A broadband industry insider who wants to remain anonymous has created a website revealing the locations of all ADSL2+ providers.
A broadband industry insider who wants to remain anonymous has created a website, ADSL2exchanges.com.au, that reveals the locations and coverage of all ADSL2+ providers.
The site plots all exchange locations onto Google Maps, allowing for approximate wire-length estimations (Google Maps calculates "as the crow flies" figures but ADSL2exchanges.com.au estimates what that would be in "as the road runs" terms). You just need to type in your address and phone number, and the site figures out what exchange you're on.
Based on these figures, the site then works out what attenuation to expect on your phone line and what your estimated maximum ADSL2+ speed would be. In my tests, the attenuation figure was accurate within 2dB (my crummy phone line's real attenuation is 32dB while ADSL2 exchanges estimated 30dB.)
The maximum speed figure was accurate within 2Mbit/s -- iiNet tells me the maximum attainable on my line should be around 15Mbit/s, while adsl2exchanges estimated 13Mbit/s. (In real life the fastest I've been able to push the connection is around 10Mbit/s, but it's only stable around 8Mbit/s.)
ADSL2exchanges.com.au is also gathering statistics on the real sync speeds of people already on ADSL2+. It hasn't yet gathered enough data to release any results on what sort of speeds people typically get in different suburbs. However, in an informal poll of 681 users, the site found that 64.8% of people got less than 9Mbit/s on ADSL2+.
If you're looking to buy or rent a new house and want to find out whether it can get broadband, or whether the property might be on one of Telstra's dreaded RIMs, you can see your whole suburb with the streets on RIMs plotted out on Google Maps.
If you're looking to upgrade from ADSL1 to ADSL2+ or simply want to get broadband for the first time, you can search your phone number, find out what phone exchange you're on, and then set up an email subscription to be alerted each time a new ADSL2+ provider comes online in that exchange.
The site provides a broadband plan search facility and allows members to register what plan and modem they use, so the site can calculate most popular broadband plan and most popular modem lists.
One curious feature of the site is to see a photo of your exchange and then find their exact location on Google Maps should you want to nip round in person and have a look. (They range from small tin sheds in paddocks to large skyrise buildings in the CBD.)
Q&A with adsl2exchanges
We got in touch with the owner of ADSL2exchanges.com.au (who asked to remain anonymous) and sent him a few salient questions.
Q: Great website... has Telstra contacted you requesting you to remove the info? Back when I was writing for Whirlpool, Telstra contacted us and claimed that we should stop publishing exchange info because it would help terrorists take out the Telstra network. (From memory Whirlpool promptly ignored them.)
A: Thanks, the website has been more popular than I expected, however I haven't had any contact from Telstra. All the information on my website is using publicly available information mostly from Telstra's website.
Q: Where are you gathering the DSLAM info from? Some providers like Optus are less than forthcoming with their list of enabled exchanges.
A: Most of the exchange information is visible on the providers' websites. You're right, Optus is the one that is the least forthcoming, however if you look through their resellers' pages you can get the information pretty easily (Letsgo and Exetel for example).
Q: Your Google Maps mashup showing ADSL coverage on a suburb-by-suburb basis is bloody brilliant. How are you compiling that info -- especially the info about what streets are on RIMs? That kind of info is invaluable for people looking to rent or buy.
A: The suburb view is one of my favourite sections because you don't need a phone number to look at an area. The information for that comes from the Telstra Wholesale website (available to anyone). They list all the streets that are connected to a RIM, and I simply invested a fair bit of time and coffee processing all those streets, and mapping them in a presentable way.
Q: The government's recent BroadbandNow website seems like a good idea, but as we've pointed out on APCmag.com, it's not exactly providing accurate results right now. Do you have any pointers for the government on what it could do to improve?
A: Except for the big two, the providers are very helpful and forthcoming with their exchanges (after all it is in their interest to get their name out there as well) so contacting the providers is generally the best thing to do. I would suggest that the government works with the wholesale providers and try and automate the updates as best as possible.
Q: Your ADSL2+ sync speed poll is very interesting. When I checked, 60% of people were getting under 9Mbit/s. Do you think ADSL2+ as a technology has been a bit overhyped?
A: Definitely not; ADSL2+ has many advantages rather than just its theoretical download speed. The number of providers enabling exchanges and offering ADSL2+ has certainly increased traditional speeds. Think about three to four years ago when 1.5Mbit/s was the artificial maximum. Also, the 1Mbit upstream is just as important because it means that people that are sending digital photos, using webcams or VoIP can do it much easier, as well as ADSL2+ generally being around the same price or cheaper than the older ADSL.
Q: How many people have viewed the site and what sort of feedback have you received?
A: General statistics are available for everyone in the side of the page. Generally get around 1,000 unique people per day go to the website, however the 5th and 6th of June were especially great, with 2,000 and 2,500 unique people (i am thinking due to Internode price rises). It is currently 3 months old, so i am hoping this will continue over time. The feedback has been positive, but i am more than happy to take negative feedback and work on the area's that people aren't happy with.
Q: Is it true that you are Sol Trujillo, and if so, are you able to send someone round to my place to fix up my dodgy phone line?
A: I wouldn't mind earning 1/100th of his wage :) But no, I'm not.
Q: Which of the exchanges is your favourite? Cowpastures?
A: Hehe, Any exchange with ADSL2+ availability :) looking at the photo section on my website i think the Finniss Exchange in SA is great. Tin shed for an exchange with a "For Sale" sign out the front :)
Q: Which ISP are you with, and why?
A: Adam Internet. I am only a light user and here in SA they are one of the cheapest, but also I like the local data from PIPE networks not counting as part of my quota.
Q: Do you prefer the Liberal or Labor broadband plan?
A: Anyone but Telstra :) I would hate to see the hard work that providers like iiNet and Internode have done recently to offer real competition be wasted by handing Telstra a monopoly back. Liberal, Labour, G9 ... any consortium -- it doesn't matter as long as there is true competition.
Thanks for your time "anonymous"!