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| | Wired Broadband is fast Internet access that Woosh can provide to you over your Telecom phone line. You can use the phone and browse the Internet at the same time!
The technology that Woosh uses to deliver this fast Internet access is called ADSL. ADSL is just a technical term for an approach that allows data to be passed over copper telephone wires very quickly. ADSL has a big speed advantage over the older dial-up technology. | |
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| | 1. Your plan
Different broadband plans have different speeds. The speed quoted on your plan is the maximum speed. The actual speed may vary depending on the
factors below. Once you hit your monthly international data usage limit, your connection is automatically speed-capped to 64k (just above dialup speed)
until the end of the month.
2. Your computer
Your computer's set-up and operating system, especially RAM availability, may affect speed.
3. Your Modem/Router, Filters & Phone Cable
Not all broadband modems & ADSL filters are created equal, and some may not give as high quality connection as others. You can purchase one of our
recommended modems by ringing our toll free helpdesk on 0800 4 WOOSH (0800 4 96674). Loose wiring in telephone cables running from your modem to your
telephone jack may cause your broadband connection speed to degrade. Additionally, if you have a long extension cable running from your broadband modem
to the telephone jack, this may also affect your broadband connection. If you have the 'self-install' option (you are using ADSL filters on each phone
in the house), and you have more than 5 devices plugged into your phone line (including your broadband modem), this will affect the quality of your
broadband connection. Try unplugging some devices from your line, and then try your broadband connection again.
4. The Internet
Not all websites will offer the same speed of download, no matter how fast your connection is. A general rule is that you may expect a NZ website to
load a little faster than an international one. Because the internet works by sending data through a chain of computers between you, your ISP (Woosh),
and the website you want to reach, there may be limitations or congestion on any of the links between these points which may affect your speed.
5. Internet traffic
During busy periods you may experience slower speeds as more people are accessing the Internet. Telecom allocate a certain amount of bandwidth to your
telephone exchange, which may mean that at peak times, the maximum speed you can reach is limited because everyone on your exchange is using the same
bandwidth at the same time. This is a limitation placed by Telecom at every phone exchange.
Higher speed plans do get higher priority on bandwidth than lower speed plans, so that customers paying for a higher speed connection should still get
higher speed than low-speed plans, even at peak times.
6. Your location
The distance of your home or office from the Telecom exchange has a big impact on the maximum speed you will be able to obtain on your broadband
connection. Generally the further you are from the exchange, the poorer the quality of broadband connection. Anything over 4-5km from the exchange may
have a noticeable difference.
7. Other programs or users downloading on your connection
If you have a home or office network, and others are downloading or uploading, or if you are downloading on your own computer whilst trying to do other
things, these activities may 'saturate' the bandwidth, slowing down your other downloads, email or web browsing. | |
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| | If your Quickfire broadband connection seems slow, we recommend going through this speed troubleshooting list in your own time,
to try to work out where the problem may lie.
- Be aware that the speed of your Quickfire broadband account is the maximum speed you can obtain on your telephone line.
Not everyone will get maximum speed on every download.
- Check whether you have exceeded your international data limits for this month by logging on to the ‘Data Usage’
checker at www.woosh.com and click on ‘My Account’. If you have exceeded your limit, you will automatically be
speed-limited to 64k (just above dialup speed)
- Is anyone else on your connection downloading, or using a lot of bandwidth?
- Do you have any Peer-to-Peer software running that could be draining your bandwidth?
- Does your computer have sufficient resources (memory, CPU etc. -- especially if you have an internal broadband modem)
to handle the fast connection?
- If you have a long telephone/modem extension cable, this could affect the speed. Try removing this, even if you have to temporarily move
your computer closer to the wall jack.
- Loose wiring in modem cables or phone cables can cause problems with your connection. This is often the case where a cable has been rolled up,
or walked on. Many phone cables are poor quality to begin with, and don't last long. If you suspect loose wiring, replace the modem/phone cable with a
new one.
- Does the slowdown happen at peak times of the day? If so, there's a strong chance that the Telecom exchange is congested.
There is nothing that Woosh can do to relieve this.
