By
October 11, 2022
We can go on for days about the benefits of being on the fibre network – capacity, reliability, speed, but even fibre broadband connections are known from time to time to slow down in the evening when the whole family is home on their devices. It’s all to do with how much bandwidth your fibre plan has.
New network analysis from Chorus shows around 15 percent of users on New Zealand’s favourite broadband plan – 100 Mbps fibre plan – are regularly maxing out their bandwidth.
This means up to 100,000 households across the country could be experiencing intermittent slowdown when everyone’s at home and online. And let’s be honest - nobody’s got time for that!
We’re doing more online than ever before including streaming TV on data-hungry 4k televisions, working from home - video conferencing and downloading large files, and even gaming online. All this places extra strain on your connection.
Think of the fibre network like a highway and your devices are cars. You can go fast when you’re the only one on the road, but as traffic increases at peak times, you inevitably go slower.
The great news is – you can easily upgrade your fibre plan by simply calling your broadband provider and asking for faster fibre. By doing this, you’re adding a few extra lanes to your fibre ‘highway’ and you won’t get stuck in traffic (so to speak) when the rest of the household is home and online.
With average peak download speeds of 850Mbps, whatever you’re up to online, there’s a fibre plan that will ensure you’ll have a smooth experience, no matter how many people are streaming, gaming or downloading simultaneously.
If you aren’t already connected to fibre, it’s worth checking if it’s available in your area through Chorus’ broadband checker.
Regular reporting from the Commerce Commission shows fastest fibre plans provide the fastest broadband in the country with the lowest latency. It provides you with options for future internet use so once you’re connected to fibre you can simply upgrade your plan, as and when your household’s internet use changes.
We’re doing more online today – just imagine what we’ll be doing in another five years! By asking for faster fibre you’re setting your home up with the optimal broadband setup to cater for times of peak internet use now and in the future.
Wondering if you need more bandwidth? Try our data calculator to work out how much data you’re using and what connection type and speed will best suit your data needs.