NBN Discussion

[jb747]

If FTTN/FTTC/FTTB then they just give you a modem to plug into existing phone socket. Easiest option is to do a self install and get your hubby to connect it - the nbn technicians only to do work at the FTTN Node.
.....

My house was built with the NBN in mind, so it only ever had one phone line, which terminated at the absolute minimum distance into the house. Got that bit right. Most of you will have much older setups, very likely with multiple wired phones throughout the house. You basically need to rewire the system so that there is only the one connection. The others need to be removed, not just left idle. It can make an appreciable difference to the connection speed if you're on any form of VDSL (FTTN/FTTC)

Of course, I didn't get all of the wiring right. I considered a run of fibre, and passed, but I wish I'd done it now.... Almost sounds familiar.

Though the bigger problem (which no one is talking about) will be that calls in/out will depend on the house getting power. No electricity no phone - especially for those who depend on being able to call 000 especially if they do not have a mobile and elderly.
Here you will need a UPS.

Currently blackout in street = still make calls
NBN blackout in street = no calls

Actually I've found small UPSs connected to my network gear makes a huge difference to its overall reliability, NBN or not.

I'm trying to migrate my mother away from her fixed line. Mobile offers lots of pluses, for not much (if any) more. Trouble is they don't seem to make a phone with only one button, which, when pressed, miraculously does whatever you were thinking of.

 

[Denali]

.....
I'm trying to migrate my mother away from her fixed line. ....

We tried to save my mother in law $1K on her yearly insurance but she simply did not want change. Which is why my husband started pulling his hair out at the idea of the NBN and phone plan with his mum.

 

[RB]

I'm trying to migrate my mother away from her fixed line. Mobile offers lots of pluses, for not much (if any) more. Trouble is they don't seem to make a phone with only one button, which, when pressed, miraculously does whatever you were thinking of.

We got the mother-in-law an unlocked Optus Doro. Good for use with hearing aids & has ability to link numbers to an assistance button. A simple cheap phone that does what she needs.

 

[Quickstatus]

As ours is going to be FW we connect to the world via an Ethernet port on the WAN side.
(FTTN the WAN side is Cu phone line)
Will still need to get a modem like Telstra Gateway for the VoIP function so the PABX will still work.
Apparently the PABX can be upgraded to VoIP capability.
The back to base alarm will be an issue.

 

[moa999]

Fax/alarms can work well over NBN (maybe not Sat, but FW should be ok), but it's recommended to use a dedicated ATA that can be tweaked.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2508079

That said if you have 3G/4G service an upgrade to that is probably recommended

 

[TheRealTMA]

..


Actually I've found small UPSs connected to my network gear makes a huge difference to its overall reliability, NBN or not.

A small UPS on your modem, router and any switches is a highly recommended option for any network connection. Plus gives you something to do when/if the lights go out.

 

[Quickstatus]

Fax/alarms can work well over NBN (maybe not Sat, but FW should be ok), but it's recommended to use a dedicated ATA that can be tweaked.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2508079

That said if you have 3G/4G service an upgrade to that is probably recommended

That is a possibility. A proper back to base would be one that uses the GSM signal to send an SMS back to base but also to a nominated mobile phone. No such technology exists according to B2B company. But it does:

I have a driveway gate that is operated/triggered via GSM 4G. I use an ALDI sim card that costs $5 initially but annually just a topup of $15 per year. I program the gate GSM unit via an sms message and it replies via an sms so the technology exists. It really is a nifty unit. I can even program a tradies phone into it and allow entry at nominated times of day or week. I can even open gate while OS.
The B2B already has a backup battery so would suit a GSM communication solution nicely or a VOIP with a UPS.

I got the GSM solution for the gate because if my house is burning down I don't want the Fire Brigade to have to smash down my gate with the Firetruck when I'm not home

....

A small UPS on your modem, router and any switches is a highly recommended option for any network connection. Plus gives you something to do when/if the lights go out.

I am in the process of reviewing the electrics in the house and have this in mind. We have a lot of brownouts and blackouts being semirural, but the NBN VOIP/B2B issue was the catalyst
Problem with reviews is that it takes you far into the topic than is necessary - solar/Tesla/UPS. Diesel backup is probably a better more cost effective solution than a Tesla battery currently

 

[PLANT]

So NBN can't tell me when visiting the property..... Do you get a letter on a date they will install HFC or does it say sometime in the week. Or do they just for knock..... What if no one is home?

 

[Quickstatus]

If you already have HFC coming into house with a HFC box outside and a HFC cable socket in the house then all you need is an NBN netwotk terminating device (NTD) supplied by nbn which is essentially a modem - converts the HFC signal to Ethernet and a standard modem/router by the RSP like the Telstra Gateway. In this case the telstra Gateway is not acting as a modem but as a router and is also necessary for the VoIP

HFC/FTTP= 2 pieces of equipment inside house - NBN NTD and RSP (eg telstra) modem/router/VoIP
FTTN = 1 piece of equipment - NTD and Modem/router is all in one box

FW - the NTD is on the aerial and modem router inside house

you can self install these but if there is no HFC socket in your house then you need to be home when they come to instal that part of the infrastructure

Essentially everyone needs an NTD and a router/voip

There is no one box that does the modem functions for DSL, HFC, FTTP and FW. The RSP like Telstra have settled on one which is the DSL type modem (for FTTN) plus router plus VoIP . NBN provides the modems (NTD) for the other technologies.