- Is your home located more than 4 or 5km from your local phone exchange? If so, this could affect your connection.
Broadband ADSL works best when you are less than 5km from the exchange.
- Is it just one particular site, or overseas sites that are slow? Overseas sites will download slightly slower than NZ sites.
If only one site is giving you slow download speeds, there's a strong chance that they don't have enough bandwidth, the site is congested,
or there's a delay somewhere along the line between their site and Woosh. We are unable to do anything about this.
- Do you have more than 5 'other' phone devices plugged in to your phone line (phones, fax machines, sky decoder, alarms etc.)
if so this will slow down your connection. Try unplugging everything except the broadband modem & one telephone from the phone line,
and try again. Cordless phones particularly will affect your broadband speed more than standard analogue telephones.
Is your modem a reliable brand? Not all broadband modems are created equal, and your modem may not be giving you the optimum connection speed. | |
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| | Broadband ADSL internet is 'always connected'. Unlike your old dialup connection, you don't have to dialup to the internet to connect.
Switch on your computer (or router) and you have internet straight away. This causes some security concerns. Because you are connected to
the internet for long periods of time, there's a greater risk that your computer could be targeted by hackers, viruses, Spyware or internet worms.
Here are some simple suggestions for protecting your computer whilst connected to high speed internet.
- Install a Firewall - We strongly suggest using a personal firewall on your home computer, such as
the inbuilt Windows XP Firewall (service pack 2), or Zone Alarm
(free version available for download from www.zonealarm.com).
- Install Antivirus Software, and update daily - You should also ensure that you have good antivirus protection on your computer,
and make sure it is updating daily with the latest virus definitions. There are a selection of good programs available to purchase
from good PC retailers, or a good free antivirus program is Avast, available for free download from
www.avast.com
- Visit Windows update regularly (Windows Users) - If you have a Microsoft Windows PC, it is important to ensure your computer is getting the latest
updates from Microsoft, which will include the latest security patches and updates. If you are using Windows XP (service pack 2), then you can go to
START > CONTROL PANEL > SECURITY CENTER and turn on automatic updates.
- Install Spyware detection software - Spyware is software that installs itself without your permission or knowledge. It can be harmless, mildy
annoying, or can at worst run up large 0900 toll bills. Spyware can install itself when you click on a popup ad in a website, or when you download and
install free software. Programmes like Microsoft's free Anti-Spyware will scan your computer for known Spyware programs and clean these up.
This program is free to download from
www.microsoft.com
Security and wireless broadband modems
Broadband modems or routers which have built-in Wifi (wireless access) pose a higher security risk. Many users simply accept the
default hardware settings, and this can leave your broadband connection, and your entire computer, open to anyone within range of your
Wifi connection.
It is extremely important to consider securing your Wifi to ensure nobody can walk by with a laptop or Wifi device (it happens!)
and access your systems.
We recommend the following 3 steps. You may wish to have a professional IT technician set up your wireless LAN for you if you are unsure.
- Always enable WEP encryption. Whilst not perfect, it offers more protection than leaving your connection unsecured.
- Turn off SSID broadcast, and rename your wireless SSID to something unusual (ie. Not “Default”)
- Turn on MAC Address filtering, so that only your specified devices can connect.
Whilst these measures will not keep out the most determined hacker, they will offer the home user a good level of protection by making it more difficult. | |
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| | Most Woosh broadband plans have a 'soft' limit, where your connection speed is throttled to 64k when you hit the data limit, rather than being charged
excess usage charges. You must keep an eye on how much you are using throughout the month. Woosh will email you to let you know when you are within 25%
of your monthly limit. You can check your usage in the My Account section
throughout the month at www.woosh.com
If you use file sharing programs such as Kazaa, make sure you switch them off when you are finished. Other people can download from you, using up
your monthly bandwidth
Make sure everyone in the house or business knows that you have ADSL with a monthly data limit. Be aware that high usage services such as streaming
video or radio use up much more bandwidth than, say, browsing the web. For example, a standard 128k video or audio stream uses approx.
56MB per hour, or approx. 1GB in 18 hours. A higher quality video stream at 384k, will use approx. 164MB per hour, or 1GB in 6 hours. | |
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