How to compare VDSL providers speed and network performance

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potsiea

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#262274 14-Jan-2020 09:51

Hi,

We live rural on the Kapiti Coast and with NOW Broadband for VDSL. I haven't been happy with the performance, and when i check it on Speedtest, i am lucky if i get 15 down/1 up if i select their servers at Napier or Hamilton.

If i change the selection to say Spark in Wellington, i can get 21 down/1 up which at face value is a better result, but i am unsure if that means if i switched to them i would get that improvement in real life

So the question, is there a way using Speedtest or another tool, that i can see the relative performance of other VDSL providers from my location, without randomly choosing one and hoping that it will be better?

Thanks

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Lizard Networks

#2391518 14-Jan-2020 10:00

This is likely a routing thing, speedtest.net results are insanely variable depending on how you run it (what browser/application, what's running, connection type etc)

I'm not aware of any providers at all, that have congested paths for DSL. or even a wif of it.

You are almost certainly not going to have any difference by moving providers.

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potsiea

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#2391523 14-Jan-2020 10:09

Thanks for the reply.

Sounds like I'll just need to be patient and wait for 4G Wireless plans greater than 120gb per month to become available

Linux

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#2391532 14-Jan-2020 10:20

@potsiea What speed does the ChorusNZ address checker advise for your address?

https://www.chorus.co.nz/broadband-checker

potsiea

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#2391533 14-Jan-2020 10:22

23 mbps which matches what i get from the router DSL log, but it doesn't seem to translate into download performance in speedtests with NOW

nztim

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#2391536 14-Jan-2020 10:27

potsiea:

Thanks for the reply.

Sounds like I'll just need to be patient and wait for 4G Wireless plans greater than 120gb per month to become available

You will most likely have some sort of datacap on any wireless solution, radio frequencies have limits

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sbiddle

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#2391541 14-Jan-2020 10:36

Your limitation is your cabling or distance from the cabinet (as your upload is very poor). You will not see any difference in performance by changing providers.

Depending on whether your VDSL performance is limited by distance from the cabinet or internal wiring you could see performance gains if the limitation was your wiring.

potsiea

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#2391543 14-Jan-2020 10:39

Thanks

It will be distance from the cabinet. I think we are about 1.3-1.5km from the closest cabinet.

Wiring should be ok, but i could have it checked out

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nztim

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#2391562 14-Jan-2020 10:50

potsiea:

Thanks

It will be distance from the cabinet. I think we are about 1.3-1.5km from the closest cabinet.

Wiring should be ok, but i could have it checked out

If you are rural check if your lead in to the ETP (white telecom box on the side of your house) is Twisted Pair or Flat Ribbon, if it is the latter you will lose significant speed, chorus will replace it with twisted pair but at your expense

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hio77

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#2391565 14-Jan-2020 10:53

23mbit is about 21mbit real world throughput. which you have confirmed your getting on speedtests.

Your on a Vectored VDSL card, and rates indicate that it's probably pretty close to the best it will get.

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michaelmurfy

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#2391566 14-Jan-2020 10:55

No UFB available?

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potsiea

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#2391568 14-Jan-2020 10:56

Thanks - i will look at that when i get the right kind of tool to undo the screws on the box. Will that run from the grey upright at the gate to the house (about 300m in our case)?

hio77

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#2391570 14-Jan-2020 10:57

michaelmurfy:

No UFB available?

Given it's in chorus area and it's vectored, It's not a UFB area ;)

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potsiea

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#2391572 14-Jan-2020 10:58

michaelmurfy:

No UFB available?

Alas no, and not in the plan either - gets close 😞

potsiea

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#2391580 14-Jan-2020 11:14

One last question. Thank you all for your help.

Does the 23 mbps showing in the DSL log's data rate tell me that the 23 mbps rate is in fact getting to the router, and if i can't get download rates near that, then the problem might be router settings?

sidefx

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#2391595 14-Jan-2020 11:41

potsiea:

One last question. Thank you all for your help.

Does the 23 mbps showing in the DSL log's data rate tell me that the 23 mbps rate is in fact getting to the router, and if i can't get download rates near that, then the problem might be router settings?

No, but the fact you're getting close to it on some speedtest servers indicates you are. What are you downloading and are you doing it via wifi or wired connection to your router?

(Also when you say UFB "gets close" - how close? One option would be to get friendly with someone with line of site with your property who can get UFB and looking at sharing their connection, though you would need to pay for hardware to do that)

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