Gigabit Fibre - when will Spark make an announcement on plans?

Forums › Spark New Zealand › Gigabit Fibre - when will Spark make an announcement on plans?

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# 1646912 6-Oct-2016 20:23

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Otagolad:
old3eyes:Can I ask why do you want Gigabit plan??
I have my reasons

I would love to know a genuine reason for +200mbit that doesn't involve
- "mines bigger than yours"
- speedtest.net or iperf
- having an awesome seed ratio for your torrents

As they aren't really valid arguments in my view.

There are so many factors that will mean getting anything north of 500mbit just won't happen.

With the exception of nz local online storage via WebDAV or mapped drive where all your data is hosted or you're providing hosted storage. I just struggle to see the need.

I'm genuinely interested in the use case.

Hibino

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# 1648035 9-Oct-2016 15:33

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It is interesting to see people saying that 1gbps is not necessary for home users. It reminds me that back 12 years ago the first time I arrived in NZ seeing that the fastest internet I could get as a normal consumer(exclude those business plans) is a 56kbps dial up, while I've been using 2mbps ADSL at home for years.

Now it is nice to see how fast fiber has been developed here and after almost 2 years on the gigatown plan I have to say the 1gpbs is not something 200mbps can be compared with. Just imagine around 40~60mb/s downloading from steam when a new game released or sending large video/photos to your friend. You don't have to use up all the bandwidth all the time, but when something comes around, it does save you a lot of waiting time.

darylblake

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# 1648038 9-Oct-2016 15:39

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So 12 minutes to download 20 gig as opposed to two. Diminishing returns. I'm not debating it will be needed in the future. But for now I'll click download, and play something else and then play it later.

BarTender

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# 1648053 9-Oct-2016 15:52

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Hibino:
It is interesting to see people saying that 1gbps is not necessary for home users. It reminds me that back 12 years ago the first time I arrived in NZ seeing that the fastest internet I could get as a normal consumer(exclude those business plans) is a 56kbps dial up, while I've been using 2mbps ADSL at home for years.

Now it is nice to see how fast fiber has been developed here and after almost 2 years on the gigatown plan I have to say the 1gpbs is not something 200mbps can be compared with. Just imagine around 40~60mb/s downloading from steam when a new game released or sending large video/photos to your friend. You don't have to use up all the bandwidth all the time, but when something comes around, it does save you a lot of waiting time.

Still not an argument in my view.
The speed you would be getting off the steam server would be the same if you were on 100/200/1000 service. As the more likely steam CDN node is Australia or the US. TCP and the laws of physics with the speed of light mean that we will always be constrained by those aspects before we even get close to 1Gb.

Bringing in Dialup vs ADSL is just a silly argument IMHO as it's totally different technology.
It's like saying well we used to have a model T Ford and horse drawn carts. So really I should be able to drive my F1 car on the streets as it's my prerogative.
Just looking for a genuine reason.

yitz

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# 1648069 9-Oct-2016 16:28

I dunno I get really fast speeds from CDNs especially ones using udp transport.

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# 1648070 9-Oct-2016 16:29

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Hibino:

It is interesting to see people saying that 1gbps is not necessary for home users. It reminds me that back 12 years ago the first time I arrived in NZ seeing that the fastest internet I could get as a normal consumer(exclude those business plans) is a 56kbps dial up, while I've been using 2mbps ADSL at home for years.

Now it is nice to see how fast fiber has been developed here and after almost 2 years on the gigatown plan I have to say the 1gpbs is not something 200mbps can be compared with. Just imagine around 40~60mb/s downloading from steam when a new game released or sending large video/photos to your friend. You don't have to use up all the bandwidth all the time, but when something comes around, it does save you a lot of waiting time.

99% of users will not see any performance gains from 1Gbps over 200/200. Two years worth of Gigatown data show that pretty clearly. Average sustained and peak throughput from Gigatown users vs 200/200 users differ very little, and in both cases are significantly under 200Mbps.

gareth41

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# 1648239 9-Oct-2016 21:50

I'm not even going to bother with 1gig if its more expensive than the 200/200 i've currently got, I get UFB via ubiquiti link and the link can only sustain a maximum of around 500mbits in one direction, about 250mbits duplex.

If i'm torrenting I really struggle to get anything more than 120mbits using utorrent, even with loads of seeds. The only way I can max out the 200mbits is either via speedtest.net or downloading/uploading large files from some local server. Downloading iso files from the MS VLK center also nearly maxes out the 200mbits. Even when I do get fibre installed properly and do away with the ubiquiti link, I can't see myself jumping on 1gig, not while 200 is still around and cheaper.

