Broadband speeds and avalibility in the Adelaide area

[Guest TK-421]

Today I am sitting here watching video buffer on my 3mbps adsl service here in the UK.

 

What kind of speeds are available in the burbs of adelaide. Can I expect 50-100mbps in say Port noarlunga?? or am I just dreaming.

 

I understand that BB is quite expensive over there.

 

Is Australia behind the UK in internet speeds??

[Blossom]

I'm not sure what my speed is. One thing that does seem to be very different here is they are running out of connection points at the exchanges. I didn't find out until after I moved in and ordered my new broadband in my new place that the exchange was full. I was very lucky that we managed to convince them to let us keep the spot we had at our old address (same exchange). Apparently they have waiting lists of people.

 

I've heard of a fair few people being told they can't get broadband at their addresses.

[Guest TK-421]

Thanks Blossom,

 

That is a bit worrying. What burb do you live in?

[Blossom]

Plympton.

[Admin]

I'm not sure what my speed is. One thing that does seem to be very different here is they are running out of connection points at the exchanges. I didn't find out until after I moved in and ordered my new broadband in my new place that the exchange was full. I was very lucky that we managed to convince them to let us keep the spot we had at our old address (same exchange). Apparently they have waiting lists of people.

 

I've heard of a fair few people being told they can't get broadband at their addresses.

 

It's like that all over Australia. When we first moved to Melbourne and bought our first house, we found we couldn't get broadband - no ports available. Bit of a nightmare scenario given that I work from home and business depends on a fast internet connection. I kicked up a right fuss, wrote to my local councillor, local state govt MP (who was also state minister for communications), local federal MP sent fax's to the office of Solomon Trujillo, who was CEO of Telstra at the time, and I kept resubmitting the ADSL application online every-time it was rejected. During this time, I'd ordered an ISDN connection (remember them), but fortunately for me, the Telstra engineer who came to install, told me that there was an ADSl port available on the local rim (I believe they're held for 6 months when someone moves). Anyway, someone, somewhere decided to let me have that port.

It's much the same situation where we are now, with no ports available for a large part of the estate.

[Anne B]

If fast broadband is important then check to see where the National Broadband Network has already been put in.

 

http://www1.nbnco.com.au/when-do-i-get-it/rollout-map.html

 

We have ultra fast cable in our street and get over 50 mbps but there aren't many areas/streets in Adelaide with it - you would have to check with Telstra.

[Guest TK-421]

Must admit that I'm a little concerned by the apparent infrastructure issues in and around Adelaide. For me a fast BB connection would rank higher than many other features when looking for a new home.

 

At first we'll be renting so not so much of an issue but when it comes to choosing a house I'll have to choose based on internet connection. It really is that important to me!

 

Anne, thanks for the map! I can see that the port Noarlunga area seems to be quite well catered for, which is a massive bonus.

 

The fact that there is a lack of ports at the 'cab' (the local distribution point) indicates that there is a bit of an infrastructure issue. Hopefully the main operator (Telstra?) will improve the links throughout. It's quite a strange situation because here in the UK if you live in an urban area there is a good chance of you getting reasonable BB (5+mbps) and I am aware that there is the odd lack of ports, but this seems to be fixed by BT in the medium term.

 

Before this thread I would have imagined that the vast mahority of the metropolitan area of Adelaide would be fixed for Ultra fast BB, this doesn't seem to be the case.

 

Thanks for the repies

[Guest TK-421]

Anne, I can see from your sig that you used to live in my area. I'm in a village just outside Harlow, Hunsdon.

[Mr Technical]

We live just south of the city and we have got ADSL2+ and get about 16mb download. We have had no problems with getting connected, but have heard of areas running out of ports.

 

The new Government is ripping the guts out of the original National Broadband Network (NBN) by removing the fibre to the house and relying on fibre to the node and then the old copper to the house, reducing future speeds. We are going backwards!

 

In a previous position I dealt heavily with Telstra and they seemed very reluctant to upgrade their infrastructure.

[snifter]

The new Government is ripping the guts out of the original National Broadband Network (NBN) by removing the fibre to the house and relying on fibre to the node and then the old copper to the house, reducing future speeds. We are going backwards!

 

Have to say, them doing this is very short sighted. They had the chance to make the set up top notch but instead are crapping out and wasting money on a service that won't help anyone.

[Guest Guest12727]

As with Anne above, we have cable. We have excellent speed (13.6 mbps) and never a problem. We have pretty close to the fastest cable connection you can get in Adelaide. Many people within metro Adelaide have reasonable connection, but there are some black spots.

 

Like you, a major consideration for us is internet connection, which we use for working from home and is a priority when looking at houses. The NBN map is a bit misleading, as it only covers the 'new' NBN, which was going to cover pretty well everywhere in Oz - but no more sadly. There are other ways of getting fast connection, such as ADSL2 and cable.

 

We have never had an issue with being able to be connected in 3 different houses. We have always been with Telstra. However, if you type our current address into the Telstra website, it says 'Sorry, Broadband is not available in your area' - which is rubbish. So you do need to contact them, not rely on the website.

