Is this normal or must we switch ?

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MarMis

16 posts

Geek

#13187 26-Apr-2007 20:28

We are new in NZ and living in Manukau/Auckland

We are a heavy user: 90 G per month, much P2P use.

We now using Woosh unlimited. But... it is slow and have terrible helpservice.

with a speedtest we have those results.
at day:
download: 2236 kbps (279,5 KB/sec transfer rate)
upload: 123 kbps (15,4 KB/sec transfer rate)
and in the evening:
download: 347 kbs (43,4 KB/sec transfer rate)
upload: 34 kbs (4,3 KB/sec transfer rate)

I don't know what the difference is between kbs an KB/sec

On the day it is slow but acceptable. But in the evening it is slow, really slow (6,0 KB/sec). Most of the times we cannot open a internetpage at all.

I want to know if this is normal ?
are those speeds really acceptable for NZ or must we look into another ISP ?

grant_k

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#68598 26-Apr-2007 20:56

MarMis: ...We are a heavy user: 90 G per month, much P2P use. We now using Woosh unlimited.
I want to know if this is normal ?
are those speeds really acceptable for NZ or must we look into another ISP ?

90GB per month is a HUGE amount of data. I doubt that any ISP can make any money while providing you with that amount of data on an "Unlimited" type plan.

To answer your questions:

1) I want to know if this is normal ?

What you are seeing is typical performance for an "Unlimited" type plain. Please keep in mind that this type of plan has now been withdrawn by Woosh, Xtra and Slingshot. These were the 3 main ISPs who were offering this type of plan. None of those ISPs will accept any new customers for "Unlimited" plans.

Why is this, you may ask?

The most likely reason is that all of these ISPs have found that:

a) Many users are unhappy with the performance
b) The typical users on this type of plan are very heavy downloaders like yourself, and because the monthly charge is only $50, each of them are losing money for the ISP.

2) Are those speeds really acceptable for NZ or must we look into another ISP ?

First: Are those speeds acceptable?

I would have to say "not really" but you need to face reality here:

International bandwidth is expensive in NZ and for this reason, you can have EITHER of 2 things, but not both at once:

a) Lots of data (90GB per month is definitely a lot for NZ)
OR:
b) High Speed

Second: It is unlikely you will find another ISP to offer you an "Unlimited" plan, and if you do, the performance will probably be just as bad.

You have 3 choices:

1) Stay with Woosh and keep downloading 90GB per month, but pay the price with very poor performance

2) Stop downloading so much data, and move to another plan with decent speed e.g. Full-Speed Down / 128kbps Up or Full-Speed in both directions. This type of plan will cost you around $40 - $50 per month, but you will only get 10GB of data for that price instead of 90GB.

3) Keep downloading 90GB per month and switch to a faster plan as in (2) above. In that case expect to pay around $120 per month but at least you will get a decent speed.

By the way: 1 kB/sec (kilobyte per sec) = 8kbps (kilobits per sec).

I hope that helps and...

Welcome to Geekzone

Cheers,
Grant.

MarMis

16 posts

Geek

#68599 26-Apr-2007 21:33

thank you Grant,

Finnally I know now more. It would be much easier if the people at Woosh just tell me that. Then I know what was wrong in stead of grumbling.

I don't mind to switch to another plan, and afcours I have to pay more, I will accept that..... I don't want the slow speed

What can you recommend. Maybe an option which is more flexible.
A mean a low base price and pay for every 10G.

Because I think it will be a little bit lower in the future.

I have seen so many providers and really don't know who is good and who is bad

I have seen plans from: Xtra, Actric, Ihug, Orcon, Telstraclear, worldnet, Xnet, Eznet, Supra, Iconz, Snap, Planet, cyberexpress, Maxnet, igrin and afcourse Woosh ....... really s much to choose from

grant_k

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#68601 26-Apr-2007 21:52

MarMis: What can you recommend. Maybe an option which is more flexible.
A mean a low base price and pay for every 10G.

