Spark Wireless Broadband - New Speed Record

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1024kb

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#240335 3-Sep-2018 02:07

Recently my download speeds have improved substantially. I gotta admit, I didn't really expect to see this level of performance though:

This is in rural Waikato using just the basic Huawei modem that Spark supply & Netgear Powerline to get the data from modem to PC.

Megabyte - so geek it megahertz

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#2082953 3-Sep-2018 05:51

Capacity on sites is not static and sites are upgraded or new sites put in which take load off other sites

Approx where are you? I have seen a number of new Spark sites going up around the Norh Shore in the Bays

John

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#2082954 3-Sep-2018 06:10

Location is Walton, 3475. Morrinsville is 15km away, Te Aroha is 17km away & Matamata 18km.

Megabyte - so geek it megahertz

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#2082955 3-Sep-2018 06:20

1024kb: Location is Walton, 3475. Morrinsville is 15km away, Te Aroha is 17km away & Matamata 18km.

Sorry I see you mentioned Rural Waikato now

John

howdystranger

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#2083043 3-Sep-2018 10:03

Wow those are impressive speeds, particularly given you're not on the new fancy modem

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#2083048 3-Sep-2018 10:11

If you are on Windows 10 can you try downloading the speedtest app from the Windows Store then repeat those tests with your browsers shut and post results? Chrome I know doesn't help give a true result.

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#2083058 3-Sep-2018 10:22

I am using Windows 10, but the LTSB version - Windows without the cruft. No Windows Store or Edge browser.

The testing was done in Brave.

Using the Speedtest app on both Galaxy A7 & iPad Air 2 gave similar results - within 15% anyway

Megabyte - so geek it megahertz

wratterus

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#2083096 3-Sep-2018 11:20

Very nice. Not that I do them often, as they chew so much data, but it's common to see over 100Mbps download on Spark 4G these days.

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#2083105 3-Sep-2018 11:35

When I first got my connection - 6 months ago, I was downloading at around 35-40Mb/s, & the best I'd seen was 60Mb/s when I'd taken the modem for an experimental drive around the area. An almost 300% improvement in download speed is not what I expected from Spark.

Megabyte - so geek it megahertz

techocrazy

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#2083111 3-Sep-2018 11:41

Congrats on those nice rural 4G speeds (a far cry from the good ol ASDL1 days haha).

Wireless technology is getting better and better, and Spark has been making some impressive network upgrades over the past year or so. If you are lucky enough to pass by one of Spark's "4.5G" towers, you can expect to see 4G speeds over 300mbps.

wratterus

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#2083114 3-Sep-2018 11:43

Holy smokes.

Who needs 5G with speeds like that.

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#2083140 3-Sep-2018 12:20

now they need to have bigger data cap.

rural for us only max 240GB for now. and you can only add another 60GB more.

willing to pay more for bigger data cap but no option for now.

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#2083182 3-Sep-2018 12:47

i imagine when they roll out 10Gig connetions to the cellphone towers then there might be higher caps to ensure there is enough back haul

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#2083193 3-Sep-2018 13:01

I think I need to change the title of this thread.

"New Speed Record for me on my basic model router & a long way from any Spark tower"

Or something like that.

Even though the throughput speed is impressive, the jitter level still means that there's a few data-critical operations that I can't do from here, the operations just won't complete.

When working with collaborators in the US, extracting & replacing files from devices, the line quality doesn't allow perfect transmission & so I end up taking a trip to a UFB connection to get the job done.

Such is the cost of living away from traffic jams & pollution - I'm ok with that trade off.

Megabyte - so geek it megahertz

Killerkiwi2005

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#2083205 3-Sep-2018 13:19

1024kb: I think I need to change the title of this thread.

"New Speed Record for me on my basic model router & a long way from any Spark tower"

Or something like that.

Even though the throughput speed is impressive, the jitter level still means that there's a few data-critical operations that I can't do from here, the operations just won't complete.

When working with collaborators in the US, extracting & replacing files from devices, the line quality doesn't allow perfect transmission & so I end up taking a trip to a UFB connection to get the job done.

Such is the cost of living away from traffic jams & pollution - I'm ok with that trade off.

I'm in Te Poi (just on the other side of Matamata) and got lucky that we get VDSL, I tried to get wireless but apparently its not available in this area (over sold I guess) also that data cap is still way to low for working from home

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#2083213 3-Sep-2018 13:33

While not their Wireless Broadband - I recently hit 199Mbps Down / 20Mbps Up on my Spark mobile at Mt Maunganui

Makes life so much easier trying to stream/etc (On their unlimited plan) compared to using unreliable Hotel WiFi as am there often for work.

Can imagine it would be somewhat similar speeds on Wireless Broadband.

Any comments made are my personal views and does not represent those of my employer

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