Australians only--New MG download link added.

Noticed today that Tim and Jim have added another Australian link for downloads. There are now 2. Internode and Planet Mirror.

I did a couple of tests just now downloading 2 different files from each site for comparison purposes. Each file was downloaded a.s.a.p after first download finished.

I've posted the AdAware download speeds from both sites. 20 megs is a fair sample, I think. Internode leaves Planet Mirror for dead as expected. Planet Mirror used to be on MG ages ago, then it vanished, now it's back again.

Great to have 2 choices just in case, but I'll stick to Internode for the obvious reason. Bazza

PS: If any other Aussie can post 2 downloads, of same file, from the 2 links I'd appreciate the comparison. Baz

 

Any Aussies try out both links, same program, for comparisons sake?

 

If I were to use those links, would my downloads come upside down? :innocent

 

Hi Halo, of course any one can use them both. As Australia is so far away from the USA and UK, 2 Major Geek download alternatives, here in OZ, is very welcome.

Planet Mirror used to be on MG ages ago, it vanished and is now back. I wasn't real happy with Planet Mirror then so didn't miss them.

With so many UK MG members / visitors, maybe you should try and talk Tim and Jim into getting a UK link, instead of having to link to the USA (or OZ ).

Bazza
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How does the Internode speed test (XP SP3) compare with result you get from Florida?

I think I am getting gipped by my ISP (www.spin.net.au) but still get reasonably fast speeds. Sometimes up to 5 and 6 meg files download almost instantaneously. I have to check my c:\Downloads folder to see that they actually downloaded.

Thumbnail attached shows speeds as blank, for "instantaneous" downloads. Speeds vary wildly depending upon site used, of course. Author's sites are usually much slower than MG, for example.

In my example, Spybot at 31 KB/s was the first download after installing XP SP 3. But all is now back to normal. :wave

Second last one listed was XP SP3 download from MG, via Internode link, at 667 KB/s

Bazza

 

Re: Australian members--New MG download link added.

Great speeds for you. Great price. Here in OZ, ADSL2+ is about double your costs. Bazza

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Hi Bazza, I always use the Florida link on the basis of the time difference from the UK won't give me any contention, but I may try the new Oz server in future.

 

Scousetechie, try it out by all means, but UK--->OZ distance is a lot greater than UK--->Florida. I'd be interested in speed comparisons of the download of the same program from both sources, mainly out of curiousity. Bazza

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looks like not many Aussies want to spend a couple of megs for a good purpose

Internode = 159KB/s
PM = 161.1KB/s
(this was downloading AdAware as well)

so that's pretty much the same..

I used the DownThemAll extension (for this download I turned off the 'download in chunks' option) for Firefox as I always use that to download. As you can see speeds for Australians really 'suck'.. this is the highest I can get here for a reasonable price (ADSL2+ was recently activated at the exchange, which is more then 3km away from us. They allow max speeds of 20mbps, I'm on 1500kbps at the moment ) I'm really looking forward to that fttn which they are planning for end 2008 :cool.. grrrr Australia should really catch up with the rest of the world..

 

Whereabouts are you in OZ, DutchMarco?

Here in Cairns we don't have a great deal of ISP ADSL2+ choice at a reasonable price. Bigpond and Optus deals suck, IMO. That is why I went to spin.net.au. Hopefully we will see some serious competition here in Cairns soon. Bazza

 

I'm in Maitland, half an hour west of newcastle.. which is 2 hours north of sydney.

I think only Bigpond and maybe Optus are available here. And I'm too far from the exchange to get ADSL2+. I went to the spin.net.au website and checked if I was in their service area, and it said I was, but only for normal ADSL. So that's no improvement.

(my name might be DutchMarco, but that's because I moved to Australia just over 2 years ago :major)

 

DutchMarco, sorry ADSL2+ is not available in your area. I am 2.6 kilometres for the exchange according to ISP. I assume that is as the crow flies. I don't know the actual wired distance or the number of folks in between me and my exchange. I assume it is lots as I am on a just off the main road outta town.

 

there is this nice site www.adsl2exchanges.com.au, I used it to check if I was eligible for ADSL2+. Their results for my address are, distance from exchange:

Line of Sight: 2528 m
Estimated Cable: 3160 m


We can probably get a slight improvement here.. gotta get the parents to pay an extra $20



Here is a screenshot from that site.. can you have a look at it, because it doesn't make sense... A month ago we had a purple dot in our street, now we have an orange dot. What's the deal with that and what does it mean?
(the text under the map is supposed to explain it)

does this say we can get ADSL2+??


