eevBLAB #17 - The Australian NBN SUCKS

[EEVblog]

The $30BN+ National Broadband Network (NBN) was supposed to catapult Australia into being a world leader in internet communications. How's it looking so far for businesses that drive the Australian economy?
Dave looks at the roll-out map to see if the NBN is in any business parks in Sydney yet.

[aargee]

I imagine that most of the business parks are making good money for the telecom providers using existing services. We've been able to see the NBN area from our driveway for 18 months, it doesn't get any closer any sooner.

But, with any luck things will improve. At least the current PM is not as technologically challenged and we hopefully won't get as many drongo policies.

[nowlan]

Hmmm. There are a lot of flats/unit being built around me. I saw the NBNCo van across the street when the new flats went up.
When I check the nbn website, and enter my address it says not available in my street.
"The rollout of the nbn™ network has not started yet in this location."

My Cisco teacher isnt a fan of the NBN or gpon.

[5ky]

I was pretty salty about being TWO MILES away from the nearest Google "Fiberhood", but I guess I can't complain after seeing what you're stuck with.  Nearly every person I work with at my day job has Google Fiber and I'm jealous beyond belief.  Gigabit down AND up for $80/mo.  Insanity.  (to add salt to the wound, my MOM has google fiber)

I think I pay about $60 a month for 300 Mbps down, 25 Mbps up.  Not the fastest by a long shot but it's probably as good as I can get on copper.

EDIT: I looked up the NBN prices and they aren't bad at all!  They seem fairly comparable to the rest of the world.   Does all internet in AU have monthly bandwidth caps?

[vk6zgo]

I imagine that most of the business parks are making good money for the telecom providers using existing services. We've been able to see the NBN area from our driveway for 18 months, it doesn't get any closer any sooner.

But, with any luck things will improve. At least the current PM is not as technologically challenged and we hopefully won't get as many drongo policies.

I wouldn't hold your breath---he was the Communications Minister who though up "Fibre to the node"!

[EEVblog]

Does all internet in AU have monthly bandwidth caps?

Most of them, yep. Unusual not to plan plan with a data cap.

[minionkevin]

They put in residential first to get the voters. I don't think they are too motivated for smaller voting blocks. does NBN even perform better?

[DrGeoff]

Nothing unexpected here with this political hot potato.

[Muttley Snickers]

Whilst your about it find out where the NBN Co headquarters are and zoom in on that, wouldn't that be hilarious if they themselves are still without.

[miguelvp]

Same thing in the US, commercial internet is pricey, residential is cheap.

Government can't compete with business providers because they will take away jobs or something.

[nowlan]

Whilst your about it find out where the NBN Co headquarters are and zoom in on that, wouldn't that be hilarious if they themselves are still without.

Address: Arthur St, North Sydney NSW 2060

[vk6zgo]

I imagine that most of the business parks are making good money for the telecom providers using existing services. We've been able to see the NBN area from our driveway for 18 months, it doesn't get any closer any sooner.

But, with any luck things will improve. At least the current PM is not as technologically challenged and we hopefully won't get as many drongo policies.

I wouldn't hold your breath---he was the Communications Minister who though up "Fibre to the node"!

Did he think it up or was he just stuck with a politically motivated choice that he had to implement? He has a difficult time of it trying to unwind what he must think are some pretty silly politically opportunistic policy ideas. He can't just openly admit to them as such because he would be crucified.

I think Malcolm has pretty much aligned himself with this idea---he was supposedly the ECCHH! "Tech Savvy" member of Cabinet.

On the face of it,it isn't a bad concept---Use the existing copper wire for a short run only,phones can be powered from the "node",so no loss of use if the household power goes off,etc.

The downside is poorer Internet speeds,even with nice new copper cables.
The existing cable runs aren't always conveniently situated to connect to a "node",nor are they in good condition.

[rollatorwieltje]

Something you have to keep in mind with those business lines is that the specified bandwidth is usually guaranteed. Consumer lines usually are overbooked about 25 to 50 times. Not that I'm complaining, I get 120/10Mbit for something like €60 a month and the service is great, It's almost never slower than 100 Mbit down. There's effectively no data limit, it's "fair use policy". Last time I checked I used about 200GB per month (3 active users).
Business lines over here are relatively expensive too, 15/15 costs about €300 per month with 10:1 overbooking.

