Thread: Changing to NBN

There shouldn't be any down time with the switch, given that everything works. What i mean by this is there are many houses that have dodgy connections that have been "patched" by the telstra technicians over the years which switching over to NBN will bring no real benefits.

Which is why there are heaps of people complaining that their NBN speeds are slow, sadly the only way to figure out whether your house is NBN ready is to make the switch or call out a telstra approved technician to test your line/pit connection.

On the other hand you don't really have a choice in the matter when NBN rolls out to your area so its a matter of how quick they get it rolled out that your old connection will be terminated, I'm hearing anywhere between 12 months and years when this will happen.

If you consider yourself a "power user" then get your own modem, otherwise the iinet modem will be sufficient for most of your requirements.

This subject was discussed recently, you may want to read through this thread.

NBN decisions

Thanks guys.
Speed I currently get 14.8 down and 0.75 up on the old copper.
But down speed is irrelevant, you can only download as fast as the site you are browsing can upload - you can have 50 down but if the website has 5 up then 5 is what you'll get.

If I have to make the change I'll probably stay with iinet, I have a long history with them and several email addresses which would be a pain to change - they have unlimited quota, 12meg down for $70 plus calls or an extra $10 for 25 down and calls included.

Originally Posted by DH2

you can only download as fast as the site you are browsing can upload - you can have 50 down but if the website has 5 up then 5 is what you'll get.

webservers typically run gigabit or faster connections these days, so you wont likely be waiting too long for them...

My parents got some dinky wifi modem with their TPG NBN - I replaced it with an Asus 68U - heaps better, and wifi reaches right through the house at full blistering 12Mb speed. Before that plenty of dead spots, and a very slow 1Mb connection at the far end of the house.

Saying it openly would violate the rules but when I talk of download speed I don't mean websites.
I managed to find a website that gives the cut off for my area as September 6, so it seems iinet under TPG ownership is indulging in scare marketing, the email saying in part "your services with us have been earmarked for disconnection".
I am waiting on a job application which if successful will mean moving, but not until July - if I don't get the job I'll make the change to NBN then but most likely not with iinet.

Originally Posted by DH2

Is anyone here with iinet, is their supplied modem any good or should I source my own - I don't use wireless, I still prefer a trusty blue cable between the PC and the modem and don't use any other devices.
Cheers
Dave

Fwiw, TPG supplied us with their standard NBN modem which is the Huawei HG659. It works around the whole house, the 1/4 acre yard, and is visible 3 doors away. Speed is about 23mb (advertised 25mb) except the ever-expanding busy periods. Same throughout the house, attenuated a bit in the yard.

Cheers
Arron

Hey Arron,
What are TPG like, I know at one stage they were most TIO complained about ISP in Australia.
My neighbour is on a tight budget and likes their 100gig for $40 plan.

My parents are with tpg and have had zero issues .

Originally Posted by DH2

Hey Arron,
What are TPG like, I know at one stage they were most TIO complained about ISP in Australia.
My neighbour is on a tight budget and likes their 100gig for $40 plan.

We have used TPG for about 3 years and they have been good. However I always think you can't really judge an ISP till you get into a dispute with them or have significant technical issues - which hasn't happened yet.

We get about 23.5mbs download as measured on the Speedtest ap on an IPad. Our package is the 25mbs one. It can drop badly in the evening, but I don't think that is an ISP-level issue.

The one thing that annoys me is the price of the TPG landline (required as part of nbn changeover). Seems very expensive.

Cheers
Arron

Hi DH2
I was not too far from you when I received a mssg from my provider, followed by a phone call that he world was about to end.
So I phoned NBN and they advised me that it would be at least 5-6 months before my copper would be disconnected.
Suggest you do the same. I think that it's a tactic by the isp's to make jump. Once you have found the true date, check out the "Whirlpool"
forum where you will find a multitude of experts on the various isp's and equipment - just like this mob.
I know that there is a section on Caboolture.
I have no axe to grind but consider a company called Sky Mesh. I'm out of the market at the moment but they will be at the top of my list when I return. Take your time to save future hassles.

I'm pretty sure the ISPs are milking the situation but look at it from their point of view.

If the ISP says " disconnection in your ares will occur on this date" then you can bet big $$ that 95% of the ning-nongs will wait till the day before and then call up for a connection. Connecting hundreds of houses in one area in one day will just not happen so ning-nogs will be without any connections and phone and THEN COMPLAIN why weren't we told sooner etc etc.

FWIW we've been on a 50/20 plan since 2015.

We're on have a small long narrow block and the house has low roof corrugate iron roof that really knocks the stuffing out of wireless transmission. To cover the whole house and shed reliably we have 3 wireless base stations - The one at the NBN point thats built into the NBN modem at the front of the house, one in the middle and one at the back of the house all connected by ethernet cable. The latter was only installed a few weeks ago and finally allows me to get a constant 3 bars of wireless signal in the shed, whereas before I was lucky to get one bar maybe 2 days a week.

We get a pretty reliable 47/19 speeds, so SWMBO has gone crazy with the downloads sometimes watches more than video stream at the same time - yes she has one episode on the TV and another on a separate device, and she's sewing as well!

Thanks for the information guys.
To be honest my preference is to stay with iinet because I have been with them a long time, although the service has really gone bad since TPG took them over - that said, I've only had to call them once in 18 months.
I rang them about the copper network, the first rep had me on hold for 10 minutes and then dropped the call, the second rep's best answer was "anytime". Yet I was able to get an exact date in 5 minutes, that date is four and a half months away, so I think their imminant disconnection notice is either incompetence or flagrantly misleading.

I've looked at Skymesh, but they are asking the same money for 400gig as iinet and optus want for unlimited.
And yeah I've been on whirlpool for years.