The Great Telecom Upload Speed Conspiracy???

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res

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Topic # 84416 30-May-2011 19:25

I'm posting this because I'm bemused and confused. I don't think Telecom is conspiring to keep upload speeds down, more likely just incompetence, but.......

I decided to upgrade my venerable Thomson 510i ADSL modem to an ADSL2+ model. We're 4.5km away from the DSLAM (according to Telecom) so I wasn't expecting too much improvement. This is how my upgrade has unfolded, all speeds stated are from the connect speeds reported by the modems.

1) The Thomson 510i ADSL 1 typically got 4.5 to 5M down and 600 to 800k up.

2) First I tried a Thomsom 536v6 (based on "Broadcom chipset is best" views from forums) with Telecom firmware locked in (these ex-Telecom freebies are cheap to buy off auctions). This was interesting - speeds now in the range 5.5 to 7M down, 320 to 500k up! I seemed to have swapped upload for download speed. I thought maybe that was the compromise I had to live with.

3) As I wanted to reconfigure the speedtouch to work better with a new wireless router, which meant getting rid the Telecom locked-in firmware, I replaced it temporarily with a Linksys AG300. "Anything Linksys ADSL is a terrible performer" the forums all seemed to say..... Download was now 5-6M, but upload 900k+ every time!

4) With the Linksys in place, soldering iron in hand, I set about connecting to the jtag port on the 536v6 as described in instructions off the web, and nuked the firmware lockdown on it. The stupidity of locking firmware like this is not my subject here but boy, mutter, mutter mutter........ Anyway, with my 536v6 now running a generic version of the latest firmware (two releases on from Telecom's), I got downloads still 5.5-7M, but uploads 900k+ from this same 536v6 modem. Well, it could be the newer firmware, rather than Telecom throttling the upload speed, couldn't it??????

The story doesn't quite end here though. One night about 7pm (peak traffic time probably) and with the 536v6 having connected that morning at 7M down and 945k up I thought I'd run some web based speed tests to see what real life throughput was like.

Somewhat stunned by the upload results, I repeated the tests over and over, same outcome:

- Telecom Broadband Speed test (the one on their web site), down 5.8 to 6M, up 380 to 400k.

- 4 other speed test sites (two variants of Flash testers - one the same as Telecom's, one different, and trying Wellington and Napier servers when allowed a choice) gave me consistent results; 5.8 to 6M down, 780 to 800k up.

So....what IS going on here? Superficially it looks like Telecom have got a thing about keeping upload speeds down and even expectations of upload speeds down.

Anyone got any thoughts of how this might not be so? Have I missed something important?

Cheers,
res

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Reply # 475945 30-May-2011 20:45

i have ADSL2+ and im connected to a roadside cabinet heres my results..

Telecom speedtest site

Vodafone speed test site

Download Speed: 12768 kbps (1596 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 970 kbps (121.3 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 41 ms

Also my sync stats
Downstream Rate: 15000 kbps
Upstream Rate: 1240 kbps

Not all modems are built equal not all houses have great wiring, considering your 4.5k away from the exchange i would be amazingly happy with the results you seem to get.

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kiwigeek1

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Reply # 475946 30-May-2011 20:46

i have the thomson asdl2+ as well.. the stats says it connects at 800k up and 8132 K down
so eally its like standard asdl right. not 24m as they claim.

however rainy days it was disconnecting and speed might drop to 3000-5000k down and modem speeds up

thats living outside city I guess.

tdgeek

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Reply # 475977 30-May-2011 21:36

---

i have the thomson asdl2+ as well.. the stats says it connects at 800k up and 8132 K down so really its like standard asdl right. not 24m as they claim.---

Your distance is the limitation of the downstream connect rate, not the ADSL2+.

---however rainy days it was disconnecting and speed might drop to 3000-5000k down and modem speeds up---

You have a moisture issue somewhere. Dont follow what you mean by "modem speeds up"

tardtasticx

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Reply # 475999 30-May-2011 22:33

Yeh it seems like they would be but I highly doubt they would since every other service provider is the same, and they have like no reason to.

