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Best value 8Mbit/s ADSL broadband plans revealed

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Tim Gaden17 January 2007, 1:46 AM

More ISPs are switching on their 8Mbit/s ADSL services, with Internode the latest to offer its customers the option of higher speed broadband outside its own ADSL2+ coverage areas.

Internode is the latest ISP to offer its customers the option of higher speed broadband following Telstra Wholesale's announcement late last year of an 8Mbit/s ADSL service.

ISPs scrambled to announce plans that take advantage of the new 8Mbit/s download and 384Kbit/s upload speeds, with Internode among the first to make its plans public.

Internode customers can now choose one of three high-speed plans ranging from a data allowance of 20GB for $79.95/month to 80GB for $139.95.

Exetel, TPG, Amnet, Pacific Internet, People Telecom and aaNet are among other well-known ISPs taking advantage of Telstra's faster wholesale connections.

Most ISPs divide the data quota in their plans into "peak" (daytime) and "off-peak" (late night) categories or offer one amount available for use at any time.

However, aaNet, well-known in the industry for its bargain-basement pricing, is trialling a new "data discount" system, in which downloads between 1am and 8am count for a fraction of their true size. Savvy users will make its 5GB plan for $39.90/month and 20GB plan for $49.90/month stretch a long way.

Many ISPs are making the higher speed plans available with data allowances matching their old 1.5Mbit/s plans and adding a premium for the speed boost.

NSW-based ISP Exetel is offering NSW residents a range of 8Mbit/s plans, ranging from a 12GB quota for $65 /month to a heavy duty 48GB plan for $95/month. In addition, there is no limit on data downloaded between midnight and midday each day. However users who download more than 36GB per month in this off-peak period may be "sin-binned" or have their speeds reduced for the rest of the month.

TPG's plans offer slightly less bang for your buck. Its 18GB plan costs $79.95/month and its 40 GB plan is $99.95/month. Some users will be attracted by the offers of a free static IP address which comes with TPG's plans.

People Telecom provides an option to "shape" connections (or reduce their speed) when the quota is exceeded or to pay an additional $5/GB for excess data. It plans range from 25GB for $89.95/month to 40GB for 104.95/month.

One of the few entry level plans is offered by Westnet, who sell a 1GB plan for $69.95/month. Higher plans divide the data quota into peak and off-peak categories, for example a 60GB plan (20GB peak / 40GB off-peak) for $109.95.

The actual speeds that users enjoy are affected by the distance between their house and their telephone exchange. As the following graph indicates, users are well advised to check the distance between their houses and the local exchange before assuming the full speed bump to 8Mbit/s:

While higher speeds are welcome, especially for users on telephone exchanges where even higher ADSL2+ speeds of up to 24Mbit/s are not offered, Telstra has not leveled the playing field completely.

It declined to increase the upload speed to its technical ceiling of 1000Kbit/s.

Hopes of nationally-available wholesale ADSL2+ were also dashed last year, when Telstra announced it would only be offering ADSL2+ on exchanges in which retail competitors had already installed their own DSLAMs.

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Sygul:

Is it possible to provide a larger graph ?

I'm currently on an ADSL2+ plan however the best transfer rate I can achieve is around 6000 kbits, This would indicate that I'm around 3.7 km from the exchange, It would also indicate that if I switch to plain ADSL I would still achieve a similar download rate at a cheaper price !.

Has anyone else had experience switching between ADSL2+ and ADSL from the same site and distance ?

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

raindog:

before drawing too many conclusions from graphs etc. Do some simple tests unplug all the phones filers and other junk from your line and recheck the throughput. ADSL2+ is stretching the envelope and much less forgiving. I can confirm as outlined in previous APC reviews that different brands of ADSL2+ modems will give different results at varying cable distances from the exchange.
Use the numbers and graphs as a guide, the best value and best throughput isn't always the highest quoted numbers. Bandwidth is nothing without throughput.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

robbo:

durrrr...

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

raindog:

Must have been your low day for pearls of wisdom, Robbo. Don't hold back share your knowledge and we can all be amazed for a few milli-seconds. :>

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Dan Warne:

Hi Sygul, try clicking on the graph -- it'll show an expanded view. (And no, you're not going crazy -- I just added the expanded view now.)

