National Broadband Network (NBN) What do you know?

[Basil135]

So, as you may have heard, the NBN is starting to be rolled out on the mainland. Tassie has had it for a while now.

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are? What have you heard, what do you know....

Forget the political stuff for a bit, the contracts are signed, sealed & delivered. We are getting it no matter what.

I will be interested to see what the consensus is out there.

[abaddonxi]

I check out the website every couple of months and very little seems to change or be updated.

And I keep being surprised that the largest capital works program ever is providing so little information to the public and getting away with it. By now I was expecting that there'd be lots more places connected and a detailed map and plan of the rollout, same as when adsl was introduced.

Maybe I'm just not looking at the right website.:angel:

[miky]

I am in Adelaide and pay $39.95 per month to Adam Internet for ADSL2+ (actually, they now call it "Adam Direct Light") and get 7GB from 8am to midnight and 7GB from midnight to 8am.

Using speedtest.net just now:
Ping 25ms
Download 2.94Mbps
Upload 0.51Mbps

I am happy with this package. I rarely download a movie or watch heaps of youtube etc.

Will I get better than this (download speed/similar data) for the same or less cost from the NBN?
If not, I don't want it.

[Basil135]

Miky,

Most RSP (Retail Service Providers), the guys that Joe Public goes to for their internet, have not worked out their pricing yet, so it is hard to say what they will offer.

The simple fact is, that if you want internet, then you will be on the NBN. ADSL uses the copper network, and this is being re-claimed, so will no longer be available.

As for download speeds, once again, this will depend on the RSP, and what they are offering. I dare say that there will still be a similar range available to what there is now.

[OffTrack]

Will I get better than this (download speed/similar data) for the same or less cost from the NBN?
If not, I don't want it.

It's sad that naysayers have lead such a disingenuous campaign that most people don't realise that NBNCo is a wholesale provider of bandwidth, not a retailer.


At NBN Co, our goals are simple - deliver Australia's first national wholesale-only, open access broadband network to all Australians, regardless of where they live.

So basically your ISP will buy wholesale bandwidth from NBNCo which the ISP will then resell to consumers. The details of speeds, data allowances, and cost per month you pay will be determined by what mix the ISP feels will be profitable.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

On the politics, I don't get how the fed Government got about $8 billion for the sale of Telstra and now the Fed Government paid Telstra $9 Billion to cut the copper we used to own.

Personally I'm on optus hybrid cable to the node and have been for over a decade, this infrastructure has now been handed over to the NBM, won't be happy if I get to pay more for the same unlimited plan I have now.

[OffTrack]

The NBN (or something similar) is something that should have happened a decade ago. The situation whereby the main wholesale provider of bandwidth and infrastructure (Telstra) was also competing directly in the retail market with it's wholesale customers was ridiculous.

Telstra's regular appearances at the ACCC to answer charges of anti-competitive behaviour in this market were a good indicator that they were quite prepared to use and abuse their (anti-competitive) position.

$18 million penalty imposed on Telstra (http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/939835)


In handing down today’s decision, Justice Middleton noted that Telstra was in an overwhelming position of bargaining strength and "has control over its exchanges and the power to allow or refuse access".

Justice Middleton was critical of Telstra’s compliance policies, "the admitted contraventions demonstrate substantial non-compliance by Telstra with its legal obligations."

He found that in the period from 2006 to 2008: "Telstra took no steps to develop a culture of compliance with its access obligations under the Trade Practices Act and the Telecommunications Act."


"The purpose of access obligations is to encourage downstream competition for the benefit of consumers. The failure to comply with those obligations impedes that competition and therefore harms consumers."

[OffTrack]

On the politics, I don't get how the fed Government got about $8 billion for the sale of Telstra and now the Fed Government paid Telstra $9 Billion to cut the copper we used to own.

Blame Howard and the Liberals. There was substantial pressure from the communications industry to separate Telstra into retail and wholesale businesses even in the late 1990's. The Liberals ignored that pressure and choose to privatise Telstra as one business, for short term political mileage and profit.



Personally I'm on optus hybrid cable to the node and have been for over a decade, this infrastructure has now been handed over to the NBM, won't be happy if I get to pay more for the same unlimited plan I have now.

Optus Cable was largely a means of circumventing Telstra control of copper lines into the home. With a ubiquitous, open access, fibre network the necessity for cable internet disappears.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

The NBN (or something similar) is something that should have happened a decade ago. The situation whereby the main wholesale provider of bandwidth and infrastructure (Telstra) was also competing directly in the retail market with it's wholesale customers was ridiculous.

Telstra's regular appearances at the ACCC to answer charges of anti-competitive behaviour in this market were a good indicator that they were quite prepared to use and abuse their (anti-competitive) position.Don't go blaming Telstra they are a commercial company doing aggressive business to the benefit of Ziggy or whoever is on the board now (forget the shareholders, they are treated no better than customers). Blame the Howard Government when they privatised Telstra and arranged the setup.

The Howard Government should have created seperate companies from the word go. One with the copper in the street and exchanges the other with the retail customers buying bandwidth off the infrastructure company.

A system very much like other transport modes, someone owns the rails and others own the trains.

[OffTrack]

The Howard Government should have created seperate companies from the word go. One with the copper in the street and exchanges the other with the retail customers buying bandwidth off the infrastructure company.

A system very much like other transport modes, someone owns the rails and others own the trains.

You'll get no argument from me on that one ;)

Mind you Telstra has been letting the copper cabling decay in the ground. If the NBN hadn't gone ahead Telstra would have faced pulling new cable in large sections of inner city Melbourne for example. You could argue that the Fed Govt. paid too much for the copper network simply because much of it needs replacing with fibre anyway.

[Slunnie]

You'll get no argument from me on that one ;)

Mind you Telstra has been letting the copper cabling decay in the ground. If the NBN hadn't gone ahead Telstra would have faced pulling new cable in large sections of inner city Melbourne for example. You could argue that the Fed Govt. paid too much for the copper network simply because much of it needs replacing with fibre anyway.
Thats exactly it, I think that it should have been done a long long time ago also, but the other motivation is that everywhere is down to the last sets of copper pairs and they're only a micron thick. I was a boarding master at my previous school, the copper was all decayed and they layed a fibre backbone through the whole place and the tapped into the internet provider directly for the speed.

Personally, I cant wait for the NBN to roll out. When my house was built it was done with a spare conduit to the road for the cable to come through. I dont live in town or in a city and so ADSL isn't an option. Sat is expensive and I understand slow, through the microwave dish or whatever it is is also really expensive so the economical alternative is through NextG. Sounds fantastic as whatever lightening speed it is meant to deliver, but the reality is that it is a slow POS system that pretty much jams up at peak times ie between about 7.30-8.45pm every night. Cable to the house cant come fast enough out here!

[JDNSW]

If you live anywhere outside the main cities, you may be interested to look at teh NBN maps of where they are (and are not) laying fibre. As a general rule, they are only laying fibre in towns with over 1000 premises, and if you are not in one of these you will get either wireless or satellite. If you are far out of town, you will only get satellite.

I have just had one of the 200 trial installs of the NBN first release satellite system. This is not very different to the previous satellite installation except for a 50% increase in download speed to 6mbps, a 50% decrease in upload speed to 1mbps, a 50% increase in power consumption, and a noticeable increase in reliability - as far as can be judged from three days experience!

John

[roverrescue]

Similar to Slunnie,
I can see the benefits of NBN but I fear that by the time the network rolls this far north all you peoples will have implanted chips and access the inter-brain-net with no need for infrastructure at all!

S

[slug_burner]

I have both telstra and optus cable outside my place, have had both at different times. (both eyesores hanging off the power poles) Much of a muchness, download speed ranges from 1 Mb/s to 160 Mb/s but averages about 20 Mb/s. Up load is always around 1 Mb/s. Pings range from 10ms to 39ms but mostly in the 20s. ADSL didn't cut it but I tried it for a while as there was a long wait period to get a service out of the cable suppliers due to the need to send a tech to install the box on the side of the house. ADSL was all done at the exchange and got a modem in the mail, all up in approx a week.

Some of the frustration is often down to the speed of the server that you are pulling stuff down from. At times this forum can be rather choked up with lots of people on it. However I still look forward to the forum and the roll out of the NBN. As for wireless technologies, good for the Y Gen that must be connected 24/7 but not real quick.

[johncat07]

The nbn co has not bought telstra's network of copper, fibre or wireless. The agreement is the 9bn or 11b whatever it is, is to LEASE the pit and pipe network as well as dark fibre the inter exchange network ( which telstra is upgrading now). This is a 35yr lease which has a extension on it, cant remember how much. Part of the agreement is that telstra turns off the copper network gradually transferring people onto nbn fibre network. Telstra will still own the pit and pipe in street but, when a LEADIN conduit has a nbn fibre pulled in nbn will take ownership of that conduit.(only one bill if you dig it up) Yes it's confusing. telstra will still provide wireless services. nbn co is a money grab for greedy intheknow bastards, why? those working for nbn are buying shares in the companys they award contract's to, to supply fibre, test equipment, and fibre cleaning gear. ie cletop. You think there's a conflict of interest there? An nbn employee told me that.

[Slunnie]

I check out the website every couple of months and very little seems to change or be updated.

And I keep being surprised that the largest capital works program ever is providing so little information to the public and getting away with it. By now I was expecting that there'd be lots more places connected and a detailed map and plan of the rollout, same as when adsl was introduced.

Maybe I'm just not looking at the right website.:angel:
Have you seen this?
NBN Co - Maps (http://www.nbnco.com.au/our-network/maps.html)

[Outback 1]

REBOOTING AN OLD THREAD
WE GOT OUR NBN ONLINE TODAY ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT FAR FAR BETTER THAN THE OLD TELSTRA 3/4G WIFI

[Homestar]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Great news for you - how come rural areas are getting this before me! :D

We only got broadband in this town 10 years ago, and there are still limited ports, so most here are on crappy wireless connections and I know a few that only moved off dial up 12.months ago, and we're only 1/2 hour from the CBD. I'm guessing we should have the NBN around 2020...

[Mick_Marsh]

Wait until the people in your locality discover Netflix.
I am unimpressed with my NBN. It is better than dial up though.

[Ben_Burdett]

Anyone who has wireless nbn make sure you do a speed test and ensure you are getting what you pay for. I signed up for a 12mbps plan and was only getting 5mbps. Rang my service provider and they fixed it straight away. Had a neighbour who had the exact same thing with a different provider. He had 25mbps plan and was only getting 2mbps. It's been pretty good other than that.

[Eevo]

*sits in corner sobbing

[Slunnie]

Fixed wireless for me tonight is giving

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/09/884.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/09/885.jpg

[p38arover]

My Optus Broadband Cable tonight (laptop connected directly to router):

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/09/881.jpg

[Outback 1]

HERES MINE
Speedtest.net by Ookla - My Results (http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4630458304)
SORRY RON THRASHED YOU

[Slunnie]

HERES MINE
Speedtest.net by Ookla - My Results (http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4630458304)
SORRY RON THRASHED YOU
Which type of NBN connection?

[Outback 1]

aussie broadband nbn wireless

[Outback 1]

Wait until the people in your locality discover Netflix.
I am unimpressed with my NBN. It is better than dial up though.

ah yes mick but there are far less people in our area than yours :D

[Mick_Marsh]

Hey! I beat Ron.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/09/880.jpg

[vnx205]

This is what I got a few minutes ago. I have seen 18 Mb/s download at quieter times.
When it is busy, it is about half that. Upload hardly varies.
That is just ADSL.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/09/879.jpg (http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4630495154)

[Homestar]

Well, here's the results for my ADSL2+ this morning. I'll check it again tonight too see what it drops to.

[JDNSW]

Ookla NetGauge Result
Thursday, 3 September 2015 06:36+10
Server: Sydney
Down: 5.3 Mbps
Up: 1.0 Mbps
Latency: 671 ms

This is my NBN

John

[Pickles2]

As a computer nerd, can anyone tell me in laymans terms, what difference I will notice on my computer, ie when accessing this forum?
Pickles.

