Who controls the NBN speed?

In an article in the West Australian newspaper by NBN CEO Bill Morrow, he talked of the three link chain that is the NBN and who controls the NBN speed?

Because the NBN was scaled back to cut cost and to deliver a quicker completion we are stuck with some of the same problems that exist with the current ADSL-2 system.

Namely, distance from the exchange a problem that has dogged many users for many years and slowed the speed of the NBN.

One day somewhere in future time we will have high speed delivered right through to your computer. Then, who can we blame, perhaps the computer? More on that below.

What we do get though are higher speeds than we have now and probably lower prices.

Plus, a change in how we run our phone calls through the Internet.

The three links in the chain that will affect your service are.

1. How the NBN gets the signal to your home/ business and how good your internal wiring is.
   Now some will still be at the end of a long bit of copper coming from a local node. Some will have fibre and a few will have satellite access.
   You have no control over this, just ask the question at the start of the journey so you know what to expect.

2 What speed you purchase from your carrier, 12, 25, 50 or 100 MBPS. You should, however, understand these are maximum speeds and not guaranteed in any way.
You do have a say in this and can order a speed to suit your need. A majority of users are opting for the 25 MBPS plan which is probably three times greater than what you are getting now.

The important bit is you have some level of choice provided you are in a reasonable access area.

3 This is the important issue and again is partly in your control.  Certainly, you need to choose wisely.

The carriers buy supply from the NBN and retail to you the customer.
They buy in bulk in two quantum’s, one is an access fee the other is the collective amount of data that flows between the two networks at any point in time.
If your carrier does not purchase enough data but adds excess customer they need to share the bandwidth thus reducing speed.
This may be experienced at peak times. Just like the good old days.

This experience is really exaggerated when on a Satellite link. Here they load the link with customers over a given area. Thus, performance deteriorates to a significant degree and there is no escape.

Preparing for the experience.

How can you prepare for such an experience? Well the first principal is cheap is not always good and to ask your carrier what speeds you can expect during peak times.
You may not get a good answer but at least you have a point of conjecture if it is not achieved.

The NBN is now providing coverage for one in every two Australians so the roll-out is happening very quickly and will be complete in a couple of years to service over 12million premises.

In an article  Sunday 30/07 Sunday times Western Australian. It was quoted that NBN was a Damaged brand. The report finished by saying that the NBN reported 23,700 Service class Zero locations unable to get the internet.
Taken as a percentage of a completed service meeting 12 million premises equates to 0.002 percent in a country as big as Australia.

Consider this; if NBN had gone for a first class roll out across Australia what damage would we see in delays and cost.

A balanced view.

For a balanced view listen to some of the good stories and look at issues other than the NBN.

A friend of mine using a Telstra NBN service had terrible quality service.
He moaned and groaned about the service with dropouts, slow service, and bad voice quality.
Week after week I listen to the complaining until it was suggested he change his modem. The magic Fairy waved her wand and now he sings the virtues of fast internet and how good the NBN is.
He blamed NBN, not his carrier and installer.
Telstra should have advised correctly, on the equipment to be used.

In conclusion, you should look at the three chains in the link and where problems may come from before joining the chorus of how bad things are and NBN bashing.

I am not related to NBN in any way, I do have a proffered carrier but my opinion is based on realistic outcomes.
I want faster internet and now I have a choice, that is a true step into the future.

Peter Hanley

Who controls the NBN speed? You do.

do you have to go NBN

Thinking about the internet, NBN and things that ring do you have to go NBN.

It is a fact that we will all move to the NBN network sometime in the next three years.

For some much sooner, you have about 18 months once it arrives in your area.

I have had several conversations with industry people that have told me that the NBN won’t make it and we won’t need to change. They say there is no alternative to ISDN and that the coverage is just not there.

My Take on this is that NBN is a national company that is designed to replace the current copper network. It is halfway to the total implementation and a 2.5-year time frame to the finish.

Furthermore, NBN only starts to make money when it has practical completion around 2020 when they expect to have around 8 million connections.

Change or upgrade

You can change PSTN, ISDN or any manner of lines to the NBN using your selected carrier by IP or SIP protocol.

Yes, there will be a few areas that have limited access or slower speeds using the satellite as they fill the bandwidth channels and they will need to wait for a longer time.

In a recent radio show, they were talking all things NBN and callers were ringing in and complaining.

What amazed me was that nearly all were complaining about the current system and crying that it would not get better. Mostly from fringe areas where expectations are based on need not on reality.

Yes NBN is more prone to dropouts than the current system as they work on it and make changes along the way but we all hope this improves.

Back up system

One option is to have a 4G automatic backup device that will fill in at any downtime. Yes, there is a cost but if phone calls are that important, and they are, this is a no-brainer.

Data will be faster, the current average speed of a service using ADSL 2+ would be less than 8mbps upload.  Almost anything will be an improvement.

In conclusion and in my prior reports, I emphasise that you should not wait until the last months to convert to NBN. It takes time and planning to get it right and to make the change.

Ask us how at mail@verdi.net.au

Peter Hanley

NBN are you getting what you pay for?

NBN are you getting what you pay for is a relevant question to be visited by every subscriber.

I searched the net for the list of complaints today and came across this article by the ACCC

Now I am a guy whose glass is usually half full because I look on the brighter side of things.
In fact, in a recent article that dealt with an increasing complaint rate, I found an actual decrease in the rate.

One thing is fact, the NBN will deliver faster internet but will it be fast enough.

A large majority of connections have opted for the 25mbps plan so one would believe that this is the Norm.

The gamers and speed freaks want the highest speed possible and want it at a great price.

There are other options when you want speed,  the NBN is just one of them, one that has a good price tag.

Because the original plan for the NBN was downgraded we have to suffer some degradation of service.
This is particularly so when the fibre stops some distance from your house or business.
It also still suffers from a distance from the exchange.
There are lots of factors that come into the problem.
Unfortunately, many factors remain hidden to the general user.

One popular idea is that some of the cheap carriers are squeezing their capacity so you don’t get to experience a full speed option.

When you search your address on the NBN Co website

It will tell you the method of delivery to your premises, Fibre to the Node is a red flag because the last bit is copper. A full explanation is available at NBN here.

So what is fast enough?

The Internet from all suppliers back in the ADSL days was topping at about 12 Mbps but did you actually know anyone that got near to that speed, I certainly did not.

In most cases for householders and small business, the NBN network will be a dual function one.
You will have Voice and data on the one network. Each Voice active channel will take up about 110kbps.
It should also be remembered that Data will compromise voice traffic before it impacts on the download.
In the ADSL days, the voice traffic was split away from the data so no compromise was noticed.

If you are a high user of Voice and Data simply have two separate NBN channels so you have the best of both worlds.

No problems

The average or general home and small business user will have no complaints with speed, cost or download with a variety of options available.
NBN and the general market reason that high- speed internet is from 25 Mbps upward so the basic is enough for most of us.

Those wanting 50 or 100 Mbps are catered for under the NBN and those wanting more can access speed and downloads at a price.

In conclusion, I believe that for a large majority of users we can get what we pay for.

We also achieve an advance in technology with more uses and often at a cheaper rate overall.
feel free to make your comment to build on the discussion.