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freitasm

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#39309 12-Aug-2009 14:51
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Today's Epitiro report tells us Slingshot and Orcon are the top of the ISP...


SLINGSHOT AND ORCON CAPTURE TOP SPOTS FOR FIRST 6 MONTHS OF 2009 

Epitiro announced its first ISP broadband service performance results for 2009 today, and it was Slingshot and Orcon who headed the performance rankings. 

“As broadband services have evolved, Epitiro has also evolved its methodology. We now look at ISP performance from two perspectives;  

1. “In The Home” - USER EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS: the experience customers have of an ISP’s service and;

2. “In The Lab” - SERVICE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS: the performance  of the actual service in controlled conditions. 

“Broadband is tricky to measure, because the ISP doesn’t always have control over all the factors that determine the quality of their service.

This was one of the main drivers behind LLU. So when ranking ISPs, we use different methodologies to assess service performance on the one hand, and user experience of that performance on the other.” 

“IN THE HOME” - USER EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS
Because a range of factors can affect a user’s experience of broadband, it’s important to understand what actual user experience in the home is.  

“This approach includes the effects of some factors which are beyond the ISPs’ control, such as house wiring, phone line and modem quality. If we have enough measurement points out there in the real world, these factors will average out for each ISP, and we’ll get a sense of what their services are like to the user, despite these other factors. We do this by providing incentives for people to download our software onto their PC. This software then runs regular tests on their ISP’s service.” 

“Over the last year, we have measured ISPs in well over 12,000 homes all over the country and across different service plans, so we believe we have good coverage. We measure performance for common things users do like downloading, surfing and gaming. We do this on a daily basis, which means we have millions of data points to construct a performance picture from.” 

However, we have removed ISP results from plans which are rate-limited, as some ISPs offer these services and some don’t, and to include these would unfairly disadvantage those ISPs providing these services. We have only included data for the Big 5: Telecom, Vodafone, TCL, Orcon and Slingshot. 

“Orcon’s performance is particularly strong in Auckland, where its unbundled services perform well, but it also tends to be a good performer in most other regions of New Zealand too. Slingshot also performs well. ” 

“However, everybody should run tests from their own home and compare the results to other ISPs locally before making a purchase decision. Broadband service can vary from street to street. We encourage all users to download our freeware if you want your service experience to be included in our data.”  

A Rural / Urban Divide 
There is a significant difference between ISP performance in those regions that contain one of New Zealand’s five large cities, and those that don’t. “To use line speed as an example; download speeds outside the big five city regions are a third slower than those within them. Upload speeds are half as fast.   

“2008 was a big year for broadband investment. Cabinetisation, content caching, ADSL2+ and unbundling have all had positive impacts on consumer experience of broadband services. But the impacts of these thus far have been felt more in the larger urban areas.” 

Auckland and Wellington Regions; Consistently The Best 
Unsurprisingly, Greater Auckland and the Wellington region top the regional performance charts across all measurements, including downloading and browsing. 

Anyone can download Epitiro’s tester for free from www.isposure.co.nz . This tool is unique in that it allows users to compare their ISP’s price and performance to a range of other ISPs in their local area. Users can also vote on their ISP’s performance. 

“IN THE LAB” - SERVICE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
“Service performance analysis allows us to isolate the components of a broadband plan that an individual ISP can control and measure their performance based just on those factors. We do this in a lab-type environment in 11 city sites around New Zealand. We create an environment in which we control as many of the external factors as possible, leaving the main variable factor to be the quality of service each ISP provides. We focus on ISPs’ premium plans to do this.” 

This tool is particularly good for monitoring network performance, and its data forms the basis for the Commerce Commission reports.  

Slingshot (1) and Orcon (2) took the top two spots, with Telecom also performing strongly. 

METHODOLOGICAL NOTE
Epitiro removed the results from slower services such as those with limited upload and download speeds. “This is because some ISPs offer these services and others don’t, so it would artificially pull down the average of those offering slower and cheaper services.” 




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jmosen
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  #245811 12-Aug-2009 21:05
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All this survey has done is reduced my confidence in Epitiro. If you look at the Orcon and Slingshot forums here, you'll see many complaints about performance. Go to the Telecom forum and you'll see consistent praise for their performance.

Something seriously doesn't add up.




Jonathan




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  #245816 12-Aug-2009 21:12
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That program used to get these stats is garbage, I ran it and apparently my speed is 13.7kbps up, if you look at my speed results under this post, they are anything but. I'll run it again to make sure, but telecom isnt that bad, I just live so far away from the exchange and thats the problem with many peoples speeds, but there tech support needs a little improving, someone call tmobile UK, Love talking to them, they actually sound genuenly interested and concerned with problems and make you fell welcome, something we defenetly need over here from telecom if they want people to like them, the tech support shows alot about a company.

jmosen
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  #245817 12-Aug-2009 21:15
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Interesting, I am no Telecom fan boy, but I've found since rejoinign Xtra their service to be superb, in terms of performance on the network and phone interaction.




Jonathan




tardtasticx
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  #245824 12-Aug-2009 21:23
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The uncapped speeds accross most plans (or is it all?) is deffenetly something worth paying for if you live close to an exchange

freitasm

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#245848 12-Aug-2009 22:09
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jmosen: Go to the Telecom forum and you'll see consistent praise for their performance.


Still, when someone asks for a suggestion and you say "Telecom" they look at you like you are mad. People still have that thing of "hate Telecom" regardess of the good improvements on their services and products...







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jmosen
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  #245855 12-Aug-2009 22:23
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For sure. They have a lot of bad brand recognition to recover from. But I have been blown away with the consistent performance of the network and customer service.




Jonathan


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  #245867 12-Aug-2009 23:23
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I hope they didn't rely on isposure data because most people (like me) ran that thing once, found it was garbage and never ran it every again.

 
 
 

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insane
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  #246808 15-Aug-2009 00:07
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Any independently report that only includes the 5 largest ISPs shouldn't be taken too seriously. Those that really care about their Broadband tend to also think of the 2nd tier ISPs which have been neglected by this report. With each report I too find the information they release less useful and numbers being replaced with words like, 'best' and 'faster'.

I also have my doubts on the validity of the test results as my isposure tests are very different to what my REAL performance is like.

Just look, Telstraclear, Orcon and Slingshot all claim to be the 'BEST' ISP based on some award they won last year. So which one really is the best? Only hard numbers will do for me.

surly they can't all be the equal best?
Epitiro http://www.orcon.net.nz/about/article/we_are_still_new_zealands_fastest_broadband_provider
Epitiro: http://www.slingshot.co.nz/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=999&tabid=24&subnav=31
Netguide: http://www.telstraclear.co.nz/promotions/netguide-2009/

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  #246913 15-Aug-2009 11:46
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dickytim
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  #246914 15-Aug-2009 11:48
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sorry don't know how to post up my speedtest results :(


freitasm

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  #246926 15-Aug-2009 12:28
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Updated for you. When posting images don't use the Quick Reply box. Instead click REPLY and use the icons to create the image.




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