Whirlpool

I have seen a lot of complaints and few compliments in regards to exetel's service. Are there any users out there who have 0 issues with speed / connection reliability? Are most of the issues to do with peoples locations (congestion? - i'm in brisbane if that matters)?

I'm new to DSL (i have been a cable user for years) and I'm not sure what my chances of being happy with exetel are. I'm just worried I'll sign up and be stuck with dial-up speeds and Copyright infringement emails for 6 months.

Thanks for the help in advance :D

Edited for clarity

MaxDB writes...

I'm new to DSL and I'm not sure what my chances of being happy with exetel are. I'm just worried I'll sign up and be stuck with dial-up speeds and Copyright infringement emails for 6 months.

Exetel have problems with the connections. Despite some people say their own connection is flawless, its evident there are problems with congestions and dropouts.
Also there is shaping of p2p traffic and issue out infringements. Ultimately suspending your connection.

If you're new to ADSL, then Exetel probably isnt for you.

You'll more than likely require support. Support is pretty much non existent at Exetel. You have to go through some bullcrap process of ping pong emails.

Stick to reputable ISP who cares about their customers and have far more reliable network. eg/ Internode

Sure you'll pay a bit more, but its probably more suited to a new user. Exetel is more of a cheap and dirty ISP for people who leech and require very little support.

Cheers
Dense

MaxDB writes...

Are there any users out there who have 0 issues with speed / connection reliability?

Yep, there are plenty (including me).

I'm just worried I'll sign up and be stuck with dial-up speeds and Copyright infringement emails for 6 months.

I wouldn't worry. I think you will find that Exetel is the best value ISP around.

Dense \/\/arrior writes...

Stick to reputable ISP who cares about their customers and have far more reliable network. eg/ Internode

Sure you'll pay a bit more

If you are a simple web browse and email person OK that is a good strategy.

But if you want serious GBs then Internode will cost you far far more $$$$$$$$$

Yea, well when bigpond fail to cap me I dl up around 60 gig.

But like i said, it will all be for nothing if i get stuck with dial-up speeds or my internet is down for a week because of the ISP.

I have no problems setting up routers/modem/firewalls etc, im not a total noob :P

Any more success stories?

Dense \/\/arrior writes...

Also there is shaping of p2p traffic and issue out infringements. Ultimately suspending your connection.

can you expand on this? i too am considering exetel. When you say shaping what sort of speeds would i bee looking at? Infringements is that for using p2p or downloading illegal material?

IE n00b writes...

can you expand on this? i too am considering exetel. When you say shaping what sort of speeds would i bee looking at? Infringements is that for using p2p or downloading illegal material?

A quick search of the forums will reveal the answers for your questions.

Infringements is that for using p2p or downloading illegal material?
forum-replies.cfm?t=682769

Exetel p2p shaping
forum-replies.cfm?t=606144

Speed is only ONE of the factors that concern me when it comes to p2p shaping. The fact Exetel is doing it, opens gateway for them to shape other protocols in future. They may or maynot be already doing it. But surely, purchasing $100,000 device only to shape p2p seems a bit rich, i'm sure they'll find more uses for it.

Maybe the question you should ask yourself before signing up to Exetel is, ask someone to show you the current MRTG graphs that are only available to Exetel customers. It shows Exetel with bandwidth problems.. Mainly Congestions (flatlining graphs). Irregularities in traffic shapping ? This is only an assumption, but there appears to be sudden major DIPS when you look at the graph.

Some say theres no congestion (those who wear tin foil hats).. but those minority also seem to think paralla-x errors occur on CRT/LCD screens.

Cheers
Dense

Dense \/\/arrior writes...

but those minority also seem to think paralla-x errors occur on CRT/LCD screens.

Never fails to make me laugh :P

I'm personally happy with Exetel, get full download speeds for most hours of the day, only dropping to 30/40/50k/sec (per thread) some nights, although when multi threading with 4 or 5 connections I can still easily max out my 1.5mbit.

