Broadband Comparison

There are many factors that can affect the quality of a broadband connection. The testing below is an attempt to quantify the differences between various types of SchoolZone circuits and other public DSL offerings. The tests completed will always be variable depending on network congestion at various points on the respective networks at the time the testing is completed.

The upload/download speed test has been completed using the site http://www.nzdsl.co.nz/index.php?module=Speedtest

The latency tests have been completed by testing 1000 pings to the various sites and noting the average response time.

The lost packet tests have been completed by testing 1000 pings to the various sites and noting the number of lost packets.

All tests have been completed by connecting only one computer to the broadband connection to ensure that there are no local network issues that could affect the testing.

	Xtra Broadband	SZ 2Mb	SZ 1Mb	SZ 512k
Download	2376 kbps*	1891 kbps	954 kbps	487 kbps
Upload	584 kpbs	726 kbps	980 kbps	491 kbps
Latency: (avg over 1000 pings)
www.tki.org.nz	88 ms	54 ms	56 ms	94 ms
www.knowledge-networks.co.nz	80 ms	17 ms	52 ms	88 ms
tekupenga.elearning.ac.nz	74 ms	8 ms	42 ms	78 ms
demo.schoolzone.net.nz	n/a	4 ms	38 ms	73 ms
www.mindspring.net	205 ms	144 ms	176 ms	212 ms
www.mxl.co.nz	99 ms	39 ms	70 ms	105 ms
www.nzdsl.co.nz	73 ms	7 ms	41 ms	77 ms
www.google.com	343 ms	194 ms	222 ms	258 ms
Packet Loss: (per 1000)
www.tki.org.nz	10	0	0	0
www.knowledge-networks.co.nz	3	2	0	0
tekupenga.elearning.ac.nz	25	0	0	0
demo.schoolzone.net.nz	n/a	0	0	0
www.mindspring.net	18	0	0	0
www.mxl.co.nz	10	9	0	0
www.nzdsl.co.nz	48	0	0	0
www.google.com	20	5	0	0
Other
Data Prioritisation (QoS)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
dB loss (2 wire)	125dB 5km@1024kHz	20dB 2.75km@160kHz	30dB 3.5km@160kHz	100dB 5km@1024kHz
dB loss (4 wire)	not available	35dB 3.5km@160kHz	40dB 4km@160kHz	not available

* This result was obtained by testing at a time when there was maximum availability on the Xtra systems. During peak business hours download bandwidth varied to as low as 1419 kbps on a circuit with an connection to the local exchange of 3232 kbps.

For Upload Download tests bigger numbers are better.

For Latency tests smaller numbers are better.

For Packet Loss tests smaller numbers are better.

For Data Prioritisation Yes is best.

For dB loss smaller numbers are better.

This comparison is for data purposes only and is not indicative of the other features provided by the various circuit types - eg price, data caps, filtering (virus /language / web browsing) or hosting (web and email) etc.