Otagolad

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# 1650396 13-Oct-2016 14:03

gareth41:

I'm not even going to bother with 1gig if its more expensive than the 200/200 i've currently got, I get UFB via ubiquiti link and the link can only sustain a maximum of around 500mbits in one direction, about 250mbits duplex.

If i'm torrenting I really struggle to get anything more than 120mbits using utorrent, even with loads of seeds. The only way I can max out the 200mbits is either via speedtest.net or downloading/uploading large files from some local server. Downloading iso files from the MS VLK center also nearly maxes out the 200mbits. Even when I do get fibre installed properly and do away with the ubiquiti link, I can't see myself jumping on 1gig, not while 200 is still around and cheaper.

It shouldn't be more expensive, instead it is likely to replace it at the same price - this is what 2degrees have done and if Spark don't do the same I'll be straight back to 2 degrees. I only moved so I could take advantage of consolidating my mobile and UFB accounts and a discount on the whole for doing that.

What is frustrating is that Spark won't make any announcement and are now 2 weeks behind their competitors.

Talkiet

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# 1650426 13-Oct-2016 14:18

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I understand the desire to have shiny new things immediately - I am the same way... But as someone involved I can tell you that a major reason for the timeframe is so that we can ensure the service works as well as possible with as many LFCs as possible, and have the chance to develop support processes appropriate to the new service.

I highly doubt anyone is materially inconvenienced by only having a 200/200 fibre connection (he says jealously from his 50Mbps VDSL connection!)...

You all know there's going to be effectively no difference between 200/200 and the max/500 based service right? I shouldn't even have to say that here - I think everyone understands there is zero real world benefit unless wanting to paste a faster speedtest result than your mates is a valid reason... Eh Peter? Eh? Eh?

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

CNZ

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# 1650471 13-Oct-2016 14:54

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My main argument why I would need 1Gbit fiber Is Plex multiple 4K streaming to people overseas

(if anyone is interested in getting access PM me)

BarTender

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# 1650473 13-Oct-2016 14:58

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Talkiet:You all know there's going to be effectively no difference between 200/200 and the max/500 based service right?

But but.. what about my seed ratio of my favorite Linux ISO?? If I can only move 30TB of data in a month I am being short changed by not being able to shift 80+TB.

Talkiet

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# 1650479 13-Oct-2016 15:04

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CNZ: My main argument why I would need 1Gbit fiber Is Plex multiple 4K streaming to people overseas

(if anyone is interested in getting access PM me)

Terrible argument and I don't buy it for a split second.

1) Your hardware to keep up with that many UHD streams (30+?) reliably isn't terribly cheap.

2) You don't have enough legal UHD material to stream to that many people.

3) If you want to actually ensure a reasonable experience for your "customers" you need a CDN. No-one pushes that much traffic internationally.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are the product of my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Otagolad

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# 1650512 13-Oct-2016 15:45

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Talkiet:

CNZ: My main argument why I would need 1Gbit fiber Is Plex multiple 4K streaming to people overseas

(if anyone is interested in getting access PM me)

Terrible argument and I don't buy it for a split second.

1) Your hardware to keep up with that many UHD streams (30+?) reliably isn't terribly cheap.

2) You don't have enough legal UHD material to stream to that many people.

3) If you want to actually ensure a reasonable experience for your "customers" you need a CDN. No-one pushes that much traffic internationally.

Cheers - N

I have the same situation as CNZ and the equipment wasn't that expensive and all of my material is legal as it is being streamed by my immediate family and is being streamed, not downloaded. Notwithstanding this, I accept that Spark want to get the service right, which is fantastic, but again they look like dinosaurs compared to their competitors who made the changes from day 1 of it being available - why wasn't Spark prepared and yet 2degrees was and what is the expected date for delivery of the service?

At the very least, please confirm that the pricing will be the same as the current 200/200.

PaulBags

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# 1650864 14-Oct-2016 09:51

I'm curious what the price will be, though can't imagine needing such speeds. TBH though there's no incentive to move off of copper, with 30/10 being the same price as adsl and 100/20 being the same price as vdsl the advantage of a landline that works in a power cut more than offsets the upload speed I would like but don't need.

At those prices the only reason would be if free installs have a set end date, since it seems likely copper will eventually be mothballed.

CNZ

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# 1653276 19-Oct-2016 08:23

Can anyone explain why they changed Gigatown to 900Mbps Download?

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