Does Anyone Want Faster Internet?

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JohnButt

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#90130 15-Sep-2011 14:20

TrueNet speedtests show VDSL is the fastest technology available until the Government's fibre rollout arrives in 1 to 5 years. So why are very few ISP's offering it? VDSL is available in many exchanges throughout New Zealand, both as a wholesale service from Telecom and some ISPs have their own to offer over LLU.

Technology differences dominate in Truenet's speedtests, unlike our previous article covering web browsing times where ISP performance dominates. Speedtests provide a good indication of the likely performance of video streaming.
File Download Speed: VDSL & Cable are bestIn the latest research into each of its probes Truenet finds there is a strong relationship between the speed reached in a speedtest and the technology used, while there is no strong relationship between speedtests and the ISP.

VDSL is the best technology available to many users until ultra-fast broadband (UFB) reaches their home, but not all ISP's offer VDSL, despite being able to. In ADSL or VDSL, the length of the copper connection is the cause of slower speeds.

TrueNet findings are based on file download tests that are run every hour from Trademe, with the results below representing over 700 tests per probe.

Download Speedtests by Technology

Transparent Version

In the chart above, the speed in Mb/s is compared to the length of the copper connection in kilometers. The copper connection is a pair of wires from the probe all the way to the exchange equipment in the cabinet or exchange. The longer the pair of wires for VDSL and ADSL, the slower the expected speed. For ADSL, the darker colour represents higher density of results because most connections are closer than 1.5km to the exchange. Cable connection speeds are independent of the distance from the exchange equipment.

TrueNet probe history shows improvement in median ADSL file download speeds due to Telecom's programme of cabinet installations enabling a shorter pair of wires.

While VDSL download speeds for TrueNet probes are better than Cable or ADSL; VDSL upload speeds averaged 14Mb/s which is 22 times the ADSL average upload speed of 0.6Mb/s, and 7 times the 2Mb/s offered with Cable.

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#521475 15-Sep-2011 14:29

people will buy anything if the price is right.

simply asking if people want faster internet isn't enough. How much are they willing to pay for faster internet, and can the faster internet be provided for that price?

If VDSL costs $50 more to deliver than ADSL2+, but most people are only willing to pay, say, $5 more for 'faster' internet, then nobody is going to sell it.

Personally, I get 12-15Mbps at home right now on ADSL2+. Would I buy VDSL if it was the same price? Sure thing.

Am I wiling to pay any more for it? No way. There is literally nothing I that want to do on the internet right now that will be better on VDSL.
(FYI, same goes for Fibre)

DonGould

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#521476 15-Sep-2011 14:29

VDSL opens some exciting doors doesn't it!

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CYaBro

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#521481 15-Sep-2011 14:33

If you are a business and have remote users then the faster upload on VDSL would be an advantage but I wouldn't pay any more than I am paying now, at home, for faster internet.
I can only get ADSL1 where I live anyway, too far away from cabinet.

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

graemeh

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#521484 15-Sep-2011 14:38

NonprayingMantis: Personally, I get 12-15Mbps at home right now on ADSL2+. Would I buy VDSL if it was the same price? Sure thing.

Am I wiling to pay any more for it? No way. There is literally nothing I that want to do on the internet right now that will be better on VDSL.
(FYI, same goes for Fibre)

+1

The bottlenecks I come across at home are not on the access anyway so even with a 1gb fibre I'll still get pretty much the same performance for things that matter to me.

johnr

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#521485 15-Sep-2011 14:38

ADSL2+ and mobile broadband is plenty fast enough for me

JohnButt

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#521488 15-Sep-2011 14:39

CYaBro: If you are a business and have remote users then the faster upload on VDSL would be an advantage but I wouldn't pay any more than I am paying now, at home, for faster internet.
I can only get ADSL1 where I live anyway, too far away from cabinet.

Yes, but what about interactive video, say skype with both ends having VDSL - that could be super. The main value I see in these faster upload speeds is in both Skype and Photo uploads, especially if you are storing on the cloud.

I am sure there are many more

DonGould

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#521494 15-Sep-2011 14:49

JohnButt: The main value I see in these faster upload speeds is in both Skype and Photo uploads, especially if you are storing on the cloud.

The following comment was made to me this morning with respect to this Australian visiting us earlier in the year...

Previous OS trip was to GB and Europe 10 yrs ago, and we used internet cafes only occasionally for email.