[Mick_Marsh]

As a computer nerd, can anyone tell me in laymans terms, what difference I will notice on my computer, ie when accessing this forum?
Pickles.
Not a lot.

[Homestar]

As a computer nerd, can anyone tell me in laymans terms, what difference I will notice on my computer, ie when accessing this forum?
Pickles.

As Mick said, on this site, not much, but you'll be able to download porn much faster. ;)

[Chucaro]

I have NBN (cable 25) for the last 3 weeks and it is working like a dream.
The VoIP which it is including in the plan also works faultless. :cool:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Ookla NetGauge Result
Thursday, 3 September 2015 06:36+10
Server: Sydney
Down: 5.3 Mbps
Up: 1.0 Mbps
Latency: 671 ms

This is my NBN

John

Hey John,, I thought you were on the Satellite?

oh and this through Mobile Broadband
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4634830878

[vnx205]

As a computer nerd, can anyone tell me in laymans terms, what difference I will notice on my computer, ie when accessing this forum?
Pickles.

One reason there is not a simple answer to this question is because the speed at which data arrives at your computer is not the only factor that will affect how long it will take before you can look at a page you have downloaded.

If you are using and old clockwork computer or a steam powered one, the data arrives and then the computer starts manipulating it so that it can be displayed on the screen and that could take some time. If you have a modern computer, then it only takes a short time to get the display on the screen.

When my last computer was about 10 years old, a page might download in less than 2 seconds, but it might take another 4 seconds before the page displayed.

[Slunnie]

One reason there is not a simple answer to this question is because the speed at which data arrives at your computer is not the only factor that will affect how long it will take before you can look at a page you have downloaded.

If you are using and old clockwork computer or a steam powered one, the data arrives and then the computer starts manipulating it so that it can be displayed on the screen and that could take some time. If you have a modern computer, then it only takes a short time to get the display on the screen.

When my last computer was about 10 years old, a page might download in less than 2 seconds, but it might take another 4 seconds before the page displayed.
I think 286's never really had internet in mind.

[JDNSW]

Hey John,, I thought you were on the Satellite?
.....


I am - NBN ISS. Still part of NBN. The first of the two new satellites is due to be launched in a few weeks, and is supposed to provide for 25/5 - but expect the latency to be about the same. And no word to date as to the amount of data that will be allowed.

John

[Outback 1]

todays test
Speedtest.net by Ookla - My Results (http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4633187961)
flying

[Homestar]

Mines down to around 10Mbs download tonight, still ok, but the NBN will be nice when we get it - which will probably be around the time they start upgrading the network again for everyone else... :D

[p38arover]

Mine is down to 1.3Mb/s download speed tonight, upload is 100kb/s - and that's broadband cable.

[Outback 1]

Your dinosaur must be getting tired on the treadmill :p:p:p:D:D:D:p:p:p

Sent from my SM-G900F using AULRO mobile app

[Chucaro]

Mine is down to 1.3Mb/s download speed tonight, upload is 100kb/s - and that's broadband cable.

That is normal Ron, it is consistent with your ability to have non performing or faulty things. :p

[Davehoos]

Down load 15.07Mb/s
UP load 12.80Mb
NBN.


havnt been able to get email since weekend taken a hour this arvo to open 2..

[Eevo]

Down load 15.07Mb/s
UP load 12.80Mb
NBN.


havnt been able to get email since weekend taken a hour this arvo to open 2..

those speeds are pretty good.
sounds like a non-NBN issue

[JDNSW]

Probably the right place to note that the NBN 1a satellite was successfully launched into orbit this morning. It will start servicing customers about March 2016, following it being moved into final position and a period of testing.

John

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Saw the launch and thought of you John:D
NBN's first satellite, Sky Muster, launches successfully into orbit (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/nbns-first-satellite-sky-muster-launches-successfully-into-orbit-20150930-gjymxv.html)

[JDNSW]

Yes, I watched it live - really quite a convenient time, but thirty seconds of the actual launch, then it was all talk and pictures of what should be happening.

John

[Davehoos]

I just opened this thread and did the test again.
Ive been waiting almost 1 hour for a page to open.
the test gave me the same numbers-then I noticed 9/3/15 under the test result. wont download the flash program to redo the test.


Last Monday week a crew landed on the footpath with trenching gear and an under road borer to replace 25 meters or cable. they had taken 2 day work to run and reconnect and the machinery had sat here for over a week due to rain.


I talked to them and they replaced the copper line from my pit to the neighbours with optics.
it was very old and lying under the grass and the priority was that she had a medic alert.


there is no optical cable from my pit to the node.

[LRO]

Hi
There wont be it is fiber to the node and copper to your house

[p38arover]

I'm getting better speeds lately.

My Optus broadband cable connection is the basic plan so I should get 30Mbps.

It seems that if I transition to the NBN, the basic plan will give 12Mbps for the same cost. Yes, I can see that will be an improvement. :angel:

[cafe latte]

I live on a farm and hence rural so right now I only have wireless which is 8 gig a month and it is slooooww. Nearby they have just built an NBN tower and it is almost ready for switch on. Looking at the prices for NBN I will be able to get unlimited downloads and free phone for less than I am paying now and much faster too, I cant wait to finally have internet where it is possible to actually download without leaving the room to go and do something else for an hour.
Chris

[SBD4]

A good talk given by non executive board member of NBNCo, Simon Hacket, of Internode fame:

Rebooting the NBN: (Personal) Reflections on the journey thus far | Simon Hackett (http://simonhackett.com/2014/09/06/rebooting-the-nbn/)

Being someone who has built a successful internet business and heralding from a technical background, he is well placed to give a no nonsense perspective on things.

He has written some other good articles that explain some of the misinformation getting around about the NBN deployment and associated technologies.

His posts on his Tesla electric car are interesting to.

[cafe latte]

I currently have a ssslllow 8 gig wireless connection and I am told nbn wireless is now available. I can go Telsta for 100 bucks a month for 1000 gig plan calls included or go Optus for 5 bucks less unlimited downloads. Is unlimited really needed though, if I watch tv 2 max 3 hours a night and maybe download the odd movie to watch later, download my music hi def flac (legal stuff from Linn records) will 1000 gig be enough?
Also they both offer different free tv for 6 months then you pay which has the best content Optus or Telstra?
I am clueless on all this
Thanks
Chris

[NavyDiver]

Whirlpool is a good forum and site for NBN and internet chats and information



I have optus cable at home and love it when it works but hate that it far to often slows so much it is useless. It is not NBN. Tesltra at work is business grade and still not NBN so I am not much use to you sorry. Forum is at https://whirlpool.net.au/

[Eevo]

1000 is a lot
how many in the family?

[cafe latte]

1000 is a lot
how many in the family?

Just two of us, but I download a LOT of music and we love movies so we will be downloading movies every night.
Chris

[Eevo]

even an extra super dooper high quality movie is only 10gB
times by 30.

300gB


i doubt you will use 1000gB
most families of 4 dont use that much

[Pedro_The_Swift]

and even if you do(unbelievably) use the thousand, with Telstra there is a double data package that you can access 3 times a year,,

[Jimmy93]

if you download more than 1TB of movies a month its going to cost you more in upgrading your computer storage on a monthly basis than the plans will

[cafe latte]

Thanks guys,
I have been checking out the Optus plan too this morning, this is unlimited, but it might be better anyway especially as I call the UK a lot and this is totally free with the optus plan, but there is a connection fee with Telstra.
Chris

[SBD4]

Info on what to expect at your premises for FTTB/H :

http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco/documents/preparation-and-installation-guide-for-sdus-and-mdus.pdf

[stewie110]

In November 2014 we got a letter stating that we would be connected to the internet by April 2015. We then had the guys lay the fibre from the street to an outside wall circa Jan 2015. Then the Government did the FTTN pivot which had one of the trial deployments a few suburbs away. That resulted in all of the local contractors being moved to do the deployment there rather than finish the area that had already been cabled... Fast forward to April 2016 and they finally came back to do the inside box on my house.. Cabled it up.. connected it up.. but get this.. The block I live at borders two roads.. The road that was cabled up in 2015 (the front/main road) and the road that is a back street up the hill behind us... They re-cabled the house via the rear road. To make matters more interesting they have left both connections and both external boxes on the walls... YAY for the NBN contractors wasting tax payers money. I am now connected at 100Mbps and am _VERY_ happy having come off 4G/LTE. And before we moved into this area we had ADSL that was more like dialup... The latency improvements give me a smile every day when I work from home....

[incisor]

it's an abomination around these parts at the moment. been oversubscribed something fierce..

been good for my wallet but geez there are some very very unhappy little puppies up this way.

i am not going anywhere near it for a while yet!

[stewie110]

it's an abomination around these parts at the moment. been oversubscribed something fierce..

been good for my wallet but geez there are some very very unhappy little puppies up this way.

i am not going anywhere near it for a while yet!
Which isps?

[cafe latte]

it's an abomination around these parts at the moment. been oversubscribed something fierce..

been good for my wallet but geez thereris are some very very unhappy little puppies up this way.

i am not going anywhere near it for a while yet!

For some it is not really an upgrade, but for me I am going from an 8 gig plan so slow it was hard to use 5 gig to unlimited and watching movies online. I am still getting used to the fact I can actually watch youtube links.
Chris

[Mick_Marsh]

it's an abomination around these parts at the moment. been oversubscribed something fierce..

been good for my wallet but geez there are some very very unhappy little puppies up this way.

i am not going anywhere near it for a while yet!
FTTH or FTTN?

[incisor]

Which isps?

pretty much all of them...

the problem is the infrastructure and the available bandwidth.

lots of problems with nbn service guys never showing up or saying no one was home when they were, sorts of issues.

lots of lies being told about how long it takes till it's up and running... sometimes people are without phones etc for 14+ days..

fun fun fun

[stewie110]

FTTH or FTTN?
There are people in my area on both technologies with poor performance.... Generally on second or third tier isps that don't Invest in proper back haul from the poi

[stewie110]

pretty much all of them...

the problem is the infrastructure and the available bandwidth.

lots of problems with nbn service guys never showing up or saying no one was home when they were, sorts of issues.

lots of lies being told about how long it takes till it's up and running... sometimes people are without phones etc for 14+ days..

fun fun fun
Similar in our area. Our local contractor is dubious at best. We had weeks of missed appointments etc.. Turned into over a year. However now that it's connected iinet has been superb.

[Mick_Marsh]

lots of problems with nbn service guys never showing up or saying no one was home when they were, sorts of issues.

lots of lies being told about how long it takes till it's up and running... sometimes people are without phones etc for 14+ days.
Ah! I see nothing has changed. I was lucky. One day, in the local shopping centre, we had both Telstra and NBN there with a marketing presence. Bear in mind, I already had fibre connected, on the day they said, and the internet working, on the day they said. I was just trying to get my phone transferred to fibre. They kept making appointments but not turning up. I don't know why they needed to turn up, everything was connected.
Back at the shopping centre, I questioned Mr Telstra as to why my phone service had not been transferred. He said it was NBN Co's fault. So I trotted off to the NBN Co stand and asked why Telstra could not connect my phone. "It's all there ready for Telstra to flick the software switch." she said. "Well, they're blaming you. Perhaps you could discuss it with them." And she walked over, and did. Still didn't get fixed, though.
Four times I took a day off work. Four times the Telstra tech didn't turn up.
The overseas call centre got so sick of me my case manager let fly with a tirade of abuse at me. I put in an official complaint. I also contacted the manager who was sending me all the "Welcome to Telstra" junk mail. "How did you get my number?" he constantly asked me. I didn't tell him I had contacts in Telstra.
I also contacted one of the country regional managers who organised two of the appointments that the tech didn't turn up to.
Remember, this carry on was all after the NBN was up and running and I had already been using the internet on fibre for some months.
Finally, I told the regional manager to forget it. When they decommissioned the copper network, Telstra were going to lose a customer.
With that, the regional manager then organised a Telstra tech to turn up on a Saturday. When he arrived he said "It's all up and running. I don't need to do anything." But the phone wasn't working. The tech said "I know who needs to do what. Leave it with me."
Later that day, I got a call from someone in Telstra asking me if my phone was working.
Then I got a call from the Telstra tech who had visited earlier. He told me he had called the IT people in Telstra who flicked the software switch.
It was a drama.
I had been hearing similar dramas from the local area.

