I just thought I'd post this as a bit of a counter to the "NZ has 3rd world internetz" posts that so often seem to crop up around here.

Currently I am on holiday in the US. Land of the fast, unlimited internet etc etc... I wish.

I'm staying at a place in Jersey City, just across the river from Manhattan, so not exactly rural America. It is Saturday evening. I have not been able to watch youtube at anything higher than 480p without wild quality changes. Same with other video streaming, I had to give up in the end.

I downloaded Calibre ebook manager. I had to try several times until I finally got it (and forget loading web pages while doing so). Download speed varied from 1000KB/s (briefly) to 0KB/s, and a lot of the time was in double digits.

The internet provider? Comcast cable. The wifi modem/router is a POS that will drop wireless connections at the drop of a hat, and then can take up to 10 minutes to get internet working again.


The VDSL2+ that I get from Spark is light years ahead by comparison. Ditto my parents UFB connection. I miss you Spark and Snap!


Believe me, NZ does not have "third world internet". Not by a long stretch.