NBN Discussion

[RAM]

Optus are well known for this lie. The period where Optus and Telstra can run competing fixed line product is called the co-existence period and it is always 18 months after RFS. Telstra abide by this for Telstra Cable and ADSL, but Optus cable got an exemption and try to only give their cable customers 3 months to switch because as soon as their customers connect to nbn they get a payment for retiring their network, This decision is solely Optus'. Also as soon as we went into lock-down nbn agreed to pause all end of co-existance disconnections so there is no need to switch due to anythign nbn has done. If the letter does actually say that nbn is asking for the connection then you shoudl challeng it because that is not the case, and the obudsmna has warned Optus about misrepresenting the facts before.

The first letter I received was from the NBN not Optus about the closure - so assumed it was NBN led as it stated they'd decided to close it.

 

[moa999]

4G backup are relatively useless because of the slow speed they throttle to.

Telstra is poor at 6Mbps. Think the others are a bit higher. Ok for everything but video etc.

But it also depends on how big the outage is.
My parents are in a Telstra Cable area, NBN still some months away. They had a 6-day suburb wide outage a few weeks ago.
With Covid and everyone working from home, mobile networks were flooded, and they were averaging 0.5-1Mbps 9-5 on their 4G backup.

(They've got the Gen1 device which doesn't autoswitch, so just pulled the cable between the cable modem and smart router)

 

[Lynda2475]

Would be curious to see that letter, if it is personally addressed to you (and not the occupant) then it didnt really come from nbn as nbn do not have anyone's account name etc, only the RSP see that.

 

[Lynda2475]

elstra is poor at 6Mbps. Think the others are a bit higher. Ok for everything but video etc.

Yeah both Optus and Vodafone offer 12Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. The 1Mbps upload makes it impossible to join video calls or upload files to server in a reasobale time. 12 down is ok for standard definitoion netflix, but not good enough for 4K.

6 is fine for an email or reading the newspaper, but yeah forget Netflix or WFH.

 

[serfty]

In the rare event of an NBN outage it is actually much better to tether your Compter or TV to your mobile phone where there is no limiting and even in busiy times you will get a min of 25Mbps.

It depends on your mobile data allowance; I use discounted Optus plans which gives up to 30GB per month across three devices. IWe'd go through that pretty quickly.

6 is fine for an email or reading the newspaper, but yeah forget Netflix or WFH.

I can manage WFH using 6Mbps, but yes, no video calls or Foxtel GO (I do not have a Netflix subscription).

 

[RAM]

Would be curious to see that letter, if it is personally addressed to you (and not the occupant) then it didnt really come from nbn as nbn do not have anyone's account name etc, only the RSP see that.

To the occupant
XYZ My Street

Hello,

 

[Dee#]

Personally I think the routers/gateways from Telstra & Optus*Vodafone with the 4G backup are relatively useless because of the slow speed they throttle to. In the rare event of an NBN outage it is actually much better to tether your Compter or TV to your mobile phone where there is no limiting and even in busiy times you will get a min of 25Mbps.

Thats what we did with Telstra and found it faster and better than the NBN that we had for a grand total of 26hrs before it packed up for 10 days and we gave it the boot.
Unfortunately only 55g each currently for $50 a month (extra 25 free for coronavirus a month for April and may thanks Telstra!!!) along with calls. But will look into it further.

 

[Lynda2475]

At 26 hours you never really gace nbn a decent go, personally I would have forced the RSP toraise issues with nbn and given them some time to resolve, because as data needs grow the benefit of fixed line service become more apparent. Although Tesltra arent know for good customer service.

If you are determined to stay with a mobile inetrnet service, youd do better to get a mobile broadband service.

I have the Optus 5G Home Broadband - which is a nokia 5G modem that also acts a wifi router for some research Im doing in my job. Only available in selected areas atm (and to get it to work i have it balanced in my kitchen window with line of sight to the 5G towe which is about 500m away) but at $70 a month for unlimited data access, 50Mbps guaranteed speed (but usually running at about 250Mbps) it would be more economical than tethering to your mobile. They also have a 4G version (which is less fussy about where you put it).

 

[Buzzard]

Does anyone have experience with Launtel, a Launceston based provider?
I'm thinking of switching from ABB, I can always switch back if I'm not happy.
The thing that appeals about Launtel is that they charge per day, giving you the ability to pause your service. This could be quite cost effective when travelling even for short periods of time.
I tried to pause my service with ABB last year as we were going to be away for 3 months. No such luck. We had to cancel our service with no pro-rata refund and it was suggested that we apply for a new connection about 1 week prior to needing it. Trying to give ABB a reconnect date 3 months out was a nightmare.

Up thread there is mention of cheap, poor quality RSP supplied modems.
What do people recommend?

 

[Quickstatus]

Trying to give ABB a reconnect date 3 months out was a nightmare.

About a week is all that is necessary with ABB.
So long as you disconnect next month before end of current month you won’t be charged.
And reconnection can be done about 1 week away from date.

 

[TomVexille]

I feel for you all, our FTTP works great

 

[serfty]

I feel for you all, our FTTP works great

What was your "GreenField" fee?

 

[TomVexille]

What was your "GreenField" fee?

