Hi all,

I have checked on the Telecom Wholesale Maps and a new ADSL2+ and VDSL capable cabinet has opened in my zone this month (Cabinet name: MOD/E). 

I have always been on the edge of the exchange, which results in low speeds, with not much we can do about it; but I am right in the middle of the small zone this new cabinet services.  I called Slingshot to see if they could get me switched to this cabinet, but the guy said I would lose speed due to cross talk on the cabinet and something to do with LLU (I think he was dropping that one in to be confusing?  It that that was unbundling)

Is this true or are they trying to scheme me a little, holding the cabinet spots for new users signing up maybe?  I am not too schooled on this sorta thing and it seems like a lot of you are!

Any info would be great!

Cheers,
Bener.

SUMMARY/UPDATE:

If anyone here is having similar issues, e.g. sudden slow speeds etc. with an LLU (local loop) connection, such as Slingshot's 'The Next Big Thing' I would urge you to check the Telecom Broadband Wholesale Map here and see if you have a new cabinet within your range.

The reason for this is that an LLU connection runs back to the exchange, where your connection will run off non-Telecom (in my case it was Vodafone) gear.  When the new cabinet is installed, as it is generally closer than the exchange, its signal is stronger, degrading your signal on its way to the exchange.  In my case I was right on the edge of the exchange's range so it made a huge difference (I was getting about 0.8Mb/s after cabinetisation).

The fix for this is to get your ISP to switch you to the Telecom Wholesale network, which will probably cost you around $10 extra a month.  Slingshot helpdesk initially tried to put me off the idea (credit to freitasm and sbiddle for explanations) when I suggested it, saying things like 'Telecom Wholesale is for ISP's only'; but I eventually got a guy that agreed this was the issue and put the change into action.

The other issue I had was the switch itself, the 'man in the van' that did the switch on the 29th messed it up (porting issues apparently) so I was left with the same degraded broadband and no incoming calls!  I would say this is a rare issue but your best bet in that situation is to keep on it, call constantly...  I was promised several callbacks, and got none.  I was also told I had to wait seven more days for the porting to be fixed.  Your other approach should be to get on geekzone.  I was contacted by akia, a user here, who passed my issues on to someone from Telecom Provisioning.  I had a PM from said contact and gave the details of my issues.  Then BAM! My fix was moved up to the next day and all was excellent.

Line improvements: 
Before: 0.8Mb/s down ; 0.2Mb/s up 
After: 12.5Mb/s down ; 5Mb/s up to Sydney 
5Mb/s down ; 2Mb/s up to LA 

(at peak time)

If it wasn't for these forums and the helpful users I would've been stuck with a horrible connection for much, much longer - big thanks everyone who helped me out!