(i'm not very good with english, i've lived my whole live in Holland, and we spoke dutch there )



Cheers, Marco

 

Your English is a hell of a lot better than my Dutch. Don't know what the different coloured dots mean. I am 2.6 kilometres from my exchange. Don't know what the wired distance is. If Spin could only supply ADSL 1 to you, then I guess that is all that is available to you. :cry

The link you gave isn't up to date, for me.
Spin and Comcen (same mob) are available in Cairns. Bazza

 

i have 2 reli's that live in woodberry who use virgin wireless with no problems

 

*GO NEWCASTLE JETS!!*

yer i've got some friends in Singleton/Cessnock who have wireless aswell. They can do basic stuff with that, but I want to see fast download speeds and ultra low ping on PS3 :major


in other news..
Yesterday I logged into the Bigpond website and changed our plan to the ADSL2+ plan of 20000/10000kbps (or something..). I'll report on the changes that it made in speed. *change is due on friday*


Current stats from Speedtest.net:
Ping to SYDNEY: 27ms
1325kb/s Down
214kb/s Up

 

You should get a lot better speeds than that once you get hooked up and tweaked a bit with ADSL2+.
My theoretical speeds (plan) is 24576/1024 kbps ($29.95) but being at least 2.6K's away some tests have given me over 4,000 kbps (500KB/s).

I think it should be better than this but have not really pressed my ISP. My 12 month's contract is up soon so I will prod them then. Bazza

 

What do you mean by 'tweak'?

I'm impressed that you guys up in Cairns can get such high download speeds. We have to pay $99.95 for the adsl2+ with 25gig unlimited (after 25 shaped), what a rip off ay :confused

 

DutchMarco, I get by on 1 gig peak / 2gig off-peak for downloads and uploads are free. Stuff Bigpond, they are ripoff merchants why is why I refused to use their Broadband service for years until I found spin.net.au.

25 gigs is a huge amount of download allocated space and Bigpond are making you pay plenty.

Download and install BitMeter2 as BitMeter 2 3.5.6 from
http://www.majorgeeks.com/BitMeter_2_d5603.html
Rating: 4.84 (13 votes).

Use it to keep track of your usage for the rest of May and see how it compares to your 25 gig allowance. Unless you are using it for business or really heavy Youtube, movie, or music downloads I don't think you need anywhere near 25 gigs. You should be able to get Bigpond to put you on a lesser plan and a lot cheaper. I pay $29.95 with bundled phone for my 1 / 2 gigs plan.

As for tweaking, check out my MG thread 158045 as a starter.
Go to http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=158045
You really should use DrTcp as part of your tweaking.

Private Message me if you want further advice. Bazza

 

so what does this thing do exactly, and does it work with Vista?? for downloading I always use the firefox extension DownThemAll. down speeds are always maximum (around 158KB/s)

how much do you think I can improve the speed of my internet if i'm on a 1500kbps plan. and i don't quite get how to work DrTcp for tweaking. (I'm not so network experienced..)

also, can you have a look here? Surely you've heard about this, have you got any news on it? (please post that in that thread)

*edit; I found the manual on www.dslreports.com
*another edit; we have 3 pc's here at home, and a ps3. low ping's for ps3 are important to me and can all the settings be the same on all 3 computers?

 

I googled the following:-

drtcp
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=drtcp&btnG=Search

tweak drtcp
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=tweak+drtcp&btnG=Search

tweak downloads
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=tweak+downloads&btnG=Search

You will have to read and research articles in the above google results to arrive at DrTcp settings you should try. Make sure you screenprint all setting changes input into DrTcp, and results afterwards. Make sure you reboot after each DrTcp change to make sure it goes into effect.

DrTcp should work with Vista. It is used for merely loading different settings into your modem setup. It doesn't do the tweaking. I am on ADSL2+ (24576/1024 plan). Using MG's Internode link, I can get up to 500-600KB/ sec downloads. Sometimes, even up to 5-6 meg downloads happen in the blink of an eye.

What actual plan are you on? Quote the Bigpond plan name and details, and I will try and check it out further.

I actually haven't check out my ping time lately. It is usually around 200-300 ms as I am a long way from the sites I download from.

I only use a single laptop so can't comment on what speeds you will get with 3 PC's hooked together. Are all 3 in use, on the Net together? What are the specs of your modem / router?

Check out my post at MG (158045)
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=158045

Bazza

 

Just spotted this in one of the articles in a google link I listed in an earlier post.

:cry

Any Vista owners tried tweaking your Broadband settings? I'd be interesting knowing your results as I am going to hook up my DELL desktop to my same Netgear Modem / Router soon.

Bazza

 

Bump.

Any Vista owners tried tweaking your Broadband settings?
I'd be interesting knowing your results, and settings, as I have now hooked up my DELL desktop to the same Netgear Modem / Router. (Netgear DG834Gv3 with updated firmware).

Bazza

 

Thanks Halo. :major Bazza

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Planet Mirror link no longer available at Major Geeks downloads. Bazza