What does it mean if there’s no port available?

Sometimes, when we put in a request for Chorus to make your connection, they let us know that there are no ports available at your local cabinet. This is called being a “port waiter,” and, unfortunately, if it’s happened to you, it means there will be a delay in getting you connected to Skinny Unlimited Broadband.

A “cabinet” is a box in your neighbourhood maintained by Chorus, where all the local copper and Fibre lines terminate before being routed to an exchange. These cabinets have a finite number of ADSL and VDSL ports, shared by all Internet Service Providers. Sometimes a cabinet runs out of ports. Essentially it means that they’re all being used by your neighbours.

Unfortunately, no ISP actually knows port allocations before we place your order with Chorus. A port will eventually become available when someone disconnects their internet. New ports are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to this, Chorus can’t provide us with an estimate of when a port will become free. It could take days, weeks or months as we’re waiting for someone to decide they no longer want broadband or move out of the area. All ISPs in NZ face the same issue. If it’s happened to you, we’ll let you know as soon as a port becomes available and we can get you connected.