Jump ship to RBI Fixed Wireless?

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Incindre

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#123427 7-Jul-2013 11:37

Hello again everyone.

Some of you may remember the problems I was having with my ADSL Service last year. No solution was resolved apart from “wait until they upgrade your exchange” (this set to happen in 2029).

6 Months later, even after installing a master splitter, speed and stability during peak times has reduced further, and maximum DL speed during non-peak times has also seen a reduction. Upload speed, which was a stable 0.45Mbps no matter what, has now been significantly affected too.

Upload and Download speeds hover around the 0.1Mb/s range between the hours of 5pm and 12pm daily. Currently there are 9 households waiting to be connected to the exchange that provides my service, some of them have been waiting for over 200 days.

Switching ISP’s seems to be a non-option in this case, because likely, there aren’t any free slots left in the already hopelessly overwhelmed exchange.

Vodafone have just completed a cell-tower at the end of my road (2km away) as part of their RBI rollout. Farmside offer the best deal at the moment which allows us to keep our landline over the copper but have broadband over fixed wireless from this tower. 15gb Peak cap with 10gb Off-Peak cap @ 3Mbps DL and 4Mbps UL.

The speed sounds fine and the small data cap is workable, however I am unfamiliar with the technology and could do with some things clarified before I jump ship.

Stability: A business is operated from this address that requires constant reliable internet access. How reliable is the connection provided? Is it affected by geography and trees/prone to drop outs etc?

Security: How safe is the transmitted data? Can it be snooped on far more easily than a copper line connection? Is the use of a VPN service necessary?

Latency/QoS: What sort of performance can I expect from applications like Skype/Teamspeak, and how will the connection handle online gaming?

Equipment: What physical components/wiring are required for the connection to work? Obviously there is an aerial/dish, but is there a special modem/receiver required?

Cheers in advance!

[ISP: Slingshot]

[Exchange: NHI]

PeterReader

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#850380 7-Jul-2013 11:37

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

sbiddle

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#850391 7-Jul-2013 12:01

NHI/A RBI cabinet is still scheduled for Dec 2013. The coverage maps show this providing coverage up Findlayson Rd almost to Old School Rd.

As for the wireless RBI service it's delivered using the same 3G technology that all the mobile networks use.

johnr

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#850395 7-Jul-2013 12:38

As above RBI is 3G / WCDMA network Dual carrier

plambrechtsen

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#850404 7-Jul-2013 13:11

If it were me and I was getting my cabinet upgraded at the end of the year I would hold on for that.

Typical fixed mobile rbi install is $400. Whereas holding out 6 months your bb will exponentially grow at that point.

If you message me your home address and home line number that has broadband attached to it I can check out your situation and find out how the new cabinet will impact your speed.

Fixed broadband will most often give you the largest cap and best performance. But it does depend on how far away you are from the cabinet.

michaelmurfy

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#850421 7-Jul-2013 14:01

The other thing is unless if you're a really low user RBI Wireless might not be the best thing for you and should be considered a last step, there's another thread on the forum where the OP was on a 7300 ASAM and suffered from slow speeds, he is not quite as lucky as you (since you're getting an upgrade this year by the sounds) but it also seems RBI was not the best thing for him.

It's perfect for your standard issue low user or people that can't get broadband, but I wouldn't recommend getting it as a broadband replacement due to slow speeds, especially if you're under the RBI upgrade path.

Remember, speeds also depend on ISP - NZ has one of the best broadband networks in the world where most cabinets have fibre to them, since you've already got a master filter it seems you've followed all the steps in an attempt to get faster broadband, but you're best to do some reading on these forums with what they have to say about your ISP and speed - NZ. The home of world class broadband.

That's my 2c anyway, if you DM Pete or I with your address we can check the upgrade path for your area.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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coffeebaron

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#850425 7-Jul-2013 14:26

Ah I think that was me that came and did your splitter. I remember testing the tower up the road from you too, and it is fast!

But as others suggest, ideally hold out to end of year for the cabinet upgrade. If you do decide to go RBI, flick me a message and I can sort out a solution for you through Ultimate Mobile.

Cheers
Fraser

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Incindre

117 posts

Master Geek

#850550 7-Jul-2013 21:35

sbiddle: NHI/A RBI cabinet is still scheduled for Dec 2013. The coverage maps show this providing coverage up Finlayson Rd almost to Old School Rd.

Unfortunately I live right at the very end of Finlayson Rd, 1km from the Old School Road Intersection (and on the other side of the road from the covered section). I don't know how reliable Chorus's availability map is though.

It's my understanding that NHI/A (and NHI/L) are old whisper cabinets which will be upgraded later this year; however I don't think that either of them serve my internet (which comes direct from the exchange and is routed through a small distribution cabinet, NHI/K, at the end of Finlayson Rd).

The school, only a few meters away from the exchange, is listed as having already received its RBI solution, so I doubt that Chorus upgraded anything else in the exchange (or simply put them on fixed wireless).

So can someone confirm that I am right in thinking that upgrades to the cabinets are separate from upgrades to the exchange?

Quic Broadband

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michaelmurfy

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#850560 7-Jul-2013 22:07

Incindre:

So can someone confirm that I am right in thinking that upgrades to the cabinets are separate from upgrades to the exchange?

Send me a direct message with your address...