Can anyone based in Khandallah (Wellington) provide a review of FibreX?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Can anyone based in Khandallah (Wellington) provide a review of FibreX?

Myself

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#210453 28-Mar-2017 10:36

Hi all,

I am a current Vodafone Cable user on a grandfathered 50/2 cable (DOCSIS 3) plan. The connection has always been rock solid, even when others were suffering horrendously through the 'Krapi Cable Congestion' time my connection was always usable, presumably because the load on the node that serves Khandallah was less than it was in other areas.

Because I now need more data than the 80gb cap on my plan provides and a higher upload speed i'm considering my options.

I have been trying to connect to UFB for 10 months now and it has been a nightmare. Our house is a stand alone dwelling with no neighbor consent required and existing services are aerial. On paper this should be the simplest category of UFB installation that Chorus could hope for. Yet it has spent 10 months tripping over it's sub-contractors and somehow trying to progress both aerial and underground options at the same time only to make no progress on either. I understand all the reasons why GPON (real fibre) is better than DOCSIS 3.1 (Fibre X), yet given the prolonged struggle to connect to UFB will no resolution in site, the question I need to ask myself is whether FibreX is good enough..

I acknowledge the threads on here about micro outages and other problems with 'real world' performance. What I would like to know is that, given the node that serves Khandallah seemed to escape previous problems on the cable network, can anyone in my area confirm whether FibreX 200 is stable and providing good service?

Many thanks in advance.

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692 posts

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#1750394 29-Mar-2017 22:07

I can't answer your question, but I feel your pain re Chorus. I've been trying to get them to seal a hole cut in my driveway for the better part of a year. The contact at Chorus is good to deal with, but can't seem to get action from subcontractors and seems just as frustrated as me. Oh dear...

Having said that, it seems unusual that you are having these delays. Your situation sounds almost identical to mine, and my UFB install was less than two weeks from ordering to completion.

I assume you're not having issues with consent to use a power pole? There were a few reports on here of people stuck in limbo waiting for a Wellington Electricity consent. But I think that issue has been resolved through a global consent agreement.

Guide: Installing Network Cabling in New Zealand Homes

Myself

14 posts

Geek

#1750512 30-Mar-2017 09:12

Thanks for your message.

Powerpole consent isn't the issue, that was obtained in about 6 weeks. The pole was yellow tagged though which meant it could be used, but had to be accessed with a cherry picker rather than being climbed. The weekly updates I recieved from my RSP implied that this was the main problem, it took a further 7 months for Visonstream to find an elevated work platform. They did find one in the end though and installed a Remote Access Terminal on the pole only to then have Wellington Electricity pull the pole out and replace it a week later. A further two months on, the Remote Fibre Access Terminal I waited for 8 months to be installed is still hanging in mid air, supported by some yellow rope but not attached to the pole..

Rather than securing and using it, Chorus has decided that underground is the way to go but it hasnt made any progress on this other than painting my drive many weeks ago. I personally don't think underground is a great option as my house is up 50 steps from the drive..

I've told my RSP this many times and have even sent it a photo of the brand new pole and unsecured remote access terminal asking for the aerial option to be reconsidered. All that has come back is "Chorus is unlikely to change the build design."

So I think it's time to call it quits and continue with the HFC network already connected to my house (and resecured to the new pole). Just hoping to hear a positive review first :-)

Cheers,

Sideface

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#1750581 30-Mar-2017 10:07

Myself:

... I am a current Vodafone Cable user on a grandfathered 50/2 cable (DOCSIS 3) plan. The connection has always been rock solid, even when others were suffering horrendously through the 'Krapi Cable Congestion' time my connection was always usable ...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I live in Island Bay, the epicenter of 'Krapi Cable Congestion'.

I have been on DOSIS 3.0 cable 50/2, 100/10, and 130/10 Mbps connections.

I "upgraded" to DOCSIS 3.1 on the first day that it became available.

Big mistake.

Performance was better on 50/2 Mbps.

Wait for fibre.

