Need help choosing my next ISP

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Need help choosing my next ISP

1 | 2

pbjtime

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3130152 21-Sep-2023 13:31

michaelmurfy:

pbjtime: I was with Skinny at one point one thing I didn't like was their DNS performance

Yep this sounds like a problem 100% on your end. The Spark (which Skinny runs via - Skinny is owned by Spark and is a no frills ISP of theirs) network is quite solid and their DNS servers are solid too and distributed across the country. If their DNS servers were not up to par you'd think the ~1mil customers they have would complain.

Skinny(Spark) DNS had multiply outages a few years back when I signed up not like it's trade secret there were ppl complaining on this very forum.

There were issues looking up twitter and app store for me for awhile and I had a DNS load balancing setup back then so even when it works it barely outperforms 1.1.1.1 for like half of the time.

michaelmurfy

meow
13579 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10910

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3130164 21-Sep-2023 13:50

pbjtime: I don't know what it is then if it's ont shaping, my usenet speed is consistently at 4MB/s regardless or the provider/port/SSL or not - It's a VPN tunnel established exclusively in the LXC that hosts sabnabd for use of usenet, I won't lose my sleep over that.

I'm not saying they are not - my internet usage is international heavy so any bit of international peering helps.

I'm not using WiFi for youtube streaming - Cat6A cabling straight from my RB4011 to ATV 4K, not that it's often but it can happen from time to time. my partner's iPhone 14 can pull easily 600Mbps from our AP. I've been using the same gears for few years now and I'm pretty sure I'll know if anything is off.

Yep sounding more and more like a misconfiguration somewhere to me. I've been using Usenet for over 10 years now and have a mix of providers as well as using SABnzbd and this maxes out my connection. There is no need at all to use a VPN with it and international peering with basically all providers is really good. We've got great internet here in NZ.

I need to explain this once more. There is no rate limiting in place on any provider in NZ nor running on your ONT. Rate limiting in the way you think of it is rather resource heavy especially on faster connections so it simply isn't used.

pbjtime: Skinny(Spark) DNS had multiply outages a few years back when I signed up not like it's trade secret there were ppl complaining on this very forum.

There were issues looking up twitter and app store for me for awhile and I had a DNS load balancing setup back then so even when it works it barely outperforms 1.1.1.1 for like half of the time.

Yeah that is simply not true... Yes, there has been DNS issues with every ISP in the past but Sparks DNS resolution is rather quick and rock solid. There are benefits to using your providers DNS however not as many these days. Again, this fully sounds like a misconfiguration on your router. I would recommend trying something else for a bit (eg, an ISP provided router).

I have a guide here on picking a provider but if you've got a local configuration issue then jumping ship won't help here: https://murfy.nz/2018/02/06/picking-the-right-isp/

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by subscribing.
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Jiriteach

1139 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 373

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3130168 21-Sep-2023 13:55

pbjtime:

Jiriteach: I was with 2degrees for many years and then Orcon (since I needed DHCP) and has been solid but unfortunately since 2degrees started the migration - things have been hit and miss and all over the place.

I monitor my network closely and have multiple sites around the country with a similar setup.

I moved to Spark (with static IP’s) and have been really impressed with speeds and latency. No problems so far! Have also run backup via Quic and Spark 4G.

I was with Skinny at one point one thing I didn't like was their DNS performance(This was before they started peering with Cloudflare) lol. I'm keen to know your thoughts on Spark vs Quic though:)

DNS performance? Skinny uses Spark's network and DNS servers and the Spark DNS servers are robust and performant. I get ~2msec response time from them so never had any issues. Must be on your side. BTW - response times from Cloudflare are ~ 8-10msec.

Spark vs Quic is hard to compare as they are very different from a scale perspective.

Quic has done a great job in being transparent and explaining their current status here - https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=194&topicid=307025 so not much more to say. I have experienced some of the issues they mention but they are working hard to correct these.

From a Spark perspective - am very surprised at their speeds. Consistantly fast. I had never used Spark's network before (apart from mobile) and so very impressed with speeds for HTTP downloads, usenet downloads etc. I get max 110 mb/sec from usenet and ~ 80/90 mb/sec from certain HTTP sites international. Superfast but its depedant on a lot of factors and the upstream providers.

-- opinions expressed by me are solely my own. ie - personal

quickymart

14940 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 13954

ID Verified

#3130185 21-Sep-2023 14:48

I'm on Spark fibre too, no issues to report and haven't had any for a long time now.

JemS

86 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 46

ID Verified

#3137515 1-Oct-2023 22:26

I was with MyRepublic which was brilliant (UFB), until it got taken over by 2degrees and have experienced drop-outs and slow internet. We had a door-to-door salesman for Mercury come, so we decided to give them a go. Excellent speed and zero dropouts. All were on UFB.

(edit): The speed test was done to Mercury's Server in Tauranga

openmedia

3449 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 878

Trusted

#3137526 1-Oct-2023 23:25

pbjtime:

Hey guys, first time posting here.

Have been with Slingshot (previously Orcon) for a few months now and things have not been smooth sailing at all, so desperately looking for alternatives.

On my gigabit connection:

usenet would only do 4MB/s and if I use VPN it can reach around 12MB/s and then steadily slow itself back down.

partner often experiences dropouts watching her tiktok videos.

buffers when watching youtube.

Current weighting a few options:

Skinny - pros: no shaping; cons: no IPOE which I like, no AKL-IX peering.

Quic and Voyager seem to be brought up here alot on the forum but I'm keen on hearing some opinions re: usenet usage and international peering. both also PPPOE I learnt:(

One NZ - seem to have better peering outbounds to US?? IPOE and no CGNAT, decent price too but i'll wait for someone to chime in.

Thanks in advance!

Odd issues. I'm with Orcon, so same group now as slingshot and 2Degrees, and also on 1Gb Fibre.

Fast.com - 1000/500
speedtest -> SPARK - 932 / 521
speedtest -> One - 923 / 521
speedtest -> Telstra Sydney 425 / 211
speedtest -> Los Angeles 200+ / 70+

Never any issues with tiktok or youtube, but last night I did get some bit rate drops on Disney+ for the first time ever while catching up on Andor.

What router are you using? My R7000 running FreshTomato, with some complex DNS rules and VLANs, tends to need a reboot every 3+ months or I get some performance issues. It is overdue a firmware update. I also occasionally see the ONT Link drop to 100 which a reboot of the ONT resolves.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

1 | 2