3,000 broadband volunteers needed

Readers may note an advertisement on the right sidebar calling for broadband volunteers. This isn’t an advertisement to sell anything, but an advertisement from the Commerce Commission seeking 3,000 volunteers to take part in broadband monitoring.

Many readers will know there is a huge difference between advertised connection speeds and actual download and upload speeds.

Well the Commerce Commission has this nifty “whitebox” that you can install at home, and it will perform automated tests on your home Internet performance at different times of the day.

This will allow the Commission to publish actual hard data on what sort of speeds users get from different ISPs at different times of the day.

So not only do you help all NZ consumers understand which ISPs are delivering the best speeds, but you also get access to your own data, so you can see what speeds you are actually getting.

The Whitebox is simple to install (basically just plug into your router) and doesn’t record any personal info or browsing history.

Data and reports from the programme will be available from
October 2018 at www.measuringbroadbandnewzealand.com

So you can read more about the project at www.comcom.govt.nz/broadbandvolunteer and register as a user at either link.

I’m signing up. I like the idea of being able to see my own data speeds at peak and off peak times. And I’ll be really interested to see the comparison between different ISPs and even different plans at the same ISP. A great way to help other Kiwis make informed choices on broadband.