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Mathew:

The only provider who imposes an artificial limit of ADSL1 is Telstra, which other ISPs resell, everyone else provides ADSL2+.
Internode will sell you an ADSL2+ plan for $59.95 a month, whereas their cheapest ADSL1 uncapped plan is $79.95. Pay $20 more for less - way to go Telstra!
According to this OECD June 2006 report, Australia had 3.5 million broadband subscribers. If everyone connected through Telstra wholesale, that would be $70 million extra in people's pockets every month, and in return Telstra provide a worse product!
Remember Telstra have had to do more to cap Australian's ADSL connection at the beginning and they are still no ADSL2+ for many people.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Anonymous:

Not everyone else sells ADSL2+.As for getting the Internode ADSL2+ plan for $59.95 a month,good luck.It is available for a tiny fraction of broadband users.They were the first to announce 8mbit plans and then realised they didnt have enough bandwidth to supply it and ended up being one of the last ones to offer them.Definately biased towards Internode and you have lost me as a subscriber as a result.When the bias stops,i may reconsider.

Robert

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Anonymous:

From what ive gathered, adsl2+ is generally cheaper with most ISPS than say telstras wholesaled 8mb plans, so finding an 8mb plan more value than an adsl2 plan seems rather odd as ISPs have more freedom with price on there own hardware.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

tin:

TPG isn't the only one doing static IPs on these plans. Exetel have static IPs, and I'm sure some of the others do too.

And for interested people, the larger, more readable version of that speed vs distance graph is at:
http://www.internode.on.net/adsl2/graph/index.htm

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Ryan Edgerton:

I'd like to know where these phantom aaNet plans are located on their website? "Savvy users will make its 5GB plan for $39.90/month and 20GB plan for $49.90/month stretch a long way." The cheapest plan is $59.90 for 1gb.

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Daryl Dart:

Note that the aaNet plan described is a closed trial. Their 8MB plans start from $59.90 for only 1GB, $69.90 for 14GB, on 12 month plans.

Quality ISP though.

Referring aaNet Member ID: 0738862943

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

qtr pounder:

Perhaps the author of this article should of researched a little better before publishing it. The plans that you have stated for aaNet were limited trial plans that are no longer offered - http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=643197

The current aaNet 8mbps plans on a 12 month contract, as stated on http://www.aanet.com.au/Plan_12.html are:

8000/OPC1 1GB $59.90/mo
8000/OPC2 14GB $69.90/mo
8000/OPC3 26GB $79.90/mo
8000/OPC4 48GB $99.90/mo
8000/OPC5 48GB $109.90/mo

This is an appalling oversight for someone who should be "in the know". These plans were introduced before Christmas.

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

WarPig:

Escapenet http://www.escnet.com.au/expressInfo.php

Express Basic |$79.90 |up to 8000k/384k |25 Gb |64k/64k

I put my churn app in for this last night.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Anonymous:

http://www.esc.net.au/expressInfo.php

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

McBanjo:

Is it just me or are you giving Internode a good name above the rest?

If there's one thing us readers value most about APC, it's your unbiased view on everything.

Maybe you should think twice about mentioning Internode exclusively when you are partnered with them. (Check the advertisement on the left hand column.) All the while you bunch all the other ISPs together in a paragraph.

While this is just speculation, APC should take care to keep readers convinced that they are not taking sides.

On the other hand its the readers who should be taking sides. Like me. I've been with Internode for two years and what keeps me coming back is their awesome prices.

But then there are terrabytes of up-to-date servers with data that doesn't count toward your monthly quota. These include 'Steam' content, radio stations, 'Majorgeeks,' 3D Gamers Mirror and more. They have an awesome games section, with some of the best servers at http://games.internode.on.net/ . They run their own ADSL2+ connections to get away from Telstra. They sweet!!

Man, I should get paid for this :@.

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Dan Warne:

Thanks for the feedback -- I agree that we could have ordered the information in the article better to avoid the perception of bias. However, I can assure you there was no intention to highlight Internode particularly, beyond the fact that they are the latest ISP to actually activate 8Mbit/s, and hence, the news lead for the story.

You'll note that although the various ISPs were mentioned in brief in one paragraph after the Internode lead, their plans were detailed in the further paragraphs.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback -- it is appreciated. We definitely -don't- want to endanger our reputation for fierce independence. I agree, it's one of APC's key differentiator from the competitors.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Anonymous:

One thing that's worth bearing in mind is that most of the filters that are currently on the market, and which claim to also be compatible with ADSL2+, are in fact not as they do not work above 1.1kHz. C10 has just released a range of new ADSL2+ fliters (suffix M intead of E on all model numbers) which is worth looking at. My investigations have suggested that changing from ADSl1 to 2+ increases attenuation due to feedback loops introduced between 1.1kHz and 2.2kHz bands. The new filters include compliance with ACIF:2004 std for ADSl2+ which Telstra has also agreed is consistent with ULL conditions (which are utilised by all carriers/ISPs). If you wish to reduce attenuation...try one of the new filters....worked for me!