I don't download much at all via P2P, but when I do, I find the speeds are quite reasonable, 50-120+k/sec depending on the torrent.

There have been a few occasions where I (and other people) have had major problems, but 99% of the time the service is fine in my opinion.

MaxDB writes...

Any more success stories?

Like you, I have been debating whether to bite the bullet for more than a month. I have almost decided not to, during Jan when there were slow browsing issues and Exetel's attitude of denying any issues. Then the free connection and free modem really caught me, and by then the browsing issues have been resolved. I connected on 16 Feb, and it only took less than an hour of down time and things went very smoothly. I did not even notice when the phone was cut over.

Is this a success story? It should depend on your tolerance level. I had quite a number of lost sync issues in the first couple days. However I'm quite sure this was probably my end problem. Although I did raise a support ticket and get the usual blah, blah reply without much help. Later I found out it was caused by my UPS. So I should say there are zero connection issues so far.

The speed could be an issue to you. Exetel's internet link is congested most of the day, causing slow download. How slow is it? Different users have different experiences. This afternoon I can only download 120KB from internet, compared to 270k from PIPE (which is about my full connection speed). Considering you are coming from cable, you may be not happy with such speed.

The Exetel forum is a great place. It has more fanboys and trolls than other forums, and they have vastly different experiences. Also bear in mind that Whirlpool probably only represents <1% of Exetel users.

Dense \/\/arrior writes...

Maybe the question you should ask yourself before signing up to Exetel is, ask someone to show you the current MRTG graphs that are only available to Exetel customers. It shows Exetel with bandwidth problems..

(The bandwidth graphs do tell a story don't they?)

Exetel connects 1,000 ADSL2+ users to the system;
@ 10 Mbps each = 10 Gbps!

Exetel then increase the available bandwidth by 100 Mbps

- Joy to the world -

Mainly Congestions (flatlining graphs). Irregularities in traffic shapping ? This is only an assumption, but there appears to be sudden major DIPS when you look at the graph.

Yeah, "DIPS". Thank goodness Exetel removes those leeches during off-peak hrs. probably does wonders to free up capacity for the 99% of normal people who remain <36 gb the whole month.

btw, Exetel has not a bad system. A person that does just a little over 36 gb is marked a 'yellow' leecher and gets removed b/w 12am-2am. A BIG, HEAVY, user that does >48 gb is then an 'orange' leecher, pooled 12am-6am. Above that level, the unholy, disgraceful, flat-out, vile weed of a reckless blood sucking 'a code red' leecher haha, who does above 64 gb gets pooled for half the day 12am - 12pm. <-- those ones should really be fined so Exetel can make up some bandwidth.

As for Exetel's bandwidth, it's a great connection.. flat-out speeds from 2am to 10.

honest, look. . .
i172.photobucket.com/alb...etel_25Feb07.jpg

xnor writes...

I think you will find that Exetel is the best value ISP around.
Having the cheapest prices and some of the worst service doesn't equal value.

MaxDB writes...

Looking into exetel - is it worth it?

My advice would be No.

The internet connection provided by Exetel is of a very poor grade and quality.

They are happy to charge full cost and offer second grade service in return.

They offer no support. Other than the FAQ's on their website.

I have seen a lot of complaints

Probably because users are having problems and need to complain.

Save yourself the hassle and problems you are likely to encounter with Exetel and go with aaNet or any number of decent providers.

artisan writes...

Having the cheapest prices and some of the worst service doesn't equal value.

Well said.

If you pay peanuts, you'll get monkeys. If you wanted a monkey, then you got yourself value for money.

BB

IE n00b writes...

can you expand on this? i too am considering exetel. When you say shaping what sort of speeds would i bee looking at?

