[TelstraClear] Cable plans fast falling behind ADSL2+

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] Cable plans fast falling behind ADSL2+

Screeb

698 posts

Ultimate Geek

#27970 12-Nov-2008 19:48

This is getting really annoying. TelstraClear have always taken a long time to come out with new cable plans, leaving a large period where they are worse than other broadband offers. And now it's happened again.

For instance, take a look at Slingshot's new Next Big Thing plans. Specifically, The Big Thing #3 http://www.slingshot.co.nz/desktopdefault.aspx?tabindex=999&tabid=31&subnav=12

Lets have a comparison.

TelstraClear LightSpeed 40G:

10Mbps down, 2Mbps up
40GB cap ($2.95/2GB extra)
Pseudo-static IP
$109.95/month

*VS*

Slingshot Big Thing #3:

24Mbps down, 1Mbps up (theoretical - more likely an average of 15Mbps down I would say (remember, this is unbundled ADSL2+ on Vodafone's Red network, so speeds should be pretty good))
40GB cap + FREE off peak (1am - 7am) and data blocks ($10/5GB, $25/20GB, $50/50GB)
Data banking (unused data block data carries on to next month, up to a year)
Phoneline with a plethora of extras and 500 free minutes
$99.95/month

So, unless I'm misunderstanding something, that's a pretty damn big difference, all for $10 LESS. The only advantages cable has is 2Mbps up (vs 1Mpbs), and a pseudo-static IP.

Now, I know cable is regarded as higher quality than ADSL in NZ (ie more stable speeds, better guaranteed speed), and that Slingshot is regarded as not being very good, but still - these are new plans on Vodafone's Red network, and at face value, it looks very impressive.

It would be great if one could just cancel cable and sign up to this Slingshot plan or some other good ADSL2+ plan... but of course, it's only available in Auckland right now, so that's not possible - *TelstraClear sighs in relief, knowing that they won't have to compete with plans like this for the time being*

And while I'm ranting, where's my 25Mbps plan in Wellington? Oh that's right, "equipment delays"... for an entire year... right.

Please someone tell me how wrong I am, and that this is all just a big misunderstanding.

1 | 2

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#177635 12-Nov-2008 19:53

TCL's pricing is now looking pretty average but at the end of the day speeds are fantastic. 10Mbps peaktime downloads are a reality (even for torrents).

The pricing different wasn't made better by TCL's recent price increase for cable at a time when every other ISP is reducing their prices!

I guess it will be very interesting to see what happens when Vodafone's Red network hits Wgtn or Chch - or what sort of price TCL's ULL network offers when it launches in Auckland!

Screeb

698 posts

Ultimate Geek

#177637 12-Nov-2008 20:02

sbiddle: TCL's pricing is now looking pretty average but at the end of the day speeds are fantastic. 10Mbps peaktime downloads are a reality (even for torrents).

Oh, I agree. It's great being able to download at 10Mbps at any time of the day on any port, but yeah.

anatoki

85 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#177662 12-Nov-2008 22:32

In all fairness, Slingshot is probably THE most oversubscribed ISP out there. They also ratelimit a lot...
http://willtruman.blogspot.com/2008/10/slingshot-call-plus-caught-throttling.html

You must understand that you'll forever have to pay more for a quality service and that is indeed what TCL provides. :)

Screeb

698 posts

Ultimate Geek

#177664 12-Nov-2008 22:38

anatoki: In all fairness, Slingshot is probably THE most oversubscribed ISP out there. They also ratelimit a lot...
http://willtruman.blogspot.com/2008/10/slingshot-call-plus-caught-throttling.html
You must understand that you'll forever have to pay more for a quality service and that is indeed what TCL provides. :)

True, but this is using Vodafone's Red network, so that might mean they're able to offer more bandwidth than they are on other plans.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79275 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#177666 12-Nov-2008 22:54

Screeb: The only advantages cable has is 2Mbps up (vs 1Mpbs), and a pseudo-static IP.

"pseudo-static"? I have the same IP address for the last three years, because we moved houses and before that we had the same IP address for about five years...

Kezzainc

97 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#177671 12-Nov-2008 23:37

You can also keep your IP after moving house.

I feel Telstra is ready for a refresh. ADSL2 is a threat.

Screeb

698 posts

Ultimate Geek

#177672 12-Nov-2008 23:49

freitasm:
Screeb: The only advantages cable has is 2Mbps up (vs 1Mpbs), and a pseudo-static IP.

"pseudo-static"? I have the same IP address for the last three years, because we moved houses and before that we had the same IP address for about five years...

That's what I mean. It's not guaranteed to be static, but for most people it is for years on end. I'm just differentiating it from "proper" static IPs where you're guaranteed the same IP no matter what.

Our IP changed when they did a network upgrade a few years ago.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

anatoki

85 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#177692 13-Nov-2008 07:50

Screeb:
anatoki: In all fairness, Slingshot is probably THE most oversubscribed ISP out there. They also ratelimit a lot...
http://willtruman.blogspot.com/2008/10/slingshot-call-plus-caught-throttling.html
You must understand that you'll forever have to pay more for a quality service and that is indeed what TCL provides. :)

True, but this is using Vodafone's Red network, so that might mean they're able to offer more bandwidth than they are on other plans.

