NBN Discussion

[Quickstatus]

alive

And Covid free

 

[Buzzard]

This thread is still alive.

I must have forgotten to unsubscribe.

It will probably live until the roll out is finished.

 

[straitman]

It might live forever then!

 

[Hvr]

As someone who has been working from home for the last month I couldn't have done it without reliable internet.

My 100/20 HFC was worked perfectly with two computers, home and work in a discrete set up going full bore. Plus, at various times internet television via my Fetch box.

Absolutely no complaints about Aussie Broadband, It probably helps that during the day I am the only person with internet on in my block, but being closest to the inbound cable (the HFC cable box is on my wall) can't be a bad thing.

 

[moa999]

I certainly can't complain about my NBN with Aussie Broadband - FTTB currently at 65 days uptime after a power outage
They've even stopped counting bandwidth 9-5 for those on a limited data plan.

 

[Quickstatus]

I’ve done a preorder with ABB

Their business plans come with free Static IP unlike their residential plans. Same price. Just need ABN.

 

[Daver6]

I’ve done a preorder with ABB

Their business plans come with free Static IP unlike their residential plans. Same price. Just need ABN.

Even on the home plans your public IP is unlikely to change unless they do a network reconfiguration. My IP hasn't changed in roughly a year.

 

[Quickstatus]

Yes I know but when it’s free for the same price...

 

[Daver6]

Yes I know but when it’s free for the same price...

Ahh. I read your post about the same price to mean the static IP doesn't add to the cost of the business plan (which is also correct), not that the business plan is the same price as the personal plan.

 

[Lynda2475]

Like others here Im with ABB and reaping the benfit of not being charged for data use in business hours whilst wfh during this pandemic.

My nbn connection is HFC 50/20 has been rock solid, and I spend most the working day on video calls and working on large files hosted in the cloud, and am a heavy streamer in the evenings and on weekend.

nbn bashing is a favourote past time of many keyboard warriors, but it has actually held up really well in this time of unprecendented demand for bandwidth with almost everyone working and learning from home.

What has been exposed more than ever is the differences between RSPs. Telstra, Optus and Vocus group all strugling with closures in their offshore call centres, meaning turn around tme when there is an issue has been woreful as only have a handful of onshore staff. Yet an RSP like ABB which has on shore call centres, and has enabled their employees to WFH and is still able to properly support their clients.

 

[Dee#]

We gave NBN the flick after 26 hours!!!!
We had ADSL from TPG for a long time and it was all ok. We are in Perth suburbs.
They put in FTTK finally. We transferred to NBN and one day later there was a power outage in the area. When lights came back on the NBN didn't. We had to wait 10 days for the NBN tech to turn up.!!!
By this time we were using our Telstra phones as modems and finding it very fast and most satisfactory. Especially with them keep giving us 25g extra data every month due to lockdown.
When the tech finally arrived he told us the brand new NBN plug in box had packed up.!!!
So we just told TPG and NBN to shove it. You are at ransom to NBN.

 

[Quickstatus]

When you say FTTK you mean FTTC, FTTB, FTTN or FTTP.

An NBN boycott can’t be sustained unless you are going to rely on the 4G /5G forever.

NBN is not known for good customer service. And it is not the fault of TPG either. They only sell the plan. NBN owns and operates the network.

Still I would give it another go.

 

[Quickstatus]

Ahh. I read your post about the same price to mean the static IP doesn't add to the cost of the business plan (which is also correct), not that the business plan is the same price as the personal plan.

@Daver6
You’re a lifesaver. I thought the biz including static Ip was = residential plan without static up.
Wrong wrong wrong.
im going to swop back

 

[serfty]

When you say FTTK you mean FTTC, FTTB, FTTN or FTTP.

That would be Fibre to the Kerb.

 

[codash1099]

Jacinda Ardern Only One With Stable Enough Internet To Dial Into Meeting With Australian Leaders – The Shovel

 

[straitman]

When you say FTTK you mean FTTC, FTTB, FTTN or FTTP.

An NBN boycott can’t be sustained unless you are going to rely on the 4G /5G forever.

NBN is not known for good customer service. And it is not the fault of TPG either. They only sell the plan. NBN owns and operates the network.

Still I would give it another go.

We have dumped NBN at 25 Mbps to use 4G at 200 to 300 Mbps. Also cheaper for us.

 

[Daver6]

@Daver6
You’re a lifesaver. I thought the biz including static Ip was = residential plan without static up.
Wrong wrong wrong.
im going to swop back

I'm not sure how I helped....but glad I could

 

[33kft]

We have dumped NBN at 25 Mbps to use 4G at 200 to 300 Mbps. Also cheaper for us.

Whilst I think there is a lot to be said for mobile internet services in today's age, this is not a true depiction of the options available. You don't and can't get sustained 200-300Mbps on wireless networks and if you were going to do a true head to head comparison it would be equally easy for the NBN to allow bursting of up to 1Gbps per user on FTTP at least and even on FTTC if the correct NCD is used, but it causes congestion which is not good for business hence the more sane bandwidth limits for users. Mobile spectrum is super expensive and much more constrained than the frequnencies available for fibre customers, and once the data hits a tower it has to be back-hauled anyway so there is no magic involved, just a lot lighter data load on mobile networks currently (due to metering) than on fixed-wire networks.