Exetel deprioritises P2P between midday and midnight to ensure that non-P2P applications have at least 50% of the total available bandwidth. This still leaves P2P with (currently) up to 50% to use. Speeds are not shaped directly and speeds seem to vary considerably. While many people claim no effect on downloads others mysteriously seem only able to manage very poor speeds.

Infringements is that for using p2p or downloading illegal material?

Exetel does not actually issue infringements, despite the claim that they do. The infringements are originated by various entities for illegally downloading copyrighted material. Exetel receives about 100 of these per day so it has initiated a process whereby infringements are forwarded to the responsible user and that user's browsing ability is restricted until they respond, anonymously via a form on the Exetel website, to the originator.

eurong writes...

It has more fanboys and trolls than other forums, and they have vastly different experiences.

It certainly has more trolls. I'll agree with you on that point.

MaxDB writes...

Looking into exetel - is it worth it?

Just to repeat - NO. Stay away.

MaxDB writes...

and I'm not sure what my chances of being happy with exetel are. I'm just worried I'll sign up and be stuck with dial-up speeds

In a way you answer your own post.
I have been with Exetel for a month or so now. You do not consider the benefits of the cheap price you pay for your bandwidth when you have drop outs or no connection.
I am just waiting for my 6 months to finish now.

Exetel should have just advised its customers via email when they had major problems with their network. Yes it was on the forum. Yes they were working on it. But the only email I got was .... infringement notice (see other thread)...

Exetel's not for me.
Maybe their network will be better when some of us leave.

Good luck in your selection MaxBD

i am one of the unhappy customers at exetel.I have been on for abt a month plus now and i must say there are issues.for surfing exetel is just great.very good speeds etc.but wen it comes to p2p or dloading from megaupload, rapidshare etc. my speeds just go downhill by ALOT.Im and adsl2 user 1km from wollongong exchangeand im only getting abt 150k max. most ppl who can max out are usually on 1.5 or 8mb on WP anyway.not too many adsl2 users on exetel in WP.i can probably count them with one hand if im not wrong.im thinking to downgrade to a lower plan but then i dont know ill see what happens in a month or 2

MaxDB writes...

I have seen a lot of complaints and few compliments in regards to exetel's service.

Well hello ? Did this start ringing warning bells ? Comeon, it did didnt it.

There service agreement should read "All plans come AS a back up dial up service"

Seriously though MaxDB, not at the moment brother, there is big problems in little china here at the moment, save some money, some grief and some stress and get an ADSL plan from someone (read here ANYONE) else rather than join us with our dial up plans.

Good Luck
BigO

PS OH, now I get it, negative comment = troll. Positive comment = fanboy
Rather be a truefull troll than a lying fanboy - Take me to the gallows now.

BigO writes...

join us with our dial up plans.

You obviously have a problem with your local setup, your phone line, or at your exchange. Do you really think Exetel would have in excess of 55,000 customers if the product they supplied was sub standard?

I knew it would be xnor or Hibenator that would pull the lever to the trapdoor on the gallows ...............

xnor writes...

You obviously have a problem with your local setup, your phone line, or at your exchange.

Of course I do, it goes without saying that all the threads and posts and complaints in here are our ends, how silly of me. Would you like me to do an isolation test, traceroute, ping ? I mean this must be a job application by you to join the staff of exetell, sorry, how stupid of me to not know it is a fine upstanding bullet proof network at the moment with no problems whatsoever.

Exetel would have in excess of 55,000 customers

And the numbers by June this year will be ???????? Note I say June because that is when most come of contract from there 8000/384 dial up plans and I sugest will be saying TAT TA .............

Not replying anymore, you took me to the gallows, pulled the lever, done your job.
But someone else will stand, you cant kill us all.

BigO R.I.P

BigO writes...

it goes without saying that all the threads and posts and complaints in here are our ends, how silly of me.

So just because some people post negative opinions about Exetel on Whirlpool you decide that you won't bother trying to fix you issue because it must be Exetel's fault?

