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Does Anyone Want Faster Internet?

2011-09-08

TrueNet speedtests show VDSL is the fastest technology available until the Government's fibre rollout arrives in 1 to 5 years. So why are very few ISP's offering it? VDSL is available in many exchanges throughout New Zealand, both as a wholesale service from Telecom and some ISPs have their own to offer over LLU.

Technology differences dominate in Truenet's speedtests, unlike our previous article covering web browsing times where ISP performance dominates. Speedtests provide a good indication of the likely performance of video streaming.

File Download Speed: VDSL & Cable are best
In the latest research into each of its probes Truenet finds there is a strong relationship between the speed reached in a speedtest and the technology used, while there is no strong relationship between speedtests and the ISP.

VDSL is the best technology available to many users until ultra-fast broadband (UFB) reaches their home, but not all ISP's offer VDSL, despite being able to. In ADSL or VDSL, the length of the copper connection is the cause of slower speeds.

TrueNet findings are based on file download tests that are run every hour from Trademe, with the results below representing over 700 tests per probe.

Download Speedtests by Technology

Click for big version
In the chart above, the speed in Mb/s is compared to the length of the copper connection in kilometers. The copper connection is a pair of wires from the probe all the way to the exchange equipment in the cabinet or exchange.

The longer the pair of wires for VDSL and ADSL, the slower the expected speed. For ADSL, the darker colour represents higher density of results because most connections are closer than 1.5km to the exchange. Cable connection speeds are independent of the distance from the exchange equipment.

TrueNet probe history shows improvement in median ADSL file download speeds due to Telecom's programme of cabinet installations enabling a shorter pair of wires.

While VDSL download speeds for TrueNet probes are better than Cable or ADSL; VDSL upload speeds averaged 14Mb/s which is 22 times the ADSL average upload speed of 0.6Mb/s, and 7 times the 2Mb/s offered with Cable.

ENDS

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