April iiNews

letter from the editor

Welcome to the April edition of iiNews.

Broadband in Australia is the talk of the town at the moment. The issue of "our broadband vs theirs" has been all over the papers with the British press labelling Australian broadband recently as "fraudband."

The big issue seems to be that Australia is falling behind the developed world when it comes to broadband speeds. So why then, while watching TV last night, did I see three different ISP ads promoting "super-fast broadband?"

What is "super-fast broadband?"

Well, most of the ADSL broadband that Australians are used to is either 256k or 512k broadband (what many ISPs call "super-fast" broadband). The reality is, 256k and even 512k broadband, is not fast broadband at all.

So that we're not confused, iiNet does offer 512k broadband for commercial reasons - but we'd rather not. What we'd rather offer to everyone in Australia is our really really fast ADSL2+ broadband - that's broadband using our own network, going at speeds of up to 24,000k.

Up to 24,000k is definitely not "fraudband". Sure, we've always been the first to say that 24,000k is a theoretical maximum speed. But we also know that iiNet customers on broadband2+ still get speeds that blow 512k out of the water.

It's why were working double time on getting our ADSL2+ network (our iinetwork) in more and more places - because once you're connected to it and bundled with iiphone, it doesn't matter what plan you choose - you'll always be getting the fastest broadband connection available. Truly super-fast broadband.

That aside, on to this month's edition. Inside you'll find an inside-out look at the Xbox 360, info on our new "win an Xbox 360 for you and a friend" competition, more iiNet awards and we announce the final winners of our buddy bonus promotion.

I hope you enjoy.

Mark Welker
iiNews Editor

general news

iiNet wins at the WAITTA awards!
We recently took out the West Australian Informational Technology and Telecommunications Award (WAITTA) for our VoIP service.

The award recognises excellence and innovation in a telecommunications project and is judged on benefits to the community, complexity, user acceptance, benefits to users and the effectiveness of the solution.

The WAITTA ceremony is the premier IT and Telecommunications event in Western Australia. Placing first is not only a great feat for the departments involved, but raises the industry profile of the whole company (ie it's big news!).

Don't have VoIP? You can add VoIP to any iiphone bundle through toolbox.

win an xbox360 for you and a friend
As I touched on briefly in last month's edition, we're pretty excited about the new Xbox 360. Why? Well, because we love gadgets and we especially love gadgets that take advantage of the faster speeds only available through iiNet broadband.

The Xbox 360 is the ultimate in next generation console gaming, and together with a supercharged iiNet broadband connection it allows you to take your gaming online and experience the rush of a true world-wide gaming arena.

To celebrate the release and to give you the opportunity to experience the latest in console gaming, we're giving away 20 Xbox 360s for spreading the word about iiNet broadband.

This competition is now closed.

When your friends or family members sign up to broadband, the online form will ask for the iiNet email address of the person who referred them (you) and 25 words or less explaining why you both need iiNet broadband with your Xbox360!

It's as simple as that. The more people you refer, the more chances you have to win. Check it out at xbox360.iinet.net.au

march buddy bonus winners!
The final winners for the iiNet Buddy Bonus competition were Shereen Foong and Adrian Chok (Adrian pictured below). Thank you to everyone who referred their friends throughout the competition. It's great to see iiNet members getting rewarded for all the fantastic word of mouth recommendations they have been giving over time.

This competition is closed.

iibus competition winner
Did you take the iibus challenge? Last month we asked iifans to take a picture (in any way you wanted) of an iibus and send it in to us for a chance to win a shiny new Apple iPod Nano. The response was fantastic, with a staggering number of creative interpretations of the iibus theme.

Of course, there can only be one winner, and we chose Willem-Jan Jansen's intriguing "where the bloodii hell are you" entry which you can see below. Congratulations to everyone who entered, it was a fun comp to judge.

For a look at the long list of finalists, check out http://www.iinet.net.au/about/news/iibus_competition.html

support & services

customer service update
The Virtual Contact Centre project continues with the final stages of design now in progress. Our call wait times have reduced dramatically due to the addition of more staff and the balancing of rosters during peak times. Further recruiting for the contact centres is still underway and we believe that we have resolved the majority of issues we faced in January when our call wait times weren't up to scratch.

