Factors Affecting the Speed of your Broadband Connection

Your plan

Different Broadband plans have different speeds as do different technologies. The speed quoted on your plan is the maximum speed, the actual speed may vary depending on the factors below.

ADSL2+

ADSL2+ is the latest version of the ADSL Broadband standard and can provide speeds of up 24Mbps down and 1Mbps up. For more information on ADSL2+, whether it's available in your location, and how to make the most of this new technology click here.

Using ADSL2+ a Full Speed (FS) connection is the fastest speed available on your phone line. This could be up to 24Mbps down and 1000Kbps up on a FS/FS plan, or up to 24Mbps down and 128Kbps up on a FS/128kb plan, both when using an ADSL2+ compatible modem in an ADSL2+ enabled location. ADSL1 is up to 7.6Mbps down and 600kbps up.

VDSL2

VDSL2 is a new development from the ADSL Broadband standard and can currently provide speeds of up 40Mbps down and 10Mbps up. For more information on VDSL2, whether it's available in your location, and how to make the most of this new technology click here.

Using VDSL2 a Full Speed (FS) VDSL2 connection is the fastest speed available on your phone line. This could be up to 40Mbps down and 10Mbps up on a FS/10Mb plan.

Rate Limiting

For customers who opt for a Rate Limited plan once you hit your Daily or Monthly Traffic Allowance your connection is automatically speed-capped to 64Kb (just above dial up speed) so you always have a fixed monthly fee.

Your computer

Your computer's set-up and operating system, especially RAM availability, may affect speed.

Your Modem/Router, Filters & Phone Cable

Not all modems & ADSL filters are the same, and some may not give as high quality connection as others. You can purchase one of our recommended modems either by ringing 0800 ACTRIX (228749), or when you order your Broadband connection through our website. Loose wiring in telephone cables running from your modem to your telephone jack may cause your Broadband connection speed to degrade.

Additionally, if you have a long extension cable running from your Broadband modem to the telephone jack, this may also affect your connection. If you have the 'self-install' option (you are using ADSL filters on each phone in the house), and you have more than 5 devices plugged into your phone line (including your Broadband modem), this will affect the quality of your Broadband connection. Try unplugging some devices from your line, and then try your Broadband connection again.

The Internet

Not all websites will offer the same speed of download, no matter how fast your connection is. A general rule is that you may expect a NZ website to load a little faster than an international one. Because the internet works by sending data through a chain of computers between you, your ISP (Actrix), and the website you want to reach, there may be limitations or congestion on any of the links between these points which may affect your speed.

Internet traffic

During busy periods you may experience slower speeds as more people are accessing the Internet. Telecom allocate a certain amount of bandwidth to your telephone exchange, which may mean that at peak times, the maximum speed you can reach is limited because everyone on your exchange is using the same bandwidth at the same time. This is a limitation placed by Telecom at every phone exchange.

Higher speed plans do get higher priority on bandwidth than lower speed plans, so that customers paying for a higher speed connection should still get higher speed than low-speed plans, even at peak times.

Your location

The distance of your home or office from the Telecom exchange has a big impact on the maximum speed you will be able to obtain on your Broadband connection. Generally the further you are from the exchange, the poorer the quality of the connection. Anything over 4-5km from the exchange may have a noticeable difference.

Other programs or users downloading on your connection

If you have a home or office network, and others are downloading or uploading, or if you are downloading on your own computer whilst trying to do other things, these activities may 'saturate' the bandwidth, slowing down your other downloads, e-mail or web browsing.

What to do if you think your speed is slower than expected

If your Broadband connection from Actrix seems slow, we recommend going through this speed troubleshooting list in your own time, to try to work out where the problem may lie. These suggestions are not in any particular order of importance.

1.    Be aware that the speed of your Broadband account is the maximum speed you can obtain. Not everyone will get maximum speed on every download.

2.    Run the Actrix Broadband speed test (http://speedtest.actrix.co.nz).

3.    Check whether you have exceeded your current traffic allowance by logging in to My Actrix - Manage My Account - CyberJet Usage. If you have exceeded your limit, you may have been automatically be rate limited to 64Kb (just above dial up speed).

4.    Is anyone else on your connection downloading, or using a lot of bandwidth?

5.    Do you have any Peer-to-Peer software running that could be draining your bandwidth?

6.    Does your computer have sufficient resources (memory, CPU etc. -- especially if you have an internal broadband modem) to handle the fast connection?

7.    If you have a long telephone/modem extension cable, this could affect the speed. Try removing this, even if you have to temporarily move your computer closer to the wall jack.

8.    Loose wiring in modem cables or phone cables can cause problems with your connection. This is often the case where a cable has been rolled up, or walked on. Many phone cables are poor quality to begin with, and don't last long. If you suspect loose wiring, replace the modem/phone cable with a new one.

9.    Does the slowdown happen at peak times of the day? If so, there's a strong chance that the Telecom exchange is congested. There is little that Actrix can do to relieve this but we can report the issue to Telecom so if this appears to be the case please get in touch with the helpdesk.

10.    Is your home located more than 4 or 5km from your local phone exchange? If so, this could affect your connection. ADSL works best when you are less than 5km from the exchange.

11.    Is it just one particular site, or overseas sites that are slow? Overseas sites will download slightly slower than NZ sites. If only one site is giving you slow download speeds, there's a strong chance that they don't have enough bandwidth, the site is congested, or there's a delay somewhere along the line between their site and Actrix. We are unable to do anything about this.

12.    Do you have more than 5 'other' phone devices plugged in to your phone line (phones, fax machines, sky decoder, alarms etc.) if so this will slow down your connection. Try unplugging everything except the modem & one telephone from the phone line, and try again. Cordless phones particularly will affect your Broadband speed more than standard analogue telephones.

13.    Is your modem a reliable brand? Not all modems are the same quality, and your modem may not be giving you the optimum connection speed.