...I have seen plans from: Xtra, Actric, Ihug, Orcon, Telstraclear, worldnet, Xnet, Eznet, Supra, Iconz, Snap, Planet, cyberexpress, Maxnet, igrin and afcourse Woosh ....... really s much to choose from

I have tried many of those ISPs in your list. Out of them all, my favourite is XNET because they have the most flexible plan: Only pay for the data you actually use.

All other ISPs make you buy the data in "Blocks" and always, some of it is wasted because you don't use it.

Have a look here:

http://www.xnet.co.nz/hsi/

For Home Users, RIVER is usually fast enough. At our office I use FLOOD because we have 3 channels of VoIP sometimes working simultaneously with downloading and uploading.

Take your choice of either RIVER or FLOOD and then chose either "Managed" with a data cap, or "Unlimited" at around $1 per GB.

You have a good choice of options here and the price is quite reasonable -- slightly more expensive than the very cheapest ISP, but still much better value than many others.

Best of all, the help desk is REALLY HELPFUL with a FAST RESPONSE.

MarMis

16 posts

Geek

#68606 26-Apr-2007 23:18

Thank you for your reply, I'm surely gonna look into this option.
I'm so glad that I finaly find this forum, it really helps me with my questions

I also use Skype. I noticed that it wont work really good at this moment. Is this maybe because Woosh don't support this ?
Does Xnet support Skype or is skype not get influenced by the provider ?

What is the difference between: kbs an KB/sec ? or is it just in the name ?

grant_k

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#68608 26-Apr-2007 23:49

MarMis: I also use Skype. I noticed that it wont work really good at this moment. Is this maybe because Woosh don't support this ?

I have a customer who uses Skype with Woosh Unlimited and he called me recently. The quality was absolutely awful, I could hardly understand him.

MarMis: Does Xnet support Skype or is skype not get influenced by the provider ?

I often talk to my kids using Skype and they are connected via the Xnet RIVER plan. The quality is great, with better bandwidth than a phone call, although there is a bit of lag because NZ is so far away from the Skype -> PSTN gateways.

So, you can see that the provider can influence the quality of Skype calls. Generally it only happens on the "Unlimited" type plans because they use traffic management systems. If you have a different type of plan where you pay per GB (for example Xnet RIVER or FLOOD, you are unlikely to encounter any problems with Skype except for a bit of lag as I mentioned above.

MarMis: What is the difference between: kbs an KB/sec ? or is it just in the name ?

I thought I explained it above, but here it is again:

1 kB/sec (kilobyte per sec) = 8kbps (kilobits per sec), because 1 byte = 8 bits.

There, you have all the answers now

jesseycy

294 posts

Ultimate Geek

#68613 27-Apr-2007 00:18

Grant17:
MarMis: What can you recommend. Maybe an option which is more flexible.
A mean a low base price and pay for every 10G.

...I have seen plans from: Xtra, Actric, Ihug, Orcon, Telstraclear, worldnet, Xnet, Eznet, Supra, Iconz, Snap, Planet, cyberexpress, Maxnet, igrin and afcourse Woosh ....... really s much to choose from

I have tried many of those ISPs in your list. Out of them all, my favourite is XNET because they have the most flexible plan: Only pay for the data you actually use.

All other ISPs make you buy the data in "Blocks" and always, some of it is wasted because you don't use it.

Have a look here:

http://www.xnet.co.nz/hsi/

An update here from a new Xnet user, having switched from Actrix last year.

Speeds are on average around 1.8Mbps Down / 125kbps Up for the River Plan... A drop actually from the Actrix speeds I used to get.....

So, do consider that. Your woosh speeds are pretty good for that load of data. And yes, you would get more consistent speeds, for example using Xnet Plans, but certainly not at that price you're getting!!!

grant_k

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#68616 27-Apr-2007 00:34

jesseycy: An update here from a new Xnet user, having switched from Actrix last year.

Speeds are on average around 1.8Mbps Down / 125kbps Up for the River Plan... A drop actually from the Actrix speeds I used to get.....

