Moving to ADSL or Cable only property. Some opinions sought

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Moving to ADSL or Cable only property. Some opinions sought

Disrespective

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#185170 12-Nov-2015 14:35

I'm a current Vodafone VDSL customer and have been generally pleased with the service both speed and reliability-wise. That being said i'm not more than a few hundred meters from the cabinet in the Wellington CBD.

We recently bought a house, but it doesn't have VDSL available, only ADSL or Cable. I spoke to a competing provider and they indicated that the speed might be about 10mbit and thus VDSL wasn't an option due to the high attenuation.

- I've never used Cable before but i've seen the general distaste for Vodafone cable connections. Even on a bad day, is it going to be faster than 10mbit?
- I have an existing wireless router that i'd like to continue using. Can the Vodafone cable modem be bridged? What is the current modem's specs if not?

I don't play games online but we do use Youtube and other streaming video services often so would appreciate these working reliably.

Any thoughts?

PeterReader

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#1426931 12-Nov-2015 14:35

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.

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loganjames

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#1426949 12-Nov-2015 14:52

My 2c
As a cable user in Christchurch, I am generally impressed with the performance. Both speed and reliability. Averaging 500gb per month in traffic with all video music and every thing streamed

That said at peak times their is a noticeable dip in performance.

Overall best internet I've ever had.

At work at the moment but here is my last couple of speed tests on my phone via WiFi https://goo.gl/lwpJMx

r2b2

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#1426951 12-Nov-2015 14:52

Personally I think its a no-brainer and you want to go Cable. There *has* been issues with cable but, for a majority of people outside of Island Bay, the issue seems to be fixed.

For the Island Bay people I believe a further fix is due to solve their issues. Note that if you just go for the 50Mbps plan you are probably less likely to see any issues that if you go with 100Mbps from what I have seen.

mdf

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#1426955 12-Nov-2015 14:58

Agree with what's been said previously. I've had a much better experience on cable than copper, albeit there have been some issues at peak times of late (and even then, not enough to stop Netflix etc.). Outside peak, you're golden.

Last I heard, the new Technicolour Cable modem couldn't be bridged, but this was something being worked on. @VodafoneDylan may well be able to answer this (I have the cisco and praying that it doesn't break).

Disrespective

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#1426956 12-Nov-2015 14:59

Interesting, thanks guys, much appreciated. The house is actually in Southgate so probably afflicted with the same issues as Island Bay but it looks like the speed increase is still worth while.

dylanp

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#1426986 12-Nov-2015 15:27

mdf: ... Last I heard, the new Technicolour Cable modem couldn't be bridged, but this was something being worked on. @VodafoneDylan may well be able to answer this...

Waiting on a firmware update that will add bridging support. Of course there's now docsis 3.1 on the way too. :)

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Chrizvi

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#1427007 12-Nov-2015 16:05

Yeah go for cable. Im from brooklyn and I get 100Mb all the time even peak hrs. Been really happy and can stream 4k netflix all the time.

Whereabouts your location? Hopefully not close to island bay. Hehe

MikeB4

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#1427014 12-Nov-2015 16:15

Go with Cable, been on it for several years and happy. There is the odd glitch but not many.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Disrespective

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#1427038 12-Nov-2015 16:49

Great sounds like that's going to be my best option. I'm glad bridging support is coming, too. I also like the idea of docsis 3.1.

What's the problem in Island Bay, anyway? If it's a known problem, and everywhere else is OK, it can't be too hard to figure out the issue and get it fixed...?