Oh, have I noticed I'm on fibre?
No. The ADSL service I had was plenty good enough for what I use the internet for.

[sheerluck]

....lots of lies being told about how long it takes till it's up and running... sometimes people are without phones etc for 14+ days..

fun fun fun

Biggest liars of all are the NBN marketing and planning departments. For our rural suburb, the NBN website told us that continents would float past before they would start work in our area.

However, new developments to the north, south and east of us were being built as "NBN ready".

Then NBN helmets and utes started appearing in the local town. Still the website said "more chance of growing an extra leg, than having anything in this lifetime". Then the helmets and utes appeared at the end of the next road to us. Still the website says "suffer with crappy, slow rural ADSL, you field dwelling loser".

The all of a sudden we have more Ns and Bs on our road than in a tin of defective Alphabetti Spaghetti. One of the helmet wearers tell us the installation will be complete in 4 weeks!

Ooh! Ooh! The website has changed! "Planning in progress, register with us for updates, but it'll be about a year guv".

Helmet wearer number 2 confirms work under way, and only a few weeks till switch on.....

*EDIT* Ooh! It's changed again!

Good news, construction of the nbn™ network started in your area using fixed line technology

"Fixed line technology". That'd be what people call "a cable" then.

[Homestar]

So, anyone here got FTTN at their place? What sort of speeds are you getting? My ADSL2+ is very good and unless I can get guaranteed faster speeds, I'll be holding off. The closest node being installed is around 50 metres from the house.

Do they run a new cable from the node to the house or patch your existing cable in back further - the closest node isn't near any existing Telstra infrastructure, but the one around the corner - about 200 metres away - is next to the box where all the local connection go to.

[incisor]

You will be on a vdsl circuit then by the sounds of it... Not much will change setup wise but you won't know the speed till you try it... Distance from the node and how many are using the node will be big influences...

[DiscoMick]

At one stage we were on the schedule but then under the current government we disappeared off the list and no-one can say if or when it might happen.
Last week our modem was playing up and the Optus tech replaced it. He said there was congestion in our area and switched our 12 channel modem from chanbel 1 to 3 because no-one was on it. Working fine. When I asked if he knew anything about NBN in our area he said no-one knew anything so don't hold my breath.
Incidentally my workplace, which has more than 600 laptops connected at once, got fed up with the terrible internet and paid a lot of money which resulted in a fibre connection which now flies - its great.
How long ago was the Copper Age - 2000 years?

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[Disco-tastic]

We have fttn at work and we're getting 90Mb down and 48Mb up via Speetest. No idea where our node is, though i think we joined straight away so im expecting it to slow once people come across. We have a business account so not sure what effect that has on bandwidth.

I've heard of others getting ADSL1 speeds once connected...

Cheers

Dan

[DiscoMick]

In Thailand 8 years ago I was averaging 100 Mbs at work. One day Australia might catch up.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[cuppabillytea]

You'll get no argument from me on that one ;)

Mind you Telstra has been letting the copper cabling decay in the ground. If the NBN hadn't gone ahead Telstra would have faced pulling new cable in large sections of inner city Melbourne for example. You could argue that the Fed Govt. paid too much for the copper network simply because much of it needs replacing with fibre anyway.
Nor me. :D

[stewie110]

In Thailand 8 years ago I was averaging 100 Mbs at work. One day Australia might catch up.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app
Bandwidth in metro areas is reasonable in price (for businesses) if you know what to ask for. With our suburban sprawl prices and cost to build escalate quickly.

To put this Into perspective we have 2 x private diverse fibre connections from our Sydney based Cbd office.. Costs 5k/month and both run at 10G currently. I recently priced up the same services terminating in North Sydney (less than 2km fibre distance increase) and the costs blew out to 30k/month.

[Mick_Marsh]

In Thailand 8 years ago I was averaging 100 Mbs at work. One day Australia might catch up.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app
100Mbs internet has been available in Australia for many years.
I have 100Mbs available to me here, if I want to pay. I don't need it so I don't pay for it.
Most businesses I have worked for have had those speeds on their fibre connections. They decided they needed them so they paid for them.
If you really feel the need for those speeds, there is nothing stopping you putting on your own fibre connection.
https://www.tpg.com.au/fibre-optic

Not fast enough for you? What about 400Mb internet?
Maxinet::Fibre400 (http://www.maxi.net.au/gfibre400.php?gclid=CLuO95_qss0CFQdvvAodmx8M_A)

[SBD4]

A good article:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/innovation-really-counts-stephen-baxter

[Rob2]

It's getting closer to me, so.


Does anyone have it ?


Do you have to pay to have it connected ?


Is it worth it ?


Is it optional ?:confused:


Thanks.

[jonesfam]

What sort of NBN?
Fixed line or Wireless?

We have wireless, the antenna, NBN box & modem was all included in our contract price.

It is a bit faster than our old 3/4G system, it is cheaper but the main plus for us is we now have shed loads of band width (is that the correct term).
We used to get 120GB or is that MB a month & with the kids we were forever using it all well before the end of the month.
We now we get 1000 MB or GB per month & so far haven't used half that a month even with the kids having pretty much free range to use it.

5 kids X 5 tablets, 2 x computers, 1 X Xbox one & 1 X WII U all going for it.

Jonesfam

[Rob2]

I have no idea what they are going to offer me yet.


But I just wonder what it is going to cost ?


I am happy with what I have and don't want to be forced into anything.

[p38arover]

So do I. My current cable download speed is 30 Mbps. For the same price with NBN, it seems my download speed will be 12 Mbps.

That's not an improvement.

Some questions are answered here: https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/NBN-Guide-What-You-Need-to-Know

[strangy]

We just switched over this week.
Absolutely no difference in speed to the old system so far😤
This may change in the coming months when the change over becomes mandatory for our area.
But we did get a new modem and phone free.

[Homestar]

Yeah, this is one of my concerns. I currently regularly get 15MBS download speed and don't want it to drop when I connect to then NBN. I have seen that Telstra advertise different speed plans - up to 100MBS if you want to pay. I want to see if something better than the standard 20 is on offer in my area.

I need 1000 meg a month - we burn nearly 800 a month now.

[rocmic]

This may not be entirely relevant. We got NBN almost two years ago, the old NBN fibre to the house. Cost for top speed (100Mbits) plus phone, unlimited download is less than I was paying for Telstra cable (30 Mbits and 500Gbyte download limit).
Connection is free and eventually mandatory (I think about 12 months after it becomes available).
I only had Telstra cable because I could not get ADSL.
Cheers
Mike

[frantic]

When we hooked up to NBN in our area it is fibre to home, we had speed options, I went the faster 100m/sec with iiNet and 1000gig download. It was about $10 a month more than our old ADSL plan and was soo much better with 3 kids and 2 adults all using the net. No slow down if another person is using a heavy site like YouTube or Facebook or fpg.

[Tins]

My sister was one of the first mainland connections ( Wilunga, SA ). Made a frightful mess of her garden, she was given no choice but to have it installed. Her internet is fine for what she needs, couldn't tell you about speeds. But: Her phone has been so bad I got her nearly $3000 credit under Telstra's customer service guarantee. I had a direct line to a Telstra service rep's mobile. Now, after how ever many years since, the phone is still rubbish.
Now, where I live, a number of ISPs still don't have ADSL2, I have to have a dish if I want Foxtel, and I'm only 35 K from the CBD. There is no sign of the NBN coming here any time soon, and it will probably be a dish when it does. As far as I'm concerned the whole thing is a poor joke.

[Ausfree]

Well, after hearing all the horror stories about swapping over to the NBN, I decided to bite the bullet and JUST DO IT.:D No problems at all the changeover went smoothly and I don't see much difference in the speed (maybe a little faster) but the loading up is snappier, so far after twenty minutes on the NBN, very happy.:D:D
ps. I was on ADSL2 before.

[Disco-tastic]

I just signed up.

I am in "Regional NSW". the only thing i can get is FTTN, with a max available download/upload speed of 25/5Mbps. Literally 10 houses down the road and they have have FTTH with a max of 100/40Mbps.

even though im 2 mins from the main part of town which has had ADSL2 for aaaaages the best i have been able to get here is ADSL+ with speeds of 8/1Mbps theoretical. Actual speeds are more like 1/0.1... all this for only $80/month!!

So I've just signed up for 25/5 NBN for $50. Even if it's the same crappy speed, at least its cheaper. And hopefully it doesn't drop out as much.

Cheers

Dan

[cuppabillytea]

I'm 5 Ks from the GPO. There's no sign that I'll be getting it any time soon.:(

[simonmelb]

Hi Dan,

Are you on friendly terms with the 10th house down the road?

You could set up a small wireless network between your house and theirs and go halves in thier FTTH NBN!

[Pedro_The_Swift]

silly me,, I was waiting for the green/blue cable to be pulled past the house,,,,
no such luck! down the cross street 100 yards away to wherever the nearest node(are these visible or in a pit?) is,,
only a 7 day wait on connection due to the house using a Medical Alert box

[Mick_Marsh]

The connection point to the yellow/blue/green fluorescent cable is in the pit.
Not necessarily the nearest pit.

[DiscoMick]

I know of a school (not mine) which is suffering under download speeds of just 1 mbs. There is NBN to a house in the street, the school is willing to pay any reasonable charge, but NBN is refusing to co-operate. You would think schools would get priority for Internet upgrades in a supposedly clever country, but apparently not so.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[stewie110]

I know of a school (not mine) which is suffering under download speeds of just 1 mbs. There is NBN to a house in the street, the school is willing to pay any reasonable charge, but NBN is refusing to co-operate. You would think schools would get priority for Internet upgrades in a supposedly clever country, but apparently not so.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app
Sounds slightly odd. Is the school in a difficult to install area with steep slopes or long runs?

A local school here was in a similar predicament and ended up paying a sum (around 3k if what I was told is correct) to get the install done outside of the schedule. However that was in a flat area with about 100 meters from the previous schedules finishing property. I will ask the people involved to get the specific terminology that needs to be requested

[SBD4]

My sister was one of the first mainland connections ( Wilunga, SA ). Made a frightful mess of her garden, she was given no choice but to have it installed. Her internet is fine for what she needs, couldn't tell you about speeds. But: Her phone has been so bad I got her nearly $3000 credit under Telstra's customer service guarantee. I had a direct line to a Telstra service rep's mobile. Now, after how ever many years since, the phone is still rubbish.
Now, where I live, a number of ISPs still don't have ADSL2, I have to have a dish if I want Foxtel, and I'm only 35 K from the CBD. There is no sign of the NBN coming here any time soon, and it will probably be a dish when it does. As far as I'm concerned the whole thing is a poor joke.
Build is "planned" to begin 1st half 2018 and ready for service 2nd half 2018:

https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-tracker/sa/3BEL

[sheerluck]

Biggest liars of all are the NBN marketing and planning departments. For our rural suburb, the NBN website told us that continents would float past before they would start work in our area.

However, new developments to the north, south and east of us were being built as "NBN ready".

Then NBN helmets and utes started appearing in the local town. Still the website said "more chance of growing an extra leg, than having anything in this lifetime". Then the helmets and utes appeared at the end of the next road to us. Still the website says "suffer with crappy, slow rural ADSL, you field dwelling loser".

The all of a sudden we have more Ns and Bs on our road than in a tin of defective Alphabetti Spaghetti. One of the helmet wearers tell us the installation will be complete in 4 weeks!