This time we had DSLR cameras, lenses, laptop etc. Whole digital hoopla.

Each night copying our day's pics to HDD, use PS8 to fix and reduce res and upload best pics to flickr for our family to see back home. Even our 'squashed' pics had trouble uploading.

We used AA and Jasons books to search for internet enabled accomm.

Tourism everywhere needs to understand the new needs of travellers.

I made clear why we chose each place, to the host, spreading the word.

As you said, the short term BB market was the worst of the experience.

Each accomm. had it's provider, with wild variance in cost and data limit. I learned too late to ask when booking for details about their net.

A symbol in the book was not enough. 'Free' could mean 2 hours, then pay for more, or (eg) $10/night for 5Mb data, $40/week 500Mb etc.

Connection was click, wait 10 secs, click, what's happening? etc. I know a poor wireless LAN, on a poor copper line, big distance from exchange give this result.

My expectation was at least FTTN with 'n' wireless. I did see some fridges along the highway north of Aukland, but generally, our NZ net experience was the only negative of our trip

.

I think that government may have missed the point with concern for UFB focus on download for schools and medical centers.

What we really need is upload in the tourist area. We want people to skite about how wonderful New Zealand is to their family while they're still here!

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PassiveFever81

367 posts

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#521505 15-Sep-2011 15:08

Personally I'm very happy with my ADSL2 speed, pings could be a bit better but I'm a fair way from the exchange, getting a solid 10Mb/s. The upload speed could be faster, say 2Mb/s but for now the speed is more than enough, I can stream 1080P youtube videos no problem, what we need are larger data caps, say 1-200GB, so we don't have to worry about what we download.

DonGould

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#521520 15-Sep-2011 15:29

brandonruscoe: what we need are larger data caps, say 1-200GB, so we don't have to worry about what we download.

A point no one seems to quite understand how to fix.

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Regs

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Snowflake

#521527 15-Sep-2011 15:38

i think we need to have a big education campaign for businesses. right now there are probably >80% of businesses that think they can use a residential grade ADSL connection for $90 a month and that it is sufficient.

these are the same businesses that complain when their residential grade email services are unavailable and costing them $000's in lost earnings.

with many businesses looking to the cloud for service delivery, ADSL becomes very poor choice given the constraints on upload and the added latency. Unfortunately these businesses still don't consider this, or understand this, and think that they dont need to invest more in their internet connectivity when they move to the cloud.

VDSL, right now, is not something that the average consumer needs. Its well overdue for businesses for whom it is in reach, but they just dont know that they need it. We need to find a way to make them understand this.

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Ragnor

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#521566 15-Sep-2011 16:24

DonGould:

The following comment was made to me this morning with respect to this Australian visiting us earlier in the year...

Is there some reason why he didn't consider mobile broadband? Which is the ideal type of broadband for someone moving around tourist style imo...

Behodar

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#521567 15-Sep-2011 16:26

I want faster upload speeds. A local ISP offers 5 Mb/s upload but unfortunately I'm *just* out of their coverage area :(

Jaxar

383 posts

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#521574 15-Sep-2011 16:56

Some great replies already but my $0.02 below.

My connection recently increased by a 3Mbit in throughput. Apart from a general interest in what changed in my area that I now get a greater speed I really didn't care.
Most services I used are slowed down by the other end. It would be awesome if I could download a new game off steam at 20Mbit but they simply won't send it to me that fast.

Perhaps you are asking this question of the wrong market share.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

oxnsox

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#521576 15-Sep-2011 16:58

Don Gould: What we really need is upload in the tourist area. We want people to skite about how wonderful New Zealand is to their family while they're still here!

agree... and....

Regs:...(edit)... businesses that think they can use a residential grade ADSL connection for $90 a month and that it is sufficient. These are the same businesses that complain when their residential grade email services are unavailable and costing them $000's in lost earnings.

I see these two comments as sharing the same problem.
The sales training, channels and business models employed by ISP's.
It's easier for them to sign you to any plan than to spent the time to learn what you do and show you what option may be better suited for your business.

Unless your company is large enough to have dedicated IT staff, you'll probably be lead by the IT blind.

graemeh

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#521578 15-Sep-2011 16:59

Ragnor: Is there some reason why he didn't consider mobile broadband? Which is the ideal type of broadband for someone moving around tourist style imo...

He probably didn't want to pay for it and in a lot of the tourist locations the mobile coverage isn't that great anyway.

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