NBN is coming. (National Broadband Network)

[ajkel64]

Hi chaps, we have the new NBN being installed in our streets. They have started last week and apparently will be here for some time installing all the under ground cables. Just wondering if any members here in Australia have it at the moment and what do you think of it? From what I have been reading it is not looking great. Some people are saying that they have been without landlines for 3 weeks in some cases. I have read an article where one person was trying to get their parents landline back working and it took 3 weeks and on many occasions his mobile phone battery went flat from talking and trying to get the phone up and running for his aged parents. Does anyone here in Australia have any experience with the NBN that they would like to share?

 

[cleanshaved]

I do know about Aussie, Andrew. But I just got connected to fibre today.

Here they are in the process of laying fibre to every house in NZ and the old copper network will be stopped very soon. I believe the government has given the ok to un plug at the end of the year but they will go past that date.
My street was started a few months ago and seemed to take a long time for them to lay the area.
Connection was a two stage job. First visit was on Friday to work out a plan, sign the plan and they connected to the outside of the house. I got a call today saying they had a cancelled job so could bring my final connect forward. Yeah mate, I jumped at that.
I was speaking to a colleague today about the up and coming connect. He said he had not heard of any one who did not have problems. One used phone and the internet would drop. Another who had not internet connection for a few weeks.
That news did not fill me with faith but I figured that was a year ago and surely things have improved.
It took them a bit of fluffing around but all up and running within a few hours. They had to reconfigure the base unit and contact the help service twice. Tested internet and about to leave, to which I said hold on please test the phone. Lucky, it was not working as it was listening to the internet when making a call..….unplug and re-plug in and we are all good.

For me the connection was free and I'm paying about the same for faster service. I'm picking the free connection deal will end in a few years when the whole network is wired. I would hate to think how much they would have charged if it was not free.

Now I took Friday off for the last connection, so have a free day off.

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks Chris, we must be going the same way. I have not looked into much until we got back from a weeks holiday and found the work crews working late Saturday night filling in holes and putting new inspection pits in the footpath. I have not heard of anyone being approached to sign up yet but I guess that is coming. There seems to be a couple of crews around town and someone said that they are here for 3 months. I thought it might take them longer than that. Good for the local economy, apparently there are no homes to rent in town and they are working 6 days a week at the moment so some of the money that they are earning must be being spent in town. Oh well, time will tell. I am quite happy with what we have now.

 

[StratMan]

i guess it depends if you were lucky enough to get fibre to the home, fibre to the node will depend on how far your home is to the node and the condition of the remaining copper. NBN is being rolled out in my area as we speak and should be available in the next few months. I am lucky enough to get Fibre to HFC (hybrid fibre coaxial) which is the existing telstra cable so mine should be good.

do you know what they are rolling out in your area?

 

[ajkel64]

We live on a corner block. There is a Telstra inspection pit right on the front boundary corner. The NBN installers have now put an inspection pit on the fence between us and the next door neighbours.The inspection pit is slightly closer to the neighbours but basically between us. So at the moment I have a inspection pits on each front side of the house. I will find out what is being installed and get back.

 

[Dentwist]

In Prospect SA we have fibre to the home, my brother in the hills has fibre to the Node. Mine has vastly faster speeds.

 

[ajkel64]

I have not found out more but the NBN workers must be on some kind of timetable as it is 9.15pm and they are still out a few houses up the street working a small digger by spotlight. So much for noise restrictions.

 

[Legion]

Fiber to the node can often be slower than the old ADSL system.

 

[ajkel64]

Went to the local Shire Council this afternoon to find out more about the NBN. They could not tell me anything. Not a thing. Nothing about sign ups, nothing about carbon fibre optics, copper nothing. I thought that they would have some idea on what was going on with crews around town digging up the footpaths and roads. What do we pay rates for?

 

[Legion]

Wait for 5g and go wireless?

That is where it is heading. The NBN is a massive waste of money, at least in urban areas. They rolled it out so slowly that technology has overtaken it.

 

[cleanshaved]

Wait for 5g and go wireless?

That is where it is heading. The NBN is a massive waste of money, at least in urban areas. They rolled it out so slowly that technology has overtaken it.

5G is due around 2020 and sounds like it will raise the bar quite a bit.
The 4G wireless broadband comes with mixed reviews. Some say they get 30mbps with 150mbps being the best.

 

[newo]

What’s 4G...

Not holding my breath for 5G from the telcos when they can’t even supply Gov tower subsidised 4G and I’m not remote

The urban areas can pay for 5G if they want, they will get coverage. Us in rural will be reliant on a decent Government run service by Public servants not Shareholders!