 

Sometimes it is a matter of you get what you pay for.

[Anne B]

Anne, I can see from your sig that you used to live in my area. I'm in a village just outside Harlow, Hunsdon.

 

That's pretty close to my home area - I was brought up in Hatfield Heath, school/lived in Stortford, college/worked in Harlow, also lived in Dunmow and lastly Henham, which is probably a similar type of village to Hunsdon. What makes you want to move to Adelaide? - I'm only really here because my husband is from Adelaide, I think the whole East Herts/West Essex area is a pretty nice place to live.

 

As for cable there is normal cable and the ultimate cable which we luckily have here in our rental and I don't think is very widespread - I just did a speed test and got a download speed of 57 mbps and that's using wifi, (with 2 other users using it at the moment as well on different devices) - I get better mbps if I plug the ethernet cable in the back of the computer.

[Guest Guest12727]

I think we are all getting confused between Mbps (megabits) and MBps (megaBytes). We are 110 mbps which is 13.6 megabytes (divide by 8 bits in a byte). I presume the OP was talking MegaBytes at 3???

[sidestep]

I'm not sure what my speed is. One thing that does seem to be very different here is they are running out of connection points at the exchanges. I didn't find out until after I moved in and ordered my new broadband in my new place that the exchange was full. I was very lucky that we managed to convince them to let us keep the spot we had at our old address (same exchange). Apparently they have waiting lists of people.

 

I've heard of a fair few people being told they can't get broadband at their addresses.

To find your connection speed go here and run the test.

 

 

To see a list of available ports at your local exchange go here. I've put Sheidow Park in as a reference. also note it's not a definitive indication as equipment on ground level doesn't necessarily affect the map. As an example I am supposed to have 24 free ports at the exchange however as I'm on a RIM (along with most of Sheidow Park) I can't get ADSL2 so am stuck with ADSL1.

 

 

Edit: and don't signup for WiMax unless you've exhausted all the other options as, if you're a gamer, it sucks.

[Anne B]

I think we are all getting confused between Mbps (megabits) and MBps (megaBytes). We are 110 mbps which is 13.6 megabytes (divide by 8 bits in a byte). I presume the OP was talking MegaBytes at 3???

 

How confusing - I thought it was all megabits!! The speed test I did said 'bits per second', I think the blurb from Telstra said it was up to 100 mbps, and I have got readings in the 90s using the ethernet cable. 110mbps is excellent.

[Guest Guest12727]

That was plugged into the network (109. ). Just tried it on another computer on wireless and got 53. Big difference. Looks like we are about the same Anne, on opposite sides of the city.

[Diane]

Have to say, them doing this is very short sighted. They had the chance to make the set up top notch but instead are crapping out and wasting money on a service that won't help anyone.

 

Thank Murdoch's influence on or new government for that one - he doesn't want people to be able to easily stream movies and TV programmes and possibly cancel their Foxtel subscriptions!

[adelaidenow]

Thank Murdoch's influence on or new government for that one - he doesn't want people to be able to easily stream movies and TV programmes and possibly cancel their Foxtel subscriptions!

 

I have read and heard this before and I used to think there was an element of truth. However I don't think it's true as their (Foxtel's) latest equipment is IP based and heavily reliant on your home internet services.

 

Also the NBN is/was not just about home internet use, it's all about businesses (like hospitals) being able to send large files and images quickly and efficiently.

[Guest Chris Grist]

hey TK, your gonna want to look at a new estate for thos ekind of speeds, or somewhere that has cable otherwise it can vary 1-20mbit

[TonyD]

anyone one know what speeds I can get in Edwardstown? need a good connection for what I have planned!

[Blossom]

I'm on the same exchange as Edwardstown I believe. I have no idea how fast my Internet is though.

[Blossom]

Just used a website, on my mobile (but through the wireless at the house) and got this:

Your line speed is 2.39 Mbps (2389 kbps).

Your download speed is 299 KB/s (0.29 MB/s).

 

I have no idea if that is good or bad.

[Anne B]

Just used a website, on my mobile (but through the wireless at the house) and got this:

Your line speed is 2.39 Mbps (2389 kbps).

Your download speed is 299 KB/s (0.29 MB/s).

 

I have no idea if that is good or bad.

 

I'm afraid to say that is pretty awful. Reasonable would be 20Mbps, we have very fast cable and I just got a reading of 66Mbps using wifi, so 2.39 is bad !!!!

[Guest Chris Grist]

anyone one know what speeds I can get in Edwardstown? need a good connection for what I have planned!

 

pump the address in here: http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/

[Blossom]

I'm afraid to say that is pretty awful. Reasonable would be 20Mbps, we have very fast cable and I just got a reading of 66Mbps using wifi, so 2.39 is bad !!!!

Ohhhh dear lol. I wonder if it different on my phone to a computer?

It's fast enough for me to watch videos and made VoIP calls anyway. Not sure if I need much faster lol.