Sideface

ajw

1932 posts

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#1750593 30-Mar-2017 10:18

Upgraded from 50/2 to 200/10 in Stokes Valley two weeks ago, been stable here and consistent speeds. Also happy with the deal they gave me. A friend in Newlands also been recently installed from 50/2 to 200/20 and he seems happy with the connection.

michaelmurfy

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#1750594 30-Mar-2017 10:19

Don't do it. Keep hounding for UFB from a real provider until it is installed instead.

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ajw

1932 posts

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#1750629 30-Mar-2017 11:41

michaelmurfy:

Don't do it. Keep hounding for UFB from a real provider until it is installed instead.

In my case December 2019, I want a reasonable connection now, not when Chorus get around to laying fibre in my street.

michaelmurfy

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#1750636 30-Mar-2017 12:00

ajw:
michaelmurfy:

Don't do it. Keep hounding for UFB from a real provider until it is installed instead.

In my case December 2019, I want a reasonable connection now, not when Chorus get around to laying fibre in my street.

What if I told you that my parents rural VDSL connection performs better than FibreX? Because it is true.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

ajw

1932 posts

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#1750638 30-Mar-2017 12:08

michaelmurfy:
ajw:

michaelmurfy:

Don't do it. Keep hounding for UFB from a real provider until it is installed instead.

In my case December 2019, I want a reasonable connection now, not when Chorus get around to laying fibre in my street.

What if I told you that my parents rural VDSL connection performs better than FibreX? Because it is true.

Well in my case I have a consistent connection on FibreX and so far am perfectly happy with my connection. It always pays to get more opinions I always check out the vfone forums and facebook site.

http://community.vodafone.co.nz/

antoniosk

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#1750640 30-Mar-2017 12:09

Myself:

Hi all,

I am a current Vodafone Cable user on a grandfathered 50/2 cable (DOCSIS 3) plan. The connection has always been rock solid, even when others were suffering horrendously through the 'Krapi Cable Congestion' time my connection was always usable, presumably because the load on the node that serves Khandallah was less than it was in other areas.

Because I now need more data than the 80gb cap on my plan provides and a higher upload speed i'm considering my options.

I have been trying to connect to UFB for 10 months now and it has been a nightmare. Our house is a stand alone dwelling with no neighbor consent required and existing services are aerial. On paper this should be the simplest category of UFB installation that Chorus could hope for. Yet it has spent 10 months tripping over it's sub-contractors and somehow trying to progress both aerial and underground options at the same time only to make no progress on either. I understand all the reasons why GPON (real fibre) is better than DOCSIS 3.1 (Fibre X), yet given the prolonged struggle to connect to UFB will no resolution in site, the question I need to ask myself is whether FibreX is good enough..

I acknowledge the threads on here about micro outages and other problems with 'real world' performance. What I would like to know is that, given the node that serves Khandallah seemed to escape previous problems on the cable network, can anyone in my area confirm whether FibreX 200 is stable and providing good service?

Many thanks in advance.

Why dont you call, get the upgrade and ensure they don't tie you to a term etc? that way if UFB comes right and fibrex is indeed bad for you... easy out.

The Island Bay crowd is being treated very poorly by Voda, but it doesn't mean the whole system is stuffed. As I keep saying mine is pretty solid in Kelburn and always has been.

It will take 3 days to connect or you get $$, and the only change is a site visit for a new modem - and they will check the street connection to ensure the levels are solid. Pretty good when you're being dicked around for fibre...

________

Antoniosk

ajw

1932 posts

Uber Geek

#1750642 30-Mar-2017 12:15

antoniosk:

Myself:

Hi all,

I am a current Vodafone Cable user on a grandfathered 50/2 cable (DOCSIS 3) plan. The connection has always been rock solid, even when others were suffering horrendously through the 'Krapi Cable Congestion' time my connection was always usable, presumably because the load on the node that serves Khandallah was less than it was in other areas.

Because I now need more data than the 80gb cap on my plan provides and a higher upload speed i'm considering my options.

I have been trying to connect to UFB for 10 months now and it has been a nightmare. Our house is a stand alone dwelling with no neighbor consent required and existing services are aerial. On paper this should be the simplest category of UFB installation that Chorus could hope for. Yet it has spent 10 months tripping over it's sub-contractors and somehow trying to progress both aerial and underground options at the same time only to make no progress on either. I understand all the reasons why GPON (real fibre) is better than DOCSIS 3.1 (Fibre X), yet given the prolonged struggle to connect to UFB will no resolution in site, the question I need to ask myself is whether FibreX is good enough..

