Question re: ADSL Jack Points and Speed.

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StarMan

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# 251550 30-Jun-2019 19:22

You'll have to forgive me if I don't use the correct terminology, but hopefully you'll get my drift.

We've recently moved into an apartment complex in Chch Central. Prior to moving I checked to see if fibre was available, which my provider at the time (Vodafone) said it was. Well, to cut a long story short, it wasn't. And, we'd already signed the papers. The bodycorp is reviewing fibre installation in July, apparently having to deal with fire compliance issues.

So, after a nightmarish 2 weeks trying to determine what was available, I got in touch with Spark, who did a prequalification and determined ADSL2+ was the best option. They informed me the predicted speeds were between 15-21mbps.

The apartment has 5 ADSL jack points. After the Spark modem arrived, I naturally tried the one in the lounge to no avail. Luckily, the last jack point I tried (in the bedroom) worked. However, we haven't even cracked 8mbps. It's manageable; we can have two devices streaming Netflix just fine.

Preferably, I'd like the modem in the lounge. I spoke with Spark who said we'll probably need a technician to access the cabinet room and change the port to match the jack point. That's fine. My question is: is there a possibility that changing the port to a new jack point could improve the speed to something within the range Spark told me? Or, is it going to be the case that if I'm getting ~8mbps on one jack point, it's going to be the same on all the others if I get the port changed?

Apologies if this is the wrong forum.

Linux

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# 2267446 30-Jun-2019 19:28

How are you testing? If over Wi-Fi then please test over Ethernet

Goosey

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# 2267448 30-Jun-2019 19:30

1. its an MDU (multiple dwelling unit), so ya gonna have to wait for the body corp to sign off on the fibre stuff.

2. Are you using those inline plug in filters or is there a master splitter/filter fitted in the main cabinet room for you. I suspect you need a master filter/splitter.

sbiddle

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# 2267450 30-Jun-2019 19:32

How old is the apartment?

If it's newish it should have structured cabling and typically a patch panel in a cupboard somewhere. This is something you can easily change yourself if it does exist.

Your questions can't really be answered because there are lots of unknown variables with the speed and setup.

StarMan

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# 2267466 30-Jun-2019 19:59

Goosey:

1. its an MDU (multiple dwelling unit), so ya gonna have to wait for the body corp to sign off on the fibre stuff.

2. Are you using those inline plug in filters or is there a master splitter/filter fitted in the main cabinet room for you. I suspect you need a master filter/splitter.

I'm not using an inline filter; the ADSL cable is running straight from the modem to the ADSL jack point. The only way to connect a filter up from what I can see is to buy a second one, run a phone cable between the two and have an ADSL cable from one filter to the modem and the other from the second filter to the wall. No doubt this sounds like the idea of someone who doesn't know what they're doing. :D

Spark told me though that with the set up that we have we wouldn't need a filter (ADSL jack points only; no phone connection and no phone jacks in the house. There is a phone in the hallway but that's wired into the wall).

sbiddle:

How old is the apartment?

If it's newish it should have structured cabling and typically a patch panel in a cupboard somewhere. This is something you can easily change yourself if it does exist.

Your questions can't really be answered because there are lots of unknown variables with the speed and setup.

Apartment is about 10 years old, I believe.

The only thing I have come across aside from the switch board is this:

From what I can see this only relates to TV/satellite.

Sorry I can't provide anything more specific. I'll contact Spark tomorrow.

hio77

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# 2267470 30-Jun-2019 20:01

if the prequal was 15-21 likely vdsl range..

Flick me your account number and i'll give it a quick look, see if anything looks out of whack.

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StarMan

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# 2267471 30-Jun-2019 20:07

Thanks! I've PM'd you.

hio77

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# 2267488 30-Jun-2019 20:47

Given it's an apartment, you may be pushing it. But the wiring isnt the best.

I'd expect 12mbit if you can manage to get a cleaner signal. If your lucky it's a loose join roadside.

Based on the quick tests, seems more likely internal.

It's definitely not capable of VDSL. you almost loose any capable signal before VDSL would even start unfortunately.

Prequal would likely be not expecting all the extra length within the apartment building

Also what's on the other side of the green twisted pair?

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StarMan

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# 2267868 1-Jul-2019 17:03

Thanks for that I appreciate you having a look. So far as what's on the other side of the green twisted pair, these are the best photos I could get.

It's a very narrow opening in the panel so it was a real squeeze getting my phone in to take a photo. This isn't my forte I'm afraid so I don't know if anyone can identify what set up I've got from these photos.

12mbit would be better, obviously. I take it moving jack points won't have any impact on speed?

I logged into the modem and did some speed tests with both TVs streaming Netflix at medium playback settings (0.7GB/hr). It averages out at around 160KB per second, per stream. Quality of the picture is fine on my smart TV. So, if the two of us are both streaming we're only looking at consuming at most half the available bandwidth. I intentionally pushed it the other night with both streams going and a large download on my laptop. My browser ground to a halt and Netflix buffered a few times.

So, it's not ideal, but it's manageable. If we had one Netflix stream going with nothing else and were encountering buffering then I would have really spit the dummy. It makes me laugh that Vodafone (who I was with previously) were adamant that I couldn't watch Netflix on an ADSL line.

I can only hope the bodycorp make the call this month on the fibre installation. It would seem to be in their best interests so far as value of the property and expectations of new tenants. I wish the checks I had ran before moving into the property had been more explicit rather than a big banner saying fibre is available. Lesson learned for next time and my bad for making an assumption a newish apartment block would have fibre by default.

Just as a matter of interest, does anyone know how long the copper network is expected to stay in play? I vaguely recall reading something in relation to everything transitioning to fibre by *insert year here*.

Thanks again for your help. :-)

coffeebaron

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# 2267891 1-Jul-2019 17:43

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A Telco connection block. You should get a splitter installed in there.

Chorus has spent $1.4 billion on making their xDSL broadband network faster and even more now as they are upgrading their rural Conklins. If your still stuck on ADSL or VDSL, why not spend $195 on a master filter install to make sure you are getting the most out of your connection?
I install - Naked DSL, DSL Master Splitters, VoIP, data cabling and general computer support for home and small business.
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cyril7

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# 2267893 1-Jul-2019 17:52

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The top or face of that cabinet is held on with four screws that are easily removed will make it easier to see but yeah looks like all the blue pairs of the Jack's in the unit are joined, so a splitter is recommended, and depending on exactly how it's wired you maybe can do a proper structured cabling gigabit setup.

Cyril