Ooh! Ooh! The website has changed! "Planning in progress, register with us for updates, but it'll be about a year guv".

Helmet wearer number 2 confirms work under way, and only a few weeks till switch on.....

*EDIT* Ooh! It's changed again!


"Fixed line technology". That'd be what people call "a cable" then.

Since I wrote that over a month ago, calls to various ISPs over the last couple of weeks for my neighbour to attempt to get him a better deal on his ADSL2 plan (still paying $60 a month for a 100gig plan :eek:), we keep being told "NBN is coming, very very soon".

NBN website shows estimated completion date as 12th Jul 2016.....errr, hasn't that already been and gone?

[SBD4]

I'm 5 Ks from the GPO. There's no sign that I'll be getting it any time soon.:(
Planned Build Commences H1 2017, Ready for service H2 2017:

https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-tracker/sa/2BAM

[SBD4]

Since I wrote that over a month ago, calls to various ISPs over the last couple of weeks for my neighbour to attempt to get him a better deal on his ADSL2 plan (still paying $60 a month for a 100gig plan :eek:), we keep being told "NBN is coming, very very soon".

NBN website shows estimated completion date as 12th Jul 2016.....errr, hasn't that already been and gone?
Dave, yours looks like being ready for service in September:

https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-tracker/sa/4JBB

[sheerluck]

Dave, yours looks like being ready for service in September:

https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-tracker/sa/4JBB

Thanks Sean. We come under Cedar Vale, and your link shows completion date of 22nd July for us....we're getting close!:D

[SBD4]

Thanks Sean. We come under Cedar Vale, and your link shows completion date of 22nd July for us....we're getting close!:D
You lucky bugger, I can't wait to get NBN, but alas it is 12 months away at least. Our ADSL drives me bonkers. I will be going for tier 4 minimum, if they can't provide the full range of tiers on FTTN (up to speed of tier 5), I may even consider paying for FTTH.

[cuppabillytea]

Planned Build Commences H1 2017, Ready for service H2 2017:

https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-tracker/sa/2BAM

Thanks for that link Sean.

[SBD4]

Thanks for that link Sean.
:thumbsup:

[JDNSW]

Since I wrote that over a month ago, calls to various ISPs over the last couple of weeks for my neighbour to attempt to get him a better deal on his ADSL2 plan (still paying $60 a month for a 100gig plan :eek:), we keep being told "NBN is coming, very very soon".

NBN website shows estimated completion date as 12th Jul 2016.....errr, hasn't that already been and gone?

My heart bleeds for you! I have got NBN (satellite), and am paying $70/month for 60GB, of which 30GB is available only between 0100 and 0700. More data is available, up to 150GB - as long as you don't use more than 75GB 0700-0100 in any 28 day rolling periodoutages, but it is very expensive, as the RSPs have to keep their average below 35GB.

(Oh, and with satellite we have 600ms latency, and so far frequent outages since inception of the service in May, and the 'modem' takes more power than my TV)

John

[jonesy63]

nbnTM will be coming to your area, however construction is not expected to commence for at least another three years.

:-/

[sheerluck]

My heart bleeds for you! I have got NBN (satellite), and am paying $70/month for 60GB, of which 30GB is available only between 0100 and 0700. More data is available, up to 150GB - as long as you don't use more than 75GB 0700-0100 in any 28 day rolling periodoutages, but it is very expensive, as the RSPs have to keep their average below 35GB.

(Oh, and with satellite we have 600ms latency, and so far frequent outages since inception of the service in May, and the 'modem' takes more power than my TV)

John

The difference here John, is that we've had unlimited, or at least very high download limit plans in this area for 3 or 4 years, and at a decent price, meaning he was paying double what he should have been......right up to the point when NBN availability in the area became imminent, and then all the ISPs just bumped their prices up, as clearly they won't be taking anyone on ADSL any more.

And the first indications we've had from our ISP about their NBN plans, is that it will be $20 a month more than what we're paying now. :mad:

[SBD4]

nbnTM will be coming to your area, however construction is not expected to commence for at least another three years.

:-/
now that really does suck!

[DiscoMick]

Dave, yours looks like being ready for service in September:

https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-tracker/sa/4JBB

Three year plan for us apparently. At least we're back on the list. In the past we were on it, then dropped off completely, so at least we might get it one day.

[Disco-tastic]

So NBN was connected today. Heres a screenshot of my speedtest on my phone. Results 1 & 2 are the new NBN connection and 3 and 4 are the old connection.

Did i mention the NBN was $30/month cheaper?

:D:p:D:p:D

Cheers

Dan

[Disco-tastic]

Sorry, heres the pic

111861

Cheers

Dan

[Mick_Marsh]

Sorry, heres the pic

111861

Cheers

Dan
What is the one on the bottom?

[Disco-tastic]

Work. Also FTTN but a business connection. I have tested at 90/40 actual speeds there...

Cheers

Dan

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Our NBN was actually switched on today.
Was getting around 800kbs a second DL,,,
now its 2850kbs... :o:Thump:

on a 2.4ghz upstairs wireless connection..

Some say,
it should be even faster with a new 802.11ac dongle. :confused:

This stuff is hard to believe,, my first internet ran at 6.5kbs,, on a good day!!

[sheerluck]

Thanks Sean. We come under Cedar Vale, and your link shows completion date of 22nd July for us....we're getting close!:D

Ok, so they were a week late, but I will forgive them. NBN is now all switched on in our area, and ready for me to choose a new ISP who doesn't want any of my limbs or internal organs in payment.

[l00kin4]

Sorry, heres the pic

111861

Cheers

Dan


That's a big improvement. I'm getting DL speeds like that on my current cable connection which is just as well since there in no schedule for NBN where I am yet. hmm


http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=112190&stc=1&d=1470292663


David

[DiscoMick]

So, last week our work geeks announced they were going to upgrade our NBN connection from 100 to 200 mbs. Great, we thought!
However, ever since, it's been running slower than it was before. Lot of groaning and muttering going on.
Much scratching of technie heads occurring. One of them commented it was like trying to stuff a V8 into a Mini.
It's never as simple as it should be...

[Homestar]

So, last week our work geeks announced they were going to upgrade our NBN connection from 100 to 200 mbs. Great, we thought!
However, ever since, it's been running slower than it was before. Lot of groaning and muttering going on.
Much scratching of technie heads occurring. One of them commented it was like trying to stuff a V8 into a Mini.
It's never as simple as it should be...

I feel your pain - our company recently 'upgraded' as well - it's never been slower...

[ramblingboy42]

I have hardly heard a good word for this NBN so far.

[Mick_Marsh]

I have hardly heard a good word for this NBN so far.

It's good for those that have a need for it but, for most, the old copper network was just fine.

I'm thinking of disconnecting mine. I don't use it enough to warrant the $80/month fee. The little 3G WiFi unit works just fine at $200/year.

[DiscoMick]

We have more than 700 computers connected, often simultaneously, so the NBN is essential.

[incisor]

my telstra DOT nbn connection went live today

24609 down
4727 up

thus far :p

all went smooth as silk except they tried to charge me an extra $50 a month but that died soon as i asked for a copy of the original voice recording...


/happy so far...

[Don 130]

my non nbn results



Last Result:
Download Speed: 2918 kbps (364.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 567 kbps (70.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 24 ms
Jitter: 10 ms
Packet Loss: -1%
31 October 2016 9:54:45 pm AEDT

Don.

[Slunnie]

I have hardly heard a good word for this NBN so far.
It's been a winner out where I am. Fixed wireless. Faster and a lot more stable than the previous internet which was basically through the mobile phone system in the places where I live that you could get it (I could get it, but not everybody around me could get it). Its nice to be able to do the things with the internet that our urban brothers have enjoyed and taken for granted for so long. Things like Facetime/Skype work properly now, can watch a 2min youtube in 2 mins, pandora, downloads dont take ages and decent data plans are now available etc. Interestingly though, its now cheaper to use mobile phones than the home phone where the mobile you can chat the house down where the home phone is now timed. It also used to cost me about $85/15GB, where now its a lot less for 500GB. Actually, I'm pretty sure my overall combined bill with Telstra reduced with the NBN.

[JDNSW]

Now been on the NBN LTSS for six months, replacing the NBN ISS.

In comparison, it is faster (25/5 when it works compared to 6/1) but has proved at least so far, to be much less reliable. There are frequent outages, packet loss, and just plain weird faults, such as for more than two months taking 13 hours to start working after switching on. Latency is a little less, and the cost a little is lower. But data limits remain well under 75GB.

John

[Jimmy93]

We have nbn with telstra and their wifi modem and we have issues a couple of times a week. Its good when it works but drops out so often.

I was talking to a friend that lives nearby and he has much less issues, he was saying the two problems with mine is the telstra wifi modems are rubbish and should be replaced with a netgear one or something similar and the other problem is that telstra doesnt hold nbn co responsible for drop outs on their network were other providers do. (Although i cant find any info on this second bit)

Maybe we should start a poll to see if its mainly telstra users with the issues

[DiscoMick]

When our modem died and we got a new one and some problems fixed the Optus techie said modems default to the first frequency, which gets overcrowded and slow, in our area 6 other people were on it, but there are actually several frequencies. He reset ours to another frequency with no-one on it in our area and it runs great. Worth considering.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[JDNSW]

Was in town this morning - went to a bookshop to check on the status of a book I had ordered. Can't do it! NBN installed yesterday, and nothing works (Telstra). They had a non-Telstra expert in while I was there, and the internet was working before I left, but their PABX was still doing strange things. The owner was complaining that he got it at home last week, and his phone has not worked since, and Telstra wants hundreds of dollars to even look at the problem.

John

[incisor]

There are known software issues with the latest updates for some of telstra pro modems

Latest update makes VoIP on the analogue ports useless and they have to roll back the update to fix it....

Ask me how I know 😈

[workingonit]

Just to relate my elderly mother in laws experience getting NBN, if of value to anyone. Its second hand from my wife who tried to act as intermediary with Telstra.

When lightning takes out the mains power the phone on the old copper system continues to work due to Telstra having backup power. You can make emergency calls.

Although it took some months the NBN was connected to the mother in laws dwelling. The NBN modem hangs off the wall. The phone was then connected to the modem. Phone and internet worked fine.

Advice from a friend says a backup power supply should be considered, particularly with regard to the mother in laws poor health. Friend says without power backup the NBN routed phone will not work when mains power goes down. Why didn't Telstra say this at the time the modem was installed?

Telstra is contacted and install the power backup unit.

With power pack installed the phone is still connected to the modem and works for another 3 days. Then stops altogether.

Wife makes numerous calls to Telstra who cannot say exactly what is happening. At one stage put on hold for two hours.

Complaint centre makes a booking for a technician to visit premises. Techo doesn't turn up. Seems even though the complaint centre booked the techo, someone else in the system has to find a techo, and that didn't happen. More calls and more days of delay finally a techo turns up. Fixes the phone issue in a few seconds by unplugging the phone from the modem and reconnecting it to the power backup!

The mo in law has a failing heart and was without phone for about 5 days and stressed to the max. No amount of discussion on this issue made Telstra respond with urgency. The old dear is now in hospital emergency unit to be seen by cardiac today.

Mobile phone back up for mo in law?! We tried, but in her condition it was all too hard. There is a market for a simple mobile phone for the elderly.

[vnx205]

They do exist.
This one is aimed at that market.

http://southernphone.com.au/mobile/phones/onix-easytouse-phone

[workingonit]

Still too complicated :D. Needs to be closer to two cans joined by string to suit my mother in law.

One piece unit, large buttons, topped by small horizontal black and white screen (to match their tv) with magnifying lens.

Options:- punch in a number and press 'call' button, press 'end call' button to end call. Otherwise press 'list of contacts' button, press 'scroll' to find a family member who will talk to them or local CLP member with same views press 'call' button etc.

