ADSL
Basic fixed line broadband
ADSL is our basic fixed line broadband service and supports everyday activities such as web browsing, online banking, and emailing.
ADSL was traditionally the most widely available form of broadband in New Zealand as it uses the legacy copper network and phone lines to connect a property to the internet. But with fibre and the better performing copper broadband, VDSL, now available to nearly all of New Zealand, ADSL is used less frequently.
It does still have its place however as ADSL still offers a dedicated connection from your home to our congestion-free network, meaning your internet won’t slow down significantly at peak usage times like nights and weekends. This makes it a good option if you are unable to get VDSL or fibre.
Check if you can get fibre or discover what you can do to connect your home or business to fibre from outside the planned ultra-fast broadband Government sponsored rollout programme.
- Available in most areas
- Dedicated broadband connection
- Good for web browsing and email
- Basic video streaming
- Suits small households
ADSL comes in two types, basic and enhanced - also known as ADSL2+. Basic ADSL provides basic broadband access over our copper lines and deliver speeds up to 7.5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. ADSL 2+ also provides broadband access over copper line and can deliver data at a rate up to 24 Mbps and 1 Mbps upload.
The speed and performance of an ADSL broadband connection may differ from these potential speeds due to a range of factors beyond the Chorus network such as the age of devices, wifi performance, the quality of the modem, a broadband provider’s network and capacity and the distance between your house and the exchange. The average ADSL 2+ connection speed in New Zealand is 10 Mbps upload and 0.8 Mbps download.
It matters how far away you are from the local cabinet. With copper connections, speed does decrease over distance. The further away you are, the slower the connection may be. Chorus can deliver ADSL 2+ services over the copper network within approximately two kilometres of the cabinet and ADSL within six kilometres of the cabinet. Fibre broadband is not affected by distance.
As outlined above, ADSL broadband connections use the legacy copper network which is the same network that has been used to connect our landline phones for over a century. As part of the natural evolution of technology and with fibre now available to over 80% of New Zealand, over the next couple of years Chorus will be retiring parts of the copper network in high density areas where fibre is available. There’ll certainly be no ‘switch off date’ for the copper network, like terrestrial TV for example. Instead it will happen gradually on a street by street basis and will only happen if fibre uptake is at a level where it needs to be. So if fibre is available in your area, you may want to consider a fibre connection. It's proven as the best performing broadband, costs not much more than ADSL and is generally free to install.
If you're in a rural area where fibre is not available today or planned for anytime soon, it's also ok as we'll be ensuring the copper network will remain in these areas so you can continue to access landline and broadband services.
Find the right connection for you
Not all broadband is created equal. Before you choose a plan with your service provider it’s good to understand the different types of network connections that deliver a broadband service. We've provided an indication of the performance and cost of broadband connections based on the latest Measuring Broadband New Zealand (MBNZ) report. The names of the connection types might vary from the name a broadband provider uses when selling you a service.
To learn what's available at your address CHECK YOUR ADDRESS
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* Speed and latency: The broadband speeds quoted are national peak time average speeds based on the Commerce Commission’s latest Measuring Broadband New Zealand (MBNZ) report. These performance measures are indicative and you may experience faster or slower speeds depending on a range of factors, including: your broadband plan, modem, home wifi setup and the capacity of your broadband provider’s network. Read our tips for getting the best home wifi experience and the steps you can take to improve your broadband speed.
Latency refers to the time it takes for data to move from one device to another and is an important consideration when using real-time applications like video calls and online games. Lower is better. The Measuring Broadband New Zealand report doesn't provide data on Fibre Starter and Hyperfibre connections yet, so these latency figures are based on Chorus data and reflects the MBNZ finding that there is no material difference in latency between different fibre connections.
** Hyperfibre is available at connection speeds of 2,000 Mbps, 4,000 Mbps and 8,000 Mbps.
+ Cost: Offers vary between service providers – these indicative prices come from Broadband Compare as at May 2022 and don’t include any other costs (like modems) your service provider might charge. Please contact a provider to understand the actual cost.
++ Netflix streaming reliability: The proportion of households able to stream two Ultra High Definition videos from Netflix with variable bitrate encoding based on the latest Measuring Broadband New Zealand (MBNZ) report. The MBNZ report doesn't report on Hyperfibre streaming reliability yet, but does note that higher bandwidth connections like Fibre 300 and Fibre Pro are able to reliably stream high-quality video more of the time. We've given Hyperfibre a 100% Netflix streaming reliability value because it offers higher bandwidth than Fibre 300 and Fibre Pro.
