Wireless broadband in Meadowbank getting awful speeds today - is there anything can do while we wait for a Chorus install?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Wireless broadband in Meadowbank getting awful speeds today - is there anything can do while we wait for a Chorus install?

turtleattacks

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#324119 2-Mar-2026 16:32

At my parents in Central East Auckland (Meadowbank) and I'm getting some awful broadband speeds. Basically making working with APIs/building unbearable.

I've finally convinced dad to upgrade to fibre but it'll take a few weeks.

Is there anything I can do? Pulling my hair out working from home here.

Here are some stats.

--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---

177 packets transmitted

175 packets received

1.1% packet loss

round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 40.218/451.451/5106.508/1196.013 ms

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RunningMan

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#3466057 2-Mar-2026 16:58

Shift the modem to a different side of the house to connect to a different cell site.

Linux

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#3466084 2-Mar-2026 20:33

You don't mention what hardware / modem your parents are using make / model and does it support 5G?

turtleattacks

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#3466086 2-Mar-2026 20:40

Linux:

You don't mention what hardware / modem your parents are using make / model and does it support 5G?

Some old Huawei unit that Spark said that it's legacy.

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#3466087 2-Mar-2026 20:51

turtleattacks:

Linux:

You don't mention what hardware / modem your parents are using make / model and does it support 5G?

Some old Huawei unit that Spark said that it's legacy.

@turtleattacks Well then you answered your own question

turtleattacks

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#3466088 2-Mar-2026 20:52

Linux:

turtleattacks:

Linux:

You don't mention what hardware / modem your parents are using make / model and does it support 5G?

Some old Huawei unit that Spark said that it's legacy.

@turtleattacks Well then you answered your own question

Oh sorry, I should have mentioned that 5G isn't available in this area/valley.

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Linux

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#3466089 2-Mar-2026 20:56

Newer FWA hardware will support more bands and carrier aggregation of those bands which means faster 4G

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richms

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#3466090 2-Mar-2026 20:58

turtleattacks:

Oh sorry, I should have mentioned that 5G isn't available in this area/valley.

You could try another telco that isnt as far behind with their network build out and does have 5g in the area?

You could get a starlink?

Richard rich.ms

turtleattacks

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#3466091 2-Mar-2026 21:01

richms:

turtleattacks:

Oh sorry, I should have mentioned that 5G isn't available in this area/valley.

You could try another telco that isnt as far behind with their network build out and does have 5g in the area?

You could get a starlink?

Convinced parents to opt for fibre. So it'll be scoped/installed hopefully this week.

Meanwhile hotspotting via my iPhone 15 on Spark is faster.

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#3466092 2-Mar-2026 21:03

@turtleattacks Yes cause your iPhone 15 is much newer hardware that supports more bands / carrier aggregation = faster speed

turtleattacks

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#3466093 2-Mar-2026 21:04

Linux:

@turtleattacks Yes cause your iPhone 15 is much newer hardware that supports more bands / carrier aggregation = faster speed

Yeah, thanks. I was wondering why that was the case.

Didn't know that different devices had different bands given they are both 4G.

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#3466094 2-Mar-2026 21:08

turtleattacks:

Linux:

@turtleattacks Yes cause your iPhone 15 is much newer hardware that supports more bands / carrier aggregation = faster speed

Yeah, thanks. I was wondering why that was the case.

Didn't know that different devices had different bands given they are both 4G.

@turtleattacks carriers use multiple 4G / LTE bands you will see the same coming on 5G / NR