Finding a rural property with good internet

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crazyscot

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#310887 28-Nov-2023 19:39

Obviously this is a vague "go not to the elves" sort of question but I'd welcome insights on how to approach this.

Our goal: move to a rural or semi-rural property and have internet that is halfway plausible (would have to support video calls and ideally 4k video). We're very happy with our current 300/100 fibre; good VDSL might be OK but the chances of finding a property close enough to the cabinet for good speeds seem slim.

We do not have a property in mind; the question is more about how we go about finding something that suits our needs. Location is likely mid Canterbury, within an hour of Christchurch.

At the moment we are vaguely looking at property listings, feeding addresses into the broadband checker and staring forlornly at the broadband coverage maps.

Fibre: We are planning to buy for the long term; paying 10-20k for an NGA install is not out of the question. Or, if we're lucky, find a property that already has fibre or is in a private fibre build area.

Wireless: Might be a contender. What sorts of speeds do people realistically get and how reliable are they?

VDSL: What is this like in rural areas?

Starlink: obviously an option but I don't trust it to stick around long-term.

Is there anything I've missed? Are there any GIS maps that might help me with better detail than the broadband map?

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#3165294 28-Nov-2023 19:43

Why don’t you trust Starlink to stick around long term?!

We were lucky and found out after we’d moved to our rural property that fibre ran past our gate.
Had to pay a good amount to get connected however. Approx $14k.
Dont know that I’d bother now and would just get Starlink.

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Linux

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#3165298 28-Nov-2023 19:51

I would rather pay the 14k to get connected to Fibre

crazyscot

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#3165363 28-Nov-2023 20:21

CYaBro: Why don’t you trust Starlink to stick around long term?!

Their revenues are short of their growth plans; will they survive financially? What happens when the current constellation reach the end of their service lives?
I don't trust Musk to not have a whim that ends up breaking the system (cf. Twitter).
The system's use in warzones and repressive regimes makes it a target for state-funded actors.

CYaBro

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#3165364 28-Nov-2023 20:37

crazyscot:
CYaBro: Why don’t you trust Starlink to stick around long term?!

Their revenues are short of their growth plans; will they survive financially? What happens when the current constellation reach the end of their service lives?

I don't trust Musk to not have a whim that ends up breaking the system (cf. Twitter).

The system's use in warzones and repressive regimes makes it a target for state-funded actors.

There’s a thread for Elon himself so I won’t say anything about him but Starlink has reached break even point just recently and growth is going to continue as more countries are added.

Twitter / X is now more popular than the other major social networks so certainly not broken.

All internet infrastructure would be a target during a war.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

atomeara

324 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3165365 28-Nov-2023 20:46

You can take a look on one of these links, there are a number of areas with rural fibre now.

https://broadbandmap.nz/availability/

https://comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/telecommunications/regulated-services/consumer-protections-for-copper-withdrawal/map-of-specified-fibre-areas

A number of recent rural fibre runs Chorus have put fibre to most houses they pass.

The big one is Fox Glaicer down SH6 to Lake Moeraki.
South of Manapouri to Blackmount
MONUMENT ROAD, ASHWICK FLAT, MACKENZIE DISTRICT
RUTHERGLEN ROAD, MARSDEN, GREY DISTRICT
NELSON CREEK ROAD, NGAHERE, GREY DISTRICT
Small section of SH73 at Jacksons
Most of lifestyle block / rural Coatesville in Auckland (however this is prob going to be more expensive than the average urban house in Auckland)

There are a lot of areas with VDSL up to 120Mb download, Chorus are putting in about 100 more VDSL cabinets currently too.
There seems to be a trend of dismissing VDSL but if you are close to a cabinet it can be quick and far more consistent that LEO or 4G Fixed wireless (and cheaper and no data caps) however copper can be prone to more line issues but these are normally resolved once a fault is logged.

quickymart

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#3165366 28-Nov-2023 20:46

If by "broadband map" you mean https://broadbandmap.nz/home - that's probably your best option at the moment. Hard to be more specific without a specific address however, and you state you're looking around at different properties. If you find one you like maybe have a talk to the nearby neighbours and see what they do for their connection.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3165388 29-Nov-2023 00:20

CYaBro:

There’s a thread for Elon himself so I won’t say anything about him but Starlink has reached break even point just recently and growth is going to continue as more countries are added.

Twitter / X is now more popular than the other major social networks so certainly not broken.

All internet infrastructure would be a target during a war.

At risk of going off topic, only *local* fixed internet infrastructure is likely to be damaged in a war. A war involving China and Taiwan is really unlikely to affect NZ cabinets or cellsites.

However, if someone decides to shoot down satellites passing overhead - that same satellite that was covering rural China x hours ago is now the one covering you, and is MIA.

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Rikkitic

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#3165389 29-Nov-2023 01:08

My rural Internet access was hopeless until a local WISP came to my rescue. Only 30 Mbps down but solid as a rock and more than enough for streaming.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

nztim

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#3165393 29-Nov-2023 06:15

my 2c

4G will be excellent one day and hopeless the other depending on how many mobiles are in the area and may not be unlimited, you have to use the RSP router which you may not like if your a tech.

VDSL will be fine if close to cabinet/exchange and attenuation is below 14db and you have a dedicated cable to a single jack point.

Starlink can be great but micro outages makes teams and zoom calls blip you won’t notice with streaming

WISPs are great and consistent but speeds will typically be 50-100mbps max

NGA on application for fibre is the best all round option but may cost $$$

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

xpd

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#3165407 29-Nov-2023 07:44

Friend is rural. Had to dig his own trench etc just to get 4Mbps ADSL. Yet the next property over has fiber installed (at no cost to the owner).

My friend has since gone to Starlink and is loving being able to download AND stream something at the same time.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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CYaBro

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#3165409 29-Nov-2023 07:52

xpd:
Friend is rural. Had to dig his own trench etc just to get 4Mbps ADSL. Yet the next property over has fiber installed (at no cost to the owner).

My friend has since gone to Starlink and is loving being able to download AND stream something at the same time.

Friend needs to talk to the neighbour about getting a PTP wireless link setup and sharing the fibre. :)

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

xpd

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#3165430 29-Nov-2023 08:28

Did suggest that :D

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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myopinion

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Ultimate Geek

#3165432 29-Nov-2023 08:32

I live rural. Had crap ADSL then crap VDSL then crap 4g then crap 5G. Now got awesome Starlink service. I can highly recommend Starlink. I got the hardware on special around $300 from memory so not much up front / risk at all.

wellygary

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#3165438 29-Nov-2023 09:00

SomeoneSomewhere:

At risk of going off topic, only *local* fixed internet infrastructure is likely to be damaged in a war. A war involving China and Taiwan is really unlikely to affect NZ cabinets or cellsites.

Unless there is a pile of Huawei networking gear in there and we are on the other side :)

DS248

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#3165565 29-Nov-2023 10:51

atomeara:

... Chorus are putting in about 100 more VDSL cabinets currently too. ...

Is it possible to find out where these locations are intended to be located?

Or at least, it a new one is likely to be located near a specific address?

We currently can get VDSL & in fact do have it. But not currently using it. Currently connected to an urban cabinet 1.5 km cable length away. DL speed is OK ~25MB/s but UL is hopeless (usually <1MB/s, though occasionally up to 1.5)

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