I acknowledge the threads on here about micro outages and other problems with 'real world' performance. What I would like to know is that, given the node that serves Khandallah seemed to escape previous problems on the cable network, can anyone in my area confirm whether FibreX 200 is stable and providing good service?

Many thanks in advance.

Why dont you call, get the upgrade and ensure they don't tie you to a term etc? that way if UFB comes right and fibrex is indeed bad for you... easy out.

The Island Bay crowd is being treated very poorly by Voda, but it doesn't mean the whole system is stuffed. As I keep saying mine is pretty solid in Kelburn and always has been.

It will take 3 days to connect or you get $$, and the only change is a site visit for a new modem - and they will check the street connection to ensure the levels are solid. Pretty good when you're being dicked around for fibre...

Have a word with the vfone retentions dept. To upgrade ( I was already in a contract) gave me phone, 5x best mates, unlimited 200/20 and free Neon TV for a year for $70 pm. In my case I was happy to lock myself into a 24 month contract as I will not be getting fibre until early 2020.

kharris

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#1750643 30-Mar-2017 12:16

michaelmurfy:
ajw:

michaelmurfy:

Don't do it. Keep hounding for UFB from a real provider until it is installed instead.

In my case December 2019, I want a reasonable connection now, not when Chorus get around to laying fibre in my street.

What if I told you that my parents rural VDSL connection performs better than FibreX? Because it is true.

Wow... there's a generalisation. Is your statement true across the board, or just for some people on some nodes? My 200/20 fibreX connection performs fine. I have had to restart the modem in the past but not any time recently. I'm in Maupuia.

Kirk

kharris

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#1750645 30-Mar-2017 12:22

ajw:

antoniosk:

Myself:

Hi all,

I am a current Vodafone Cable user on a grandfathered 50/2 cable (DOCSIS 3) plan. The connection has always been rock solid, even when others were suffering horrendously through the 'Krapi Cable Congestion' time my connection was always usable, presumably because the load on the node that serves Khandallah was less than it was in other areas.

Because I now need more data than the 80gb cap on my plan provides and a higher upload speed i'm considering my options.

I have been trying to connect to UFB for 10 months now and it has been a nightmare. Our house is a stand alone dwelling with no neighbor consent required and existing services are aerial. On paper this should be the simplest category of UFB installation that Chorus could hope for. Yet it has spent 10 months tripping over it's sub-contractors and somehow trying to progress both aerial and underground options at the same time only to make no progress on either. I understand all the reasons why GPON (real fibre) is better than DOCSIS 3.1 (Fibre X), yet given the prolonged struggle to connect to UFB will no resolution in site, the question I need to ask myself is whether FibreX is good enough..

I acknowledge the threads on here about micro outages and other problems with 'real world' performance. What I would like to know is that, given the node that serves Khandallah seemed to escape previous problems on the cable network, can anyone in my area confirm whether FibreX 200 is stable and providing good service?

Many thanks in advance.

Why dont you call, get the upgrade and ensure they don't tie you to a term etc? that way if UFB comes right and fibrex is indeed bad for you... easy out.

The Island Bay crowd is being treated very poorly by Voda, but it doesn't mean the whole system is stuffed. As I keep saying mine is pretty solid in Kelburn and always has been.

It will take 3 days to connect or you get $$, and the only change is a site visit for a new modem - and they will check the street connection to ensure the levels are solid. Pretty good when you're being dicked around for fibre...

Have a word with the vfone retentions dept. To upgrade ( I was already in a contract) gave me phone, 5x best mates, unlimited 200/20 and free Neon TV for a year for $70 pm. In my case I was happy to lock myself into a 24 month contract as I will not be getting fibre until early 2020.

Did you also get the first 6 months at half price?

Kirk

Myself

14 posts

Geek

#1751042 31-Mar-2017 10:27

Thanks all for your messages and cautions.

It sounds like there are sestemic issues in Island Bay that have previously manifested in congestion and are now manifesting in other ways. It's unacceptable that those of you served in that area continue to have problems.

