Chorus broadband maps are a lie!

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Chorus broadband maps are a lie!

hotrok

71 posts

Master Geek

#161872 22-Jan-2015 08:45

Soundbite title I know but honestly the Chorus broadband rollout maps do not reflect anywhere near the truth of what broadband service you get in the rural sector. For instance my zone says that the broadband is greater than 5mb, when in reality it hardly breaks 1 mb.

They do have some disclaimers at the bottom of the map but none of those are correct in my case or anyone else in my zone.

The dates and locations of our roll out are indicative as they are subject to some change and we have provided them to you on an information only basis. You should not rely on this information without talking to your telecommunications service provider.
This gives you Chorus network capability, so you need a service provider that offers services over the Chorus network. Your service provider will undertake a prequalification to confirm service availability.
Following an upgrade it is possible that some older modem types might have connectivity issues. Please contact your service provider if you have problems following an upgrade.
The services and speeds that you get will depend on your service provider.
The experience you get is subject to some factors which is worth bearing in mind. This includes distance from the exchange or cabinet, home wiring, age of your computer, operating system, your modem and broadbandplan.

There is no disclaimer about Chorus network having congestion, they put the blame on the ISP.

There needs to be more transparancy about their network capabilities on this map and a true reflection of the possible speed that can be achieved.

1 | 2 | 3

1363 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1219749 22-Jan-2015 08:50

Based on experience I would say the last disclaimer about distance and internal wiring is correct and your issue lies there.

Do you have a master filter installed?

<#
.DISCLAIMER
Anything I post is my own and not the views of my past/present/future employer.
#>

hotrok

71 posts

Master Geek

#1219758 22-Jan-2015 08:58

500 m from the cabinet :)
brandnew house ;)
Nothing to do with my wiring etc. Modem sync speeds is adsl1 8mb/0.5 etc. This is what Chorus are basing there speeds on the modem sync speed I presume.

This is nothing new for rural households. Its the maps that are based on older cabinets that really cant offer the speeds they are toting. I live in a 5mb zone and I reckon there is probably not much more than that on the whole cabinet for 50-60 houses.

I am slightly trolling but its more about the maps information is so far from the truth that I would say its a lie! They need to change the information on their maps to really reflect what speeds are. This has nothing to do with ISP. A lot of people will look at these maps and think Ok I can live with >5mb. They would not think that actually 5mb is a dream and the real reflection would be 1mb during the day and 0.5mb during peak times.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#1219793 22-Jan-2015 09:18

There is nothing misleading about the maps or your situation. The speeds indicated are connection speeds. Your connection is (most likely) 7616 on ADSL1 equipment and is fully in line with these coverage maps.

The fact you're (clearly) on a Conklin is a very different debate altogether.

Are you scheduled for an ISAM upgrade as part of the RBI? If not you need to look at wireless options, either wireless RBI or from a local WISP.

hotrok

71 posts

Master Geek

#1219800 22-Jan-2015 09:28

I am not on a Conklin.

The services and speeds that you get will depend on your service provider.

This is not a true statement. My speed is down to the Chorus network in my case as it is for a lot of others. They are basically saying their network delivers these speeds if you are close enough to the cabinet/exchange and your wiring is intact. What they dont tell you is that the speed and service may be variable due to their network limitations!

trig42

5811 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1219821 22-Jan-2015 09:49

You must be on a Conklin if you are syncing at ADSL1 speeds and are only 500m from the cabinet.

Which Cabinet is it?

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1219823 22-Jan-2015 09:51

If you are on a Conklin then you are getting what is expected

grant_k

3539 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1219824 22-Jan-2015 09:51

hotrok: I am not on a Conklin.

The services and speeds that you get will depend on your service provider.
This is not a true statement. My speed is down to the Chorus network in my case as it is for a lot of others. They are basically saying their network delivers these speeds if you are close enough to the cabinet/exchange and your wiring is intact. What they dont tell you is that the speed and service may be variable due to their network limitations!

An older cabinet (i.e. non-Whisper) with Copper Backhaul has similar issues to a Conklin. I have just helped 3 people in our area get connected via RBI Wireless and they are over the moon with the speeds. Instead of 0.5Mbps during the evening (if they were lucky), they are now getting between 13 and 28Mbps! Monthly cost isn't that different to what they were paying when you add up all the extras that are included on RBI (landline etc).

The Chorus statement above is true under the following conditions:

Get up in the middle of the night (say 3am) and use the internet when nobody else is using it!

Otherwise you are pretty much stuffed if you want decent speeds. Have a look at the RBI coverage map to see if you could use this option (part-way down the page where it says 'Find'):

Vodafone RBI Wireless

And then have a look here to see some data plans which represent good value for money:

Ultimate Broadband RBI Plans

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

quickymart

13951 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1219825 22-Jan-2015 09:53

What makes you so sure you're not a Conklin? What's your location?

Chorusnz

430 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Chorus

#1219828 22-Jan-2015 09:59

Please DM our address & we can confirm what you should expect

GL

Jaxar

383 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1219829 22-Jan-2015 09:59

My first reaction on seeing this post was a bit dismissive but actually he has a point about the whole Conklin thing. I know the maps are not designed to be accurate to that scale but it would be easier if it did highlight areas connected to Conklins and have the appropriate disclaimers.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

jonb

1771 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1219835 22-Jan-2015 10:04

It's not that the OP is on a Conklin or not. More that the standard information on the service availablility map is only really useful for urban connections, and is less than helpful, or disingenuous, for rural connections. For those areas where the limiting factor is Chorus network congestion on the backhaul, there is no mention of that as a possible cause.

Only by going to geekzone would you have any idea what a conklin is.

hotrok

71 posts

Master Geek

#1219912 22-Jan-2015 11:29

I am fully aware myself of why the speed is poor etc. What am complaining about is that Chorus are not accepting either by error or purpose that their network is part of the issue but in fact shifting the issue to either the householder (ie the wiring) or the ISP. Yes I agree the maps are a estimate of the speeds you will achieve in terms of the distance from cabinet etc but I am sure they would be fairly close to the truth. What is not close to the truth is the speeds achievable.

Could not ISP's and householders have a legal point about what Chorus network are offering? When you sign up for broadband in these rural areas, the ISP company will tell you yes you can broadband in these areas and they will test your line. They tell you can get ADSL1 speeds upto 8mb (give or take).

The reality is you end up with possibly getting 5mb in the wee hours of the morning if all the other people in the neighbour hood are on holiday and typically about 1mb during the day and 0.5mb in the evenings. We all know there is a massive difference between 5mb and 1mb. 5mb is ample for most things on the internet but 1mb or less is not! Not to mention those congestion lags when every house is fighting for the bandwidth.

If I was Chorus I would have a disclaimer about my own network and be more realistic about the services I could offer.

quickymart

13951 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1219956 22-Jan-2015 11:58

Did you send a PM to Chorus, as they asked you to?

Eitsop

583 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1219968 22-Jan-2015 12:11

What is the URL for maps your using at the moment

hotrok

71 posts

Master Geek

#1219972 22-Jan-2015 12:14

I have spoken to GL from Chorus in the past. The issue is the Backhaul fibre runs past the cabinet but they have not connected it up to the cabinet. There are no plans to connect it at this stage. Although that is the bottom line, the cabinet needs upgrading, what I am discussing/ arguing is that the information Chorus have on their webpage is not really correct and more close to a lie.

1 | 2 | 3