IIRC it was $300

 

[Buzzard]

About a week is all that is necessary with ABB.
So long as you disconnect next month before end of current month you won’t be charged.
And reconnection can be done about 1 week away from date.

Yes, they did say a week as per my post but given that I would still be in Europe and want the internet working on my return, I was trying to arrange everything before my 3 month absence.

 

[Daver6]

Up thread there is mention of cheap, poor quality RSP supplied modems.
What do people recommend?

It isn't so much the modem part that's poor, but the router/wifi component. What you need will be partly dependant on the type of connection you have to the NBN.

I'm on HFC and got myself a Netgear AX8 wifi router as I don't need a modem. I plug the NBN supplied NTD into the WAN port. I've been super impresssed with the AX8, but in terms of coverage and ability to handle multiple high speed transfers. It's overkill compared to the speed NBN can supply, but I stream a lot off my NAS. Additionally, most my devices aren't wifi 6 so I'm not even seeing the biggest benefits yet. Having said that I can transfer files to/from my NAS at gigabit speed, with the speed only being limited by my NAS's gigaport LAN port.

 

[TheRealTMA]

We have yet to convert but the original cutoff date was August this year but CV19 has put that back.

Currently we have HFC at 110/5 Mbs so I'm in no hurry.

We have two phone lines - one business and one personal. Can someone tell me how I can keep both? Telstra said I'd need to get a second NBN connection. Surely it's better to look at VOIP where I keep the same numbers?

Also, I read that if you use the phone connection via the NBN, you can't run the NBN routers in bridge mode and use your own your router (or is this provider dependant?). Sounds a furphy to me but anyone got any direct knowledge.

Currently we run the Telstra cable modem/router (crippled Netgear) in bridge mode and a standard PSTN business phone connected to the FrritzBox router plus I have an Arlo router connected direct to the Cable modem/router so I can turn off the internal networking from the Fritzbox when we go away (if ever again).

I think this is all resolvable but haven't been able to get any providers give sensible answers.

 

[Daver6]

We have yet to convert but the original cutoff date was August this year but CV19 has put that back.

Currently we have HFC at 110/5 Mbs so I'm in no hurry.

We have two phone lines - one business and one personal. Can someone tell me how I can keep both? Telstra said I'd need to get a second NBN connection. Surely it's better to look at VOIP where I keep the same numbers?

Also, I read that if you use the phone connection via the NBN, you can't run the NBN routers in bridge mode and use your own your router (or is this provider dependant?). Sounds a furphy to me but anyone got any direct knowledge.

Currently we run the Telstra cable modem/router (crippled Netgear) in bridge mode and a standard PSTN business phone connected to the FrritzBox router plus I have an Arlo router connected direct to the Cable modem/router so I can turn off the internal networking from the Fritzbox when we go away (if ever again).

I think this is all resolvable but haven't been able to get any providers give sensible answers.

Only thing I can think of is they want you to use their router for QoS for the VOIP traffic. You can imagine if people use their own and then run into poor voice call issues it becomes a nightmare for them explaining to the customer that the issue is their problem.

And of course you can have multiple phone numbers for multiple VOIP connections. Can you even get more than one NBN connection to one house?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Only thing I can think of is they want you to use their router for QoS for the VOIP traffic. You can imagine if people use their own and then run into poor voice call issues it becomes a nightmare for them explaining to the customer that the issue is their problem.

And of course you can have multiple phone numbers for multiple VOIP connections. Can you even get more than one NBN connection to one house?

Interesting that they would care!

That’s the bull dung Telstra told me, that I’d need two nbn boxes. Seems stupid to me but since I’m in no hurry to swap I haven’t pursued other providers such as Aussi Broardband (which has been recomended by a few to me) etc.

We‘ve been with Telstra since the cable rollout hundreds of years ago and speeds and service have been acceptable and in case of outages they bought me a 4G dongle (put in back of router) and free top ups do I “inclined” to stay with them. We shall see.

As I understand one can port one’s current phone numbers over to VOIP. Two current phone points are a long way apart as well which shouldn’t be a issue with VOIP.

 

[Quickstatus]

Yes, they did say a week as per my post but given that I would still be in Europe and want the internet working on my return, I was trying to arrange everything before my 3 month absence.

Sorry. I must be slow....
Just live chat them to arrange a reconnection. They don’t need to attend the premises for a reconnection.

 

[Daver6]

Interesting that they would care!

That’s the bull dung Telstra told me, that I’d need two nbn boxes. Seems stupid to me but since I’m in no hurry to swap I haven’t pursued other providers such as Aussi Broardband (which has been recomended by a few to me) etc.

We‘ve been with Telstra since the cable rollout hundreds of years ago and speeds and service have been acceptable and in case of outages they bought me a 4G dongle (put in back of router) and free top ups do I “inclined” to stay with them. We shall see.

As I understand one can port one’s current phone numbers over to VOIP. Two current phone points are a long way apart as well which shouldn’t be a issue with VOIP.

I suspect it isn't that they care (about the customer) but more saving themselves from dealing with irate customers down the track and having to throw resources at a problem which really isn't their fault.

Is there such a thing as land-line number portability like there is with mobile phone numbers? If that's the case, you should be able to port your numbers to any AU VOIP provider who supports number portability.