Belconnen Internet Providers?

TPG are ok. We have an unlimited download monthly package for $59.95/mo, and get about 8Mbps download speeds and 1Mbps upload speeds, since we are about 1.5km from the Scullin DSLAM. To give you a rough idea of the effectiveness: We can play multiple streaming videos without lag, but online gaming a bit slow.

Avoid Virgin Wireless or Broadband, we started with them and it is such a hassle to do anything with their support, let alone the crap connections and low download speed.

Might try Internode, although we live in a share house and have multiple users at all time, thus the benefit of the TPG unlimited plan.

camel said :

I have ADSL2 with dodo in kaleen and we get ok speeds ~3.5mb/s (`1mb/s if its raining)
The price is good i think we pay $79 a month, for unlimited download. the only catch is you have to bundle a homephone, which is what we do but just dont use it at all.

Same speeds here in Kaleen…..bit of a rough spot for ADSL2.
I use Club Telco at $40 per month with no contract, unlimited data. $50 joining fee.
$22.95 per month for a Telstra home budget line.
No dropouts in 2 months since it was installed, very pleased given the distance.

Internode is excellent although some of their plans out at Murrumbateman seem to have dropped back to Telstra reliant and have become more expensive in that area as a result.

The ACT PC Users Group provide an ‘internet service’ for members – what you and I would call an internet provider. – you have to pay a member subscription as well as for plans. I haven’t checked recent plans but you previously if you subscribed for a year (or lesser period) your unused allowance accumulated for the period of your contract. Worth a look – even if only for three months. http://www.tip.net.au/wiki/index.php/Plans

Thanks for the feedback – It has given me afew things to think about

Grrrr said :

Different vendors’ DSLAMs all offer similar performance unless something is seriously broken with your modem. Different ISP’s standard line profiles offer only unnoticable changes in speed unless you’re a margin case. Custom line profiles can offer large speed changes when completely different modulation is chosen, sure – but that could be set by the user themselves on their modem = not ISP dependant. Strangely enough, I don’t hear anyone recommending an ISP because they offer the fastest line profiles.

Rubbish. Line profiles provided by an ISP can make a significant difference to line speed, stability and latency, and these are not settings that can be set at the modem – they’re profiles set in the DSLAM, which dictate how aggressively data is pushed down the line.

For example, with Internode (who allow you to set your own line profiles online if you’re connected directly to one of their DSLAMS) I can choose between ADSL and ADSL2+ profiles, in various flavours from ‘Very high reliability’ (slowest speed, but the most stable connection) to high speed profiles which will cause more frequent disconnections on dodgy lines, but can result in higher speeds on decent lines. They also have profiles for low latency, which may help with latency for online gamers (assuming they’re playing on Australian servers).

These different profiles by and large will show up in the Signal-to-Noise-Ratio measurements your modem displays, and may result in more CRC errors if you’re using a profile that isn’t suitable for your line.

Yes, there are things you can do from a modem end to change your performance, but nothing at all you do on your modem can affect how the data from the DSLAM is broadcast to you – your modem is a passive device that receives data. ISP line profiles can be used to modify how that data is sent.

And despite the fact that line profiles wasn’t something I mentioned in my initial recommendation, I think it is a good reason to recommend an ISP like Internode. It’s not something I’d necessarily mention to a non-technical user, but if the OP is an online gamer and latency is a consideration, knowing you can tweak your own settings, see how they go and change back if necessary – all without having to call tech support – is I think a pretty solid selling point.

+ 1 for Internode

Grail said :

Regardless of how nation-wide or international an ISP is, the speed that a consumer gets at their router is entirely dependent on the “last mile”: what equipment is in the exchange? What is the condition of the copper between the exchange and the home? Your claim that the “last mile” is irrelevant to broadband speed is ludicrous.

The last mile is irrelevant when it comes to OP choosing an different ISP because it’s the same copper regardless of which provider he chooses, with the possible exception of TransACT VDSL.

