My rant to Telecom (xtra)

[Swoop]

Making millions off us minions and for what? Shit service.

Unfortunately not JUST shit service... Overseas corporate profit is what it is all about. The average Kiwi peasant will be shafted. Tell-lie-com will not invest in the pathetic systems that are here (hardware and software) because that will eat into the profits. They will simply maintain the investment that the kiwi taxpayer provided for them.

[Toaster]

As the average Kiwi peasant, I need a watering can to fart into.....

[kro]

I farted in a watering can once.... true story.

Fish, thanks for that, I don't know a lot about anything in this arena, I just follow the instructions I get given, and pretend I know stuff :P

All that aside, the jetstreamgames speed test was 1500kpbs 2 days ago, and suddenly yesterday it was maxed out. I am waiting for the email from Telecum, to say they have fixed it.

[Sam I Am]

DNS (the Domain Name System) cannot affect your download speed. It's just the protocol that resolves a hostname (like www.kiwibiker.co.nz) to an IP address (like 216.237.127.130) via a network of telephone-directory-like listings on dedicated servers around the world. To talk on the internet, your computer needs to start off knowing one IP address - the address of a DNS server that can perform that look-up when requested.

When you're web surfing or gaming or whatever, once the IP address you're after has been obtained via a DNS query, DNS is no longer involved. Your computer uses the IP address it retrieved to establish a connection to whatever is at the other end, and data transfer begins.

Therefore, changing the DNS server that you use as your Internet 'white pages' to resolve host names to addresses can never affect your download speeds (although it can, of course, affect how long it takes to establish a connection, or whether you can establish connections at all).

No it wont improve conection speed just that horrid lag waiting to find a web address

[Transalper]

I've had enuf of the slow speeds of Xtra's Go Large plan too and have just sighned with these guys... http://www.xnet.co.nz/hsi/
Kinda flipped a coin between them and Orcon. Choose Xnet because you do not need to take your tolls with them and i liked the way their data charging options are set up.
I chose to throttle back with a 6gig international data cap and have max up and down speed. I don't use p2p anymore so should be enough for me. $49.95 base fee +data usage up to 6 gig = $56.09 / month if cap is reached.
Will be interesting to see how it goes.. will take two working days to complete the transfer.

[Wasp]

I got 450 kb/s downloading at around 6-7ish tonight, yay for orcon!

[Quartermile]

Oh-oh We just bought the $50 Telecom Pack(hasn't been set up yet),

You know how it says your connected at say 44.8kbps but only downloads at about 5kbps(Dial-up). How fast does it download on broadband??

[riffer]

You're mixing up your kilobit and your kilobytes.

1 byte = 8 bits.

For some stupid reason they quote line speed as bits per second, and download speed as bytes per second.

Here's how fast my 4Mbps down/2Mbps up Telstra Cable goes at, night or day.

A bit of good news on the horizon. This should speed up the overseas speeds, which are about a quart of my national speeds.

[KLOWN]

xtra seem to be doing well compared to ihug on that speedtest.net my speeds were
download 725kbps
upload 127

and its 12 at night !!!

[kro]

Received from Xtra today ......

Hi Dave

Thanks for your email about the performance of your broadband connection.

We have completed a thorough review of your connection and we did not identify any faults with it.

However, even though there is no fault with your connection, several other factors can affect its performance.

It is important to know when you use the Internet you are sharing it with other users. As a result, the time it takes for your computer to receive or send information will be affected during busy periods.

The Internet is an international network so some of the factors that affect your overall broadband experience are outside our control. For example some websites limit the speed at which they send out information and sites that are further away (i.e. overseas) can be slower to download than sites hosted in New Zealand.

For more information on why broadband speeds can vary, visit xtra.co.nz/speed

If you think another broadband plan might suit you better, check out xtra.co.nz/broadband for information on Xtra’s complete range.

Changing to another plan is easy. You can either change online at xtra.co.nz/changeplan or call us on 0800 CALL XTRA (0800 22 55 98).

If you have any questions about this email please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks
Broadband Team


My response 5 mins ago...........

How does this explain how my server ping went from 40ms on my old 3.5mb plan, to 90-110ms the day after the switch over?. How do you explain AVG antivirus updates downloading in 1 sec on my old plan, to taking 8-10 seconds or more, the day after the "upgrade"?.

My take on the issue is that Telecom have a major problem on their hands with the implementation of "full speed" broadband system, which comes nowhere near the speed of my old plan, let alone looking like its going to perform at "full speed".

I am extremely reluctant to take a look at anymore Xtra plans, with the knowledge that I could be stuck with a bigger lemon than I currently pay for, and be fed patronizing explanations, which completely, and utterly ignore the fact that my previous plan was faster, and the day after the change over, the performance plummets to something akin to a slightly fast dialup connection.
If my old plan could perform well in excess of this full speed nonsense, utilising the same line, then how can you expect me to accept any of these "excuses"?.

I want my enquiry forwarded to the person in Telecom who has the authority to credit my account for the last 10 weeks of non-conforming DSL. If I am directed to read your terms and conditions once more, I will scream. If you cannot deliver a service complying with the advertised stats, then say so, and tell me I can not have DSL. Don't take my DSL money, and give me dialup, and then link me to your terms and conditions, as if that somehow justifies the poor service, and performance.

This is my final request for suitable action.

[jrandom]

This is my final request for suitable action.

Nothing will happen. Telecom will ignore you and continue to take your money.

Save your blood pressure and sign up with Orcon. I've been quite satisfied with my connection's performance since the switch. You'll probably prefer their style of metered bandwidth pricing, too.

[kro]

I'm three quarters there already Fish, I can at least say I gave them a chance to actually show some form of customer care. I wil happily give money to Orcon.

[Wasp]

fyi: ovbiously (i know you know this, id just like to say it) orcon is still ADSL - still the same thing as you have with xtra, changing may not help at all (besides the incredible ping decrease with interleaving)

however I do believe that orcon puts their hands into their pockets and pulls out cash to "supplement" they're customers plans, plus they are with a different international traffic provider than xtra

i am very happy with orcon though, would have preferred paradise/telstra for the 1/10th national traffic and free use of they're servers though but ohh well

[kro]

So in essence, what Telecom did by introducing full speed DSL, was to overload the lines for everyone, and make the switch to another ISP seem pointless because of the log jammed lines, thus making the LLU less painful on their pockets?.

I know people a few house from me who are with other ISP's, who get scorching speeds compared to me.

[Wasp]

pretty much yea, but the problem is the exchanges - when the thing was on Cambell lLive about it they said the exchanges had about 250 people on them - Aussie has about 100 on theirs - they should only have 50 apparently

looking at that makes it pretty ovbiously why it is slow if true

However i think my problem is old wires between the street and the wall socket

also have a look at what orcon plans for 2007 (the broadband section) http://www.orcon.net.nz/index.php?op...73&category=19