Special buttons for carer to punch in further list of contacts etc. These could be hidden under a pull out cover.

No texting, no torch, no wifi, no 5 way dongles, no touch screens etc.

Oh, and one red button with a siren they can press when they fall over on the way to McDonalds for the pensioner specials (happened) so someone can appreciate their predicament and alerts ambulance.

Ear speaker component of the phone moulded to fit ear so they are confident that the voice pickup is near mouth and they get it the right way up.

Back to NBN.

I live semi rural Darwin and believe will have a choice of staying on ADSL or going to wireless NBN. Taken us years to get the ADSL working properly. Our neighbour, contractor to Telstra at times, is not sure if he'll move to wireless as he has gone through the long process of getting ADSL to work. He's not glowing about aspects of NBN.

Anyone with experience with wireless ie how is it in storms, cloud, undulating terrain, trees blocking line of site, echo etc.

[vnx205]

How about this one then? :)
http://www.kisaphone.com.au/seniors.aspx?gclid=CMqnwYz3i9ACFY9hfgodib4O9g
I'm not trying to sell you one. Just trying to be helpful. :)

[vnx205]

Any good ideas here?
https://www.choice.com.au/electronics-and-technology/phones/mobile-phones/review-and-compare/mobile-phones-for-seniors

[workingonit]

Thanks vnx205. That KISA phone looks quite interesting. Will tell my wife.

[bee utey]

I bought this one

Aspera F24 (3G/Next G, Flip Phone) - Black Gold - Unlocked | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aspera-F24-3G-Next-G-Flip-Phone-Black-Gold-Unlocked-/371719247516?hash=item568c31969c:g:ohsAAOSwMtxXvtU o)

which is so simple to use I can even get my wife to drive it. :p

[workingonit]

Thanks bee uty. Still too complicated. She'd forget its a flip phone and wonder where the numbers have gone.

She could drive a manual vehicle when she was younger. So I argued that if modern kids are skilled with phones but have trouble driving manual vehicles then she should adapt to a phone no problems. Argument didn't work.

[Tombie]

Mind set mate.

Wife runs a Ore processing facility, is the SME for Filter/Flux/Press Plant and yet goes "I don't understand these things" when her Smart Phone asks a question...

For some the word computer sets them into a mind set, similar to mechanics when you mention LR - some just melt down.

Hope you find a good resolution with regards to your Family member.

[vnx205]

Quite right Tombie.
Before someone suggests that being able to use a smartphone makes today's kids smarter than oldies, let's see how they manage with my 94 year old mother's knitting needles, crochet hook or tatting bobbin. :)

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Just to relate my elderly mother in laws experience getting NBN, if of value to anyone. Its second hand from my wife who tried to act as intermediary with Telstra.

<snip>
The mo in law has a failing heart and was without phone for about 5 days and stressed to the max. No amount of discussion on this issue made Telstra respond with urgency. The old dear is now in hospital emergency unit to be seen by cardiac today.

Mobile phone back up for mo in law?! We tried, but in her condition it was all too hard. There is a market for a simple mobile phone for the elderly.

Two things,,
Company called Vital Call make a medallion thats worn around the neck for falls,, press button, company rings, no answer? company call 000.
secondly AFTER this is purchased Telstra puts your number on a priority listing, both for installation and repairs.

Medallion company calls once a week to check system,

[SBD4]

There is some hope for very fast speeds on copper:
nbn delivers 8Gbps over copper lines on XG.FAST trial | nbn - Australia's new broadband network (http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/nbn-delivers-8Gbps-over-copper-lines-onxg-fast-trial.html)

[MrLandy]

There is some hope for very fast speeds on copper:
nbn delivers 8Gbps over copper lines on XG.FAST trial | nbn - Australia's new broadband network (http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/the-nbn-project/nbn-delivers-8Gbps-over-copper-lines-onxg-fast-trial.html)

I've been advised that the best I can expect is only UP TO 12mbps fibre to the node.... my current broadband delivers at least 8mbps already and there's no guarantee of 12, let alone 25mpbs or more. And I have to pay $10 per month more for the privilege to avoid being cutoff. Fibre to the node is a total rort.

[SBD4]

I've been advised that the best I can expect is only UP TO 12mbps fibre to the node.... my current broadband delivers at least 8mbps already and there's no guarantee of 12, let alone 25mpbs or more. And I have to pay $10 per month more for the privilege to avoid being cutoff. Fibre to the node is a total rort.

Interesting isn't it. You would think that the copper line length in FTTN would be shorter than that of the current ADSL2 implementation and therefore expect it to perform much better with that and VDSL2 in its favour.

If you do not get the expected performance you pay for, get the retailer to troubleshoot the line to make sure there is no excessive noise on the line.

Attenuation is the other factor, if you are a long way from the node then there's nothing that can help (other than the obvious).

Also, in the period where people are still using ADSL/2 modems, the new VDSL2 modems will not be able to perform to their fullest potential. Once NBN switches off the old services for your area, the new VDSL2 modems will be able to operate properly hopefully providing better performance.

Here're a couple of graphs to show rule of thumb expectation of perormance vs distance:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/12/555.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/12/556.jpg

[MrLandy]

Interesting isn't it. You would think that the copper line length in FTTN would be shorter than that of the current ADSL2 implementation and therefore expect it to perform much better with that and VDSL2 in its favour.

If you do not get the expected performance you pay for, get the retailer to troubleshoot the line to make sure there is no excessive noise on the line.

Attenuation is the other factor, if you are a long way from the node then there's nothing that can help (other than the obvious).

Also, in the period where people are still using ADSL/2 modems, the new VDSL2 modems will not be able to perform to their fullest potential. Once NBN switches off the old services for your area, the new VDSL2 modems will be able to operate properly hopefully providing better performance.

Here're a couple of graphs to show rule of thumb expectation of perormance vs distance:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/12/555.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/12/556.jpg

Thanks for that. ...so looks like I must be approx 2000m from the nearest node, service provider is quoting best performance at 12mbps. Not much hope of faster speeds unless I move house or lay my own fibre!

[Tombie]

Thanks for that. ...so looks like I must be approx 2000m from the nearest node, service provider is quoting best performance at 12mbps. Not much hope of faster speeds unless I move house or lay my own fibre!



Get in your Landy, head bush. Who needs Land Lines [emoji6]

[1950landy]

I rang telstra the other day to get two tablets we have to be able to receive emails. During the 8hr & 10 people I spoke to one of them started asking me my address . The next day I received an email on our desk top to say we were being connected to the NBN & a package would arive in the next couple of days & we had agreed to self connect & there were a number of other things we had agreed to & we would be connected on the 20th.
I rang Telstra to complain that nobody had spoken to us about NBN & there responce was but you agreed to it. We wanted to wait untill after Christmas & had 18months to connect . I know it will be a complete stuff up . Since we received the new box I have received 4 emails per day to tell me the box is in transit.
Also the thing I origionaly rang them for , they told me booth tablets were faulty which I bid not think was correct. I took the tablets to a different Telstra shop to the one I normaly use & they fixed the problem in 5minuts. Only taken 9 months countless visits to Telstra shop & calls to Telstra.
The last time Telstra changed us from ADSL to cable we had no internet for 6 months. The Ombusman gave them a deadline to fix it or change us back to ADSL & they missed the date by 2 days & had to wipe our account for 6 months.
I will wait & see but I am sure it will be a complete stuff up this time as well.

[Homestar]

Thanks for that. ...so looks like I must be approx 2000m from the nearest node, service provider is quoting best performance at 12mbps. Not much hope of faster speeds unless I move house or lay my own fibre!

Do you know where the nearest node is? They're absolutely everywhere around here -I doubt any premises within the connection area would be more than a few hundred metres from one. If I include the copper in our house, I'm less than 50 metres from one - still not sure what that will mean for us when we connect - I'm not expecting much.

[Tombie]

Similar story here. They're rolling it out now and the node is 7 houses away...

Basil135s is 10 Meters from his driveway..

[bee utey]

Received a phone call from a salesperson at our nearest Telstra Business Centre, saying that broadband was nearly ready for connection in our street. She wanted to email me their NBN ready plans for my perusal so I said, fine but I wish you the best of luck with that as AFAIK Telstra Email is down nation wide at the moment. Two weeks later I still haven't received that email. ;)

The nearest node is 500m away and the rollout stops at the council boundary just down the street. Friends 1km further down the street in the next council district won't be able to get any kind of broadband because of that, and they aren't remote enough to get satellite NBN. They can only get overpriced mobile internet.

[Homestar]

Similar story here. They're rolling it out now and the node is 7 houses away...

Basil135s is 10 Meters from his driveway..

Yeah, 2 doors away for me.


Received a phone call from a salesperson at our nearest Telstra Business Centre, saying that broadband was nearly ready for connection in our street. She wanted to email me their NBN ready plans for my perusal so I said, fine but I wish you the best of luck with that as AFAIK Telstra Email is down nation wide at the moment. Two weeks later I still haven't received that email. ;)

The nearest node is 500m away and the rollout stops at the council boundary just down the street. Friends 1km further down the street in the next council district won't be able to get any kind of broadband because of that, and they aren't remote enough to get satellite NBN. They can only get overpriced mobile internet.

The inconsistancies of the whole thing are a complete head ****. If it's not available to you premises, then almost by definition, you're remote. If they are considered too close, then they should have a local connection. I feel for them... No Netflix... :D

How do you live without Rick and Morty anyway?

[MrLandy]

No idea Chucky. No info about nodes I can find except that It's all a total sham.

Don't connect with Telstra, they charge separately for downloads and uploads.

iiNet aren't much better. No customer loyalty discount despite 20 years continuous connection. I said no point upgrading bc speed so slow and price higher for NBN. They said bad luck you'll be cut off.

It's all too easy when you're supplying the feed and everyone needs it to survive.

Tired and cranky now. Ciao.

[Tombie]

iiNet hasn't existed 25 years [emoji13]

[bee utey]

iiNet hasn't existed 25 years [emoji13]

Huh?


iiNet Limited is Australia's second-largest internet service provider with more than 1.3 million customers as of 15 August 2011. It was acquired by TPG Telecom in September 2015 for $1.56 billion, but retained its corporate name.

https://www.iinet.net.au/

[Tombie]

It's only existed 23 [emoji41]

[MrLandy]

Huh?



https://www.iinet.net.au/

Yeah, previously Westnet, now owned and operated by IiNet. I was one of iinets original readymade customers.

[Disco-tastic]

How do you live without Rick and Morty anyway?

Haha cannot wait for the 3rd season. Easily the best reason to have internet.

[firsttracks]

Sorry had to chime in on this one with my 2c. The nbn is a joke. My house is on a corner of a main road and residential street. We've had cable for a long time. Current speed is 35mb down and 1mb up. We have also just had the nbn fibre installed (yet to be switched on). I was told directly from a Telstra Tech that the nbn will be limited to a 25mb download speed, BUT also 25mb upstream. The UPload speed will make a huge difference to our lives, be it saving files to cloud storage or sending video. My gripes are 1-i have friends who can't access either fibre or cable, yet both are being installed at our place. 2-the limitation on download speed, which apparently will be slower than cable. Vent over.

[stewie110]

Sorry had to chime in on this one with my 2c. The nbn is a joke. My house is on a corner of a main road and residential street. We've had cable for a long time. Current speed is 35mb down and 1mb up. We have also just had the nbn fibre installed (yet to be switched on). I was told directly from a Telstra Tech that the nbn will be limited to a 25mb download speed, BUT also 25mb upstream. The UPload speed will make a huge difference to our lives, be it saving files to cloud storage or sending video. My gripes are 1-i have friends who can't access either fibre or cable, yet both are being installed at our place. 2-the limitation on download speed, which apparently will be slower than cable. Vent over.
It seems unusual that you would be told those speeds. Nbnco.com.au offer 25, 50 and 100mbps services as their standard products. There is also 12mbps which is considered their basic offering. (source http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/speed.html) Some retailers may offer alternatives but generally they stick to the vendor rated speeds as it allows customers to compare apples with apples.

