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The enduring charm of VDSL

TrueNet reports users with VDSL connections on Chorus' copper network now get better speeds than the lowest priced fibre connections.

The net performance company says average VDSL speeds hit 40mbps in December 2016. This is up from the 35mbps it clocked in October. These are impressive numbers considering TrueNet took its VDSL measurements at 9pm, peak viewing time.

Fibre doesn't arrive in my street for at least another 18 months. So I'm a VDSL customer. A happy VDSL customer. When I checked my line over Christmas I saw speeds of between 40mbps and 45mbps.

This, by the way, was a lot better than Skinny Wireless Broadband which never got past 26Mbps. Ping times are much better too.

My VDSL connection has proved rock solid over the years. Forget what some companies, including Spark, say about copper being unreliable, I've not had a single outage that's down to the local connection in six years.

We're not TV viewers in our household, there is no HDTV here. I do watch a lot of video content on various devices, VDSL more than copes.

There's enough headway for me to watch English Premier League at maximum iPad Pro resolution while other family members stream video and work. We've not had slow internet days since first getting VDSL, although I am looking forward to fibre and may buy a big TV when it arrives.

If you don't already have VDSL and still have a wait for fibre, it would pay to move technologies. In most cases it costs the same as an ADSL connection and is a simple, painless upgrade.

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The only catch is you'll probably need a new router, which can cost money and is not likely to stay in use for long if you're scheduled to get a fibre connection.

I'm on the Spark network and pay a $10 monthly premium for my VDSL, I could change service provider, but that means unpicking things that are best left untouched.

Also, it's unlikely any rival VDSL provider can match Spark's speed. Truenet's latest report shows Spark leads the field.

Disclosure: Chorus is a writing and editorial client of mine. I've been paid in the past to write about Chorus VDSL for the company. 

The enduring charm of VDSL was first posted at billbennett.co.nz.

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