compare but very happy with my speeds.

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benokobi

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#1415148 27-Oct-2015 23:34

Fastest I've gotten on my note 5 on spark in invercargill has been 26 mbs down.

haysking

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#1415152 28-Oct-2015 00:06

42 mbs in invercargill on spark with note5 and s6

89 mbs on vodafone on s5

Dairyxox

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#1415193 28-Oct-2015 08:27

Totally anecdotal evidence here. I barely ever speed test because it uses about 100mb data, but my once or twice results:
Vodafone ~50mb/s
Spark ~40mb/s

surfisup1000

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#1415215 28-Oct-2015 09:02

eXDee: Speedtest results on mobile don't mean all that much. There's too many variables at play.

I've always found speedtest results correlate very closely with real performance. Without exception.

Never have I had good speedtest results and poor internet connectivity, and vice versa. So I've found speed test very good for telling me how a network connection will perform.

Can you clarify a little better as to why speedtest results don't mean much?

haysking

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#1415392 28-Oct-2015 11:29

surfisup1000:
eXDee: Speedtest results on mobile don't mean all that much. There's too many variables at play.

I've always found speedtest results correlate very closely with real performance. Without exception.

Never have I had good speedtest results and poor internet connectivity, and vice versa. So I've found speed test very good for telling me how a network connection will perform.

Can you clarify a little better as to why speedtest results don't mean much?

This is just a stab in the dark but things like capacity distance to tower and network congestion would all be different on each network no two networks are the same for starters

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benokobi

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#1415550 28-Oct-2015 15:26

haysking: 42 mbs in invercargill on spark with note5 and s6

89 mbs on vodafone on s5

What area are you testing from?

haysking

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#1415568 28-Oct-2015 15:53

benokobi:
haysking: 42 mbs in invercargill on spark with note5 and s6

89 mbs on vodafone on s5
What area are you testing from?

cbd/winsor/waverley
One from home just now