 

[RAM]

As a hold-out until the last possible second (ok fortnight) we were due to have the Optus HFC turned off in March 2021. In the approx 26 years using Optus - we've only had one outage that we can remember. I cannot really blame Optus for the lightning strike I suppose!

Meanwhile the Tesltra technicians (original one retired) have been turning up with alarming regularity to fix the Telstra internet, Telstra phone connections & Foxtel for the rest of the people on the block who went for Foxtel early on.

Every time there's reasonable rain - Telstra goes down and they lose internet access, Foxtel, IP phones etcs. Occasionally the fixed lines also go down but not more than say 1/3rd the time. The Foxtel refunds for loss of service got so expensive (for Foxtel) that they came and put satellite dishes up on everyone's roof (if they agreed to it). There were a couple of hold-outs, but after a few months of near constant outages (during consistent rain), the couple of holdouts relented.

Some mentioned how frustrating it was losing the internet the whole time etc, and asked why I hadn't got a dish. My revelation that we use Optus was almost received as a betrayal given their facial reactions. Then I mentioned we had suffered no outages...

So you can understand our reticence to go on the NBN which is using the identical Telstra pits circa 1920 something (one still has a Telecom Australia concrete lid).

Just as CV lockdowns got underway an ominous letter arrived. NBN have requested Optus to shut down their HFC network in our area by mid-June 2020. Roughly 9 months earlier than the normal 18 month period.

Went to Optus store and got told a whole lot of nonsense that I politely questioned. Assured the rubbish I was told was 100% correct. Moved on and scheduled a change - 4-5 week delay.

Went home, 3 minutes on internet confirmed every detail I was told etc was wrong. Went onto Optus web site to try and use online chat, no joy. Rang Optus, using a secret number as CV response underway and no matter what you chose on the IVR - everyone led to you getting disconnected.

Sometime later got a person. Asked a few questions to confirm what I thought was the case, then cancelled what had been set-up by the store and re-booked etc. Was told that the Optus HFC network in my area was NOT being decommissioned due to poor state of Telstra system - rang true and gave me a warm feeling about future NBN.

Today was the first phase, one very amicable & willing 'NBN' (aka sub-sub-contractor) turned up (early) to start the process. Asked where we wanted it installed, how to get the cable in etc. Then I asked about whether it was simply a matter of transferring the existing Optus HFC cable from the Optus wall plate to a NBN wall plate.

No! Your NBN connection is via the NBN not Optus HFC. The Optus HFC is being turned off in a few weeks.

I queried this, a couple of times but he was adamant. I will have to wait for 2nd visit in a couple of days by the 'Optus (sub-sub-contractor) to find out if the news is bad. Odd how Optus HFC can power the fixed line phones but NBN designed not to, and make everyone an IP phone?

So, some crawling under house, drilling small hole through floor - new cable connected to NBN box on house through to outlet inside. Before the work started he tested the street cable. All good (not near minimum standards for any of the 16 different parameters). He knew what the numbers should be but had no understanding what they meant.... All OK.

Tested the cable from NBN box, under floor & up to wall mount (before attaching it to the wall unit). All OK.

Connected it to the wall socket. All OK.

Attached cable to wall socket. All OK.

Connected cable from socket to modem. All NOT OK.

Both he & I were 'NOT HAPPPY JAN'. So he disconected the cable from the modem & tested the cable. All NOT OK. Now even worse, no signal at all.

Disconnected the cable from the wall outlet. All NOT OK. No signal at all.

Took off the wall outlet, disconnected the cable & tested it. All NOT OK. No signal at all.

Went outside, disconnected cable leading in from NBN box. All NOT OK. Intermittent signal, fail on 13/16 parameters.

Replaced NBN isolator box. All NOT OK. Intermittent signal, fail on 13/16 parameters.

So, issue now with on-street connection or further afield yet it had been working perfectly just 32 minutes earlier. BTW - no it was not raining BUT we did get 18mm overnight....

Went out to look for the connection. Opened pit directly in line with conduit on our street fence, had the cable coming into it and went out through another conduit but was a mess debris nearly filling the pit, no sign of NBN connector & not clear whether it went up the street or down the street. So he moved off to the next pit. Similar, had one wire running into it but looked like it fed into next door neighbour. So he went and checked the TWO pits at the other end of our house. One completely empty and the other (put in by NBN in Jan 2019) had no NBN connector just one wire seemingly coming from our up-street neighbour.

Checked next pit up street, same deal, empty. Next pit up street had 2 wires entering it but it was 3 houses up from us - perhaps someone had refused to be connected? Still no NBN connector.

