Tasmanian internet access

In December, the Basslink power cable suffered a fault restricting power imports from Victoria (I'd always though it was to export Tassie hydro power?). Apart from the impact on power usage in Tassie, it also has an associated fibre cable for Internet access.
They finally found the fault (probably) and in preparation to cutting the cable for repair, turned off the data connection.

This situation has been know about for some time and most ISP's have made provision to purchase capacity on the two existing Telstra data cables. I say most because my ISP (iiNet) has not.
While I can access the forums - just, forget any video service or file downloads . My weather station can no longer update to my web server in Sydney (no ftp service at all)

Expected time to have the cable repaired is the end of May. Not happy.:((

No more videos from Matthias or Frank Howarth for more than two months!

Not good Geoff however for us here is a possible upside could mean we here less about Lambie :yippee:

Its a wonder the demand by users hasn't got isp's supplying wifi to mainland.

The problem that I, and a large percentage of Tasmanian Internet users, is having is mostly due to the ISP. Most ISP's arranged capacity with Telstra well before the cable was cut (the original fault in December only affect power, not data). My ISP, iiNet, part of TPG, didn't do this and has suffered a great deal of backlash with quite a lot of users churning to Telstra. Before they bought iiNet, TPG didn't provide Internet services to Tasmania as it wasn't seen to be economically viable, perhaps they just don't care if we all move to another supplier.
That said, service at the moment is almost back to normal. Whether that is because of some change the ISP has made or if it's just the fact that it's early Saturday morning, time will tell.

I was going to say dump your ISP but it sounds like they may have purchased some bandwidth from telstra.
I was talking to the Aggreko Generator rep the other day. There is a massive generator farm, somewhere in Tassie, with hundreds of diesel generators hooked up together to prop up the power till they repair the trans tasman cable.

Looks like the increase in speed was due to a lack of users (probably giving up in disgust) rather than some remedial action taken by iiNet. I'll have to find something constructive to do tonight rather than using the computer - not that I don't have lots of indoor jobs to do.

There were something like 200 generators planned for Tassie for use during the Basslink outage, most in the north. Tasmanian power crisis: State Government fast-tracks installation of diesel generators - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

It might be worth contacting the telecommunications ombudsman. At first glance, your problem would seem to be related to incompetence on the part of iiNet / TPG

This was on the SBS website today

Bass Strait cable repairs to begin | SBS News

News still not very good

Tasmania energy crisis: Basslink still unsure where cable fault is, facing 'phenomenal' repair costs - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Annoying as the slow internet is, it's of secondary importance compared to the power situation. Basslink was a major export of power (from Tassie) with Hydro Tasmania taking full advantage of their carbon credits to sell at a profit. The level in the dams has been so low, for so long, that we now import a large percentage of out power from Victoria, or rather did. It's all down to diesel generator farms and the dwindling water supply for hydo power.
Here's an article from today's Mercury on dam levels.
Error Page

Geoff, on the ABC News the other day they were saying that about 30% of Tasmania's power came down the Basslink. They also said that Hydro had run down their dams by exporting so much power and then they got caught out by the drought.

There seem to be quite a few groups clamouring for an enquiry in to how Hydro managed this situation.

It is rather ironic that Tasmania markets itself as "clean and green", yet imports a fair percentage of its' power from Victoria, which is mainly generated by burning not so "clean and green" brown coal.

Well they've supposedly added extra capacity from Telstra but it hasn't made any difference at all.
Time to switch to another ISP, I'm not on contract and only a couple of days away from my next invoice, so the timing is good. Quite a few ISP have waived the initial join up fee for us poor Tasmnainas so it shouldn't be an expensive move. Thanks to NBN (who thought I'd ever say that?), I can get connected to a new ISP while still with the old one, no outage at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Well they've supposedly added extra capacity from Telstra but it hasn't made any difference at all.
Time to switch to another ISP, I'm not on contract and only a couple of days away from my next invoice, so the timing is good. Quite a few ISP have waived the initial join up fee for us poor Tasmnainas so it shouldn't be an expensive move. Thanks to NBN (who thought I'd ever say that?), I can get connected to a new ISP while still with the old one, no outage at all.

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I would suggest asking for a refund from your ISP at minimum. Make a TIO complaint about the loss of speed and the ongoing charges for a service standard that is not being met. Also lodge a complaint with the Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading : Home about the failure of the ISP to meet the contract terms of supply of internet services. They are knowingly charging you for a service they cannot or will not supply.