You should probably seek alternative advice regarding the speeds quoted. Also the speeds delivered via the copper based vdsl are generally worse than the quoted service speeds.

[Disco-tastic]

Firsttracks i have read somewhere (sorry it was a long time ago - it may even be linked earlier in this thread) that the 25MB limit is imposed to limit congestion on the networks and to ensure a stable service until everyone is connected. Then, once they're sure the network can handle extra, they'll issue additional bandwidth.

Thats what i remember reading anyway [emoji14]

[firsttracks]

Nbnco.com.au offer 25, 50 and 100mbps services as their standard products. There is also 12mbps which is considered their basic offering.

Remember the nbn is just the wholesaler.
also 100meg, is slow in comparison to many countries.
I think there shouldn't even be a slower option!

[stewie110]

Remember the nbn is just the wholesaler.
also 100meg, is slow in comparison to many countries.
I think there shouldn't even be a slower option!

Which is mentioned in the following sentence in regards to retailers potentially offering alternative products.

It's unusual for nbn to deploy fibre where cable already exists unless you have optus which was written down as a dud investment. It is also no different from when optus and Telstra did their original hfc roll out. My parents have both optus and telstra in their street.

[SBD4]

Sorry had to chime in on this one with my 2c. The nbn is a joke. My house is on a corner of a main road and residential street. We've had cable for a long time. Current speed is 35mb down and 1mb up. We have also just had the nbn fibre installed (yet to be switched on). I was told directly from a Telstra Tech that the nbn will be limited to a 25mb download speed, BUT also 25mb upstream. The UPload speed will make a huge difference to our lives, be it saving files to cloud storage or sending video. My gripes are 1-i have friends who can't access either fibre or cable, yet both are being installed at our place. 2-the limitation on download speed, which apparently will be slower than cable. Vent over.

If you are being limited to 25Mb download on either fibre or HFC then find another retailer. it's not network capability that is forcing that limit. Unusual that you would be getting fibre if you already have HFC.

Regarding your friends, that's just the luck of the draw, someone has to be first and likewise someone has to be last. It'll get to them. Just quietly, I'd be doing a dance of joy if I was to get FTTH! Lucky bugger you:D

[alittlebitconcerned]

I'm in the blue mountains nsw and have been connected to the nbn for three days. Constant dropouts with the fastest speed recorded at 10mbs.
Many many hours on the phone with iiNet to try and resolve the problem with zero progress.

[SBD4]

I'm in the blue mountains nsw and have been connected to the nbn for three days. Constant dropouts with the fastest speed recorded at 10mbs.
Many many hours on the phone with iiNet to try and resolve the problem with zero progress.

I left Leura(nth) two years ago, had to put up with crap internet for 10 years there and as soon as we leave, NBN is rolled out. If your line is anything like what mine was with lots of noise especially after rain then it will be the line (You know this already). They have to fix that. I'm guessing 10Mb is much faster than what you had before - still, not acceptable.

PS I went from one internet black hole to another, You'd think being in IT and working from home I'd have made that a priority when choosing a place to live:whistling::bangin::lol2:.

We had massive noise on the line (where we are now) which was causing all sorts of issues. Logged a call with the ISP who then got telstra out to sort it. All done with in a week - perfect line now and no issues at all, just a long way from the exchange.

Good luck.

[MrLandy]

It seems unusual that you would be told those speeds. Nbnco.com.au offer 25, 50 and 100mbps services as their standard products. There is also 12mbps which is considered their basic offering. (source Choosing the right speed on the nbn? network | nbn - Australia's new broadband network (http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/speed.html)) Some retailers may offer alternatives but generally they stick to the vendor rated speeds as it allows customers to compare apples with apples.

You should probably seek alternative advice regarding the speeds quoted. Also the speeds delivered via the copper based vdsl are generally worse than the quoted service speeds.

The best I can hope for in the middle of a city is 12mbps on fibre to node! It's hardly faster than adsl and I'm being forced to pay $70 month!

Adding insult to injury my next door neighbour has fibre to the house!!! On the next street over. Not happy. I might give an ombudsman a tingle.

[Homestar]

The best I can hope for in the middle of a city is 12mbps on fibre to node! It's hardly faster than adsl and I'm being forced to pay $70 month!

Adding insult to injury my next door neighbour has fibre to the house!!! On the next street over. Not happy. I might give an ombudsman a tingle.

Unfortunately they are a toothless Tiger, but all the best with it. They were saying on the radio the other day that they were getting 80 complaints a day and had no capacity to investigate more than a few. I've still got your pain to come - FTTN is being built now in our estate, but my ADSL connection works perfectly well and we sit on 10 to 12mbps at the moment and I can stream Netflix, etc no dramas on multiple devices at once, so I have no need for anything else but we don't have a choice, which is the really stupid bit of it all.

[Disco-tastic]

The stupid bit is that the service is so poor for so many people you feel you need a choice.

[stewie110]

The best I can hope for in the middle of a city is 12mbps on fibre to node! It's hardly faster than adsl and I'm being forced to pay $70 month!

Adding insult to injury my next door neighbour has fibre to the house!!! On the next street over. Not happy. I might give an ombudsman a tingle.
You can pay for an upgrade to fttp from fttn although unless you need it for work it's probably more than most people are willing to pay. My colleague just paid 3k for the upgrade

[MrLandy]

You can pay for an upgrade to fttp from fttn although unless you need it for work it's probably more than most people are willing to pay. My colleague just paid 3k for the upgrade

Wow, what did the $3K get him?

[stewie110]

Wow, what did the $3K get him?
A couple of hundred meters of fibre from where the node was to his house. Allowing him to get better than the 10-15mbps he had over copper.

[Disco-tastic]

But you have to pay the 3k for install then the extra fee per month for the higher bandwidth...

[stewie110]

But you have to pay the 3k for install then the extra fee per month for the higher bandwidth...
That is correct at least as far as I know. Given that we have heavy use of hd video and large bandwidth apps it's probably money well spent.

[JDNSW]

....... I might give an ombudsman a tingle.

The TIO can only adjudicate between you and your retailer, and if your problem is upstream from the supplier (e.g. NBN) there is nothing they can do except impose penalties on your retailer, who will the 'settle' the dispute by offering to let you out of your contract without penalty. The TIO will then consider the case closed.

Since the retailer is charged by the TIO for every complaint made, regardless of the outcome, complaints to the TIO about something the retailer has no control over are not really fair.

John

[MrLandy]

The TIO can only adjudicate between you and your retailer, and if your problem is upstream from the supplier (e.g. NBN) there is nothing they can do except impose penalties on your retailer, who will the 'settle' the dispute by offering to let you out of your contract without penalty. The TIO will then consider the case closed.

Since the retailer is charged by the TIO for every complaint made, regardless of the outcome, complaints to the TIO about something the retailer has no control over are not really fair.

John

I wouldnt be complaining about my retailer. I'd be claimimg about the nbn monopoly and the severe disadvantage that fibre to the node causes. My reailer has thier hands tied.

[SBD4]

For those that are so inclined, a high level network architecture document:
http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/network-design-rules.pdf

[DiscoMick]

My school paid to get fibre run from the local railway station to the premises. It made a huge difference. We are heavy data users though with over 600 laptops connected simultaneously.
Bottom line is the rest of the world is going fibre all the way while this country is stuffing around with cheapskate Stone Age copper - just ridiculous.
A friend just moved from Brisbane to Battam in Indonesia and his connecton there is all fibre and far better than what he could get in Brisbane.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

[MrLandy]

My school paid to get fibre run from the local railway station to the premises. It made a huge difference. We are heavy data users though with over 600 laptops connected simultaneously.
Bottom line is the rest of the world is going fibre all the way while this country is stuffing around with cheapskate Stone Age copper - just ridiculous.
A friend just moved from Brisbane to Battam in Indonesia and his connecton there is all fibre and far better than what he could get in Brisbane.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

Exactly Mick. It would be interesting to know what fibre to the home connection - monthly costs are in Indonesia...any idea?

[SBD4]

My school paid to get fibre run from the local railway station to the premises. It made a huge difference. We are heavy data users though with over 600 laptops connected simultaneously.
Bottom line is the rest of the world is going fibre all the way while this country is stuffing around with cheapskate Stone Age copper - just ridiculous.
A friend just moved from Brisbane to Battam in Indonesia and his connecton there is all fibre and far better than what he could get in Brisbane.

Sent from my SM-G900I using AULRO mobile app

That's not really comparing apples with apples.

Geography, population, legacy infrastructure (virtually none), penetration etc, etc are very different to what we have.


They only have 2% penetration on fixed line broadband (not necessarily FTTP) and 5% Household penetration. They also use a mix of tech including fixed wireless. Their biggest growth has been with mobile broadband.

As an expat, I am guessing your friend may be living in a flash new building that is prewired with fibre and is no way representative of the typical infrastucture.

While we all would like FTTP that's not what's happening, minimum standard is 25Mb/s (sucks I know but twice as goods as average ADSL services). FTTN must be installed such that copper is no longer than 1000 metres to ensure that minimum standard can be met, if that is not being provided then it needs to be remediated.

I try to educate myself what is coming in the way of tech improvments to the FTTN option. There are several developments that are promising excellent performance on copper and another option (FTTdp) which approximates speeds of FTTP but maintains the reduced rollout cost of FTTN.

FTTdp will be rolled out to folk serviced by Optus HFC and also those that are further than 1KM from a node. Would be good if this would be more widely used once it begins to be deployed.

Yes, any school, hospital, medium to large business (device wise) should be connected using FTTP. Anything else is unacceptable.

I get a peak of 2.5mbs/s curently and will take any improvement i can get. When it finally comes my way I'll be aiming to get a 100/40 plan. If I get upwards of 60Mb/s down I'll be happy. If not then I'll review my options.

[Tombie]

Keep in mind many servers restrict each connection to control loads so unless its torrent based data you're pulling in, many servers won't flood your bandwidth anyhow.

[Tombie]

At 12Mbps a full length 1080 movie takes me the time to grab a coffee and settle in...
[emoji41]

[SBD4]

Keep in mind many servers restrict each connection to control loads so unless its torrent based data you're pulling in, many servers won't flood your bandwidth anyhow.
That's right, and with the current speed tiers, even if you had FTTP the max they will give you is 100 down anyway.

[SBD4]

At 12Mbps a full length 1080 movie takes me the time to grab a coffee and settle in...
[emoji41]
We can stream SD movies on the 2.5Mbs we have currently. Add some youtubing on other devices, and its not long before "get off the internet!" is screemed out by the movie watcher.

[Mick_Marsh]

If you want a faster fibre internet service, they are available.
Maxinet::Fibre400 (http://www.maxi.net.au/gfibre400.php?gclid=CIb55vvM_NACFQF5vQodcbIG2A)
For me, ADSL was more than adequate.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Maybe for you Mr Marsh,,
I'm surprised Sean has mains electricity :p

is there an undersea cable from Enzed??:angel::wasntme:

[Mick_Marsh]

Maybe for you Mr Marsh,,
I'm surprised Sean has mains electricity :p

is there an undersea cable from Enzed??:angel::wasntme:
Hey, we got everything here in Vic. That is why the slogan on our number plates is "The place to be".

[Tombie]

Hey, we got everything here in Vic. That is why the slogan on our number plates is "The place to be".



Yup... that Apex gang, multifaceted weather, ridiculously high proliferation of speed cameras with low tolerance, Eddie McGuire.....

Who could ask for more [emoji41][emoji13]

[Mick_Marsh]

Yup... that Apex gang, multifaceted weather, ridiculously high proliferation of speed cameras with low tolerance, Eddie McGuire.....

Who could ask for more [emoji41][emoji13]

Hey, they're all plusses....





.....except for Eddie McGuire.

