If you are on this page you are probably fed up with slow internet in NZ, I mean it's pretty unlikely that you'll be on this page if you have the fastest internet in New Zealand!
Having slow broadband speed in NZ can be as frustrating as being on a diet when someone is cooking and eating an enormous double cheese and bacon burger write in front of you... with chips...
Well relax... Broadband Compare is here to help you in your hunt for NZ's fastest internet provider. Everyone's situation on broadband speeds will be very different with some people easily able to get broadband speeds close to 100 mega bits per second when they download while others have very slow broadband speeds of 1 - 2Mbs. So what can you do about slow broadband speeds?
Well unfortunately an awful lot of it is not in your control. As a NZ residential broadband customer you have no say in the speed of the data moving through an overseas cable when you look at a site in the US or UK... you can't control when the government and Chorus roll out the ultrafast broadband (UFB) network in your street and you can't relocate the exchange from down the road to nearer your house... but DON'T despair! There are plenty of factors you can control about your NZ broadband speed... so read on.
The first step to take is to test your broadband speed at home and make sure it's not a problem that you can quickly identify. So, firstly, check your NZ broadband speed here.
Got that number? OK... now have a look at the Chorus website which will show you what speeds you can potentially get and what are the fastest available broadband speeds in New Zealand at your address.
Once you've done the test, if your actual broadband speed is pretty much equal to your potential broadband speed then your options are pretty much at a dead end... unless the ultra fast fibre network has not yet hit your street or you are willing to move house!
BUT! If you have done your boradband speed test and it looks like you should be getting quicker speeds then see if you can very easily switch NZ ISP or change your broadband provider. The easiest and quickest broadband speed upgrade is to go from ADSL (normal broadband) to VDSL (a faster form of broadband) but the best option for the fastest broadband speeds is to join the Ultra Fast Broadband Network. This is future proofing yourself and your property with the fastest broadband speeds available in New Zealand but you need to find the best fibre broadband package in NZ to ensure you get the most out of your connection.
If you do an upgrade from ADSL to VDSL you will certainly get a boost. It may go as fast as the theoretical 24Mbs maximum as opposed to the 12Mbs download speeds you receive for ADSL. VDSL also significantly increases your upload speeds which is great if you are putting video, big files or a ton of photos into the cloud for example. The stepup from VDSL to Fibre is another ball game all together and when you move to fibre broadband in NZ you can get download speeds of up to 100Mbs. That is FAST.
So that is stage one. Make sure you have the best possible connection coming into your house or property. The next step is to check out the actual performance of your ISP by comparing broadband speeds in NZ and if their performance when you compare broadband suppliers isn't where it should be you then you can change broadband supplier if necessary.
One of the best ways to check internet speeds in NZ is to look at TrueNet, an independent testing service, which analyses ISP's performance for ADSL, VDSL and UFB in New Zealand. Unfortunately it's not a hard and fast rule as there are a lot of variables and so it is hard to declare an outright winner for the fastest internet provider in New Zealand as it all depends on everything from other users to where you are viewing or downloading from (i.e. New Zealand or overseas pages), how they handle video, and the level of demand the sites and ISP are receiving at peak hours.
For example, one NZ internet Provider could be the best performing ISP for video download speeds but they might have the third or fourth best overseas download speed so if you view and visit a lot of overseas sites they may not be the best for you.
So basically compare broadband provider and compare broadband speeds based on the area that is relevant to you. Got it? One of the fastest internet service providers in New Zealand is MyRepublic and they are someone we strongly recommend at Broadband Compare - click here to see their latest broadband deals and offers.
So, to recap.
Stage one, get the best pipe coming into your house or apartment - ADSL, VDSL or UFB.
Stage two, get the best internet provider for your specific needs
So now we will move on to stage three. You need good kit. So the modem, router and the devices you use to access the internet need to be as good as possible. The best way to liken this is to a car. You've got the biggest engine and the fastest, most aerodynamic chassis but now if you put in rubbish fuel, balding tyres and a 96 year old Grandma to drive it you are unlikely to get peak performance...
So use good kit. The modem in your house connects directly to the internet while the router takes the signal and turns your home into a network so all your devices can access the internet. How do you know if your modem is any good? Another quick test. Take an ethernet cable to connect your computer directly to your modem and do the NZ broadband speed test again. If it is significantly faster than the speeds you have through wi-fi then check if your modem and computer has the the latest wi-fi version. A simple version upgrade could boost your performance 3 times.
As an example, one of the latest generations of wi-fi is 802.11ac. This is about three times faster than the previous, 802.11n so to get the maximum speed both your modem and device(s) need to have 802.11ac. If your home PC, Laptop or tablet is a few years old you will probably have the wi-fi generation 802.11ac so it would be worth getting a new router to match. If your devices are older and only have 802.11n, then make sure your router has the same. Only upgrade if you need to, there will be little impact otherwise.
...and the final stage. Aesthetics!
We know that routers are not always the prettiest looking things and the last step is to make sure that your router is located in a spot that is central in your house. If you do all your websurfing in the lounge then don't tuck the router 20m away in the office down the hall and around the corner as the broadband signal gets weaker with distance and may struggle to reach your lounge and therefore streaming Netflix or Lightbox is going to be a frustrating exercise.
So that's the broadband compare advice for checking your broadband speed and making sure you have the best broadband speed possible in your abode or office. There is no simple one size fits all option for fixing up slow internet speeds and if you want it to get better then it is worth spending the time but it is well worth it to rid yourself of the swirling wheel of buffering doom!!
Compare broadband speeds and broadband providers on Broadband compare and make sure you have the best deal possible on the fastest internet speeds possible.