Back down the street to check the next pit going down. 2 wires coming in and going out, no connection, next pit down. EMPTY, nothing coming in nor going out. Next pit, 3 wires coming in & going out, no NBN connection. Three pits later - E U R E K A. A connector but only 4 lines coming in. We're now 6 houses away from our one....

Checked labels on the wires - covered the houses 3 away, 4 away, 5 away & 6 away. Not ours nor the two neighbours on that side. Confused to say the least. So back up the road we go, tech muttering 'They can't have made the connections more than 100m, thay can't have....'

Checked next 2 pits up street no connections. Arrive at major streets intersection and 4 plate concrete Telstra 7-9 ft deep pit. Yes, a NBN connector!

Problem is that the labels cover the houses 4 up, 3 up, 2 up & 1 up street from me. Not our house nor the 2 down street neighbours. Tech is perturbed. Can't call NBN help centre as they shut that down some time ago. Has to now use online chat, not so good for phone cleanliness. Short wait & then asks where is the connection pit for XYY My Street. Waiting, waiting, waiting, 'Pit located between XYY & XYZ'.

So he reopens pit that seems to meet that bill, trouble is that one is over 3/4 full of tree litter & sand. NOTHING is going to stop the Tech. Without a thought (thinking?) for glass, needles, or any other annoying debris possibly hidden - he keeps pushing his fingers into the morass up to his wrist & beyond, finds nothing but one particularly thick (2x pencil diameter) gum branch to draw blood. Hope his tetanus shot is up to date.

I offer to get a trowel and dig out the debris, 2x 30 litre bucket loads later, there's definitely no NBN connector in the now nearly empty pit.

Wipes off some of the blood on his clothes, resurrects online chat. 'Are you sure the connection box is between.....'

90+ seconds later, 'Yes'. 'There must be a 2nd pit buried somewhere along your frontage'.

Of course, I should not have asked but I couldn't help it, why would they bury the new pit? 'They shouldn't have.'

So he uses his 'opening key' tool for opening/lifting the concrete covers to probe the ground. 'It shouldn't be deep'. Either its at least 40mm below the surface or it doesn't exist. I offer to get a heavy duty garden fork & give it a try. 'Thank you.'

Probing, probing, 17m later, clunk. It was close to 100mm below the surface. Right next to the ONLY tree on the verge. Did I say right next to? And centered on the tree trunk so they would have had to cut through roots. Wonder if they get to charge more for doing that? Two guesses.

Off to get a spade from his truck, a few minutes later with an impressive mound of grass, tree roots and sand/soil there is a very new looking concrete pit cover. Opens it and there is a near sparkling new looking black plastic pit with a heavily rusted 8 cable connector with 3 cables feeding into it. Even better one of the cables has our address on it.

Cuts off waterproof covering and using his needlenose pliers cannot undo it. But can knock off some of the bubbled rust on the connector. Grabs his heavy duty pliers and gets it loose. 'How old do you think the connector is (curious as ever)?' 'At least 15 years, probably more.'

Hmm, wonder if the contractors charge for a new one when they put in this new pit about 25 cm from the existing but previously debris filled pit?

Tests the NBN connector port. All NOT OK. No signal at all.

He was not going to admit defeat. So he tried one of the 5 empty ones (after having a harder time taking off its 15+yr old rusted on protector cap. All OK, 16/16 parameters fine.

So he connects our cable to that one, goes and tests every subsequent connection point, and they test OK. Meanwhile I am thinking that's how they tested with the first go right up to the final test of the modem connection. Modem tests OK this time, so back onto chat to get a more thorough diagnostic run by NBN center to cover modem workings. All OK.

But for how long? Even the tech commented, 'It is bad that if your NBN connection goes down once your on it - then you have to use a mobile phone to contact your provider for them to blame the NBN etc. My first call today was a few suburbs down where an 80+ yr lady had been without her phone for 6 days but was worried about asking her neighbours to call in case she caught CV.'

It is looking like we might get more rain tonight. I wonder if it will still be working in 2+ days when Optus is due to arrive?

Anyone want to offer odds?

We had considered going the 5G way but you cannot get a fixed line (or at least both the Optus & Vodafone stores said you can't) with it.

 

[straitman]

Whilst I think there is a lot to be said for mobile internet services in today's age, this is not a true depiction of the options available. You don't and can't get sustained 200-300Mbps on wireless networks and if you were going to do a true head to head comparison it would be equally easy for the NBN to allow bursting of up to 1Gbps per user on FTTP at least and even on FTTC if the correct NCD is used, but it causes congestion which is not good for business hence the more sane bandwidth limits for users. Mobile spectrum is super expensive and much more constrained than the frequnencies available for fibre customers, and once the data hits a tower it has to be back-hauled anyway so there is no magic involved, just a lot lighter data load on mobile networks currently (due to metering) than on fixed-wire networks.

Just to add to my comments.
We put up with poor reliablity NBN for 2 years. The NBN needed to be reset almost daily and appeared to have a much lower bandwidth than the the 4G. ie frequently ran into limits with multiple users whereas the 4G has never had an issue.