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Thread ID: 104738	2009-11-06 20:47:00	Time to say goodbye to Xnet	--Wolf-- (128)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
827760	2009-11-06 20:47:00	Been with Xnet for a couple of years now and am now sick of their crappy speeds, constant drop outs and regular down times. Am now considering all other ISPs (less Telecom) for in Chch. Been looking at TelstraClears cable which looks and sounds good, however the plan that is in my budget: HighSpeed 10G Up to 4 Mbps / 2 Mbps 10G $54.95 is only 4mbps down, whereas what I'm on at the moment is unlimited. I just did a speedtest and got 6mbps down, however it's only that fast in the mornings. Would a cable 4mbps down be faster all round than unlimited? The next plan up is $80 p/m which is out of my budget. What else will I need switching from Xnet to Telstra Cable? New modem? Phone line? Contract? Connection fees? Anyone with any experience with them?	--Wolf-- (128)
827761	2009-11-06 21:44:00	It will be a solid 4mbps all the time - much much better than Xnet. Telstra are as good as anyone to deal with. Parents are with them, they have always been good to deal with.	wratterus (105)
827762	2009-11-06 21:55:00	I am on the plan you are considering, wratterus is right, solid consistent speed. In 2 years only twice has it stopped.... both times fixed within a couple of hours. Would be nice if it were cheaper, but that applies to anything I guess.:D They installed and supplied the modem.... no charge or contract when I connected.	KarameaDave (15222)
827763	2009-11-07 00:57:00	Agreed there - Telstra's service is outstanding . Only issue is if you have to ring them it can be a bit of a wait if they're busy, but generally things just work perfectly . One known issue - *don't* use non-NZ DNS servers (e . g . OpenDNS) if you're on TelstraClear; there is a known routing conflict between geographically load-balanced sites (particularly those using Akamai) and TelstraClear's transparent cache - see here ( . opendns . com/comments . php?DiscussionID=2798" target="_blank">forums . opendns . com) for details; I've quoted the relevant part below . A quick solution would be for TelstraClear to put their Akamai servers on the international side of the cache, although depending on the traffic volume that goes via Akamai they may need to upgrade their cache first, as doing this will probably add a fair bit of load to it . All, We have been able to isolate the issue to occur in the following circumstances as it relates to TelstraClear customers in New Zealand: 1 . Customer is using a TelstraClear access method that is transparently cached 2 . Customer has the OpenDNS US based DNS servers configured 3 . Customer attempts to access site that uses geographic load-balancing (Akamized sites for example) Under the above circumstances, the customer is unlikely to be able to access the web site . The explanation and root cause of the issue is as follows . Let's use a fictional web site "shoerax . com", that uses Akamai to serve its content: 1) Customer's PC looks up "shoerax . com" against the OpenDNS DNS servers based in the US 2) shoerax . com uses Akamai, and Akamai DNS servers . Hence the customer's DNS lookup goes to the OpenDNS DNS servers in the US, and these servers recursively look up "shoerax . com" from the Akamai DNS servers . As Akamai uses geographic load-balancing they attempt to return the IPs of servers that "are close to the customer" . Akamai use the source IP of the querying recursive DNS server (= OpenDNS US based servers in this instance) to determine what "close to the customer is" . Normally this works fine, as most people use recursive DNS servers that are close to where they are . However, when NZ customers use US based DNS servers (like OpenDNS), things break down a little, as US based server IPs are returned . (And they are obviously not close to the customer!) Hence, the Akamai DNS returns IP addresses of US based Akamai servers for shoerax . com . 3) The customer's PC attempts to establish an HTTP connection with the US based Akamai servers . (Using the IP addresses returned by OpenDNS . ) 4) The TelstraClear transparent caches intercept the HTTP traffic . The transparent caches look up shoerax . com against TelstraClear DNS servers . As these DNS servers are in NZ, Akamai correctly returns the IP addresses of NZ based Akamai servers . 5) The caches attempt to connect to the NZ Akamai servers to retrieve the web objects . 6) The NZ Akamai servers sends return packets to the customers PC's (as this is the source IP of the incoming traffic) . This is where the problem is . The return traffic should have gone to the caches and not to the customer's PC . 7) Caches time out 8) Customer's browser times out The TelstraClear caches are situated on the NZ side of our international circuits and only attempt to cache international traffic . They expect that egress international HTTP traffic has return traffic coming back on the international circuits . The issue with OpenDNS and TelstraClear transparent caching in conjunction with geographically load-balanced sites, is that the traffic is initially sent internationally (due to lookups against US based OpenDNS servers) and then the caches sends the traffic back domestically (due to lookups against NZ based TelstraClear servers) . Due to this asymmetry, return traffic from the target web site do not reach the caches . The above is unfortunate, as OpenDNS is an _excellent_ service . Until this issue has been resolved, we recommend that TelstraClear customers do not use overseas DNS servers, like OpenDNS, as this will cause issues with geographically load-balanced sites . OpenDNS: would be keen to work with you to come up with a solution . Any plans for hosting OpenDNS servers in NZ? Maybe I can help . --Olof Ps . For optimum performance, we recommend that TelstraClear customers use the following DNS servers: 203 . 97 . 78 . 43 and 203 . 97 . 78 . 44 .	Erayd (23)
827764	2009-11-07 01:06:00	Just ring TelstraClear and they'll sort it out - they'll send a tech around to do the wiring, if your house doesn't already have a cable connection, and supply a cable modem free of charge (note that they still own it, so you have to give it back if you cancel your service). When I got cable internet (in Wellington), there were no connection fees or minimum terms - just made a phone call, they sent a tech who did the wiring from the power pole to the house, and connected up the modem and made sure everything worked. In terms of speed, you'll probably find TelstraClear's connection to be less variable during peak hours than competing DSL packages. I'm on a plan with a 10MBit/s connection, and while international traffic slows down a bit during peak hours, it's still generally quite good - much better than any ADSL plan I've ever had.	somebody (208)
827765	2009-11-07 02:22:00	Interesting. I have a friend in Pirongia on Xnet. She has no trouble with speed or anything else even in the late hours. her sister in Hamilton - on Xtra - was having constant pauses etc with things like Youtube and TV clips. She got her sister to swap to Xnet and she no longer has any problem. Both of them get around 4mbps - consistently. I've asked a few people here - on Xnet - if they are getting any problems now - no - they are all still happy with it and haven't noticed anything different from 18 months ago.	pctek (84)
827766	2009-11-07 02:39:00	If the optimum service is 203.97.78.43 and 203.97.78.44 Why do they advertise their servers are 203.96.152.4 and 203.96.152.12? Or am I just behind the times?	the_bogan (9949)
827767	2009-11-07 02:42:00	If the optimum service is 203.97.78.43 and 203.97.78.44 Why do they advertise their servers are 203.96.152.4 and 203.96.152.12? Or am I just behind the times? They have separate servers for Clearnet and Paradise customers. I think the 203.96.x.x addresses are Paradise ones (I got a slightly surprised reaction from a support tech when I rang once, because I'm supposedly a Clearnet customer).	somebody (208)
827768	2009-11-07 02:45:00	Somebody, that confuses me a bit more. Maybe I should stick with what I have since it ain't broke.	the_bogan (9949)
827769	2009-11-07 03:04:00	Somebody, that confuses me a bit more. Maybe I should stick with what I have since it ain't broke. Ignore me :) In a nutshell, the phone conversation I had with a tech involved them saying "Oh... you're using the Paradise DNS servers..." - they were a little surprised as I'm a supposedly a Clearnet customer, so should have been using whatever the Clearnet DNS servers are.	somebody (208)
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