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How Fast Is Your Wireless Broadband Connection? Telstra NextG 21Mbps Test

Posted By Mr.Gadget Published in Network

Dec

This afternoon a co-worker saw my Telstra NextG 21Mbps USB Stick pertruding out of my Dell XPS Laptop. Keen to see how close it got to the maximum theoretical download speed so blatantly displayed on the device, he asked me to jump onto Speedtest.net.

What is Speedtest.net?

For those who haven’t tried Speedtest.net before, it’s a handy little website that measures download speed, upload speed and latency – perfect for testing your internet connection.

Here’s the result of the test:

Despite just reaching over half the advertised theoretical max, a download speed of 10.89 Mb/s is actually very fast, especially comparing to the results of other carriers. I know with Vodafone’s offering I was only able to achieve maximums of around 2Mb/s.

Telstra Not Cheap But Damn Fast

Now before you zoom off to get a Telstra NextG stick I would recommend that you first check out their plans here. Compared to the other carriers in Australia, they’re the most expensive, but you get what you pay for i.e. better coverage and speed. I’m currently on the Telstra BigPond Liberty® 5GB for $89.95 per month. If you thought this is expensive, 2 years ago I was paying the same price for only 1GB of data per month!

My only other major gripe with the Telstra connection (price being the biggest by far) is how fast it gets hot and as a result may disconnect. If they find a way to keep this thing cool, I’m confident that connections would be far more persistent and stable.

So, which carrier are you using? How fast can you get using Speedtest.net?

I’m keen to know who’s got the fastest Wireless Broadband connection

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11 Responses to “How Fast Is Your Wireless Broadband Connection? Telstra NextG 21Mbps Test”

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Dave Says, in 12-10-2009 at 17:51:34

Forgive my opinion
That’s not fast. Not by any international standard for Mobile broadband.

A family member of mine uses this service and it is very unreliable. As mentioned in your post it’s poorly made and overheats.

I live in Japan and you can obtain that speed connection for 1/5th the price with no download limits.

Vote with your feet and stop giving companies so much money for such terrible service.

Mr.Gadget Says, in 12-11-2009 at 07:20:34

Dave, no forgiveness necessary – we appreciate opinions here!

Yes Japan has almost always been a leader in terms of internet data connections worldwide so I’m not surprised that you think my connection is slow.

But in terms of carriers of Australia, Telstra is the fastest.

Here’s to hoping that their mobile broadband hardware will improve sooner than later.

Cheers,
Arnold

James Says, in 12-11-2009 at 09:11:35

DDT. Distance, Density (population), Terrain. Japan/Singapore and Australia should never be compaired. When it comes to the limitation the COST introduces into delivering services to customers (1 per square km in some cases in Aus), I think you’ll find Japan/Singapore have a lot more money to spend on technology.

Dave Says, in 12-11-2009 at 18:21:23

Hoy.
My intention was never to make a direct comparison to Japan. I am aware of all the things you mentioned James.
But Mobile broadband isn’t designed for deployment in the country. I can’t get it where I live as I live quite rurally.
Within city areas (particularly capital cities of Australia) the population is viable and dense enough to support a decent network
Telstra just doesn’t want to spend the money on decent infrastructure and is just happy to leave Australians with outdated technology that is over priced.

However the fact is for what you get it is overpriced and poorly designed.
Fine if the infrastructure is not up to scratch, make the price represent that.

ann oDyne Says, in 12-13-2009 at 19:46:49

on outskirts of Colac Vic and to upload a pic to my blog using my NextG stick modem on my DELL, I have to drive to the top of a nearby hill to get enough reception.
Tedious Telstra – it’s their delusionary advertising claims that irk me.

ann oDyne Says, in 12-13-2009 at 19:56:23

Back now from the test.
.51 and .33

fan-bloody-tastic Telstra.

Mr.Gadget Says, in 12-15-2009 at 21:50:55

Ouch Ann. For a NextG connection that’s kinda bad…

Dave Says, in 12-16-2009 at 17:09:37

Vote with your feet =)

Septimus Brown Says, in 12-30-2009 at 08:57:51

Sorry Dave, don’t agree on your point about density of city populations in Australia. We are still very different and thus cannot expect prices as cheap as those in Japan, South Korea or Singapore. Melbourne, for example, covers about the same area as greater London but has less than one-third the population. Under the regime imposed by the government and the ACCC the cities subsidise the country, so population density in the cities is irrelevant to the argument.

Skeeter Says, in 1-10-2010 at 20:05:37

There are good performers near Australian Cities but out in back blocks of Oz you only have 1 choice of carrier – Telstra. So its a case of a little bit is better than nothing!.

Victor Says, in 1-11-2010 at 09:11:36

It’s all Telstra’s fault for hogging up the networks. Telstra is one of the worst internet company in my opinion. It disconnects quite often and it may be a bit faster compared to Optus and others but whats the point if it’s going to disconnect. Arnold imagine disconnecting in the most crucial part of the raid in WOW. Haha one term, GG.