We live about 1km from a roadside cabinet, and we're on ADSL2+ with a 2wire business modem (from Telecom). Our upload speeds are about 98KB/s and download speeds hover around 1.5MB now (Mega Bytes, mega bits annoy me) I don't understand why the upload is about 1/15th of the download speed. But I've just come to accept it because Telecom pretty much can't do anything more to help, and most people in this area get the same.

Thats NZ broadband for you. Lol

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res

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Reply # 476011 30-May-2011 22:46

Hmmm.... replies to date seem somewhat hung up on the download speed. That's not relevent. The issue is:

1) Telecom supplied modem with locked down Telecom firmware, upload speed 320-400kbps. Other modem and same modem with generic firmware, upload speed 900+kbps. These results are consistant and within minutes of each other (unplug 536v6 modem, plug in the Linksys - upload speed jumps up). Day to day variations caused by moisture or anything don't enter into the equation - this is a straight comparison between modems.

2) With Modem saying it connected at 945kbps, non-Telecom speed test says throughput 780-800kbps (a good result for the time of day), but Telecom speed test says 380 to 400kbps. These test repeated within minutes - consistently the same result. How can Telecom be so under reporting upload speed - if I can upload at 780-800kbps to a third party, I should be able to upload to Telecomat at least that rate - shouldn't I?

Apparently not.

Interesting that the same modem in locked down firmware state can achieve better rates, as per reply above, and another I know almost next door to the DSLAM site that gets typically 945kbps up.

Very confusing.....

Talkiet

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Reply # 476020 30-May-2011 23:07

tardtasticx: Yeh it seems like they would be but I highly doubt they would since every other service provider is the same, and they have like no reason to.

We live about 1km from a roadside cabinet, and we're on ADSL2+ with a 2wire business modem (from Telecom). Our upload speeds are about 98KB/s and download speeds hover around 1.5MB now (Mega Bytes, mega bits annoy me) I don't understand why the upload is about 1/15th of the download speed. But I've just come to accept it because Telecom pretty much can't do anything more to help, and most people in this area get the same.

Thats NZ broadband for you. Lol

Let me convert those numbers for you...

98KByte/sec = 784kbit/sec
1.5MBytes/sec = 12.2mbps

You've got a pretty good connection, and the reason your upload speed is much slower than the download speed is because that's the way ADSL works. ADSL = Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymmetric_Digital_Subscriber_Line_2_Plus

Cheers - N

Talkiet

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Reply # 476025 30-May-2011 23:13

res: Hmmm.... replies to date seem somewhat hung up on the download speed. That's not relevent. The issue is:

1) Telecom supplied modem with locked down Telecom firmware, upload speed 320-400kbps. Other modem and same modem with generic firmware, upload speed 900+kbps. These results are consistant and within minutes of each other (unplug 536v6 modem, plug in the Linksys - upload speed jumps up). Day to day variations caused by moisture or anything don't enter into the equation - this is a straight comparison between modems.

2) With Modem saying it connected at 945kbps, non-Telecom speed test says throughput 780-800kbps (a good result for the time of day), but Telecom speed test says 380 to 400kbps. These test repeated within minutes - consistently the same result. How can Telecom be so under reporting upload speed - if I can upload at 780-800kbps to a third party, I should be able to upload to Telecomat at least that rate - shouldn't I?

Apparently not.

Interesting that the same modem in locked down firmware state can achieve better rates, as per reply above, and another I know almost next door to the DSLAM site that gets typically 945kbps up.

Very confusing.....

So the modem with the firmware that was tested by Telecom gives better speed than one with a hacked firmware that you've attacked with a soldering iron!?

There's variances in performance between chipsets (as you're aware) and between settings coded into the various firmwares. Some work better than others, and some work great with one type of DSLAM and not so great with others.

If you've found a router that works reliably and gives the best possible speed up and down, then use that one.

