Need a new ISP - suggestions ?

[KazJim]

G'day all, I've been told by my ISP that my exchange is congested and there is nothing they can / want to do about it ....

I'm stuck with over 500ms Pings every evening and constant disconnections .....

Currently with TPG Off-Net (Telstra Hardware) on the Narara Exchange . .

Any suggestions ?

i DONT want bundled phone or any of that frippery, i already have a perfectly good phone system (VOIP) and see no value in spending MORE money on a bundled plan . . . .

ideas ?

[Precursor]

...... Telstra? or move home.

[Athundar]

Hi KazJim,

The issue may not be resolved by changing ISP.  Exchange  congestions is normally related to the size of the data link to the exchange and the fact that it has been over subscribed.

A fix is normally Telstra upgrading the back link, more chance of being hit by lightning or trying to get provision from another exchange.

In reality it does not matter which ISP you use in most cases Telstra own the back link and is capacity will be the issue.

A good why to check is to use an external ADSL speed test site (ozspeedtest.com) and check the connection speed 4-5 times per day  for a week.  If it is congestion in the exchange I would expect to see good speeds early in the day with a hit on speed from about 1530 onwards probably through to 2300.

You can check the line quality by logging into you modem and looking at the Line  statistics. For ADSL2+ a down stream Noise Margin ( Signal to Noise Ratio) should be greater than 9db and the same or better.  If the downstream is less than 9db you may need to go onto a stability profile.

One last thing have you got any trace route results?

Athundar

[KazJim]

Thanks Guys, I have a friend with Iinet on the same exchange and he is showing none of the slowdowns I'm getting ...

I have been using a few speedtest sites and yes, it is definitely peak times that it slows down significantly ....

My guess is that there is something specific to TPG in the Exchange setup that does not apply to iinet (Same telstra hardware remember) - so it is possible the routing they are using to their own servers .... I dont know enough about carrier stuff, just internal stuff ....

I"m thinking iinet at the moment, but need to get TPG to agree to drop my contract ......

[Precursor]

I"m thinking iinet at the moment, but need to get TPG to agree to drop my contract ......

Get Gobb to talk to them. She'll sort it out