Different vendors’ DSLAMs all offer similar performance unless something is seriously broken with your modem. Different ISP’s standard line profiles offer only unnoticable changes in speed unless you’re a margin case. Custom line profiles can offer large speed changes when completely different modulation is chosen, sure – but that could be set by the user themselves on their modem = not ISP dependant. Strangely enough, I don’t hear anyone recommending an ISP because they offer the fastest line profiles.

None of the major players have serious backhaul issues around the Territory.

In fact, that a customer can get ADSL2+ from Telstra is no guarantee that ADSL2+ is available from any other provider: Telstra is extremely obstructionist when it comes to letting other companies get the legislated access to exchanges to install their own equipment.

and if their ISP doesn’t have it’s own DSLAM then the user will be getting a connection via TW, which will offer speeds of no noticable difference to current.

Internode fantastic.

Grrrr said :

Really now? Pray tell enlighten us as to how it is “total BS” then.

And don’t mention the last mile, because that’s ISP-independant (with the exception of TransACT VDSL as noted.)

Well it’s silly for a start to exclude the last mile. It’s not ISP independent as ISPs may choose to apply different noise reduction profiles and interleaving settings to different lines. I know in my case after some connection issues, the ISP applied a different profile to my account which cleared things up as I am quite some distance from the dSLAM. It slowed the connection, but improved stability on ADSL2.

But there are other factors. For example, the capacity and speed of the dSLAMS, which aggregate with backend connection into the connections to individual customers. In a Metro exchange, many ISPs may have dSLAMS installed, each in turn with capacity onsold to other ISPs. Some ISPs will use different dSLAMS for different plan types. On the other hand, you can have regional exchanges like Malua Bay where every single ISP uses the only dSLAMS available which are Telstra’s.

Those dSLAMS then need backhaul capacity and again, some older or more remote exchanges may not have as much as Metro exchanges.

There’s also DNS capacity and resolution speed which is the responsibility of the ISP. You may be on Telstra copper and a Telstra dSLAM, but if your signed up with an interstate ISP, your DNS could be quite some distance and the speeds can affected by that. Bigpond has the fastest DNS servers in ACT at last check, but there’s also Telstra branded DNS which despite using the same copper, turned in slower results from my location.

I think the best example though is to compare to connections from the same ISP in Canberra, both using ADSL2, both using the same brand of modem, and both south side. One connection maintained 6MBps, another maintained only barely 1MBps despite being closer to the exchange and having lower user density in the suburb.

Grrrr said :

c_c said :

Well that’s total BS.

Really now? Pray tell enlighten us as to how it is “total BS” then.

And don’t mention the last mile, because that’s ISP-independant (with the exception of TransACT VDSL as noted.)

Why is a car faster than a pushbike? But don’t mention the internal combustion engine, because that’s vendor independent.

Why is daytime brighter than nighttime? But don’t’ mention the sun, because that’s continent-independent.

Regardless of how nation-wide or international an ISP is, the speed that a consumer gets at their router is entirely dependent on the “last mile”: what equipment is in the exchange? What is the condition of the copper between the exchange and the home? Your claim that the “last mile” is irrelevant to broadband speed is ludicrous.

Certainly, there are other issues such as backhaul from the exchange and then international carriage, but those issues pale into insignificance compared to the absolute relevance of the “last mile”.

In fact, that a customer can get ADSL2+ from Telstra is no guarantee that ADSL2+ is available from any other provider: Telstra is extremely obstructionist when it comes to letting other companies get the legislated access to exchanges to install their own equipment.

So back to the facts: first, the last mile is the most important part of broadband service delivery when it comes to stability and reliability. Second, the service available at the exchange (the part immediately preceding the “last mile”) varies from exchange to exchange, and plays a greater part in bandwidth availability than service delivery. Third, the service available from the provider in terms of backhaul and international carriage varies from provider to provider, but is a very distant third place in terms of importance to providing a stable, reliable service to the customer.

You could have the most reliable fibre network in the world, but if the ADSL equipment at the exchange is no reliable, or the copper leading to the customer’s home has deteriorated, the quality of service to the customer will be crap.