We are also pleased to advise that our Contact Centre Status web page is now back up and running. Located at https://toolbox.iinet.net.au/cgi-bin/callwaiting.cgi the page displays the average time iiNet customers have to wait for phone support.

We are currently looking at further enhancements to the page over the next few months to improve it. At present, it's a great way to check on your expected all wait time before you pick up the phone

new plans released
We did a bit of pre-season spring cleaning of our broadband plans suite with the release of two new plans "standard" and "max". The new plans replace older plans "light" and "heavy" respectively and offer all the usual great features of an iiNet plan including free anti-spam and anti-virus, 24/7 technical support and up to 24,000kbps on our network. These new plans only apply to new customers or connecti ons .

To find out more about the plan changes, visit the new plans faq page.

customer feedback
We received the following feedback from new user Ian in Vic:

"I have been using your iiNet Broadband 2 service for over 6 months now. $39.95 per month for ADSL2 with 4GB and $29.95 per month for TWO telephone services with way cheaper call rates for the internet phone service is brilliant.

It beats my previous ISP + telephone service provider (the big Telco competitor) hands down in every respect and I have been recommending it to family & friends as a great service."

Thanks Ian. Glad you're enjoying the service. And a request from Rob in NSW:

"Can I request that you do an article on how to configure xbox live etc for iiNet and its implications on download limits etc - I have no idea how it
works!"

No problems Rob, check out the Xbox 360 Inside Out feature for the full run down.

virus alert

top 5 viruses reported to sophos in march

1. W32/Zafi-B
2. W32/Netsky-P
3. W32/Nyxem-D
4. W32/MyDoom-AJ
5. W32/Mytob-EX

List provided by Sophos.

tech knowledge

DSLAM expansion news
This month we had cause for celebration as we activated our first regional exchange, Rockingham in WA. Although Rockingham is hardly a regional town (to some of us it's just down the road from Perth) it's still classified as regional and is a big first step for getting broadband out to more and more people outside of the traditional metropolitan zones.

Check out if your area is coming online soon by going to the DSLAM update page at http://www.iinet.net.au/dslams/updates/

tech tips
Ever wondered what sort of download speeds you're currently getting with broadband?

For a quick and easy guide, you can use our ftp server to find out how fast your download speed is. All you need to do is open a browser window, type in http://ftp.iinet.net.au in the address bar and then save one of the adsl.test files in the table to your desktop.

As the file is downloading, the dialog box will tell you the transfer rate (either in kilobytes or megabytes). You can then use the transfer rate to give you a good approximation of the speed that you can download at. Check out the examples below:

• 50KB/s (kilobytes per second) is approximately 512kbps (kilobits per second)
• 150KB/s is approximately 1500kbps
• 800KB/s is approximately 8000kbps
• 1200KB/s is approximately 12,000kbps
• 2400KB/s is approximately 24,000kbps

Please be aware, if you do a speed test off an external site, you may not get an accurate result. Speed tests can vary based on the location of the server where the speed test is located - always use our FTP server as it won't limit your download speed and will provide accurate results for Australian residents.

ii people

staff profile
Name: Michael Davis
Title: Migration Coordinator

How long have you been with iiNet and what roles have you had?
I've been at iiNet just over two years but held a number of positions. I started out working in our Call Centre in Customer Service/Support and for a while there was working the graveyard shift from 5.30-2am, which was tough, but at least I never had any peak hour traffic to worry about :) .

Later I moved to Marketing and worked as a Technical Writer for the launch of our first full speed ADSL product: iibroadband2. When iiNet acquired OzEmail last year, I moved into our Integrations Team and worked with the Customer Service teams of both companies to try to ensure that everything ran smoothly.

What does your current role involve?
Currently I'm working as the Migration Coordinator in our Projects Team, handling the migration of customers to our DSLAMS on the iinetwork. We now have over half our customer base on our own DSLAM network - the largest non-Telstra ADSL network in Australia. I'm also doing a lot of work with our new MSANs - which we will use to provide telephony services via our Next Generation Telephony Network.