[SBD4]

If you want a faster fibre internet service, they are available.
Maxinet::Fibre400 (http://www.maxi.net.au/gfibre400.php?gclid=CIb55vvM_NACFQF5vQodcbIG2A)
For me, ADSL was more than adequate.
I was very tempted once upon a time...then good sense prevailed.:D

[SBD4]

Maybe for you Mr Marsh,,
I'm surprised Sean has mains electricity :p

is there an undersea cable from Enzed??:angel::wasntme:

from "Enzed" you ask... didn't you know we are known as the "West Island"?:p

[stewie110]

Keep in mind many servers restrict each connection to control loads so unless its torrent based data you're pulling in, many servers won't flood your bandwidth anyhow.

Agree that this happens and is wide spread although this practise tends to be in decline thanks to the advent of "elastic bandwidth" and scale out architectures. i.e. amazon, google etc. As they borg an ever larger slice of the market the end user benefits by higher max speeds. The limits move to peering exchanges, last mile etc.

[Homestar]

So, it's finally become available here - FTTN unfortunalety, but we're about to see what it can do. My Boss's Son moved in around the corner just before Christmas and had it connected then as ADSL wasnt available.

He's opted for a base 25MBPS connection and he sees 10 to 12 in the evenings which he is happy with, and it's about what I get during the day on my ADSL 2+ connection now.

The bundle I've gone for doubles my current data to 1000 gig, which is good as most months we burn very close to the 500 we have now. It came with the 'speed boost' option - up to 100MBPS. I questioned them about if this works on FTTN a and they assure me it does, but time will tell. Hopefully I can get 20 or so. ;). It is about the same price as what I'm paying now. The catch is that phone calls are now 'pay as you go' but as we haven't used the land line for years, so that's not a drama. :)

So, all that is left is for the connection to be made - which is next Friday....

I'll report back on what I end with. Wish me luck (I think I'll need it)!!! :D

[cuppabillytea]

I heard the other day, that they bought the Optus fibre network and have decided not to use it. Yet they haven't sold it on.:confused: Not much use to me anyway. I'll be one of the last to hook up by the looks of things. :(

[1950landy]

They sent me an email just before Christmas to tell me they were installing it the day before Christmas ( had not contacted them for installation ) I rang & cancelled it , I told them I did not want to be without phone & internet over Christmas ( I have had problems with Telstra in this regard) Since I cancelled I think Aust Post delivery is faster. It is now slower than a racing snail. On my tablets when I want to read my emails it takes 20 minutes for them to appear. Desk top is a bit faster around 10 minutes . :o

[Homestar]

They sent me an email just before Christmas to tell me they were installing it the day before Christmas ( had not contacted them for installation ) I rang & cancelled it , I told them I did not want to be without phone & internet over Christmas ( I have had problems with Telstra in this regard) Since I cancelled I think Aust Post delivery is faster. It is now slower than a racing snail. On my tablets when I want to read my emails it takes 20 minutes for them to appear. Desk top is a bit faster around 10 minutes . :o

That's one of my biggest worries - that I'll end up without Internet for an undetermined period of time... I've always got the phone as a backup but work gets a bit ****ty when I go over 10 gig a month on it... :D

[Tombie]

That's one of my biggest worries - that I'll end up without Internet for an undetermined period of time... I've always got the phone as a backup but work gets a bit ****ty when I go over 10 gig a month on it... :D



Amusing, as home internet should not technically be expected to be used by an employee for business (it's your personal connection). If your business is expecting you to use your own data they should be paying for it. [emoji41]

[Homestar]

Oh, no - I meant for myself. :D

Work can go suck it, when I work from home I use the hotspot on the phone. :D

I use theirs, they never use mine... :). Only emails and stuff for work so the hotspot doesn't use much data. Now when I'm using it to watch YouTube or Netfix, that's a different story... :D

[Tombie]

Now when I'm using it to watch RedTube or PornHub, that's a different story... :D


Fixed for you....

[cuppabillytea]

:lol2:

[SBD4]

I heard the other day, that they bought the Optus fibre network and have decided not to use it. Yet they haven't sold it on.:confused: Not much use to me anyway.....

NBN Co had to dump the Optus HFC network (cable tv network) due to its poor condition. It was going to cost too much time and money to remediate. The premises this affects actually end up getting a much better solution with FTTdp which puts fibre right outside the home (to the kerb):

NBN Co dumps Optus HFC for FTTdp - Telco/ISP - iTnews (http://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-is-ditching-optus-hfc-for-fttdp-438398)


.....I'll be one of the last to hook up by the looks of things. :(

Don't know if you are in the area indicated on the map below but if you are, your NBN is being built now - you'll have it soon in that case. If you are saying that you'll be one of the last by choice then fair enough, but you'll have 18 months from the "ready for service" date before you'll be forced to move over. During that time your ADSL 2 connection will be slowing down the connection speed for all those that have switched over to the NBN in your immediate area:

https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-tracker/map?address=371%20Balmain%20Rd,%20Lilyfield%20NSW% 202040,%20Australia

[SBD4]

So, it's finally become available here - FTTN unfortunalety, but we're about to see what it can do. My Boss's Son moved in around the corner just before Christmas and had it connected then as ADSL wasnt available.

He's opted for a base 25MBPS connection and he sees 10 to 12 in the evenings which he is happy with, and it's about what I get during the day on my ADSL 2+ connection now.

The bundle I've gone for doubles my current data to 1000 gig, which is good as most months we burn very close to the 500 we have now. It came with the 'speed boost' option - up to 100MBPS. I questioned them about if this works on FTTN a and they assure me it does, but time will tell. Hopefully I can get 20 or so. ;). It is about the same price as what I'm paying now. The catch is that phone calls are now 'pay as you go' but as we haven't used the land line for years, so that's not a drama. :)

So, all that is left is for the connection to be made - which is next Friday....

I'll report back on what I end with. Wish me luck (I think I'll need it)!!! :D

Be interested to hear how it goes Gav, good luck!

[Homestar]

Fixed for you....

Not from the work phone...:angel:

[DiscoMick]

I heard the other day, that they bought the Optus fibre network and have decided not to use it. Yet they haven't sold it on.:confused: Not much use to me anyway. I'll be one of the last to hook up by the looks of things. :(

Our home address used to be on the NBN build list, but last time I checked it had disappeared, so you won't be alone.
Pretty poor show for a city address, I thought.

Sent from my A1601 using AULRO mobile app

[Grentarc]

Our home address used to be on the NBN build list, but last time I checked it had disappeared, so you won't be alone.
Pretty poor show for a city address, I thought.

Sent from my A1601 using AULRO mobile app
My house was scheduled to have NBN September 2017. Checked again a couple days ago to see if this was still the case....
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/01/951.jpg

And we don't have HFC here either.

[Homestar]

Yeah, it seems the dates change all the time - both ways. When I checked a year ago, Sunbury showed an availability of 2019 so I just thought that would be it - until around 3 months ago when they started sticking boxes in the street with a truck with 'NBN CO' on the side of it. I checked again and it said 'Build under way'

Only took a few months from prep to being avaiable.

On the flip side, Sunbury - which is only 1/2 hour from the CBD was one of the last towns in Victoria to get ADSL - just 12 years ago all we could get was dial up - even when tiny places at the outskirts of the state - like where my Mum lives - 200 people in the town - had it already. They won't get the NBN until next year so I beat her this time. :D

[Grentarc]

Yeah, it seems the dates change all the time - both ways. When I checked a year ago, Sunbury showed an availability of 2019 so I just thought that would be it - until around 3 months ago when they started sticking boxes in the street with a truck with 'NBN CO' on the side of it. I checked again and it said 'Build under way'

Only took a few months from prep to being avaiable.

On the flip side, Sunbury - which is only 1/2 hour from the CBD was one of the last towns in Victoria to get ADSL - just 12 years ago all we could get was dial up - even when tiny places at the outskirts of the state - like where my Mum lives - 200 people in the town - had it already. They won't get the NBN until next year so I beat her this time. :D
The real kicker where I live I can see houses with FTTP that have had it for 2 years or now...

[Homestar]

Bugger - I assume your just outside a build zone? Are you on a bit of properly that's technically considered 'Rural' or did they just not finish beyond a certain point?

[Grentarc]

Bugger - I assume your just outside a build zone? Are you on a bit of properly that's technically considered 'Rural' or did they just not finish beyond a certain point?
No, it is technically another suburb, and it doesn't matter to NBNCo that the suburbs in Wagga aren't actually that big.

[101RRS]

For those in Canberra - anyone bypassed the NBN and connected to the old Transact network with iiNet - as I understand it you get about the mid NBN speed over the VDSL2 (fibre to the local pole) network for cheaper than most ISPs and far less hassles.

Any opinions on this vs the NBN when it finally comes through. I live in a Labor Electorate so will be about the last to get the NBN.

garry

[1950landy]

A lady friend of ours had the NBN connected today (she is 74) the guy doing the instalation wanted to lay the cable on top of her parth way & on top of the the ground through the garden . She told him no so he just loopes it from rafter to rafter on the cover over the parth ( no saddles or condute)
Wen he finished she asked if it was going to work & he said I dont know , if it doesnt ring up & they would send some one out to fix it.
I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A STUF UP :mad:
She relies on the internet to contact her sons who booth live in the US.

[Grentarc]

A lady friend of ours had the NBN connected today (she is 74) the guy doing the instalation wanted to lay the cable on top of her parth way & on top of the the ground through the garden . She told him no so he just loopes it from rafter to rafter on the cover over the parth ( no saddles or condute)
Wen he finished she asked if it was going to work & he said I dont know , if it doesnt ring up & they would send some one out to fix it.
I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE A STUF UP :mad:
She relies on the internet to contact her sons who booth live in the US.
As a qualified comms tech, that's disgraceful. Unfortunately though carrier's cabling doesn't have to conform to the same standards as customer cabling.

[1950landy]

I think it was just the Telstra contractor being lazy hopping she wouldnt know or care. He probely gets payed for the number he connects in a day.
Here garden would have been quite easy , I do not know how they are going to go at our house , our front yard is all gardens with lots of trees & a number of storm water pipes , a power cable & water pipe . None of run were DBUD say they are.
Also if they think they are going to use the Fox cable it hasnt worked for over 20 years, when the tryed to hook us to cable internet about 3 years ago we had no internet for 6 months untill they put us back onto ADSL.

[1950landy]

Telstra started connecting people in our area up to the NBN just before Christmas, since then they have started digging up foot paths in almost every second street.
:confused: They have started on the street that ours runs off this morning after spending the day yesterday testing. :o They seam to be digging up the whole section between one pit & the next . My guess is they have some major problems in out area. I am glad I cancelled my installation the day before Christmas, may have been with out phone & internet over Christmas.

[Mick_Marsh]

Telstra started connecting people in our area up to the NBN just before Christmas, since then they have started digging up foot paths in almost every second street.
:confused: They have started on the street that ours runs off this morning after spending the day yesterday testing. :o They seam to be digging up the whole section between one pit & the next . My guess is they have some major problems in out area. I am glad I cancelled my installation the day before Christmas, may have been with out phone & internet over Christmas.

That's a common story. NBNCo run their fibre in Telstra conduits. The conduits can be quite old and crushed, broken or not there. Some of the Telstra cables are direct buried.
A mate had his fibre installed. The conduit ran under the neighbours new, expensive concrete driveway. The machines used to dig out for the concrete had crushed the conduit. They ended up laying new conduit from a pit further up the street. I doubt the neighbour would have been happy if they had cut his new, expensive, bluestone style concrete driveway.

[Tombie]

Up here they're line boring all new conduits

[Grentarc]

Up here they're line boring all new conduits
Yep, directional drilling here too

[Homestar]

Does anyone know how they connect a house to the FTTN setup? The cabinet is 2 houses away. I assume they splice the existing copper line into the cabinet, which is located pretty much next to an existing Telstra pit that my phone line runs through.