As for a high reported sync rate and lower throughput - have you had a look at the FEC stats? Do you even have interleaving turned on?

I promise you, there's nothing silly going on to deliberately hobble upload rates - you've just happened on a fact of life with the variety of DSL chipsets and settings around.

Cheers - N

BarTender

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Reply # 476026 30-May-2011 23:14

tardtasticx: Yeh it seems like they would be but I highly doubt they would since every other service provider is the same, and they have like no reason to.

We live about 1km from a roadside cabinet, and we're on ADSL2+ with a 2wire business modem (from Telecom). Our upload speeds are about 98KB/s and download speeds hover around 1.5MB now (Mega Bytes, mega bits annoy me) I don't understand why the upload is about 1/15th of the download speed. But I've just come to accept it because Telecom pretty much can't do anything more to help, and most people in this area get the same.

Thats NZ broadband for you. Lol

You get a slow uplink speed since that's how ADSL works. When VDSL comes in it's a fully different story, but that's will need a new and far more expensive ($600+ from what i have seen) router at your house, plus excellent wiring and ideally with a master line filter.

Damager

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Reply # 476044 31-May-2011 00:32

Talkiet

When is Telecom bringing in VDSL plans? Uploading full hd camcorder videos is torture! :-)

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Reply # 476057 31-May-2011 07:39

I'm meant to get VDSL Jan next year I think. And this other map I saw, said that they've proposed fibre to run past my house, probably because theres a school down the road. Can't wait :D

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Talkiet

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Reply # 476089 31-May-2011 09:23

Damager: Talkiet

When is Telecom bringing in VDSL plans? Uploading full hd camcorder videos is torture! :-)

I feel your pain - I shoot a LOT of sports photos and run a full backup to backblaze (1.2TB at the moment) so I would love some more upload speed.

Unfortunately I have no idea of any plans Telecom Retail may or may not have around VDSL.

The VDSL rollout that's visible on the Telecom Wholesale maps doesn't immediately translate into being able to buy a VDSL service. After the VDSL capability is provided by wholesale, a retail ISP (Telecom Retail or any of the other retail ISPs) has to build retail products using that wholesale capability and so far there's only a few places doing low volume trials.

I would imagine the early adopters for VDSL are likely to be heavy users and I believe it's quite hard to make business cases stand up for just heavy users...

Cheers - N

cyril7

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Reply # 476096 31-May-2011 09:32

Hi, so Neil based on that guess we better pull the plug on the UFB upgrade before we waste more money on things that dont stackup.

:)

Cyril

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Reply # 476097 31-May-2011 09:34

cyril7: Hi, so Neil based on that guess we better pull the plug on the UFB upgrade before we waste more money on things that dont stackup.

:)

Cyril

Chuckle... Truly understanding the business case behind UFB (with the govt money involved) is way beyond my pay grade or desire...

I'll leave making the business case for UFB to the money boffins and I'll stick to whatever technical input I'm asked for :-)

Cheers - N

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Reply # 476487 31-May-2011 23:44

I see these mickey mouse ISPs like WorldNet offering retail VDSL and yet Telecom the largest ISP isnt at the moment so i struggle to understand the delay? My area is now VDSL ready and just want the opportunity to be able to upload much faster with Telecom.

mrbluesky

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Reply # 477012 2-Jun-2011 12:04

I was having issue uploading my stream to my stream hosts overseas. Massive latency issues between my router and the internet gateway, was causing my stream to buffer so badly that I was losing listeners. When testing to the same remote IP address from another provider there was no latency.

Two separate calls to the "Manila Telecom Call Centre" didn't do anything but raise my blood pressure. They kept insisting that they could find no problems and wouldn't escalate me to 2nd or 3rd level support.

I filed a formal complaint with Telecom management about the appalling customer service of their Manila help desk and after a 2 weeks investigation...I have not again had the issue for almost 2 months.

Will the wonders of the monopoly ever cease? Probably not.

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