Broadband quality on waiheke island

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izomezzo

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#84863 9-Jun-2011 18:09

Hi,

I'm considering moving to a house in Waiheke island. My main worry is the quality of broadband. I've been told that there is no wired backbone connection from the mainland to Waiheke and it is either wireless or satellite. I noticed in the house they had a Telecom wireless router so assumed they had DSL, but they also had a satellite dish so I'm not so sure now. I did ask but the estate agent didn't know.

So, how is Waiheke wired as far as broadband goes? Does the wireless/satellite link (if true) cause latency issues? Should I forget landline broadband and go for Ynet or a new vodem or something like that? I'd like to use the connection for gaming so low latency is important (more so than speed).

Thanks,
Izo

sbiddle

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#479441 9-Jun-2011 18:19

I'm not sure who told you that but they're incorrect.

Waiheke is the last place in NZ to benefit from Cabinetisation, with ~20 cabinets going live in December delivering ADSL2+ and VDSL.

If you look at the Telecom Whoelsale and enter your address site you'll get an idea of what your connection will be like in December once the upgrade occurs.

Kraven

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#479445 9-Jun-2011 18:33

There is definitely a fibre backbone.

http://www.broadbandmap.govt.nz/map

johnr

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#479450 9-Jun-2011 18:45

Vodafone uses the fibre for our 3G on Waiheke

kyhwana2

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#479451 9-Jun-2011 18:49

So there is fibre running from the mainland under the water to the island?

johnr

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#479453 9-Jun-2011 18:53

kyhwana2: So there is fibre running from the mainland under the water to the island?

Sure is

cyril7

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#479455 9-Jun-2011 19:08

Waiheke has had fibre feeding services in the exchange (WH) for years. Currently there is ADSL1 service from the exchange by the end of the year pretty reasonable ADSL2 and VDSL2 service from both the exchange and cabinets as per the picture below. I have not shown the VDSL2 coverage but its pretty extensive, most of the coastline residential should still get pretty much full speed ADSL2+

So end result, whoever told you was mis informed.

Cyril

izomezzo

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#479457 9-Jun-2011 19:19

Thanks guys, very helpful.

That's good news. ADSL1 is fine for me (what I use in my current place) , but 2 wouldn't hurt when it arrives. The place is in Rocky Bay. I know the B&B there has broadband, just didn't know whether it was DSL or not.

Cheers,
Izo

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CYaBro

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#479477 9-Jun-2011 20:43

The two houses I've done work in on Waiheke both had adsl connections.
It wasn't the fastest but these houses were in pretty remote places (well as about remote as you can get on waiheke :-))

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

izomezzo

39 posts

Geek

#479537 9-Jun-2011 22:55

CYaBro: The two houses I've done work in on Waiheke both had adsl connections.
It wasn't the fastest but these houses were in pretty remote places (well as about remote as you can get on waiheke :-))

Thanks CYaBro, sounds good. Rocky Bay (Omiha) seems remote to me, but I'm not sure if it is compared to the rest of the island. Seems a bit further from the most populated areas in Ostend etc.

Cheers,
Izo

trig42

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#479973 11-Jun-2011 07:44

I live on Waiheke, generally Broadband is pretty good (only ADSL1 at the moment).

I get about 6.5-7 Mbps, but I am less than 1k from the exchange in Ostend. When I lived in Onetangi, I got about 4-5Mbps and Oneroa I got about 4. Once we are cabinetised, the main areas will be sweet.

During Peak times, it can slow right down (last night I was getting about 1.5Mbps on a big download, but when I resumed it this morning it has gone back up to 7Mbps. Hopefully cabinetisation fixes this.

I don't know about Rocky Bay, it is not due to be cabinetised I don't think, so you will not get ADSL2 speeds, but should get ADSL1, and Rocky Bay being about 4k from the exchange, it will be around the 3-4Mbps I'd expect.

izomezzo

39 posts

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#480121 11-Jun-2011 18:26

trig42: I live on Waiheke, generally Broadband is pretty good (only ADSL1 at the moment).

I get about 6.5-7 Mbps, but I am less than 1k from the exchange in Ostend. When I lived in Onetangi, I got about 4-5Mbps and Oneroa I got about 4. Once we are cabinetised, the main areas will be sweet.

During Peak times, it can slow right down (last night I was getting about 1.5Mbps on a big download, but when I resumed it this morning it has gone back up to 7Mbps. Hopefully cabinetisation fixes this.

I don't know about Rocky Bay, it is not due to be cabinetised I don't think, so you will not get ADSL2 speeds, but should get ADSL1, and Rocky Bay being about 4k from the exchange, it will be around the 3-4Mbps I'd expect.

Thanks trig. Yes ADSL1 is ok, it's all I've used so far. Latency is the worry, the house looks quite new so hopefully the lines are decent. I've read that exchange distance doesn't affect latency itself, though I suppose line quality would. I only occasionally download stuff from Steam or the odd ISO so throughput is not a huge concern.

Cheers,
Izo

webwat

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#482704 18-Jun-2011 23:06

Rocky Bay is pretty remote, and a long dusty drive to get there in summer too (I went the long way around). Only been there once sorry... If its a 4km line then you are on the edge of coverage, and I would expect more like 1 or 2Mbps speeds but no guarantee of that. With ADSL its about the distance from the point phone lines run from, not so much a general coverage area, so theres quite a variation of speeds and much depends on line quality. Seems like Kordia might have wireless coverage there, but probably more expensive.

Time to find a new industry!

bfginger

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#485116 23-Jun-2011 17:16

If you're in a marginal area for ADSL and getting only 2mbps it may be worth having your house's wiring looked at as every little improvement will count.

izomezzo

39 posts

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#485187 23-Jun-2011 21:11

Thanks guys. I'll find out in a week or so anyway and see how it goes. I'll need to get a tech out to connect me up anyway so I guess I can ask them about the line quality.

Cheers,