Moving from TPG to Another ADSL2+ Provider

Lbemyally on 16/12/2018 - 14:40
Last edited 17/12/2018 - 22:41

Hi all, my family has been with TPG for about 5 years now and started having problems with speed for the past few months. TPG has been great with customer service in calling to doublecheck our connection works, etc, however the problem is still not resolved. Long story short, they ended up lending us an newer modem to try out for 2 weeks. If we liked it, we could either pay an $50 for it (which I think it's ridiculous since it's their fault) or keep it for free if we continue to stay with them for I guess the next 6 months. Now it turns out that the connection is a little better, but it still sucks (only 1 person can use the internet at a time, otherwise nothing loads). Our 2 weeks is almost up, and I've decided we should move providers. Here is the most recent speed test I have done: http://www.speedtest.net/result/7883847510.png

I would like to know if you have had good experiences with other ISPs using ADSL2+ (we are still 1.5 years away from using the NBN from where we live).

If we change providers, we will need a home bundle (ADSL2+ and home phone).
At present, we pay $60/month (inc. unlimited calls and data and phone line) and would like to stick to that budget. We're happy to pay a bit more so long as we know we won't be stuck in the same situation that we are in now (e.g. no point in having fast internet if only 1 person can use it at a time).

A free modem included would be a bonus, but otherwise I'm sure we can use our original (but much older) modem with TPG (it's probably unlockable now since we've been with them for 5 years).

Any advice is appreciated. I have checked out Mates Communicate ($69/month inc home phone) as they had good reviews, but none mentioned about download/stream speed with multiple users. I also looked at Mint Telecom, but I think they are too expensive.

EDIT:
I've got some stats for upstream/downstream but I have no idea what they mean. I'll post them here and hopefully you can make some sense of it: https://bit.ly/2BmQ7oH

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Comments

  • 87percent on 16/12/2018 - 14:56

    How far are you from your exchange?

    • bemyally on 16/12/2018 - 15:10

      I'm about 1.5km away. Given we had no issues for the first 4 years, I don't think the issue is with distance from the exchange.

      • HighAndDry on 17/12/2018 - 02:32
        -1

        Has there been a lot of new development in your area? Otherwise the issue is most likely with hardware (the copper). Changing providers is unlikely to make a difference.

        • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:24

          Not a lot. TPG did send out a technician to see if it was a problem with the wiring in our house (this was prior to sending out the newer modem) and they couldn't see an issue with the wiring. The guy didn't do anything other than collect the stats from our old modem to send on to TPG (and then to see if they would further escalate it to Telstra).

          • HighAndDry on 18/12/2018 - 08:44
            -1

            @bemyally:

            then to see if they would further escalate it to Telstra

            Yeah. And the thing is, any other ISP is going to be using the same Telstra copper.

  • CyberMurning on 16/12/2018 - 15:54

    Hey same here I want to change provider too. Same, need phone line.

    I found 2 that servicing my area.
    Exceltel and
    belong.

    • bemyally on 16/12/2018 - 15:58
      +1

      I read bad reviews about those two on productreview.com.au

      • CyberMurning on 16/12/2018 - 16:36
        +1

        no company is perfect.
        one person not happy he/she will write and tell to hundreds friends and forums.
        one hundred people happy, maybe just 10 bother to tell.

        • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:11

          I think a sample size of 2000+ negative reviews for Belong and 400+ negative reviews for Exetel is sufficiently large enough to rule out these reviews being "outliers."

          https://www.productreview.com.au/p/belong.html
          https://www.productreview.com.au/p/exetel-broadband.html

          • HighAndDry on 18/12/2018 - 08:48
            +1

            @bemyally: That's not how sample size works. You need to know the total users, not just those disgruntled enough to leave a review (because studies show people with complaints are more likely to leave a review than people with praise). They could both have only about a 1% negative review per users rate if the number of users is high enough.

            As an example, Telstra also has a 1.7 rating with about 2,400 reviews.

  • Hithere on 16/12/2018 - 16:08

    The issue could be with your decaying copper line or even the connection inside your house and moving to a new provider may not make any difference.

    I suggest that if you haven't already done so you get a licensed cabler in to check everything first.