What are some common questions you are asked about iiNet DSLAM migrations?
I think the most common question from customers and staff is always "When is XX exchange getting migrated?". It's always a tricky question as migrations require work from both ourselves and Telstra to organise. We also need to have a sufficient number of customers for Telstra to carry out the work.

We would love as many customers as we can to be able to enjoy our next generation broadband, so we are working hard to migrate customers and build in as many exchanges as possible. Keep your eye on http://www.iinet.net.au/dslams/updates/ for all the latest information.

What's been your most memorable or satisfying experience at iiNet?
I think the completion of the OzEmail project at the end of last year was the most rewarding. It was the first major project I had been involved in, and I had pretty much been living and breathing it for the whole year, so it was a major relief when it was all over.

Being able to celebrate our achievements as a company is something we are pretty good at doing, so I think any time we all get together is a memorable experience.

customer of the month
To keep things interesting, this month we taking a slight detour from our usual question/answer customer profile format. Bryan from Adelaide sent in this feedback recently after getting his nephew Danny connected to iiNet broadband.

"Just a word of thanks for getting my nephew Danny Clarke, up and running with his ADSL 2 connection. I spent some time with Danny at home (Adelaide) choosing an ISP and we found your service at iiNet to stand out from the crowd.

It means a whole lot to have the higher speed connection as Danny spends a lot of his communication time chatting via web cam and emailing family and friends.

Danny has been in the news for receiving 2 cochlear implants - a first for WA. After a serious bashing in Fremantle last October left him permanently deaf, Danny became a candidate for the operation and implants. He is from Adelaide originally, and while Dan was here in January we spent time looking at ISP's.

Up until this point he would use my daughter's connection at her home and so it became important for him to get connected at home after his operation to keep in touch with his specialists and family across Australia.

Thanks for your promptness in getting him connected, we all can keep in touch with him a bit better now.

Many thanks,

Bryan."

Interested in being one of our customer profiles? Email your details to iinewsfeedback@iinet.net.au.

xbox 360 inside out

with Jason Backshall

OK so I'll admit it - I'm shocking when it comes to shopping. I'm one of those impulse shoppers who walks into a shop to buy something, and walks out with something entirely different. That is, I walked in to our favourite electronics store to purchase a pair of headphones to replace my iPod buds, and walked out 20 minutes later with an order on Microsoft's latest toy, the Xbox 360.

Many of the games already out (and most of those still to come) act with Xbox Live in some way or another. Xbox Live, for the uninitiated, is Microsoft's online Xbox meeting place where Xbox users can come together and play a few rounds of their favourite shoot-em-up, download game or OS updates, and leave messages for other users on their friends list - in a similar fashion to what you would do with email on your PC.

Overall it's a very slick system which has only gotten better over the years. Straight out of the box, the Xbox 360 includes a complimentary 'silver' Live membership, which allows you to chat with your friends, download selected content and play a selected range of games.

Of course, the real money pot is Xbox Live 'Gold' membership which is available for a small monthly fee and allows you to download playable demos and gives you complete access to the Xbox Live Arcade where you can play your favourite games such as Hexen and Lose Your Marbles, or play any Xbox Live compatible game online.

For the moderate to hardcore gamer, Gold Membership is definitely worth every cent.

Setting up your Xbox 360 on your iiNet broadband connection with everyone's favourite router (the Belkin!) is a straightforward process best described as plug and play. Simply use the supplied 'Xbox Live connectivity cable', connecting one end to the Ethernet port on your Xbox, plugging the other end into your router.

The 360 uses a 10/100 Ethernet connection to connect to the Internet, so ensure you have a free port on your router for this. If you only have a single port router or one of the older-style D-Link routers/modems or an even older again Alcatel ADSL modem, then it may be worth your while checking out our reduced Belkin hardware offer available via your toolbox. Customers on older accounts will need to upgrade to get the reduced hardware available.

Once it's all connected, simply switch on your Xbox. The first time you do this, it will ask you to register by using your controller to fill out the form electronically. You'll also have the opportunity to sign up for Xbox Gold if you wish (highly recommended).