Yep, I would agree with that for the Xnet RIVER plan. We normally get around 1.9Mbps / 130kbps on the Blockhouse Bay exchange but it depends on the time of day. A possible reason for the drop in speed from your previous Actrix connection is increased congestion across the whole of NZ's internet infrastucture. I have noticed the speeds slowly dropping across several ISPs that we have used at various times.

For example, here is the performance of Xnet FLOOD recorded just a few minutes ago using the Speedtest.net Auckland server via the Avondale exchange:

5012 kpbs Down / 394 kbps Up

When I tested this a few months back I was getting 6000 kbps Down / 500 kbps Up (or thereabouts).

The same gradual drop-off happened when we were with TelstraClear before joining Xnet. So I think it is an NZ-wide phenomenon that the speeds are gradually falling. This situation is unlikely to change until some white knight (or other kind person with deep pockets) invests in some more backhaul capacity between the various exchanges.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

MarMis

16 posts

Geek

#70563 13-May-2007 11:09

I really got it with woosh.

But..... If I want to change they remember me of the contract which I have till February next year ? I try with them hundreds of speedtest, I have called the technical department hundreds of times. Always have the same (stupid) questions. Why don't they keep a record of my history ? Then they can see that I have done the speedtest over and over again.

The people with woosh do always say that is not there problem, because we live to far away from the telecomunit (already moved 3 times but still the same answer ). Personally I think it's because Woosh is slowing me down of the high datause. But I can't proof it and they say that's not true.

Now, my question is, can somebody advise me what to do ?
Can I switch to Xnet without to many costs or must I stay with woosh because off the costs ?
It's a lot of money if I must pay for 9 monts for a poor/terrible line.

Or do you think that I will have the same problemens with Xnet again, because they also cannot provide me a faster line than 2000 kbps ?

grant_k

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#70564 13-May-2007 11:24

MarMis: But..... If I want to change they remember me of the contract which I have till February next year ?
Now, my question is, can somebody advise me what to do ?
Can I switch to Xnet without to many costs or must I stay with woosh because off the costs ?

There will be a Cancellation Fee which you will have to pay to Woosh. I had a look on their web site, but it doesn't say how much the cancellation fee would be, you will have to call them. Probably $100 - $200 would be my guess.

It would be well worth paying the fee so you can move to another provider who can give you the service you are looking for.

MarMis: Or do you think that I will have the same problemens with Xnet again, because they also cannot provide me a faster line than 2000 kbps ?

You need to go to this web page to answer that question:

http://www.xnet.co.nz/hsi/linecheck.shtml

It will give you a report like this:

"UBS (Unbundled Bitstream Service) is available in the exchange area servicing the premesis for the line number requested

The estimated downstream linerate for this query is > 4Mbit/s

Occasionally, there are factors such as distance from Telecom's equipment which may mean that Xnet HSI is unable to be delivered to a particular site or address."

So long as your line is good enough to give 2000kbps (and most of them are), there is no reason why Xnet cannot provide you with the speed you are looking for. You can look at this web page to chose the appropriate plan for your needs:

http://www.xnet.co.nz/hsi/

I hope that helps.

Cheers,
Grant.

antigrav

68 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#70604 14-May-2007 02:12

May I strongly suggest that you don't switch, your WOOSH plan is very good, it's the same one I'm on and it's the best plan you can't get.

The reason it slows down to 6KB/s in the evening is because you are going over the 700MB limit (from 5pm-midnight) and being slowed down to dialup like speeds, the answer is simple, do your downloading of large files from midnight to 5:00pm and you'll enjoy decent speeds the whole time. (during the evening speeds will vary but 60KB/s is in my experience about the worst they get)

The WOOSH plan is oodles better than any other, for instance if you were with Telecom('s also unavailible plan) going over 700MB would slow you down for a lot longer than just till midnight that night. (and the service WOOSH gives is very good with respect to speed)

Then again if you do more Bandwidth for me!