Can you explain to me how an ISP offering ADSL could be responsible for dial-up speeds? Before you say "lack of bandwidth" you should understand that for bandwidth to be so saturated that users only got dial-up speed the packet loss would be massive.

it is a fine upstanding bullet proof network at the moment with no problems whatsoever

I wouldn't say bulletproof, however I currently have no problems.

Not replying anymore, you took me to the gallows, pulled the lever, done your job.

If you want some help fixing your speed problems post a thread and I would be happy to assist.

i think i am do only one he thinks that exetel is not bad at all

i use p2p network all the time i think i couldn't live without it, the speed it fine it goes 100 % on torrents by the way i am 1500/256 plan

MaxDB writes...

I have seen a lot of complaints

Well probably because the compliaints are worthy.

Slow speeds, slow connections, slow gaming, slow internet.

Slow Exetel.

dzepina writes...

i think i am do only one he thinks that exetel is not bad at all

There are quite a few of us that think Exetel are good, we just get sick of being called "employees", so rarely post in these type of "Are Exetel any good" threads ;o)

Very mixed opinions i see :).

Here is what i am after with ADSL2. Access to AU content to be quick (about 1MB/s). Access to content outside AU to be over 90KB/s or higher per thread.(atm i get about 150KB/s per thread from EU and never more than 650KB/s total for anywhere outside AU) Able to use torrents freely(not illegal) ...when i say use torrents i mean that the speeds wont be killed to something like 30KB/s when 300KB/s is available. If i were to play on AU gaming servers i would have a ping not unlike that of other services available in australia. And WoW pings will stay about normal(i hate that game). If i use the upload am i going to get in trouble(i doubt i will use any... after all i have been on 8mbit/128k for a while now)? Can i freely change between plans relatively hassle free?

Exetel will be a 2nd connection as i will have big pond cable(10gig) as well(can't keep the email with out the net) so i will probably still use bigpond files and gamearena files.

If i sign up to Exetel can i expect to be pleased or am i asking too much?

I must say Exetel is looking mighty sweet.

IE n00b writes...

when i say use torrents i mean that the speeds wont be killed to something like 30KB/s when 300KB/s is available.

Exetel de-prioritise P2P data during peak times.

yes i am aware i was just wondering how much that would effect the speeds.

IE n00b writes...

yes i am aware i was just wondering how much that would effect the speeds.

I don't think there is a definitive answer to that question. It depends on how many people are using P2P during peak times.

MaxDB writes...

I have seen a lot of complaints and few compliments in regards to exetel's service.

Support based help forums tend to have a high percentage of complaints with low complements. So of course take everything in but always also consider there are 50k+ customers and the posts are generally only from the ones having problems.

The problem could be with Exetel or with the end user. Some users seem to have legitimate issues, others seem to be unwilling to provide the appropriate information for those of us here to even begin to attempt to help.

Are there any users out there who have 0 issues with speed / connection reliability?

I have experienced the browsing issues where pages were taking a minute or so to load in comparison to instant, however that was restored within a couple days. There was the 5minute to browse after you auth. however again, that has been fixed. My speed has for some reason always been great. I know a few others have posted similar reviews of their own accounts as well.

Best thing is to have a good read through, take all things into account and decide if you want to take the chance, after all no poster here will be able to garantee a flawless service due to the varying nature of DSL where faults can occur at your end, telstras end, exetels end etc.

IE n00b writes...

When you say shaping what sort of speeds would i bee looking at?

From personal experience, not enougth to even be sure that its happening.
In peak times (the only time that is shaped) I can usually get 500k+ from a known fast/good torrent (such as linux isos)

Its actually slower during the unshaped free leech period.

Infringements is that for using p2p or downloading illegal material?

Its for people who the RIAA (or similar) have formally complained to Exetel about.
All thats required on your part is to use Exetels anonomyous (no personal info about you is passed on) to reply to the complainer.
Even something along the lines of "Go to hell RIAA scum" is considered an acceptable reply by Exetel.
Its really a nothing issue except its been kept alive by a known Exetel hater.