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Anonymous999999999:

I hate to do a reality check for you but magazines and newspapers make their money from advertisers.... Of course it is standard practice in the industry to do deals for advertisers by promoting their products in subtle ways in 'news' stories, however in 'truthfull ways'. The one that pays for the ads is the one who gets the spotlight...

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Chad Leverington:

Of course the graph is now completely wrong since Telstra do offer ADSL2+. I am sure Internode will eventually upgrade the misleading graph.

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

APC administrator:

I suppose it just needs to be updated to say "Telstra Wholesale", not "Telstra".

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Anonymous:

No, you misunderstood.

How can an ISP resell something from Telstra Wholesale if Telstra Wholesale doesn't offer it?

If the intention is to show Telstra Wholesale then the red rectangle needs to be moved up to 8Mbit/sec (or whatever is achievable at the distance).

If the intention is to show Telstra Retail then the red rectangle needs to be moved up to 24Mbit/sec (or whatever is achievable at the distance).

Either way though this would mess up the graph, so the best option is just to remove the red rectangle from the graph.

APC should have done that before using the misleading and out-of-date Internode graph.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

APC administrator:

Good point. I have updated the graph.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

JB:

"APC should have done that before using the misleading and out-of-date Internode graph."

You work for Hel$tra? What does this statement do for anyone, other than make yourself look like a whining noob?

Thanks for the information APC a good article. Shame about whingers who like to bignote themselves by throwing around terms like misleading which they don't really understand!

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Anonymous:

You can certainly see who's paying who. Does apc get free hosting for writing stories like this.

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

APC administrator:

Nope.

29 February 2008, 8:36 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Daniel Cheng:

Ever heard of FTTB ~ Fiber To The Building?

It's available in 10Mbit download / 2Mbit upload speed for $880NT ($35 AUD) with no time limit and no download limit.

People reach 1000 ~ 1200 Kbyte/sec (about 1~1.2MB/sec) downloading using BT!!!

Which makes me wonder how much money these ISPs in Australia are making each month offering people limited hours and limited downloads to high speed broadband?

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tony:

I work from home and I need good upstream speeds as much as fast downstream speeds? Why? Because I have to upload to my employer's interstate servers my work on a periodic basis.

Internode has an Annex M ADSL plan which provides 2.5Mbit/s upstream plan but unfortunately Internode aren't as pervasive as Telstra (although all the reports I have read about Internode indicate they provide an excellent service). Internode, in WA, has only two DSLAMs equipped with Annex M to date, so it looks like I might be in for a long wait.

I'm on BigPond cable which only provides 256kbps upstream speed. While some people seem to think that Telstra have restricted the upstream speed to limit the spread of Spam, I believe it is more likely that Telstra is trying to stop VOIP and Video conferencing from eroding Telstra's POTS telephone system network anymore than has already happened.

The whole broadband story in Australia is a sad one. On a bright note, it is encouraging that several of the State Governments (including NSW and WA) have announced big plans to create their own broadband networks that ISPs can share. The networks will utilise existing government buildings for hosting equipment I understand. The negative though is that ISPs will still be responsible for providing the infrastructure for the last mile. This is probably the most difficult bit and I'm not sure how the ISPs are going to do that without accessing the POTS network. So it looks like Telstra will always get revenue from the ULL (unbundled local loop). It was reported the Australian Financial Review (front page 17 Jan 2007) that Telstra may challenge ACCC power saying something along the lines of that the restrictions on it are unconstitutional. So it would seem that things won't improve much for a while yet. Regardless, all I want is decent broadband, both upstream and downstream, at a decent price. I also wouldn't mind getting rid of my landline telephone altogether given the recently announced increase in STD charges too.

Some of the countries in SE Asia are now offering really fast broadband - fibre can generate 100mbit/s upstream and 100mbit/s downstream. Come on Australia, let's get state of the art happening real soon now.

29 February 2008, 8:29 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Milind:

guys i've got problem in my broadband i can't open some web sites like microsoft.com & some other sites but www.google.com website works so any one could help me?

29 February 2008, 8:32 PM (2 years ago)report abuse Send to a friend