You need to be comparing apples with apples and as yet TCL haven't released their LLU ADSL+ plans.
As for your IP, it shouldn't change at all unless you cancel your HSI with us and then get the service again. It's a static IP. We don't guarantee you'll keep the same IP but you damn well should

Screeb

698 posts

Ultimate Geek

#177698 13-Nov-2008 08:41

anatoki:
Screeb:
anatoki: In all fairness, Slingshot is probably THE most oversubscribed ISP out there. They also ratelimit a lot...
http://willtruman.blogspot.com/2008/10/slingshot-call-plus-caught-throttling.html
You must understand that you'll forever have to pay more for a quality service and that is indeed what TCL provides. :)

True, but this is using Vodafone's Red network, so that might mean they're able to offer more bandwidth than they are on other plans.

You need to be comparing apples with apples and as yet TCL haven't released their LLU ADSL+ plans.

So are you suggesting that once TCL release their ADSL2+ plans, only then can we compare TCL's cable plans to anything else? Look, I know ADSL2+ and cable are different beasts, but that's irrelevant to anyone paying for the service. The cable plans simply do not stack up to Slingshot's latest plan now matter how you spin it.

I know cable is of a higher "quality" than xDSL, as I stated in my first post, but I am simply saying that these Big Thing plans are probably higher quality (given that they're on the Red network) than Slingshot's other ADSL plans, which, as you pointed out, are of low "quality".

As for your IP, it shouldn't change at all unless you cancel your HSI with us and then get the service again. It's a static IP. We don't guarantee you'll keep the same IP but you damn well should

And that's why I called it pseudo-static. Ours changed, and we had never canceled. I know it's very likely to remain the same, I'm just being pedantic (I actually thought people would question me if I had called it properly "static", which is why I add the pseudo qualifier).

BarTender

3606 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#177702 13-Nov-2008 08:48

anatoki: You must understand that you'll forever have to pay more for a quality service and that is indeed what TCL provides. :)

I love this sort of attitude, it doesn't tend to win customers, or keep existing customers in this cut-throat world. So far I see the "quality of service" to be hard to justify for what I am paying for. The internet access is great when it works, and TV & Phone are ok as well. But when you actually need to ring someone for help, the "quality of service" is extremely poor. My wife has been with Paradise pretty much since it started... and the quality of service has consistently deteriorated over the years to the point that my wife is happy that I deal with support when needed.

I think to stick to your guns on "we have the lowest latency, and fastest upstream since we purchased Saturn, and not significantly increased the Cable Footprint since it was first deployed, and because of that you need to pay more", is a pretty weak excuse IMHO.

And TCL rolling out a mobile phone service from Telecom who is going to be dumping CDMA by 2012/13 because it's too expensive to rollout their own infrastructure, yet Telecom are rolling out their own W-CDMA GSM network hopefully next year, and TCL want to be seen to be in the mobile game, but not really being in it..... Brillant!

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=S8RjrA05I8w forward to about 1:02

Davos

85 posts

Master Geek

#177752 13-Nov-2008 11:14

Quality service? Lest we forget, prior to the ARP fix, which has been absolutely fantastic, I would have to say TCL's network was no better than anyone elses. Many times I suffered micro outages, waiting for ages for the CM to reboot, high ping times etc.

Some of us got a credit if we complained loud enough and knew what the issue was (and could be bothered waiting long enough when phoning support!), but what really irks me is TCL never really came clean (outside of reading between the lines in this forum) and seemed to treat the PAYING customer with little regard.

Time to play catchup TCL.

andgor

43 posts

Geek

#177788 13-Nov-2008 13:12

And the lack of peering so traffic from useful sites such as nz.archive.ubuntu.com and ftp.nz.debian.org comes from the States instead of from within NZ. Updating my Ubuntu install at the weekend came in at a wonderful 80kByte/sec MAX. Heck my 3G cellphone managed nearly 60kBytes/sec! Response from TelstraClear:

"We are not peered at these exchanges.

As a result, our connections route via international gateways, which translates into slower download speeds and traffic fee's."

Screeb

698 posts

Ultimate Geek

#177811 13-Nov-2008 16:02

andgor: And the lack of peering so traffic from useful sites such as nz.archive.ubuntu.com and ftp.nz.debian.org comes from the States instead of from within NZ. Updating my Ubuntu install at the weekend came in at a wonderful 80kByte/sec MAX. Heck my 3G cellphone managed nearly 60kBytes/sec! Response from TelstraClear:

"We are not peered at these exchanges.

As a result, our connections route via international gateways, which translates into slower download speeds and traffic fee's."

Yep. IMO, the govt needs to do something about this. ISPs should have to peer at a number of major exchanges.

Screeb

698 posts

Ultimate Geek

#177863 13-Nov-2008 20:35

Oh, neat, the demo of the game "Left 4 Dead" is out... wait, nevermind, it's 3.2GB.

It'd be cheaper to order it on DVD from the States (if you could) than to download it (given that we reach our cap each month without downloading the latest game demos). Thanks TelstraClear!

Of course, being smart, you've thought ahead: Clearnet Deluxe - where you can download game demos without it counting towards your cap! Oh, it doesn't have any downloads available yet? (Even though the site's been up for half a year) Damn...

/rant

fraseyboy

134 posts

Master Geek

#178000 14-Nov-2008 15:05

And dont forget Telecom Broadband.

$79.95 for 20GB 10mbps down 2mbps up on Telstraclear.
$59.95 for 20gb 24mbps down 1mbps up ADLS2+ on Telecom.

Really tempting to switch.

1 | 2