MaxDB writes...

I have seen a lot of complaints and few compliments in regards to exetel's service.

Its called whingepool for a reason.

I think a lot of happy people dont post that they are satisfied with the service because history shows that they will then be abused by the trolls.

Are there any users out there who have 0 issues with speed / connection reliability?

No, its not a perfect connection, but then none is.
Im quite happy with the overall reliablilty and performance from mine over the last year.
Its been on par for reliablility and performance with my 3 previous ADSL ISPs, but better value.

Are most of the issues to do with peoples locations (congestion? - i'm in brisbane if that matters)?

Last year there did seem to be a number of complaints just from QLD users, but I havent seen any for a while.

There seem to be more complaints from ADSL2+ users but Im unsure if its because of Exetel or User Cluelessness.

Just in case you aren't convinced yet,

I was connected to Exetel for over 2 years. The only reason I stayed on for so long was because of the high quality of ADSL service they provided for so long. However I am sorry to say that at least in my case, things have been going downhill for at least the last 6 months.

I was one of the people who switched to 8mbit at the start of January. Already things had been bad and the connection was frequently unusable, but I believed that Exetel would fix it, I thought that I owed it to them to stick it through. I figured that they were in a transitional phase and due to the large amount of time that the connection was of such a high standard, I weighed it all up and figured in the long term, I should stick with Exetel.

Well, I just paid $100 to break contract (haha yeah that's right I had to go back on to a contract to change plan to 8mbits, which at the time seemed reasonable because I had no idea of how bad the connection was about to get) and it was worth it. I would pay $400 just to be free of that service knowing now what my ADSL is really capable of. You have to wonder if the extra contract period was simply because they knew they would not be able to supply the necessary bandwidth to supply all of their new 8mbit customers, so they could at least cash in on all the people who left.

Around the time I got off Exetel things were absolutely ridiculous. I was using a pre-paid dial-up account a lot of the time because Web browsing was absolutely impossible. I work in Networking, so I have many tools at my disposal in order to determine if anything at my end is the problem, and it was more than obvious that it was Exetel. I don't know if it was just MY Exetel connection, but that doesn't matter anymore because I am now with another ISP and actually getting 8mbit's. With Exetel I was lucky to get 50KB/s most of the time, and yes if I opened up multiple threads I could get 150KB/s but when most of what I do is browse the web, what use is that? For at least 2 weeks before disconnecting, every day when I got home from work and would go to browse the web, it would be unusable. Pages would take Longer than Dial-up. The absolute minimum I get now with my new connection is 440KB/s. I don't really want to name my new ISP because I don't want to come across the wrong way, but I thought I owed it to anyone considering connecting to Exetel an account of my bad experience with their internet.

I've been with Exetel since late 2004, on 512/128, 1500/256, and 512/512, before switching to 8MB at the beginning of January.

I don't use any P2P programs, so can't advise there.

Reliability: my connection has been fairly solid all along, getting max speeds when downloading.

The first week or so of the 8MB plan was a bit bumpy, but it has since been performing fine - syncing at 7616/384, and getting consistent 820 kB/s from speedtest.net - Actual download speeds vary, depending on whether the source server is limiting connections/speeds, but a download manager takes care of that, by starting multiple download streams.

The short and Nasty Answer is Exetel is Crap. I've been with them for over 2 years and things have deteriorated over the last few months. As soon as my contract is over I'm out of here.

They are the cheapest and you get what you pay for.

I second that, good honest read GoaTMoN. I too had many many frustrating hours /weeks of exetel network what a horrorid time it was I to bailed this troubled isp all i can say is lift your game exetel before its to late.

MaxDB writes...

I have seen a lot of complaints and few compliments in regards to exetel's service. Are there any users out there who have 0 issues with speed / connection reliability?

