Considering Vodafone ultrafast cable

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Considering Vodafone ultrafast cable - a few questions

ushare

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#141403 11-Mar-2014 16:47

Hey guys

so i have just realized, vodafone is offering ultra fast cable at 50/2. For $129, they are offering free calling to 5 nz mobiles/landlines and 500gb data.

Currently i am on telecom vdsl getting speeds of 20mbps - 28mbps/10mbps upload. Upload speed does not effect me much to be honest and so for the same price, it seems i am getting faster download speeds and also calling to 5 of my favorite nz mobiles/landlines.

My question is, is cable as reliable or more reliable than vdsl?
What kind of speeds can i expect or how can i determine what speeds to expect?
Does Vodafone slow down speeds if i use/download a lot of internet. I watch a lot of HD IPTV and stream/download hd movies per month. (No torrents though, just direct file downloads).

Also when i make the switch, who comes to wire the home? chorus? vodafone people? just wondering.. and what is the process of switching over? Is it possible to switch over with out losing internet access during the switch over?

sorry for the dumb questions and thank you so much in advance :D

PeterReader

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#1002900 11-Mar-2014 16:47

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?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

johnr

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#1002915 11-Mar-2014 16:50

Slow down data for lots of downloading?? If you have a data cap then no throttling is done

Charges after Data cap is used is covered under the plans page " Important things to know "

Are you 100% sure can get Cable (HFC) connected? The address checker is a guide line only, I think Downers do the install and you can keep the VDSL connected if you like as that is delivered over copper not the HFC network

John

ajw

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#1002933 11-Mar-2014 18:24

ushare: Hey guys

so i have just realized, vodafone is offering ultra fast cable at 50/2. For $129, they are offering free calling to 5 nz mobiles/landlines and 500gb data.

Currently i am on telecom vdsl getting speeds of 20mbps - 28mbps/10mbps upload. Upload speed does not effect me much to be honest and so for the same price, it seems i am getting faster download speeds and also calling to 5 of my favorite nz mobiles/landlines.

My question is, is cable as reliable or more reliable than vdsl?
What kind of speeds can i expect or how can i determine what speeds to expect?
Does Vodafone slow down speeds if i use/download a lot of internet. I watch a lot of HD IPTV and stream/download hd movies per month. (No torrents though, just direct file downloads).

Also when i make the switch, who comes to wire the home? chorus? vodafone people? just wondering.. and what is the process of switching over? Is it possible to switch over with out losing internet access during the switch over?

sorry for the dumb questions and thank you so much in advance :D

That should be $119, I'm on the 50/2 80GIG plan and consistently get full speed as advertised. I have had cable for three years and have found it reliable.

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/high-speed-cable/

Sideface

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#1002956 11-Mar-2014 19:21

ushare:...
My question is, is cable as reliable or more reliable than vdsl?
What kind of speeds can i expect or how can i determine what speeds to expect?
Does Vodafone slow down speeds if i use/download a lot of internet...

I am on VF cable 50/2Mbps with a 500GB data cap (and I use it all)

Q1. Reliability is no worse than VDSL (which I have used in the past). Occasional minor outages recently.
Q2. Speed is as advertised - 50/2 90% of the time
Q3. No

[ I have no links with VF ]

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ushare

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#1003107 12-Mar-2014 07:43

ok that sounds really good, one last question as i cant seem to find it on their website. I sometimes go over my data cap and when this happens i choose to have it slowed down. Can vodafone do that rather than charge for more gb? cheers

Sideface

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#1003119 12-Mar-2014 08:34

ushare: ok that sounds really good, one last question as i cant seem to find it on their website. I sometimes go over my data cap and when this happens i choose to have it slowed down. Can vodafone do that rather than charge for more gb? cheers

Vodafone do NOT throttle their connections. They always charge for overage.
They DO send you an email when you are approaching your data cap, when you have reached it, and at 2GB intervals if you have exceeded it.
Overage costs $3 per 2GB, so make sure that you get an adequate data cap in the first place (mine is 500GB).

