Thank you Ronni A handy run down of the available broadbands
I am on ADSL2 with Westnet and they have a line in Hammersley Exchange which is about 4km from me in Greenwood. My speeds go right down to dropout when the kids come out of school and continue off and on during the evening. On weekends it's the same. I have spent several 2 to 3 hour sessions with Westnet without a result over the past month. I was persuaded by their support person to get a new modem as mine was several years old. I bought Billion 7800N and Westnet helped set it up today over a period of 2 hours. Within an hour it stopped connecting to the net. Another hour with Westnet and they could not get it working. At one stage when setting it up they remotely operated my Mac. I have re-connected my old modem and now have download speed of 52KBs (0.45Mbs). Westnet are reporting a line fault at last. Long story I know. Cheers John John Daniels [email protected] On 11/06/2011, at 10:58 AM, Ronda Brown wrote: > Hi Michael, John, Stephen, > > I was trying to follow this thread; Michael originally posted about his > ADSL2+ download speed, then John replied mentioning ADSL2 speeds. > There is a difference between ADSL, ADSL2 and ADSL2+ Broadband. > > There is also many reasons why download speeds can vary for different > customers. Location / network setup / Router / wireless signal interference > / running background applications / faulty network equipment / service > provider issues. > > What’s the difference between ADSL, ADSL2 and ADSL2+ broadband? > > ADSL: > > ADSL, or ADSL1 as it’s often called, is the most basic form of broadband > internet brought to your home via an active telephone landline’s copper wire. > Strangely enough, within ADSL1 there are four different speeds you can > purchase, so you need to make sure you’re getting what you pay for. The > maximum speed a basic ADSL connection can run is at 8,192kbps/384kbps. The > four possible ADSL speeds are 256kbps/64kbps, 512kbps/128kbps, > 1,500kbps/256kbps and the premium 8,192kbps/384kbps speed. > > ADSL 256kbps/64kbps speed: > > ADSL with a download speed of 256kbps (kbps equals ‘kilobytes per second’) is > the most basic form of broadband. As dial-up internet has download speeds of > up to 64kbps, this is a real step up for those who’ve never experienced > broadband before, but when compared with the range of other available speeds > in today’s market, this is still very slow. If you’re into watching YouTube > videos, making Skype calls, or online gaming, it simply won’t be suitable. > > *Note: Plan speeds are named after their download speed (the first speed in a > numbered pair like 256kbps/64kbps). The second speed listed is the upload > speed. Uploads are when you add attachments to an email, or put up photos > onto your Facebook account. Everything else you do whilst online uses your > download speed (and download data). Some internet providers charge for both > uploads and downloads, whereas others only charge for downloads, so it’s > worth finding out about each plan’s finer details. > > ADSL 512kbps/128kbps speed: > > A 512kbps download speed is of course twice as fast as 256kbps, but it’s > still fairly slow for people who want to utilise modern software programs and > functionality. However, for those who aren’t in a hurry, and who only use the > internet for email, banking and general surfing, this can be a cheap > alternative. > > ADSL 1,500kbps/256kbps speed: > > A 1,500kbps ADSL speed is what most people who can’t yet receive ADSL2+ go > for. This speed of broadband is quick, still cheap, and you can do just about > everything you need to do on the web without having to wait for things to > load up. This will be your first experience of instantaneous access to the > internet, with videos and online TV or podcasts playing as soon as you click > on their relevant links. > > The only instances where a 1,500kbps speed won’t be suitable are when you > have a home network with several computers whose users are all attempting to > watch online videos at the same time, or if your home is so far from the > telephone exchange the speed of your connection diminishes greatly before > reaching your property. > > ADSL 8,192kbps/384kbps speed: > > This is the fastest speed you can get on an ADSL1 connection. Comparable to > ADSL 2 speeds, you will have to pay a premium price, but if ADSL2+ isn’t > currently available in your area and speed is important to you, this will be > your best option. Check out Exetel’s FP-D1 8,192kbps $75.00 plan with 30GB in > the peak time, and 60GB of downloads in the off-peak time, for a start to > your