Why the secrecy around port waiting?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Why the secrecy around port waiting?

mwtb

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#109106 12-Sep-2012 16:33

I recently moved and ordered broadband for connection to the new place for the day I moved in about three weeks before the date. There was no DSL sync on the day so I phoned the ISP and was told I was on a port waiter. Apparently I should have received an email to tell me of this, but I didn't. Anyway, being new to all this I asked what the process was and was particularly keen to know how I could keep track of the situation. It turns out that the only think I could do was repeatedly phone the ISP to ask them where I was on the list (on my mobile rates, no thanks).

What I'm wondering is why much of this info is on a need to know basis. I get why specific user addresses on waiting lists can't be publicly available but why aren't the queue length and waiting times available? If they were I could have checked before I even looked at the property to rent. When a customer is on a non-LLU port waiter why aren't they just automatically emailed directly rather than having to go through the ISP? It all seems more frustrating than it needs to be.

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#685082 12-Sep-2012 16:39

If an ISP has some port waiters, there will likely be other port waiters for other ISP's. Its confidential information, you can't expect ISP's to have visibility of other ISP's business. Not kocher.

johnr

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#685092 12-Sep-2012 16:54

No need to even contact the ISP when you are at top of the list you will get connected as I understand

sidefx

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#685093 12-Sep-2012 16:54

I also was on this a while back, very frustrating! I'd agree where in the queue you are should be more transparent.

Them not being able to tell you waiting times makes sense though, as my understanding is they have to wait until someone drops their broadband and a port becomes available? So no guarentees on whent that might happen. No idea if this is right though.

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sbiddle

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#685094 12-Sep-2012 16:54

The ISP is the wait list, not the end customer. You don't have a relationship with anybody other than your ISP so it's up to them to keep you informed.

Where exactly are you located? There are very few places that still have waitlists, and most are in areas where RBI cabinets are being deployed.

mwtb

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#685125 12-Sep-2012 17:35

I'm in Golden Bay and, yes, it's on the RBI plan for upgrade by mid 2013. That doesn't do much for me in the meantime.

Going back to previous replies. How is the list any sort of trade secret? The ISPs are already given the waiting list info where they have customers waiting. The length of the list and the "lead wait time" doesn't constitute personal or commercially sensitive data.

As for "they'll tell you when you're connected". That's great, but not the point. The point is that while you're drumming your fingers waiting for that to happen you get absolutely no feedback about how the queue is moving. Looking on the web there have been a few cases where people have found themselves shuffled back in the queue due to ISPs messing up and cancelling then re-ordering the connection and other problems. You'd never know any of this unless you phoned the ISP every week to ask what the latest queue position is.

tdgeek

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#685127 12-Sep-2012 17:41

The ISP has a list of waiters, but they dont know what other waiters are there from other ISP's so they cannot tell where you sit. As Johnr said, if you are at the top of all waiters of all ISP's you will get connected when a port comes up.

mwtb

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#685134 12-Sep-2012 18:06

That's not what I've been told. I was told both the time the person first in line had been waiting and my position in the queue and that this information the ISP was provided on a weekly basis.

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gzt

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#685163 12-Sep-2012 20:09

I've always imagined ISPs keep the situation flexible in case the underlying infrastructure plan changes or more likely they need to bump or otherwise manage the queue for their own purposes unrelated to the actual connections.

chevrolux

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#685195 12-Sep-2012 21:05

http://www.netsolutionz.co.nz/internet3.html

more than one way to skin a cat! Took less than 10 seconds to find that website.

And as has been said, the isp doesn't know ho is on the wait list - only chorus know. And as for time it may be a known time frame, like an equipment upgrade, or it can simply be waiting for a port to free up which entails someone moving out of the area or disconnecting their service. It sucks but its just how it is.

mwtb

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#685211 12-Sep-2012 21:45

Thanks, but I'm aware of the options for connection. The question isn't "How can I get broadband?", nor is it "How does port waiting work?" or "What's the relationship between Chorus and the ISPs?". The question is about the availability of the information about port waiting lists so that people can make informed decisions about things like entering into a wireless broadband contract.

Again, no-one needs to be giving out personal or commercially sensitive info. The information is simply "for this address the serviced area has a waiting list and that list is X waiters long with the longest waiter at Y days". That is the same info that the ISP already gets once a request goes in, e.g. see the 8th post in this thread: http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/437049/1/

raytaylor

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#685270 13-Sep-2012 00:30

I always thought that an ISP could tell you your position in the queue
But not how long the wait is.

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tdgeek

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#685272 13-Sep-2012 00:38

raytaylor: I always thought that an ISP could tell you your position in the queue
But not how long the wait is.

They can, but only for their customers. It would not be ideal to say that you are 2nd in the queue, not knowing how many other ISPs customers are in the queue. You may be 2nd or 22nd overall. Plus, there is the mobility of that area. It may be well settled. I feel it is about expectations, and an ISP does not know enough to give an expectation.

mwtb

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#685340 13-Sep-2012 09:02

I'd be interested to know why you keep claiming that the ISP knows nothing about the overall queue position when that's not what I've been told or what comes from reading people's experiences around the web (and the data shown in the link I posted just above). They all state that the absolute queue position is part of the information given to the ISP.

The only difference between the "ISP waiting list" and the overall waiting list seems to be that the ISP has the ability to rearrange their own customer order. So they can make you 1st or last in their list but they're still aware that their first is actually 8th or 35th or whatever overall. Such fiddling around is all the more reason for the information to be transparent to the customer so they can spot if they've been bumped down the list and pull the ISP up about it.

steve98

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#685506 13-Sep-2012 12:00

If your ISP were to tell you right now that you are seventh in the queue, how would that help you determine whether you've got to wait another week or another month? Your position in the queue doesn't really tell you much.

Zeon

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#685509 13-Sep-2012 12:13

I suggest the OP uses a WISP if they need internet now. Port waiting can take, in some cases years.

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