Broadband solution can begin in the home

Photo / Kenny Rodger

Many New Zealanders are missing out on faster broadband speeds - but there's no point in blaming the country's internet service providers.

Inadequate home wiring, old hardware and software are all creating broadband bottlenecks in the home. The good news is most of the problems can be fixed for a few dollars.

Telecom Wholesale's head of broadband, Tim Pegler, said based on a survey of around 200 homes in Christchurch, 70 per cent could improve their broadband speeds by addressing issues in the home.

He said the biggest impact in the Christchurch audit was made by changing old 3-wire jackpoints (installed in homes before 1997) for newer 2-wire jack points.

"Home wiring is essentially a home network," said Mr Pegler.

"That actually has such a big impact on performance. ISPs can keep on putting new technology into the network and pouring more bandwidth in but a lot of it is actually wasted."

As consumers move to a world were high-speed broadband is delivered to the door over a fibre network - the Government plan is to have 100 megabits per second to 75 per cent of New Zealanders in the next 10 years - home wiring will need to be upgraded to take advantage of the new services offered.

Pegler said when Pt Chevalier became the first area to benefit from the upgrade of Telecom's network, some households did not notice any improvement in broadband speeds.

He said technicians investigating the problems found home wiring was to blame but had previously been masked by slow network speeds.

"You can do everything you like at the network end but at the end of the day the homeowner has got to think about their own environment," said Mr Pegler.

Telecommunications Users Association head Ernie Newman said as network speeds improved, wiring within the home could well be the weakest link in the chain.

"It's a jolly good idea if people start thinking about getting mobilised to get the in-house wiring sorted out for the future," said Newman.

Senior implementation specialist Ian McCulloch of Telecom's network arm, Chorus, was involved in developing industry guidelines for the wiring of new homes to a standard suitable for current and future broadband technologies. The new code, released by the industry group the Telecommunications Carriers Forum in March, is voluntary and relies on consumer and industry awareness to ensure homes are correctly wired for fast broadband.

Mr Newman said the biggest weakness of the code is that it is not well known but he would not like to see it made mandatory.

"That document is far too good and far too useful to simply languish sitting on someone's website so we would like to see the carriers do a bit more about promoting it," he said.

The code stipulates high-quality Cat5 wiring running back to a central point from phone and broadband connections points in every room - "star wired" - with a central hub housing a "residential gateway" that replaces existing modems or routers.

The effect is to create a mini-network capable of carrying data at speeds of gigabits per second - 10 times the 100 megabit per second speeds targeted by the Government in its billion-dollar ultrafast fibre broadband scheme.

Mr McCulloch said the cost of correctly wiring a home was around $2000 - a fraction of the building cost. "In the States, if a home is fibre-ready and wired properly then the house is worth between $5000 and $10,000 more," he said.

10 WAYS TO GET FASTER BROADBAND IN YOUR HOME

LOW COST
1 Upgrade your modem
Get a modem that is capable of handling ADSL2+. Even if you live in an area where this higher speed broadband technology has not been installed in the local exchange, you will still get some benefit from having a new device containing better technology. Ask your internet service provider nicely and you may get a new device for free.

2 Filters
Install low-cost line filters (around $20 each) on any connection where
phones are plugged in.

3 Fewer phones
Having a number of phones plugged in around the house can create interference and reduce broadband speeds. Instead have one cordless phone plugged in and a couple of handsets on base stations (from around $100).

4 No extension cords
Unplug long extension cords running from jackpoints to computers and
phones.

5 Modem at master jackpoint
Where possible, plug your modem into the jackpoint closest to the point where the phone line enters the house. Often a master jackpoint will have an "M" on it.

MEDIUM COST
6 Splitter
Have a professional splitter installed. This separates your phone calls from your broadband.

7 PC/laptop software
The latest version of Windows will handle broadband traffic a lot better
than earlier versions.

8 Broadband plan
Move to a full speed/full speed plan, that is, one that goes as fast as possible uploading and downloading.

9 Replace jack points
Homes built before 1997 may have an older style three-wire jackpoint unless rewiring work has been done since. The newer versions only have two wires. Installing new jack points (around $30 each) could improve
speed by up to a megabit per second. Could be installed at the same time as a splitter.

HIGH COST
10 Home wiring
Replace home wiring with Cat5 or better and completely separate the home
computer network from the home phone network. An option if renovating
or adding an extension (around $2000 depending on the style and size of
house).