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Feigning normality since 1973

Just to clarify things...

Filed in: Internet.

...in the Xtra Broadband sucking department:
[Speed graph]

Xtra! Taking the "Broad" and the "Band" out of "Broadband"!

Posted November 6, 2006 10:15 PM

Comments

Hello Aldens blog!

Yes and even more amazing is, if you go to Xtra's site and read the caveats in their "fair use" and "traffic management" policies they have wonderful statements about the "unlimited internet all time" scheme, like:

"If you (use p2p or want to download large files), all we ask is that you do so considerately, preferably by downloading outside the peak hours of 4pm to 12am (midnight)."

"If in a single day you use more than 700MB of data during the peak hours of 4pm to 12am (midnight) then we'll get in touch with some advice on how to reduce your usage."

"Should your usage remain high for sustained periods of a month or more then we may contact you to discuss moving you to a more suitable plan."

But, even if you do plan ahead to try and accomodate this:

"We may review the above limits from time to time to ensure that as things change you are always getting the optimum performance from our network."

So ultimately

"Put another way, it means the majority of our customers - who want to surf the web or send email - will get priority during busy times."

i.e. The "go large" plan is designed for use by people with low demand, who therefore don't essentially need it.

"No matter what the rest of the house does*, you can keep surfing and emailing at broadband speeds"

*(except downloading movies, updates, software etc between the hours of "coming home from work/school" and "going to bed" time)

Can anyone else out there spell "swizz"

DGR

Posted by: the other dave | November 9, 2006 11:58 AM

Of course, you might expect this to mean that if you get low speeds during the 4pm-midnight period that if you leave stuff downloading overnight, it would get faster speeds. But no...

Posted by: Alden Bates | November 9, 2006 12:19 PM

Well, the key bit is:

"We may review the above limits from time to time to ensure that as things change you are always getting the optimum performance from our network."

Which does make you wonder "optimal" for who?

DGR

Posted by: the other dave | November 9, 2006 12:55 PM

We've just moved to the Go Large plan a few days ago, having maxed out our useage on the previous Explorer plan, and suffered the punitive action of being throttled back to speeds that make dial-up look like an attractive option.

So far Go Large seems to be slower even for ordinary internet browsing (and downloads definitely take a lot longer). I'm underwhelmed by Xtra's "unleashed" claims and wondering if there's a better plan - or provider - to switch to...?

Paul

Posted by: Paul Scoones | November 10, 2006 6:51 AM

I'm with TelstraClear on their HighSpeed plan. Speed can vary a lot, but basic browsing I'm happy with. Downloads of files can range from anywhere around 20kps up to 200-300 (but usually not).

Posted by: Thad | November 10, 2006 9:04 AM

The best non-Xtra plan I've been able to find so far is Slingshot's Ultra Plus account (25GB cap, but buying more bandwidth is much much cheaper than Telecom's plans)...

Posted by: Alden Bates | November 10, 2006 12:21 PM

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