On the other hand I note the mostly positive reviews concerning Kelburn, Stokes Valley and Maupuia.

The safest option for me may be to try and get an upgrade to the grandfathered 100/10 Doscis 3 product, if VF are willing to do this at the 200/20 FibreX price it may provide the right mix of stability while giving me the higher upload speed I'm after.

If the next update from Chorus doesn't move things along I'll put the call in on this.

Appreciate the perspectives.

Cheers

gehenna

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#1751052 31-Mar-2017 10:37

Just FYI I'm in Khandallah. Recently lived on Cashmere Avenue and had Orcon 1000/500 which worked brilliantly, all the time (except for a few teething issues at the start but that was Chorus as usual).

Now staying with the in-laws near the village and they're on Spark 100/30. It's OK, nowhere near as good as the Orcon connection for stability, and the WiFi router they've provided is really poor. It also suffers a bit from throttling at certain times of day where Orcon doesn't.

I recommend getting off Vodafone as they are atrocious. Orcon is a good alternative, but you have to be prepared for some shitty customer service.

xphile

11 posts

Geek

#1762245 12-Apr-2017 14:30

ajw:

antoniosk:

Myself:

Hi all,

I am a current Vodafone Cable user on a grandfathered 50/2 cable (DOCSIS 3) plan. The connection has always been rock solid, even when others were suffering horrendously through the 'Krapi Cable Congestion' time my connection was always usable, presumably because the load on the node that serves Khandallah was less than it was in other areas.

Because I now need more data than the 80gb cap on my plan provides and a higher upload speed i'm considering my options.

I have been trying to connect to UFB for 10 months now and it has been a nightmare. Our house is a stand alone dwelling with no neighbor consent required and existing services are aerial. On paper this should be the simplest category of UFB installation that Chorus could hope for. Yet it has spent 10 months tripping over it's sub-contractors and somehow trying to progress both aerial and underground options at the same time only to make no progress on either. I understand all the reasons why GPON (real fibre) is better than DOCSIS 3.1 (Fibre X), yet given the prolonged struggle to connect to UFB will no resolution in site, the question I need to ask myself is whether FibreX is good enough..

I acknowledge the threads on here about micro outages and other problems with 'real world' performance. What I would like to know is that, given the node that serves Khandallah seemed to escape previous problems on the cable network, can anyone in my area confirm whether FibreX 200 is stable and providing good service?

Many thanks in advance.

Why dont you call, get the upgrade and ensure they don't tie you to a term etc? that way if UFB comes right and fibrex is indeed bad for you... easy out.

The Island Bay crowd is being treated very poorly by Voda, but it doesn't mean the whole system is stuffed. As I keep saying mine is pretty solid in Kelburn and always has been.

It will take 3 days to connect or you get $$, and the only change is a site visit for a new modem - and they will check the street connection to ensure the levels are solid. Pretty good when you're being dicked around for fibre...

Have a word with the vfone retentions dept. To upgrade ( I was already in a contract) gave me phone, 5x best mates, unlimited 200/20 and free Neon TV for a year for $70 pm. In my case I was happy to lock myself into a 24 month contract as I will not be getting fibre until early 2020.

Retentions just called me 12/04 - I'm still on an even older grandfathered plan than the OP - 15/2 on the old rock solid Motorola. I know people will laugh but speed has just never been a big deal for me. Regardless it was getting pretty stupid since I'm paying the same as a 200 unlimited plan - I just needed to get where i could definitely be home inside a 3 bus day window. So after a bit of a chat I agreed to go to FibreX Max with a 12 month contract, and they agreed to lock that in for 2 years (twice the actual contract) at a max of $89.99 - or less if it naturally drops below that price. If it's still somehow higher than $90 at the end of 2 years I was told to call and they'd sharpen the pencil again.

A $10 a month premium to go to Max is a lot more attractive than $30. And whatever speed I end up with I'm guessing it will be touch higher than 15 lol

Moral of the story it seems they are currently actively keen to get us old TLC customers moving, so if you are one then it may be time for a haggle. Mine was done under retentions internal "loyal customer" provision and between mine and the above agreement it definitely seems they have an amount of flexibility.

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