Can you choose to use Rural Broadband?

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Geektastic

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#255691 23-Aug-2019 22:39

Our house currently has VDSL. I had the tech out today because the speeds have been declining over recent months.

We now get 17-20 GBps down and 0.50 - 1.50 up. The tech from Chorus said that the current performance is about as good as it can be.

According to the Chorus map, we will never get fibre at this address.

Rural Broadband using 4G would be MUCH faster (I get about 60 down and 10 up on my phone using it) although obviously more expensive.

Does anyone know whether you can just ring up and say "I want to use Rural BB please" or is it restricted only to places with no other option?

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#2304974 23-Aug-2019 23:17

If you're getting 17-20GBps down, you're doing better than anyone else in the country - don't worry about not getting fibre!

Geektastic

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#2304976 23-Aug-2019 23:20

Sorry - I have so many specs flying around in my head today that my units are getting confused. Mbps obvs.

Ge0rge

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#2304977 23-Aug-2019 23:24

Obvs.

To be honest, I get around 2Mbps tops, with no chance of fibre either. When I read people complaining about their "slow" speeds, but they are still getting nearly ten times faster than I get, I do feel a bit miffed.

Sorry, well off topic and of no help to you. I'll be shuffling along now...

Linux

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#2304982 24-Aug-2019 06:35

What speed did you use to get?

Jase2985

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#2304983 24-Aug-2019 06:39

what you get on you phone does not translate to what you will get on RBI.

you generally also have a cap on your RBI connection, you dont on VDSL.

VDSL shouldnt be affected by load like RBI.

what are you doing with your connection that requires the extra speed over data cap?

cyril7

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#2305011 24-Aug-2019 08:45

Problem with RB on 4g is data caps or high cost without, have you concidered trying a Wisp.

https://www.wispa.nz/wispa-nz-members/

Cyril

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cyril7

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#2305018 24-Aug-2019 08:50

Another option is, do you have a friend a km or so down the road, that is closer to the cabinet/exchange and you have line of site to. If so try a 5Ghz link and have your modem there.

Cyril

gaddman

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#2305042 24-Aug-2019 09:15

The urban equivalent of rural broadband is available as wireless broadband. As @Jase2895 points out you'd want to consider the lower caps and potential loading (ie slowing down during the evening peak), but both of these will be specific to you (your usage and geographic location) and will change over time. And note that the max speed will be capped (I can't find where that's stated, but see this Geekzone thread).

Echoing what @Linux asked - what were your VDSL speeds earlier? If they were sufficient then troubleshooting the line conditions may be a better solution here. But if you want to go the 4G path, first check speeds at the times you're using broadband to make sure it's good enough (we offer a guarantee if you're eligible, but I think that's only for coverage - best read it yourself and contact us to confirm).

Geektastic

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#2305475 24-Aug-2019 21:24

Linux: What speed did you use to get?

The fastest we had was 40.3 down and 3.29 up.

Slowest is 0.63 down and 0.28 up.

Current is 22.1 down and 1.6 up.

Geektastic

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#2305488 24-Aug-2019 21:29

gaddman:

The urban equivalent of rural broadband is available as wireless broadband. As @Jase2895 points out you'd want to consider the lower caps and potential loading (ie slowing down during the evening peak), but both of these will be specific to you (your usage and geographic location) and will change over time. And note that the max speed will be capped (I can't find where that's stated, but see this Geekzone thread).

Echoing what @Linux asked - what were your VDSL speeds earlier? If they were sufficient then troubleshooting the line conditions may be a better solution here. But if you want to go the 4G path, first check speeds at the times you're using broadband to make sure it's good enough (we offer a guarantee if you're eligible, but I think that's only for coverage - best read it yourself and contact us to confirm).

The Chorus tech came yesterday and said that the line speeds are 'normal' for our connection. His measurement (via Chorus app on his phone, not sure what it measured or where) was better than Speedtest on my iMac by about 10 down and 0.5 up.

Tinkerisk

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#2305548 25-Aug-2019 00:11

Here you can by using a HYBRID plan (LTE & VDSL - same price of VDSL alone, btw) and this https://en.avm.de/products/fritzbox/fritzbox-6890-lte/

But I'm afraid, it might not help in your situation when no affordable LTE plan is available in NZ.

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Scott3

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#2305575 25-Aug-2019 08:34

Skinny offers 4g plans not branded as rural.

Put your address into a 4g plan here to see if it is offered at your address:

https://www.skinny.co.nz/broadband/

If it isn't offered on the biggest data cap plan try a smaller plan.

Personally I would perfer a 17Mbps unlimited plan than a 50Mbps limited plan. But that will depend on your use case.

BMarquis

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Chorus

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#2305582 25-Aug-2019 08:50

Are you confusing sync rates and Speedtest.net results here?
Please PM me your address and I’ll take a look from the Chorus side.

-Brent

Dairyxox

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#2305584 25-Aug-2019 08:50

I think if you are rural, then you can request a RBI connection. Wheather or not there is a suitable tower nearby is another story.

Phone a few of the larger ISP's and see what they can do?

Linux

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#2305603 25-Aug-2019 09:43

Geektastic:
Linux: What speed did you use to get?

The fastest we had was 40.3 down and 3.29 up.

Slowest is 0.63 down and 0.28 up.

Current is 22.1 down and 1.6 up.

@Geektastic you should be able to get back close to these speeds if you fix what caused the slow down in the first place!

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