Medowie frustrating internet service congestion update Medowie, Ferodale, Campvale by News Of The Area - Modern Media - August 24, 2016 THE problem of congested internet service in Medowie continues to frustrate locals, but there may be change on the horizon. Since our initial report on local man, Adrian Drummond, and his efforts to circulate a petition and make Telstra take notice of the lack of service provided to Medowie, there has been some improvement for some homes. Mr Drummond has been working hard with the petition, and communicating on behalf of locals with Telstra, and the CEO Andrew Penn. Mr Drummond successfully had his complaint escalated, and finally has had a positive outcome. Mr Drummond gave this advice to News Of The Area, for locals still experiencing congestion, “I think that if you commit to following up non-stop and pushing them for change, you will get a result.” “Stay calm, but firm with them and don’t accept their generic script responses – take them away from their responses by asking hard questions and demanding a personal response to your case, and your home.” Mr Drummond said. Want your business advertised online with the News Of The Area? With 11,383 page-views over the last one month, you’ll reach your online audience & customers. Email us today for a quote: ads@mcnota.com.au Mr Drummond has been actively chasing a resolution since September last year, and has shown that individual effort can bring about a result. Mr Drummond said, “Perhaps if a large number of affected residents were to actively demand Telstra provide the service we pay for, then they may accept that Medowie’s service needs a lot of work – and do something about it.” Affected locals can contact Andrew Penn, CEO of Telstra at: Office of the CEO, Locked Bag 5639, Melbourne VIC 3001. By Rachael VAUGHAN
Two years ago my ADSL speed was around a half (0.5) Mbps. After many many calls to my ISP (over many years, with no improvement) I finally worked out that the question I needed to ask was “what is the drop-out rate on my line?”. As it turns out, my drop-out rate was massive and the primary cause of my slow speed. So, after 3 x attempts (organised by my ISP) at getting Telstra technicians to check the line between my telecommunications box (outside my home) to the Medowie exchange … and each time they found many line-faults (which they are obliged to fix) … one technician fixed “something” (I don’t know what) and my ADSL speed instantly jumped to 4Mbps. Happy days. Note: your ISP will get you to agree to pay a fixed fee if the line faults are on the “inside” (from the T-box to your computer). Every time I agreed to that, the faults were “outside” so, for my situation (4kms from the Medowie Exchange), I never had to pay the fee as there were always external line faults that needed fixing. So if your “inside” line is OK, and there are line-faults causing drop-outs, then it should be fixed without cost to you. You can check your distance from the Medowie Exchange by going to: http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/viewexchange.php?Exchange=MDWI and putting in your phone number. The “heat map” will show what speeds others are getting in your area. The further for the Exchange, the slower the speed. Just now, my speed is around 2Mbps, so I called my ISP and there are zero drop-outs showing. So this secondary cause of slower speeds seems to be user-load on the Medowie Exchange; ie. it always slows down when kids get home from school and start playing online games. Therefore an upgrade of the Medowie Exhange is needed (in the same way our electricity substation was upgraded a few years ago to ensure integrity of supply) as the Medowie population continues to grow by 70% over then next two decades So, if your internet speed is slow, ring your ISP and ask for the drop out rate (zero, low or high; as they probably won’t tell you an exact number) and use that status to initiate a fix of your line faults. Hope you get the same result I did. Cheers Scott Medowie Reply