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johnr

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#1003122 12-Mar-2014 08:43

ushare: ok that sounds really good, one last question as i cant seem to find it on their website. I sometimes go over my data cap and when this happens i choose to have it slowed down. Can vodafone do that rather than charge for more gb? cheers

As above I have already posted Click on ' Important things to know ' and this will cover what happens when data cap is reached

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

johnr

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#1003123 12-Mar-2014 08:44

Sideface:
ushare: ok that sounds really good, one last question as i cant seem to find it on their website. I sometimes go over my data cap and when this happens i choose to have it slowed down. Can vodafone do that rather than charge for more gb? cheers

Vodafone do NOT throttle their connections. They always charge for overage.
They DO send you an email when you are approaching your data cap, when you have reached it, and at 2GB intervals if you have exceeded it.
Overage costs $3 per 2GB, so make sure that you get an adequate data cap in the first place (mine is 500GB).

Some older plans do throttle down to 64k

Sideface

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#1003138 12-Mar-2014 09:07

johnr: Some older plans do throttle down to 64k

Cable plans?

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johnr

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#1003144 12-Mar-2014 09:23

Sideface:
johnr: Some older plans do throttle down to 64k

Cable plans?

Not sure about cable but I know xDSL plans

NikT

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#1004206 12-Mar-2014 12:31

ushare: Hey guys

so i have just realized, vodafone is offering ultra fast cable at 50/2. For $129, they are offering free calling to 5 nz mobiles/landlines and 500gb data.

Currently i am on telecom vdsl getting speeds of 20mbps - 28mbps/10mbps upload. Upload speed does not effect me much to be honest and so for the same price, it seems i am getting faster download speeds and also calling to 5 of my favorite nz mobiles/landlines.

My question is, is cable as reliable or more reliable than vdsl?
What kind of speeds can i expect or how can i determine what speeds to expect?
Does Vodafone slow down speeds if i use/download a lot of internet. I watch a lot of HD IPTV and stream/download hd movies per month. (No torrents though, just direct file downloads).

Also when i make the switch, who comes to wire the home? chorus? vodafone people? just wondering.. and what is the process of switching over? Is it possible to switch over with out losing internet access during the switch over?

sorry for the dumb questions and thank you so much in advance :D

I have personally found cable very reliable vs. xDSL solutions, chiefly in terms of the speeds delivered & the consistency of the user experience. There are a lot of variables in xDSL setups, house wiring being the most obvious of them, and VDSL is additionally quite sensitive to the connections of others in your area. Cable bandwidth is shared between nodes rather than being dependent on distance from the exchange & the quality of wiring, so you're much more likely to achieve the advertised speeds.

Throttle on cap is not offered, but there are email notifications & a usage meter that should make things easy to manage. Torrenting is sweet on cable - and yes, I download Linux ISOs & phone firmware. :) I view it more as five (Or thirteen, for the higher speed tier) 10Mbps connections to saturate, meaning with the right home networking setup, you can do a whole lot more things at once rather than have one task consume all the bandwidth, et cetera.

When you switch over, a technician from Downer or TTL will come out & connect it up. The cable network operates completely independently from the Chorus copper network, so it's actually possible to have both networks connected to a single property at the same time - so no loss of service during the switchover. This can vary if you have a landline and are keeping the same number, as we have to port it from the previous provider in that instance, although that usually takes place right at the point of install. The technicians will come out to your place, wire the cable modem into the wall, & make sure it's working before they leave. It's a pretty great experience vs. the standard intact connections for ADSL.

There's currently a two-week lead time on installs due to the massive upsurge in popularity cable has had recently - especially for those folk in Wellington who can't get VDSL. If you like, I can get the sales folk in touch to start the ball rolling.

Hope that helps!

Cheers,

- Nik

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

ushare

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#1004746 13-Mar-2014 10:52

i just realized i have a contract with telecom for another few months

DUMB :(