technocracy

They aren't accurate in the slightest. They'll give you a general idea but there is so many factors that come into play such as the load of the testing server, congestions on links etc etc.

The original list is totally unrealistic/nonsense in my opinion. The figures are based upon usage of the ZDNet Speed Test service - so in other words if a Internet Service provide in Oz has used it for testing it's own 100+Meg links they'll also be included in the figures and inflate the average.

I mean do you really believe that Latvia households average 16Mbps or Romania 11Mbps?

I can actually believe the Korean and Hong Kong figures - to a certain extent knowing particularly Korea has basically the best ISP networks in the world. On the nonsense side of things do you really think that Australia has faster access than Singapore?! Singapore for those who don't know is a major peering point for most of Asia and Oz and has numerous submarine fibres. They provide Ethernet services to most building on the island and free internet in most malls etc.

All the Speedtest providers proclaim to provide accurate testing however as said above only on a freak circumstance of timing will you get pure clean download speed. Otherwise you will be in congested links or servers or PoPs - whatever which will distort the figures.



Edit: Just as a comparison I just did a speed test of my service with both - ZDNet estimate 0.86 and Speedtest estimated 0.96 . . 100k difference which for a 1mpbs is 10% - so draw your own conclusions on the accuracy of things.

ABCDiamond

I had wondered about that, but found that Latvia uses a direct and high- speed connection in Stockholm, Sweden, and has very fast connections, eg:
They appear to be increasing their current 100 Mbps service, with 200Mbps and 500Mbps offerings.


Most of these tests measure the current internet speed to the nearest server.
We don't need submarine fibres for Brisbane to Brisbane internet connection
A different story for worldwide Internet connections though.

I think these results only give an indication of what proportion of users have the higher speeds available to them. eg: Latvia may not have any 256k Broadband connections, meaning the averages will be higher than those countries that do have the slower connections available.

eg:

silver

Transact are also pushing speeds.. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n39312455/ of 1 Gbps. But this is only the "access" leg of the network. Totally agree technocracy there are many points to the network and the real world result is impacted by the weakest/most congested link in the path and the number of hops.

ozzieeagle

Got to admit I was really looking forwards to my fast connection. It's been slightly disappointing thusfar. It's fairly difficult to get torrents to download any faster than 1.5 Mbps and direct links any faster than 2 Mbps. I think Australias main problem is still download Quota. It's getting better... but very very slowly. TPG were supposed to have released a Jumbo plan of 500 gigs download late last year, but that got canned for some reason. I dont think there is a provider that offers any more than 175 gigs at present, before you get shaped to 256ks.

If Live Video streaming is viewable at 1.5 Mbps, I'm left wondering why everyone is chasing fast broadband downloads.... Only reason I can think of is a household that has multi requirements for its one broadband line.

IInet have a very interesting set up with their system, where they offer different speeds within your plan. You can set it for a different type of connection.... Accuracy, Gaming or Speed.... something to do with Ping rates, which I'm not fully conversant with. I set mine for Accuracy (faster ping rate = less speed for some reason ???) in the end... which reduced my speed from circa 18Mbps to 13 Mbps.... errm as measured by Speedtest.

Maybe we should be pushing for more download quota than speed is my point, especially here in Aus.

datamile

I didn't know about primus using telstra network. Like everyone in this end of redlands, I'm stuck on resold adsl1 ( iinet ) , or the evil bigpond.

iinet did just double most of their allowances for asdl1 , and I might have to go from 1.5 to 8k line to use it. Still like the no contract of iinet over the others 2 year deals.

Their freezone is also good for itunes/ games etc.

ABCDiamond

I didn't till I spent a few hours looking the other day, and now I am waiting for a 100% confirmation about this $39.95 plan.

The website says it is available, but when I went to sign up, it offers me the ADSL2+ Extra Family 36GB plan for $99.95.

I am wanting confirmation from them, as they also say: "iPrimus cannot at present provide this service on a Fast Transfer or to customers transferring from networks other than Telstra."

The result from iPrimus, after entering my phone number is:
Your Exchange: Victoria Point
Services available in your area: ADSL2+/ADSL

TPG state: ADSL2+ service is currently NOT available in Victoria Point. Your exchange supports an ADSL connection with speeds up to 8000k/384k.

aanet state: Standard ADSL1 services are available in your area

gmralston

Brisbane

gmralston

That's good considering the distance, the amount of servers and undersea cables and the rest

silver

Live video streams in HD need more bandwidth than 1.5Mbps so this is a big push. Also IP video depending on how its done can place a large load on a providers backbone (in video on demand type applications where you are not using multicast) .

I am not keen on quotas (especially the really small ones offered by Telstra). But current plans in the 100gig range are effectively unlimited for most people (except those who do a lot of P2P) as they will rarely reach that. Bring lots of HD Video streams and it all changes...

This video does cover some interesting ideas on where technology and internet access may go..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgzAmKHSqFI

Banksia

Whirlpool is currently conducting its annual survey of customer satisfaction.

http://whirlpool.net.au/survey/

Why not help keep ISPs on their toes?

bigAPE

I'm on a 30Mbps Cable service and I get 25-34Mbps 95% of the time, occasionally drops for short periods to about 20-25Mbps



That's Cable, not ADSL, and you have subscribe to a Home Premium TV service for $269 a month to get it.

ozzieeagle

I can change my speed upwards with IInet.... I've gone for accuracy and less drop outs. Check out the Ping rate.... Son loves it for his on line games.

Amazulu

19-ishMb on an ADSL2+ line - we are about 1km from the exchange.

I downloaded part 2 (800Mb) of Day of the Triffids (great programme, check it out) in under 10 minutes the other day.

I am very happy with my internet connection.

Darren-Debbie

WOW!

IvanM

I was on about 14000 on ADSL2+ but now back on ADSL1 and down to 1300.

Cable means using Telstra or Optus and neither are good value. Often cable is the only means to connect though. Cable is also a shared medium and you are at the mercy of your neighbours.

I could get ADSL2+ at my exhange but am waiting for Internode to finish off their DSLAM build.

Frankly I would avoid TPG as you would be sharing your network with a bunch of Bittorrent hungry downloaders. IInet are OK but that bloke on their phone line is annoying.

So in Oz you will be OK if you have a 2+ provider in your exchange but if you are stuck on a RIM in a housing estate or are rural you are stuffed. NextG wireless is OK but an expensive alternative.

Online gamers also have it hard and get high latencies when playing anyone overseas. The new PIPE link to Guam (an internet hub) is bringing down prices and increasing quotas. The NBN will bring on the need for a lot more overseas bandwidth.