Here you'll be asked to create your Gamer Card - your online identity on Xbox Live. If you had the privilege of owning one of the original Xboxes, it is possible to transfer your ID from your old Xbox to the 360 - details on this are available on the official 360 site.

That's all there is to it! Even if you opt not to take up the paid Gold account straight away, you have access to such features as the Marketplace, where it's possible to download fully-playable demos of both current and up and coming games. Themes for your Xbox are also available from Marketplace, although some items in the Marketplace require a certain number of 'points' - the currency used within Xbox Live.

There have been some reports that users from a variety of different ISPs are experiencing some delays when trying to download from the Xbox marketplace in particular. This doesn't affect gameplay, but we've followed it up and identified the problem and are working on getting it solved as soon as possible.

Having been playing with the 360 and Xbox Live for over a week now, I can confidently say that despite a few niggling issues with download speeds at present, Live and an iiNet broadband connection make ideal partners in crime. Play what you want, when you want, against whoever you want. You really can't go wrong.

short version:

Ingredients:
1x Belkin 4 port wired or wireless router.
1x Xbox 360
1x 'Live Connectivity cable' (included with the 'premium' edition of the console)

Method:
1. Connect one 'Live Connectivity cable' to Xbox 360.
2. Connect the other end of the 'Connectivity cable' to your router.
3. Optional: Allow to simmer for 20 seconds (may void warranty)

And that's really all there is to it. If you know of a friend who has already purchased the console, we recommend that you check it out. The level of gameplay on today's consoles tend to be second to none, and the graphics will blow you away - especially when the machine is used along with a Projector and the supplied HDTV cable :)

For more coverage, check out the iigames section for Niaal's Xbox 360 expose. For more information on making the Xbox 360 your media centre, check out the official site at www.xbox360.com.au. Remember, for your chance to win an Xbox 360 play pack This competition is closed.

competitions

Final Destination 3 tickets giveaway
Just when you thought the curse had been broken, along comes " Final Destination 3 ". To celebrate the release, Roadshow Films have kindly provided us with 35 in-season double passes to the film to give away to our readers.

To be in the running for this prize, please email competitions with "Final Destination 3 Competition" in the subject line, and provide your iiNet username, full name, and address by 5pm WST, May 1, 2006, along with the answer to this question: What's the best way to get an Xbox 360 for you and a mate? (hint: you'll find the answer in the general news section).

Winners with the correct answer will be drawn at random and prizes sent by mail.

ii games

2 minute review - Dead or Alive 4 (xbox 360)
With Niaal Holder

The arrival of Microsoft's next generation of console gamery in our office prompted the need for heavy artillery for this month's review. I needed co-pilots, hand-plucked top gun gaming protégés from the iiNet Applications team. I needed wall-projected gaming and couches. And I needed a sickening amount of pizza, stat .

Lo, the 360 had entered the building.

Amidst a handful of novelty demos, the fulcrum of our review night was my freshly unwrapped copy of Dead or Alive 4 , Team Ninja's beautifully realised, slightly confused one-on-one beat 'em up. Ninja ladies tussle with leather-panted thugs in an M-rated fashion, as I struggle repeatedly to understand what I'm doing with the controls.

Look I'm just going to get this out of the way now, as it was the talking point of many fights: this game features some questionable anatomical detail. It all looks very crisp, and handles with the expected quasi-realism, but suffice it to say the action in DOA4 makes the opening titles of Baywatch look like a study in still life.

Hypnotic dynamics aside, DOA4 is an amazing game to watch. Our projector had been setup to display the game pugilists at life size, and the crisp detail of fist meeting face and foot meeting derriere was downright beautiful. Special claps go to whoever at Team Ninja concocted Jann Lee's hilarious cutscene fight with a dinosaur, and Hitomi's shameless teen-erotic end sequence. Our heads still shake in disbelief.

On the gameplay front, things haven't changed a great deal from the tested formula. In fact, visual buffet aside, it smacked of DOA3 to my virgin hands - reminiscent of my past DOA successes, a 6ft Brazilian woman in a gimp mask kicked the smile off my face time and again as my ii co-workers bemoaned my inability to deliver.