[Psi]

I have fiber to the telecom cabinet at the bottom of the street, then fullspeed VDSL for the 200m to the house.
~NZ$99 a month. 50GB included in price

This is the cabinet 

[stuarts]

In my case NBN stands for No Broadband Nearby.

The old NBN website at least gave you an idea of the progress and outlook. The new one tells you almost nothing.

[stuarts]

Based on the amount of money spent and the number of residences connected, $40B was just dreaming. If they can complete it under $80B I would be really surprised. At the current rate, most of us will be lucky if we see a connection in the next 10 to 15 years.

[con-f-use]

Even in the shitty parts of Austria, you can get 75 Mbit for €20. And Austria is neither a big country nor especially advanced.

[EEVblog]

I think Malcolm has pretty much aligned himself with this idea---he was supposedly the ECCHH! "Tech Savvy" member of Cabinet.

As the former founder and CEO of OzEmail, yes, he's the "tech savvy" one of the lot 

[German_EE]

Dave, I don't think you appreciate the amazing hassle of rolling out fiber to the kerb. I was living in Manchester when Nynex cabled the city and I watched as they dug up every street so that they could lay their green conduit in preparation for the cables. The disruption was terrible and the traffic problems were annoying beyond belief. Thankfully the job only needed to be done once and as technology improved the coax was taken out and replaced by fiber by using the old cables to pull through the new but even now, decades later, you can still see the scars on the pavements where the work was done.

[Muttley Snickers]

I was just reading a couple of newspaper articles where in some rural areas the fibre optic cable that was being laid as part of the NBN roll out was being destroyed by rats chewing through it, apparently they have now remedied the situation.

Drats, drats and hungry rats........


Muttley

[lwatts666]

The quoted connections are 'ready for service', not actual signed up customers. Put fibre into the basement of a unit complex and score 100+ 'ready for service' connections with nearly the same effort as as a single house/factory.

I guess this is what happens when your bonus/job/credibility depended only on a 'ready for service' KPIs...



 

[vk6zgo]

Dave, I don't think you appreciate the amazing hassle of rolling out fiber to the kerb. I was living in Manchester when Nynex cabled the city and I watched as they dug up every street so that they could lay their green conduit in preparation for the cables. The disruption was terrible and the traffic problems were annoying beyond belief. Thankfully the job only needed to be done once and as technology improved the coax was taken out and replaced by fiber by using the old cables to pull through the new but even now, decades later, you can still see the scars on the pavements where the work was done.

Then again,they do things like that in the UK.(leaving the "scar",I mean).

In Perth WA,back in the 1970s,when they replaced the old "rubber tube" type traffic light sensors with sensor loops,they removed the old mechanism,buried the loops,& restored the road surface.

In Southampton,UK,they cut a slot in the road,inserted the loop & filled the slot with bitumen.
They left the old sensors in place.

After some time,they tore,so there was a length of tubing flopping around on the roadway.

Of course,they then had to go back & remove the old sensors---still left the "scar",though!!

[EEVblog]

Dave, I don't think you appreciate the amazing hassle of rolling out fiber to the kerb.

I do. I'm complaining about the governments almost total lack of focus in rolling it out to business parks.
Not to mention buildings like mine that already have fibre going to them from several vendors who are NBN providers. I don't know how that works logistically and infrastructure wise, but fibre is fibre.

[madires]

I was just reading a couple of newspaper articles where in some rural areas the fibre optic cable that was being laid as part of the NBN roll out was being destroyed by rats chewing through it, apparently they have now remedied the situation.

Obviously they have used the wrong cable. Next time buy one with rodent protection. Yes, it's a little bit more expensive.

[madires]

I do. I'm complaining about the governments almost total lack of focus in rolling it out to business parks.
Not to mention buildings like mine that already have fibre going to them from several vendors who are NBN providers. I don't know how that works logistically and infrastructure wise, but fibre is fibre.

I wouldn't have expected anything else. If the NBN would be also intended for businesses you would have the government in the left corner and all telcos/ISPs in the right one  Business parks/streets/districts are the primary focus of telcos. They can't make much money with some residents.

I don't know how much a metro LAN connection costs in Sidney, but if it's much less than a business 100Mbit/s internet access you could look for a place which got NBN and metro LAN