search. > > ADSL2 speed: > > ADSL2 has speeds of up to 12,000kbps, or 12mbps (megabits per second), but > this speed is not common in Australia, as the ADSL2+ market has become the > dominant speed consumers are demanding. > > ADSL2+ speed: > > ADSL2+ is currently the fastest speed you can sign up to in the Australian > ADSL broadband industry. Ironically, the ADSL2+ service is cheaper than > ADSL1, as it’s a much more competitive market. Faster and cheaper! With > speeds of up to 24,000 kbps (24 megabits per second) this is blisteringly > fast internet where numerous computers in one home or business can all be > online simultaneously, without any issues of loading time or download lag. To > use ADSL2+ you need to ensure you have an ADSL2+ enabled modem, as a normal > ADSL modem can only run at a maximum of 8,192kbps. > > Like all types of ADSL broadband, the further you live or work from the > telephone exchange will have an impact on the final speed your ADSL2+ > connection is when it enters your home or business. Some internet providers > can tell you what speed to expect by analysing the possible cable distance > from the exchange to your residence. > > Naked DSL: > > Naked DSL is where you have ADSL2+ internet running into your home via a > copper phone line, but you deactivate the telephone aspect of the line, so > you don’t need to pay for phone rental (as you no longer have a standard > telephone). This type of connection only works with ADSL2+, and the internet > provider must have ports in your local exchange that are Naked DSL capable. > > Shaping speeds: > > When signing up to an ADSL or ADSL2+ plan, it’s in your best interest to see > if the plan is ‘shaped’ (slowed down) when you reach your download limit, and > if so, what speed you’ll be shaped to. Shaping speeds can range from a > dial-up speed of 64kbps all the way up to 4mbps (4,000kbps) as it is on the > TPG Super Fast Premium ADSL2+ 150GB plan for $89.99. > > Some providers don’t slow your connection down, but charge excess usage fees > ranging from 15 cents a megabyte (MB) to 50 cents a Gigabyte (GB), so it’s in > your interest to see whether or not you’ll be shaped, what speed it’ll be > shaped to, or if not slowed down, how much you’ll be charged for excess usage. > > ADSL availability: > > When researching which ADSL speeds are available at your local telephone > exchange, you need to be aware that various internet providers enable > different exchanges, so just because one provider can’t give you ADSL2+ in > your location, it doesn’t mean they all can’t. BigPond can provide ADSL2+ > broadband just about anywhere in Australia (Telstra owns the nation’s major > copper wire infrastructure), but they are the least competitive pricewise. > > Other internet providers need to pay large amounts of money to enable an > exchange with their own ADSL2+ enabled DSLAM, so they usually set up shop > first in metropolitan areas where they know they’ll make their money back, as > the population is more dense in city locations. After enabling these > exchanges the companies move outwards through the suburbs. > > *Note: Just because a provider has ADSL2+ at your local exchange doesn’t mean > the service will always be available for you. Each provider is allotted a > specific amount of ports for their customers at an exchange, and if they’ve > rented all of them out you may have to look for a different service provider. > > Cheers, > Ronni > > 17" MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-Core i7 “Thunderbolt" > 2.3GHz / 8GB / 750GB @ 7200rpm HD > > OS X 10.6.7 Snow Leopard > Windows 7 Ultimate (under sufferance) > On 10/06/2011, at 10:53 AM, John Daniels wrote: > >> Hi Michael >> >> That's shocking for ADSL2, Westnet tell me it is probably congestion on the >> line. Mine certainly started to decline rapidly after school was out and >> continued all evening. >> >> At the moment at 10.45am my speed with Oz Broadband Speedtest using iinet >> mirror is 224KB (1.79Mb) which is OK. >> >> I didn't know that the copper cable could get overloaded like this. It seems >> to be happening only over the past 3 weeks. >> >> Any other Wamugger with expertise can comment? >> >> Cheers >> John >> >> >> John Daniels >> [email protected] >> >> >> >> On 10/06/2011, at 7:47 AM, michael.hawkins wrote: >> >>> I'm in Doubleview, between Sackville Terrace and Scarborough Beach Road. >>> Download speed during evenings is a whopping 7.3 KBs. Amnet ADSL2+. I'm >>> about to check if monthly limit has been exceeded. >>> >>> Michael Hawkins. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[email protected]>
