Internet Service Providers - who to go to???

Have they explained why it is getting slower? ADSL is not affected by number of users (unlike cable).

Get them to do a line test (they'll probably first do a port reset) and make sure it is up to what they say it should be.

We were getting terrible speed, and then we found out normal analogue line was very noisy.

We called the ISP and the lady on the other end said "well no need doing a port reset because I can barely hear you!!"

Turns out the connection to our home in the pit on the street had been submerged playing havoc with the copper!

The Y-man

 

Just be aware that iinet is a Telstra reseller (ie uses Telstra copper and network equipment) so you may not get any improvement at all unless you change to a different carrier.

The Y-man

 

This is not the case. iiNet only use the "last mile" of Telstra's network (the copper from the exchange to your house) - they have their own equipment in the exchanges so from that point on, it is all their own network and nothing to do with Telstra.

 

Where are you getting this from?

ADSL2+ has a theoretical maximum speed of 24Mbps - if you lived basically inside the exchange and had an upstream network link that wasn't under-provisioned, you could easily pull stuff down at close to that maximum speed. Maximum theoretical upstream (on regular Annexe-A) is 1Mbps.

NBN offer four speed profiles: 12Mbps down / 1Mbps up; 25Mbps / 5Mbps; 50Mbps / 20Mbps and 100Mbps / 40Mbps.

Again, provided that you aren't on an under-provisioned network link, you should easily be able to pull down data faster on the NBN on anything but the lowest speed link - and even then, the lowest speed link should give better results than probably 80% of the population get on ADSL2+ (my in-laws get 9Mbps out of their ADSL2+ while my parents get only 1Mbps down !!).

If you do happen to be on an under-provisioned network link, this has nothing to do with the NBN, but rather your poor choice of ISP (or at best, growth in utilisation has lead to a temporary provisioning shortfall and they just need to provision more capacity).

I know plenty of people who are getting pretty close to their maximum speed on the NBN. Of course, if you are trying to download data from a busy website during peak periods, YMMV - but that's hardly the NBN's fault either.

 

Well there's ya problem! TPG are known for under-provisioning their networks. That's why they can offer such cheap prices - they just shove more people on the same capacity link without provisioning extra capacity, so nobody gets the full speed they have paid for.

Again, it's not an NBN issue - it's an ISP issue and happens on ADSL as well, it's just not as noticeable because of the relatively slower speeds involved.

The ISPs need to be pressured to correctly provision their networks so that people can get the speeds they are paying for - and it should be policed and enforced by the TIO.

I'd still be delighted with 60Mbps compared to the 18Mbps I get now, but I would also be pretty annoyed if I paid for 100 and only got 60.

 

Hehe ... no. They can be even worse.

Internode always had the best international network with iiNet in second place.

When iiNet bought Internode, the first thing they did was merge Internode's network into their own to improve their own network - big performance boost for iiNet's customers.

I fear what will happen over time now that TPG owns iiNet and Internode - although TPG have committed to keeping iiNet as a premium brand, I'm not sure how much that will extend to keeping the iiNet network well provisioned vs going with their traditional model.

My ISP preference has always been Internode first, iiNet second and TPG third but only if you didn't care about performance. I'm still happy with my Internode service for now - but I'm not on NBN yet, so I'm not sure how well they're provisioning things these days.

It's a changing landscape still - will take a few more years for the changes in the industry triggered by the introduction of the NBN, to settle down.