Hmm, i've been with exetel for over a year now (started with a 6 month contract). It WAS rock solid... to all veteran users, remember those days with $70 plans with 48GB peak limit... well thats long gone. It hurt, but the quality of connection was good enough to justify a increase in price with a decrease in downloads.

I went on a holiday for the last 3 months... whilst exetel was still 100% GReAT.. never did i have a problem for the duration of that year (besides from a 1/2 dropout somewhere along the line). With 0 downloads for 3 months, i'm clearly in the green pool of people. To my surprise when i came back... the network was horrifically congested! TERRIBLE!!!
i play world of warcraft and i was pulling in 600-1700ms ping with 5 second lag spikes at times!!! what happened to my lovely 320ms ping i used to get?
There was some hardware issues apparently... fixed... still crap...

i've had it with exetel... this last month has been the WORST ever in history... Terrible pings, long long dropouts, customer service who dont really answer questions. I have 6 mates who live near me one also with exetel... For us exetel users = crappy connections and lots of frustration. For all others, they're breezing!

This just meant to me "it's time to change"
AANET offered free churn, and i'm well gone as of 3 days ago.... SO HAPPY!!
i have my 350ms ping back on WOW, pings to yahoo.com.au are no longer 35ms-300ms with exetel.... it's now 25ms!!! yahoo!!!
websurfing is also great... and my torrents hitting record ever speeds...
shitty thing with aanet is that they dont offer 'free offpeak downloads'. They become 50% counted downloads... nevertheless, the connection is first priority, followed by downloads, and AANET is reasonable in terms of that.

so for those wishing to join exetel anytime soon... i suggest you look closely at this whinge pool! I'm long gone, so good luck for those exetel users still having dropouts and crappy pings!

I'm just worried I'll sign up and be stuck with dial-up speeds and Copyright infringement emails for 6 months.

btw: dropouts = no connection, dialupspeeds = at least you can do something
dialup = ok ping = usable to check your gmail, bad pings and lag spikes = cant really do anything at all!

copyright infringement emails?
stop downloading those crappy cam movies!
LOL go watch it in the cinema! hahahaha

ATTN: Exetel Management

On topic with the thread: _I think it is worth it_

I'M really keen on your ADSL2+, however COMO just isn't lit up yet, so I'll be waiting some time before I'm a lucky bastard :(

I refer to
End Of "Pioneer" ADSL2 Pricing Close - Waiting list
as per forum.exetel.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=20192

I think "Pioneer" should be adapted slightly and expanded now to include a 12 month reward period for those users who "move swiftly" onto the infrastructure, as I understand Exetel is recommending to Optus.

Basically, they get the VoIP-like phone rates (inc. no flag fall & per sec billing) and maybe even a 5 - $10 discount on their Broadband compared to the standard/latest pricing. Don't care about the FREE modem and happy to leave the $95 connection charge to Management's ability to negotiate this with Optus.

"Moved swiftly" may be defined as:
1. user's exchange is to become active 6 - 12 months down the track;

(when this happens. . .)
2. ADSL1 user switches to ADSL2+ Exetel Optus on that exchange within say, 3 months.

3. Customer is rewarded by some level of discounted rates or elimination of transfer fee.

How about a 'bond' the customer pays in advance (maybe even by several months) to prove they are serious about Exetel's ADSL2+?

Exetel keeps the money in a 'trust fund' and it is treated like a 'future security' until the product can be delivered to their exchange. Nothing dodgy about a reputable company, and just a small amount forwarded on the consumer's behalf. Exetel may then get stuck into Optus telling them to hurry up and activate certain exchanges (after the issues with telescum is sorted). If the service cannot be delivered by a specified date the trust money is returned back. Exetel would have to draw up the proper legal documentation first.

People should be treated fairly and the about to end pioneer discount isn't available to customers who would sign up today (even months ago) had their exchange been facilitated by Optus. Enter the futures contract! :)

Sincerely,
Hibernator.
(longstanding Exetel wireless subscriber)