Edit : I read elsewhere that the nbn installer comes to your house to install the NTD which involves plugging it to a power socket and the cable socket. Can't do it yourself?

 

[rogerkambah]

I got the GSM solution for the gate because if my house is burning down I don't want the Fire Brigade to have to smash down my gate with the Firetruck when I'm not home

So does the Fire service have a special code to open the gate? 0r is there a message to call number 04xx xx_ xx_ and you open it for them?

 

[Quickstatus]

So does the Fire service have a special code to open the gate? 0r is there a message to call number 04xx xx_ xx_ and you open it for them?

If there is a fire in house and B2B alarm activated, B2B calls me on my Mobile phone. I tell them to call 000.

I then ring the gate's GSM unit's 04xx xx_ xx_ mobile number . It recognises my mobile number as one of a preprogrammed accredited numbers. The GSM unit opens gate. I call it again in 7 seconds to stop auto close.

Otherwise the Firies secret code is " Brace for impact"

 

[whatmeworry]

Some businesses getting quoted ~150k to upgrade from Copper to Fibre.

One business was slugged more than $157,000 to upgrade from fixed wireless technology to fibre, and NBN Co had raised $225,000 in upgrade application fees alone.
[h=2]COSTS SKY-HIGH[/h]Hereward Dundas-Taylor, from Katoomba in New South Wales, said NBN Co sent him a written estimate of $135,000 to $140,000 to upgrade a copper connection to fibre optic cable on March 7.
Mr Dundas-Taylor said a subsequent quote confirmed it would cost as much as $149,937.70 to upgrade his community radio station’s internet connection to faster fibre technology.
“We were thinking it would cost about $1000. Maybe it would cost $2000,” he said.
“But no way in the world did we think it was going to be (nearly $150,000).”

An NBN Co spokesman said the upgrade would cost $149,000 because Mr Dundas-Taylor was the first in his area to apply for one, and users should encourage their neighbours to apply for fibre technology to lower the cost.
“One lone end user applying for a Tech Choice upgrade will typically pay a significant amount,” he said.
“The most effective way to lower the price for a Tech Choice switch would be to aggregate demand among multiple end users in the same area.”
The spokesman said there was “no universal price” for NBN upgrades and costs would depend on the distance between a house and a fibre-to-the-node cabinet.

No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Some businesses getting quoted ~150k to upgrade from Copper to Fibre.





No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

It's called basic physics and basic economics.

That would be their genuine capital works costs including project management.

Running fibre is not cheap.

 

[Quickstatus]

I remember trying to have town gas piped to me. At the time no one in my street had gas. This was in 1995.
The quote was astronomical to run the pipe down the street to me. In the Cul de sac. I didn't go ahead because I knew that as soon as I got the pipe to me then my neighbours would only have to pay the standard connection costs.

There was no way to pay the big upfront and claw back from the neighbours who subsequently connect, their share of the big upfront.

 

[amaroo]

I remember trying to have town gas piped to me. At the time no one in my street had gas. This was in 1995.
The quote was astronomical to run the pipe down the street to me. In the Cul de sac. I didn't go ahead because I knew that as soon as I got the pipe to me then my neighbours would only have to pay the standard connection costs.

There was no way to pay the big upfront and claw back from the neighbours who subsequently connect their share of the big upfront.

MIL had the same issue with town water and sewage... she was about 150m from the cut off point. IIRC the number thrown around was worth more than her house!

 

[Quickstatus]

Aggregating a group buyin would not work either. The smart one will just decline and wait for the others to build before jumping in at the tail end

 

[clazman]

Some businesses getting quoted ~150k to upgrade from Copper to Fibre.

Tommy Telstra generally charge companies about 100K a kilometre to extend their network into new locations

 

[drsmithy]

Noticed some new FTTN cabinets going up in the neighbourhood earlier this week walking the dog. Also noticed workers busily pulling fibre this morning on the way to work.

Checked the website and it looks like our local go-live date is mid-August. Even better, a DBYD query shows the phone lines run - in a pleasant change to what usually happens to me - in about as straight and short a line as possible from my house to the likely cabinet locations, 150m at most, probably closer to 100m.

Looks like I'll at least be able to experience the best of the worst that NBN has to offer. Certainly it should be a big step up from my ~8/0.5Mb ADSL.

 

[Quickstatus]

Your FTTN is not to the node to premises. It's node to pillar to premises.
The pillar may be further away than node
Google "nbn mtm alpha " and check your address

 

[drsmithy]

Your FTTN is not to the node to premises. It's node to pillar to premises.
The pillar may be further away than node
Google "nbn mtm alpha " and check your address

Yeah I know. I know where my pillar is and am allowing for some extra (unless the cabinet location ends up somewhere crazy, but there's a nice big easement across the road from the pillar where existing cable runs, or even a bit of space right next to it).

I've looked at that map before, unfortunately my address (in 4075) has no data.