Hi,
The NBN is now available in our area, and I'm hoping to get some advice from the learned folk here about this 'exciting new opportunity'...
Our connection is HFC, and we've received promo material from a number of providers in that last month. What are the right questions to ask when comparing products? For instance, I've heard mention of 'back end' capacity, and 'typical peak speeds', but don't really understand the limitations of HFC.
Also, is it viable to consider a wireless option? We're in Blackburn, Melbourne.
It is a mess, isn't it?
I had a discussion with my IP recently... what's making me mad is that I HAVE to talk to them in a first place. If government wants to change/upgrade the technology - fine... but the whole business should be transparent from our (user's) point of view. ISP should take care of details and leave the contract the same as it was.. it shouldn't matter if connection is via fibre or shouting from hill to hill :-)
There used to be a fairly substantial advanatge to Aussie Broadband, in that while they were well in the middle tire price wise they actually invested in enough capacity on the NBN side (the connection and the bandwidth to use it used to be essentially separate things cost wise) and proactively upgarded their backhaul links between NBN and themselves.
The current plans from NBN include a component of bandwith in the access charge which has brought the cut price providers up much closer, now only backhaul is a significant difference.
Typical peak speeds refers to what you can expect to realistically get during peak times (More or less evenings between about 5 and 10PM, basically "Peak" times being defined as when people get home and actually want to use it!) If you are on a 100/40 (100mbps downoad and 40 upload) plan you might see 95/38 or so in the middle of the day but only see 40/30 in peak times.
"Back end" capacity is generally gong to refer to your providers backhaul links. To get data out of the NBN in any specific area and into their own networks they have to connect to the NBN POI (Point Of Interconnect) for that area, that is the backhaul link and the cheaper providers tend to skimp on that backhaul capacity, just as they used to skimp on the CVC (NBN Bandwidth) before a chunk of it was included in the basic access charge.
TL;DR:
If you go with a cheap provider, you are more likely to end up with one that is skimping on backhaul capacity and more likely to see greater peak time congestion. I have no idea how the HFC version of the NBN is panning out for congestion within the NBN side of things, and that is a separate matter. I am on NBN fixed wireless and currently enjoying speeds that make out old 8KM long ADSL service look desirable (Think 1mbps in peak time) and that IS NBN's problem, which means I can look forward to months more of it.
Last edited by The_bluester; 06-02-2019 at 11:40 AM.
Is it still a case that the infrastructure is provided by either optus or telstra?
Our house has both optus and telstra telephone connections, used to have optus cable internet and used to have foxtel cable. Foxtel explained to us that the cable was not going to be available for much longer, as it would be used solely for NBN, so we got a free 'upgrade' to satellite.
We're with iPrimus, on the telstra network for ADSL.
Is the NBN network independant of telstra/optus, meaning that a choice of provider doesn't involve a choice between these two?
The HFC version of NBN is delivered over the old Foxtel cable. They were gong to use Optus HFC as well until they confirmed what the rest of the industry knew, which was that the Optus HFC network was basically cactus.
The NBN is the underlying network for last mile delivery, your retail provider is a separate thing altogether and Optus/Telstra are just two of many in that space.
I forgot, you mentioned wireless options. The only wireless options you would have would be Telstra/Optus etc mobile data plans or if some provider has set themselves up to specifically deliver fixed wireless services over other infrastructure. That is still generally costly and limited data compared to fixed line services, last resort territory.
Thanks again Paul.
Because we've been with iPrimus for 15+ years email is the main issue if we consider changing. ***@iprimus.com.au
iPrimus seem to be a bit on the expensive side. Looking at $80/month for unlimited data with NBN 50 tier (47 MBPS typical evening)
Other providers offer 500GB same speed at $55/month...
We were in the same boat email wise. We actually have a Domain name related to my mothers pony breeding stud and now have email addresses tied up with that (Via Google apps for the server side of things)
It took us nearly two years of paying for a dead ADSL service to be sure we have everything that mattered migrated off the old Telstra email addresses. My mother also does print publishing work, "So be it" type cut off of the old email adresses was really not an option.
This gives some statistical information on how the major RSPs (including iPrimus) perform, but they don't go into issues such as value-for-money, customer support, resolution of issues with NBN, etc.
I've found a good deal from Exetel that is $25 per month cheaper than what current provider can offer. This is at nbn 50 speed tier and 500GB/month.
The only catch is the email. I think for this kind of saving it's worth the hassle, and our current provider offers an email only account (for max 3 months) that costs $6.00 p/m. This will make the transition easier.
Getting closer to sorting this out, thanks everyone.
The only catch is the email. I think for this kind of saving it's worth the hassle, and our current provider offers an email only account (for max 3 months) that costs $6.00 p/m. This will make the transition easier.
Get yourself and your family onto one or more perpetual free email accounts (Google gmail.com, Microsoft outlook.com, etc - pick the global internet behemoth that you're most comfortable to connect to). Notify all of your important contacts of the changed address (you can probably send out a couple of mass emails using "bcc" so that the recipients don't get a full list of all your contacts), and go onto the websites of your key contacts (banks, insurance, car registration, etc) to update your details.
Create a couple of rules on your old ISP-supplied email to auto-forward all incoming messages to your new email address AND auto-reply to incoming emails advising them of your new email address. (If you're clever, you can create rules which auto-forward and auto-reply to only "trusted" senders, so that the spam-merchants don't get forwarded or notified.) Every time you get an auto-forwarded message, you can check that the sender has indeed updated their records (e.g. you'll probably have forgotten to update your contact details with a few of your more obscure contacts).
You'll probably want to pay your old RSP to maintain the old address for about a year (or at least until after the end of the financial year), to make sure you catch all of the important contacts / annual subscriptions, who may only send out an update once a year. (We paid iiNet $25 for a one-year email-only extension in early 2017 - over two years later, it's still running, but they haven't re-billed us, and the old credit card details that they may have on file no longer work.)
This way, you'll be able to keep your email address henceforth, no matter how many times you change RSP, or even if / when you move overseas.
Thanks again Paul.
Because we've been with iPrimus for 15+ years email is the main issue if we consider changing. ***@iprimus.com.au
iPrimus seem to be a bit on the expensive side. Looking at $80/month for unlimited data with NBN 50 tier (47 MBPS typical evening)
Other providers offer 500GB same speed at $55/month...
This is comparable to what I get here in the USA... except I've got cable, not fiber.
I pay US $55/month (AU $76/month) for 65Mbps (6.5Mbps upload), unlimited data, no throttling. What's amazing is what I get versus what I pay for.
If you can get comparable rates and bandwidth, then I'd say it's a good deal.
I've signed up with a new provider - Exetel - and for $54.99 a month I get:
nbn 50 speed - quoted as 43MBPS typical evening speed
free modem/connection
500GB per month
I doubt we will use the full 500GB (2 person household, no streaming) but can upgrade to unlimited down the track for extra $5.00 per month.
43MBPS should be plenty for our needs. Current speed is around 8MBPS so am really looking forward to faster internet.
