At last!

I never thought that I would be pleased when a card appeared in the mailbox telling me that workers will be digging up pavements and to lay cables for the National Broadband Network (NBN).

At last!

Some neighbouring suburbs have had the service for years and it's been a frustration for streaming and downloads.

According to the info the build is in progress in my suburb and should be finished mid year or so.

Has anyone else had the notification?

Has anyone thought about a service provider change or can you recommend one if you are already on NBN?

I'm presently with TPG but want unlimited download and not a capped plan.

Any suggestions appreciated...

Have seen plenty of activity in the Port Noarlunga and Christies area...holes being dug and cables being laid.

The plans available from the service providers seem to be getting more competitive but there was a news article about speed....apparently some of the providers are unable to provide the internet speeds that you should be getting on the National Broadband.

For ADSL I have had Telstra, Adam and presently have TPG accounts.

Any recommendations for your areas / suburbs?

We have had NBN for 6 or 7 months now and it's great. It was a total nightmare getting it connected in the beginning but we got there eventually. I can only comment on Telstras service personally and on FTTN (Fibre To The Node) where the nbn is concerned however my sister has been through 4 providers now trying to get hers sorted. The speed you will get not only depends on the speed you pay for but also how far you are from the node and pillar in the street, the further you are the slower the speed, my sister who lives in the Corromandel Valley area is over a kilometre from their node so didn't expect much but when they first got connected it was great, however as time went on it got slower and slower, she complained and complained and was instructed to run test after test by first Adam then iiNet and internode but they refused to send a tech out and when they eventually did they stated it was her distance that was the problem, she then contacted my republic a new company who promise the fastest speed possible, same issue initially but they did send a tech and this time the tech really knew his stuff and actually wanted to help, she was told the original tech connected them up wrong in the first place, so now she has 10mbit down and 6mbit up on a stable connection. At its worst previously it wasn't usable at all. So it's basically a lottery depending on where you live, who you talk to on the phone and who you get as a tech. Don't ever let them tell you that's the best we can do if you're not satisfied, minimum speeds should be what my sister is getting. We are in Park Holme and less than 200m from the node and pillar our attainable speed is over 100mbit down and over 50mbit up. If you are getting FTTP (Fibre To The Premises) then your connection will be a direct fibre connection and non of the above is relevant.

Thank you very much Rob.

We are about 100m to 150m from our exchange and I believe that the cost of Fibre to the premises is now for the customers account whereas in the early days it was included in the NBN installation?

I guess that we will have to see what the speeds are like before making the decision to spend the extra on FTTP. I guess that a lot of the cost could be shared if you have neighbours who also want FTTP as the cost of the fibre could be shared?

There are plenty of holes being dug and workpeople around at the moment...should be able to see in about 4 months time.

My son tells me that my modems...I have 2 new Fitzbox modems should be fine for the new service...I also have a couple Billion (the make of modem...not the number!) modems and they may also be ok.

Hope that I don't have any of the issues that you have mentioned Rob!