So pulling all this together, the 360's boost to sound and visual is blindingly good. The game itself however, hasn't evolved a great deal - not that this is a bad thing! Button mashers can still get it on with hardened combo-vendors, as the control scheme is as simple as it is ... uh... complex. For the noobs: one kick button, one punch button. CLENCH FIST MASH GAMEPAD FOR TEH WIN.

DOA4 , it's all good. Not much for the solo enthusiast, but plenty for a group of inept part-time gamers with pizza and beer.

Special thanks to the Jason B and the Tuesday night review team (Tuesday being WoW patch night, go figure) for marking the occasion in smack-talking style. Extra special thanks to Newbie, who I promised wouldn't make it into this review based solely on his performance in the Need for Speed demo. Seriously, if anyone needs their street signs and lamp posts driven over, or the occasional wall rammed into at high speed, look no further than this lad - he's pro.

ii flicks & tunes

album of the month
At War with the Mystics - Flaming Lips

Flaming Lips have been forging their own brand of twisted space rock since the days when Nirvana was just a Buddhist catch phrase for enlightenment. They've swung in and out of popularity of over the years, but have experienced a millennial resurgence with their last effort "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" and this new release "At War With The Mystics".

The new album follows the Flaming Lips tradition of not treading back over old ground, with the band initially looking for a more playful, less heavy lyrical tone on this record, while also looking to make a slightly more rock-based record than recent efforts.

movie of the month
Final Destination 3 - Rated MA

High-school senior Wendy is enjoying senior night at the amusement park. On a dare she decides to go on the roller coaster, but is soon traumatized by a vision that a fatal accident is about to occur. She and a group of other riders disembark from the ride - the rest of the riders stay for the fun and take a quick trip to death city.

Having cheated death, Wendy is now tormented by an ominous feeling that something is very wrong. She and the others who survived the roller coaster of death now start checking into the hotel of hell as innocuous situations and common objects become fatal, causing particularly gruesome deaths.

Can they get off before the final destination?

movie review
March of the Penguins - Rated G

The feature length documentary "March of The Penguins" (MOTP) arrives on the scene just in time. The weather is turning it's back on summer, the popular children's CGI feature Ice Age 2 is making a splash in cinemas, and children all over the country are waking up with popcorn appetites as school holidays get underway.

MOTP follows the epic journey of one of the last land inhabitants of Antarctica - the Emperor penguin. As these plodding birds make their way across the freezing continent, we go with them and experience life in a land in constant flux between eerie silence and violent arctic storm.

If nothing else, the feat that French documentarian Luc Jacquet has achieved just by bringing such a harsh and inhospitable place to life, is incredible. The audience is taken into the intimate lives of these touching creatures through careful cinematography and an astounding devotion to the craft. In temperatures dropping below -53C, penguins make an impossible journey across the continent - in search of a mate to spend more than 200 days together, nursing a tiny life to infancy and beyond.

Featuring narration by Morgan Freeman, MOTP is at times a touching experience. Watching these elegant creatures court each other is strangely romantic, and the heartache of a baby penguin lost to the snow will turn any child's heart to mush.

MOTP is very easy to watch. In fact, the only fault I can give this film is that inherent to its subject matter, there is nothing here but penguins. If you don't find penguins interesting or even remotely cute, then look elsewhere. Most of the footage is absolutely stunning (read: screen saver material) although for some reason the underwater footage used in one part of the film looked like low-grade video - perhaps a limitation of the sub-zero temperatures.

As with any documentary, I think the most important question to answer is "who is this film going to suit?" Not being a parent myself, I can't say for certain that MOTP will survive the erratic attention spans of all youngsters - it lacks the industry standard comic relief that keeps children's films up-to-speed. Still, MOTP knows when the show is over, and clocking in at just over 80 minutes - its no yawn-fest.

I think younger kids, even "vid kids" weened on Nemo and Neutron, will find something enchanting in MOTP. Even better, many parents will also find themselves caught in it's calm blue heart.

Definitely worthwhile - and definitely bring a sweater (and socks).