    You may find that currently no-one can offer better speeds than TPG already does.

    • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:12

      TPG did send out a technician to see if it was a problem with the wiring in our house (this was prior to sending out the newer modem) and they couldn't see an issue with the wiring. The guy didn't do anything other than collect the stats from our old modem to send on to TPG (and then to see if they would further escalate it to Telstra).

  • garetz on 16/12/2018 - 16:46

    What are you syncing at on your modem ? Your download speed doesnt tell you everything, could be other issues other than tpg. You need to do a full isolation test to make sure tpg is the problem, otherwise when you move to another provider you might experience the exact same dismal speeds.

    • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:17

      I think I've done an isolation test before. Just checking this is right — I connected the modem directly to the wall (using one wire and no splitter).

  • dcep on 16/12/2018 - 17:33

    what's your usage and optus coverage ?

    200gb $60 optus deal still avail i think

    • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:20

      The parents like to watch Netflix, I watch quite a bit of Youtube, stream music, etc. I'm not heavy on the online gaming. We prefer unlimited data for peace of mind. Our nearest exchange is 1.5km away.

  • Halo375 on 16/12/2018 - 17:44

    Changing your provider will not improve your connection - do you have telstra cable in your area? That would give you a vastly improved experience.

    • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:22

      There's Belong, but I read bad reviews so I'm hesitant about them.

  • Diji1 on 16/12/2018 - 18:02

    The thing about copper wire based internet is it's shit.

    It delivers terrible service levels, degrades quickly. And the Government found out in it's own report in 1989 (one nine eight nine, before anyone knew what the internet was) that everyone would require fibre internet in any case so the logical thing to do would be make a fibre network to make the internet hapopen.

    So it sold Telstra four years later in 1993, the private sector did it's usual hopeless job of ripping everyone off with terrible service levels until Labour finally followed the findings of the 1989 report and proposed the NBN.

    And then Malcom Turnbull sabotaged the NBN to enrich Telstra and the hopeless ripoff service continues. Telstra sold all it's copper infrastructure to NBN and then was appointed to replace it all instead of building fibre because the private sector is hopeless.

  • jsb on 16/12/2018 - 22:08

    How good is 4g in your area. I would recommend taking 24 month plan from optus with free modem for $60. There was also a 500gb deal I saw here. Search for it. Currently it looks like you have line issue. Changing provider won't help.

    • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:30

      4G is decent. My mobile uses the Vodafone network and I use it as a hotspot when I can't be stuffed with the internet. I checked out the reviews for ADSL2+ on Optus and they aren't good… https://www.productreview.com.au/p/yes-optus-broadband/2.htm…

      • jsb on 18/12/2018 - 07:39

        I was talking about taking mobile internet plan from optus (not adsl). Which is powered by 4g.you get free 4g modem which also makes your internet mobile. Ie. If you are going somewhere, just take your modem with you

  • ATTS on 17/12/2018 - 07:52

    hey OP

    just wondering, how you got ADSL2, $60 per month with unlimited calls with tpg?

    "At present, we pay $60/month (inc. unlimited calls and data and phone line) and would like to stick to that budget"

    I pay currently $60 for TPG ADSL2 + phone line rental, however my calls are pay as you use,

    Thanks

    • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:31

      It may've been a deal my dad got ages ago. We were with Telstra and then jumped ship to TPG because they were messing us around.

  • skid on 17/12/2018 - 09:46

    Have you tried running a speed test on a device connected by a ethernet cable?

    Hopefully your copper line hasn't been fupd by some NBN works.

    • bemyally on 17/12/2018 - 22:33

      I'd like to but I don't think I can. My macbook air doesn't have a port for it…

      NBN is still at least 1.5 years away for us :(

  • garetz on 17/12/2018 - 22:42

    Looking at your responses, it sounds like you get poor download when multiple people use the connection at the same time, if you do not have any qos setup on your modem then the bandwidth will not be evenly distributed, considering you are 1.5km from the node you should be getting close to max speeds, you need to do a speed test when no data is being transferred by anyone at all otherwise the test is worthless.

    Like i said check your line sync speed on the modem, if its good, means your setup is the issue and not tpg.

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