Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Internet in New Zealand

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  • 3410,

    My flat is on Big Time (Xtra's replacement for Go Large), and I have to say that we're quite happy with it. Yes they throttle torrents except between 0200-0700

    We're on Go Large with the same heavy throttling, with slightly less heavy throttling between 0200-0700. I don't use torrenting, but they are seriously ruining a number of aspects of my internet experience at the moment. For instance, I can't even download vids from Crooks & Liars anymore, which is pissing me off. There's got to be a way around this.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    One of the things I'm finding most depressing about a lot of the debates going on in NZ at present is that they seem to be premised on "Aim low. That way you cannot fail to achieve your goals." We should be shooting for the moon, so that even a failure will be impressive. Instead we're aiming low and not even achieving mediocrity.

    In other words, the "McD's nation" David Harris warned us about.

    Back to broadband issues, TelstraClear has rolled out 25Mb/s cable in ChCh, and will be rolling out in Wellywood soon if not already.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    with slightly less heavy throttling between 0200-0700

    I don't know what you're seeing, but I have confirmed to myself that the throttling goes away entirely after 0200. I've seen torrents coming in with a combined rate (several simultaneously) in excess of 10Mb/s. Not bad for a connection that's training up at 13Mb/s.

    I've also seen, during the day, torrents coming in at 1Mb/s. The throttling is very variable, and appears to be largely controlled by demand. If I were you I'd be looking closely at my connection characteristics, rather than leaping to blame Xtra.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    If I were you I'd be looking closely at my connection characteristics

    I might if knew what that meant. :)

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Back to broadband issues, TelstraClear has rolled out 25Mb/s cable in ChCh, and will be rolling out in Wellywood soon if not already.

    I got to use telstraclear cable in Kelburn over Easter. Downloaded 380 MB of windows updates for a computer, took about 4 times as long to install as it did to download.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    I might if knew what that meant. :)

    Your distance to cabinet, quality of your line etc. "It's you, not xtra".

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    I might if knew what that meant. :)

    Your distance to cabinet, quality of your line etc. "It's you, not xtra".

    What Kyle said. Go into your DSL modem's admin interface and look at things like connection speed, error counts, line noise (if the modem shows it)...
    Also, how long's the connection been up? When was the modem last rebooted? A lot of modems re-train connections if there are errors, and do so at a lower speed. If the errors are transient, that means that you're now connected slower than maximum for something that's no longer a problem. If the errors are constant, you've likely got a line issue.

    I'm well-known on here for being far from Telecom's biggest fan, or most ardent defender, but my experience with Big Time doesn't mesh with yours at all. Our connection's performance is exactly what was advertised ("managed" P2P except during 0200-0700), and better than we expected from an uncapped service. If you're having real problems with speed, I would be very hesitant to blame Xtra until line and hardware issues have been ruled out.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Thanks, Matthew; I'll look into that, but I don't think that's the issue since most other things -- YouTube, for example -- are working as normal.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Lindberg,

    I find it unlikely that any NZ ISP would have the ability to throttle customers based on the site they're going to.

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    One of the things I'm finding most depressing about a lot of the debates going on in NZ at present is that they seem to be premised on "Aim low. That way you cannot fail to achieve your goals."

    .. when those goals are set by our unambitious business leaders or their proxies. Our public service has generally been world class in its intent, despite what some would have you believe.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    I find it unlikely that any NZ ISP would have the ability to throttle customers based on the site they're going to.

    Site? Yes, quite easily, but it's not normally done. Protocol? Yes, absolutely, and done by the vast majority of ISPs to varying extents, especially to things like BitTorrent.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole,

    So, just how very unambitious is 20Mbps in five years' time? Try USD26/month for 1Gbps in Hong Kong. Yes, I know, I know, population density, excuses, fudging, justifications, but the point holds: we're pretending that 20Mbps is some kind of ambitious target, at the same time as other countries are seeing 1Gbps as to-the-residence services at realistic prices.

    Yes, Shon Key is clearly very embishus for New Zealand.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Bruce Sheppard is still insisting the earth is flat.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

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