 

[cleanshaved]

What’s 4G...

Not holding my breath for 5G from the telcos when they can’t even supply Gov tower subsidised 4G and I’m not remote

The urban areas can pay for 5G if they want, they will get coverage. Us in rural will be reliant on a decent Government run service by Public servants not Shareholders!

I was reading about 5G plan for here in NZ. It is still early days but they say it won't be a stand alone system. i.e. it won't cover all areas so 4G and even 3G will still be working.

There is always a lot of noise here from the farmers for a lack of internet access. I don't see 5G as a solution for them, as you will need to be even closer to a cell tower to access, if I read that correctly. There are some areas in the wop wops, where my cell phone won't work. Great place to chill and escape modern technology but I could see living there being a different story.

I tested the 4G on my phone, at home and at work. Both locations gave me around 150/30.
The lowest fibre plan here at the moment is 100/20, then 200/20 and the best 800/600. The fibre plans do offer better data rates though.

 

[ajkel64]

Just been advised by my tenant who rents my house out that she has gone NBN but had to have satellite dish put on my roof. She didn't ask me if it was okay but what do you do? Her son needs it for school and she needs it to send out her email invoices. Apparently where my old house is satellite dishes are the only way.

 

[John Rose]

About optical fibre service for phones...
I got a FireOp bundle (from Bell-Aliant, here in New Brunswick, Canada) installed in my house, replacing the ADSL. It's for internet, TV, and the landline phone. I held out until they waived the installation charge.
One thing that concerns me though is that it requires a 12 V battery for the UPS backup to power the FibreOp hardware in my basement. If the power is off for more than 8 hours, then my landline goes dead, whether I use the phone or not. That's less time than my cell phone would last. That did not happen with copper pair service, since there would be a bank of batteries at the exchange, further backed up by a diesel generator.

Yes, I do have a cell phone too (with a different service provider), but it means that they are passing the responsibility for battery backup from them (as with the copper pair landline) to me, who does not have a diesel generator.
The battery has already died once (at the end of it's natural useful life), and I had to pay $30 to buy a new one and install it myself.

 

[StratMan]

What’s 4G...

Not holding my breath for 5G from the telcos when they can’t even supply Gov tower subsidised 4G and I’m not remote

The urban areas can pay for 5G if they want, they will get coverage. Us in rural will be reliant on a decent Government run service by Public servants not Shareholders!

I hear what your saying, Telstra are shocking and always will be. but thing is that they have been putting resources into infrastructure to support 5G. they have really stuck it to NBN, sold them a network that was aging and now going to check mate NBN with 5G

either way my HFC connection will be fine, and should have it by around april next year, just in time the for Premier League

 

[StratMan]

Just been advised by my tenant who rents my house out that she has gone NBN but had to have satellite dish put on my roof. She didn't ask me if it was okay but what do you do? Her son needs it for school and she needs it to send out her email invoices. Apparently where my old house is satellite dishes are the only way.

that is a bit strange, i am sure they need to get your approval before adding stuff like that to houses. on the up side though, they wont remove it so if/when they move on you have added value to your house.

In regards to your NBN connection, if you go here to the NBN home page , put your address in and click residential you will get info on your connection type

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks for the link. Appears that we can get connected from April 2019 and the technology will be "Fibre To The Curb" (F.T.T.C.) what ever that means. I clinked a link to find out more about F.T.T.C. but the link comes up with page not found. I will try again later. Again thanks for the link.

 

[StratMan]

No worries..

FTTC is supposed to be better than fibre to the node, which was known for crappy speeds and was also unstable. But no way near as good as fibre to the node or HFC.

Ultimately the fibre is connected to the telecom pit, which i think there is one in every street? not sure but reckon so. anyway the quality of this connection is dependant on how close the pit is and the quality of the copper from that pit to your house.

If you live in a old suburb and no work has been done on the copper you can guarantee it is in need of some repair. There are a number of terminations from that pit to your house, the further away you are the more connections which increases risk of any issues.

more info can be found here with official info or a forum topic

 

[newo]

I hear what your saying, Telstra are shocking and always will be. but thing is that they have been putting resources into infrastructure to support 5G. they have really stuck it to NBN, sold them a network that was aging and now going to check mate NBN with 5G

Don’t get me started...

Public service paid for by tax payerssold off, run down & purchased back by tax payers

Seriously $&6¥, )|%*$ %|£€%! in Canberra

The telcos claim that the investment has been massive. Honestly force them to break up and sell off their hardware this is BS

See below - wheels still spinning but the hamsters dead