[Mick_Marsh]

http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/fttn-construction-fact-sheet.pdf

[1950landy]

Up here they're line boring all new conduits

They used a line boreing machine here but seam to be diging sections up now .

[Homestar]

Well, the NBN is on! :):):)

I was watching YouTube when the Internet went off and the modem went red. By the time I wandered up the street and chatted to the guys connecting it, wandered back, connected the new Modem and switched it on, the NBN was on.

So, how does it go I hear you ask? The test below shows it - this is on the wireless as well, I've yet to check it on the Ethernet running to my Sons computer.

The connection is a 100/40 and to say I'm happy with 89/38 is an understatement... :). I was hoping for around 30 down. Now I am one of the first to be connected to this node, but they said there's only 45 homes max that will be connected to this one - we are near a park, so not surrounded by houses and the way the estate was put in, the next one down will see much more traffic, so we have got lucky I think.

[Disco-tastic]

Nice! I wish we could get that sort of speed! Not that i really have anything I'd use it for... :)

[Homestar]

Yeah, I have no real use for it either, but the speed boost was included in the package and after hearing all the doom and gloom about slow connections, I opted for the fastest available as I was sure I would be lucky to get 20 down. :D

So we now have double the data (1000 gig) at nearly 8 times the speed for the same money as before. Wonder how long the 1000 gig will last...? :angel:

What it will help me with is uploading videos - that was painfully slow before, so looking forward to seeing how that goes.

[SBD4]

Yeah, I have no real use for it either, but the speed boost was included in the package and after hearing all the doom and gloom about slow connections, I opted for the fastest available as I was sure I would be lucky to get 20 down. :D

So we now have double the data (1000 gig) at nearly 8 times the speed for the same money as before. Wonder how long the 1000 gig will last...? :angel:

What it will help me with is uploading videos - that was painfully slow before, so looking forward to seeing how that goes.

How's life in the fast lane Gav after getting that crappy FTTN hooked up?;)

[Mick_Marsh]

How's life in the fast lane Gav after getting that crappy FTTN hooked up?;)
Don't know about Gav's FTTN but my FTTH is rather poor at the moment.
It's supposed to be 12Mb/s, not 0.25Mb/s. And I'm not the only one experiencing this.

[DiscoMick]

Don't know about Gav's FTTN but my FTTH is rather poor at the moment.
It's supposed to be 12Mb/s, not 0.25Mb/s. And I'm not the only one experiencing this.
Joys of strangling the fibre by sticking copper on the end?

[Homestar]

How's life in the fast lane Gav after getting that crappy FTTN hooked up?;)


Don't know about Gav's FTTN but my FTTH is rather poor at the moment.
It's supposed to be 12Mb/s, not 0.25Mb/s. And I'm not the only one experiencing this.

Yeah Mick, mines running slow too, but Friday nights usually are. Only 49Mbps tonight... ;). Test was performed on wireless with the iPad while watching Netflix on TV and the young bloke gaming on line too.

[Tombie]

We just went FTTN - not a lot of strangling going on [emoji41]

Wireless onto the home network..

To be fair. We are the only one on that node at this stage!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/01/491.jpg

[Homestar]

We just went FTTN - not a lot of strangling going on [emoji41]

Wireless onto the home network..

To be fair. We are the only one on that node at this stage!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/01/491.jpg

Yep, similar speeds to what I got first up and most days. Friday and Saturday nights are a bit slower and I expect things to slow down as more connections are made to the node, but if I end up with a quarter of what I've got now, it will still be fine.

[Mick_Marsh]

Joys of strangling the fibre by sticking copper on the end?
No copper on the end of this one, mate. It's fibre all the way in. FTTH. (That's a H, not a N)

[SBD4]

Don't know about Gav's FTTN but my FTTH is rather poor at the moment.
It's supposed to be 12Mb/s, not 0.25Mb/s. And I'm not the only one experiencing this.
What's your ISP been doing to help you with that Mick? It does not meet the minimum service standard as you say and not by a little bit either.

[DiscoMick]

No copper on the end of this one, mate. It's fibre all the way in. FTTH. (That's a H, not a N)
Ah, OK, got confused.
Definitely should complain about that, I think. Maybe your router needs a reset?

[Mick_Marsh]

What's your ISP been doing to help you with that Mick? It does not meet the minimum service standard as you say and not by a little bit either.
I'm about to cancel the service. With what I use, prepaid wireless is much cheaper and far more usable. From $80pm to $140py.
I'm not the only one with that view. All I will have is a telephone on fibre. And I don't use that because the mobile phone is $20pm and all calls are free.

[SBD4]

Here's tool put together by MrMac over at Whirpool.

It colour codes each property to identify what technology is/will be used to provide NBN and at what speeds. Very Interesting:

NBN MTM Alpha (http://nbnmtm.australiaeast.cloudapp.azure.com/nbnmtm.html) (use search button or move map)

[Tombie]

Here's tool put together by MrMac over at Whirpool.

It colour codes each property to identify what technology is/will be used to provide NBN and at what speeds. Very Interesting:

NBN MTM Alpha (http://nbnmtm.australiaeast.cloudapp.azure.com/nbnmtm.html) (use search button or move map)

Hardly works. [emoji6]

[SBD4]

yeah, he does say:


Read First: This is an unofficial best estimate on both NBN technology and speeds to act only as a guide and overview. Click on a premise dot (zoom in) to get more detail per premise. This is a work in progress and technology on the map will change. If the premise is grey it has not been estimated as any tech or located a Telstra pillar in case of FTTN.

He's also put his contact details at the bottom of the page so people can let him know if any issues. If you can supply him with the info he outlines he can update the map accordingly.

[Eevo]

must be pre-alpha.

i looked at a few SA suburbs and no information.

[WhiteD3]

What do I know?

We have built a new house, moved in in December.
The NBN is available in the street.
Applied to one of the major carriers in October.
Our block is one half of a split block and so its taken until last week to get a "Location ID" out of NBN Co.
Our lead in cable is still hanging out of the front lawn as it has since November.
I've been given March 27 as the date the work will commence. So call it a April connection.

To get this far I have had to make a formal complaint to NBN Co, the carrier and the TIO.

With two boys at Uni and me working from home a lot, the cost of Telstra's 4G (we don't get the other carrier's 4G here) is running to $80-100 a week!

It took until early Feb to convince the carrier that the location they were looking at and insisting was connected, was in fact my next door neighbours' NBN modem.

I would laugh it were funny but the incompetence and bureaucracy here is staggering.

[jonesy63]

The last time I checked - August 2016 - there were no plans for NBN in my suburb for at least 3 years. With that in mind, I ditched ADSL 2+ and moved back onto Telstra cable. I get back from a week overseas last week and low-and-behold... NBN Co have updated their plans for my suburb! Turns out we're getting HFC... so I already have NBN broadband and they'll install the home phone line connect whenever. :-\

Talk about "Back to the '90s"

[Homestar]

What do I know?

We have built a new house, moved in in December.
The NBN is available in the street.
Applied to one of the major carriers in October.
Our block is one half of a split block and so its taken until last week to get a "Location ID" out of NBN Co.
Our lead in cable is still hanging out of the front lawn as it has since November.
I've been given March 27 as the date the work will commence. So call it a April connection.

To get this far I have had to make a formal complaint to NBN Co, the carrier and the TIO.

With two boys at Uni and me working from home a lot, the cost of Telstra's 4G (we don't get the other carrier's 4G here) is running to $80-100 a week!

It took until early Feb to convince the carrier that the location they were looking at and insisting was connected, was in fact my next door neighbours' NBN modem.

I would laugh it were funny but the incompetence and bureaucracy here is staggering.

How well do you get on with your neighbours? Maybe you could share a connection until you're up and running? I supply next doors Internet from my modem - I get the odd beer out of it - her data usage isn't huge so no issues with that. Just a thought. Hope you're up and running soon.

[Tombie]

Just came back from Thailand..
Makes me angry... 200MBs fibre connections, no data caps or penalty and $20 Aus a month!

And WiFi bloody everywhere!!!!

[SBD4]

interesting approach by Telecube to combat congestion:



Exceed monthly allowance shaped to 1/1Mbps
Daily metered data usage max 10% of monthly plan allowance
Exceed daily limit shaped to 10% of service speed until midnight
Hourly metered data usage max 5% of daily limit during PEAK hours
Exceed hourly PEAK limit and shaped to 10% of service speed until end of the hour
Daily usage counters reset at midnight
Hourly usage counters reset at the start of each hour
Limits in plain numbers;

1000GB Plan = 100GB Daily (6am – midnight) / 5GB Hourly (6pm – midnight)
500GB Plan = 50GB Daily (6am – midnight) / 2.5GB Hourly (6pm – midnight)
100GB Plan = 10GB Daily (6am – midnight) / 500MB Hourly (6pm – midnight)




From Whirlpool:
Telecube - NBN Offer - 100/40 1000GB $69 - Part 2 - Other broadband - Whirlpool Forums (https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm't=2617030)

They seem to be quite good on the customer service front.
Don't know why I am bothering to look at this stuff...I am 2 years off getting NBN.[bawl]

[Eevo]

interesting approach by Telecube to combat congestion:


From Whirlpool:
Telecube - NBN Offer - 100/40 1000GB $69 - Part 2 - Other broadband - Whirlpool Forums (https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm't=2617030)

They seem to be quite good on the customer service front.
Don't know why I am bothering to look at this stuff...I am 2 years off getting NBN.[bawl]


way too complicated

[biggin]

And expensive.
NBN. I'd suggest 99% of the population don't need it and half of those who do, don't want to pay for it.
It's handy, at best.

[Homestar]

And expensive.
NBN. I'd suggest 99% of the population don't need it and half of those who do, don't want to pay for it.
It's handy, at best.

Don't agree sorry (but that's ok :) ), with streaming services and catch up TV become more popular, and growing at a very fast rate, the NBN will become more nesesary as time goes on for those (like me) that end up watching more streaming TV than regular TV. Add in a teenager or two who likes to use online gaming and it soon becomes a winner in a lot of households.

While my ADSL2+ connection was just capable of this most of the time, the NBN has greatly improved things - and my previous connection was very good compared to what most others have.

We burn through around 700 gig a month at the moment all in glorious HD without pauses, jitters, drop in quality etc which crappier connections tend to do.

Once you've got it, it would be very hard to go back. :)

Your point on cost is a good one though and it depends a lot on what you currently use and pay for. If you just surf the net a bit and do emails, the plan shown previously is massive overkill. If you use the Internet like we do, then it's good value - if they can provide the speeds claimed which a lot can't (again, thankfully ours does). We are still miles ahead now since dropping Foxtel and getting Stan and Netflix. Both these services allow multiple log ons all the time, so we split these with family elsewhere - costs us all $8 a month per household for both services plus a decent internet connection - this hasn't cost us any more than our previous ADSL2+ connection, so we are around $80 a month better off with how we watch things now overall.

[biggin]

Yes. It's handy.

[JDNSW]

And expensive.
NBN. I'd suggest 99% of the population don't need it and half of those who do, don't want to pay for it.
It's handy, at best.
It
all depends on your "need". If you want to interact with government at almost any level, it is almost essential to have an internet connection. The same goes for an increasing number of companies. It is becoming essential for education at secondary and higher levels. If you want to tender for any commonwealth contract, it must be done on line.

The NBN network sets out to make usable internet available for all Australians. Without it, a substantial proportion of the population would be unable to access any reasonably effective or workable connection in the foreseeable future.

Whether it is achieving this goal is rather questionable, with the mandate to become profitable requiring them to concentrate mainly on the easy to service customers, who probably would have been well connected by commercial services anyway, and the very substandard service provided by satellite and some wireless services. In addition to this the decision to have a large number of points of interconnection has greatly reduced competition, and there are a lot of aspects to how the NBN works that could be much improved, including their accountability and their policy of secretiveness.

[Tombie]

Going just fine here...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2017/04/1037.jpg

[Homestar]

Ditto. :)