Why is the nbn a good idea

The early NBN rollout experienced significant delays. Public opinion polls reflected growing dissatisfaction with the national project. This dissatisfaction and the September federal election result changed the fate of the NBN. In , the new Coalition government suspended the first stage of the large-scale fibre-to-premises NBN rollout to reassess the scale of the project. In , the government announced that the NBN rollout would change from a primarily fibre-to-premises model to a multi-technology-mix model.

The technology to be used would be determined on an area-by-area basis. This change of direction resulted in a prolonged state of uncertainty at the local government level. As it was rolled out, the NBN was widely criticised for being slow, expensive and obsolete.

What can only be described as a downgrade of the original national project is now seriously over budget.

In September , a joint standing committee of parliament was established to inquire into the NBN rollout. The inquiry is continuing. The bleak status quo only gets worse when the on-the-ground reality of the NBN rollout is considered.

The image below shows one example of many in which heritage-listed buildings in this case also public housing are disrespected to the point that suggests an absolute lack of communication between NBN contractors, local government, or heritage agencies. This leads to an important question about equity. In this instance, you won't be able to get premium speeds. Basic speed plans are for those who don't use the internet for much more than email, browsing, and the occasional video.

Standard plus plans are good for heavier users who don't have too many people in their house. It should be enough to handle multiple high definition HD video streams simultaneously, though no more than one 4K video stream at a time. You might even download a large file, such as a video game or operating system OS update, without affecting other people in your home.

Premium plans are best suited for families and share houses that use the internet for photo uploads, cloud storage, gaming, and video streaming all at once — especially if you stream 4K video. Premium is the fastest tier most providers offer, but not every premises can achieve these speeds. Your provider should do a line test after you sign up, at which time they'll tell you if you'll get value out of a premium plan or if you need to fall back to standard plus.

This depends on your provider and NBN technology. If you're on fixed wireless or Sky Muster, it may be significantly more than you paid for ADSL, and you can't get unlimited data plans. Because of how the NBN works, smaller, cheaper providers are often as fast as larger ones. Check out our broadband provider performance program for our latest speed test results of the big providers, as well as some smaller ones. Telstra is required by the government to offer a discounted phone service over the NBN for low-income households.

Pensioners on a Centrelink benefit may qualify for the Telephone Allowance to help them pay their phone bills. Your home phone will need to run via the NBN, but you won't need to sign up for an internet plan if you don't want it. You can opt to just have a phone service. But many providers don't make this apparent on their website, so you may need to go into a store or call up and enquire.

The new NBN equipment boxes will still be installed in your house by NBN Co or your service provider because the existing copper phone services will be disconnected. Your new phone service will connect via the NBN. For all fixed-line connection technologies a connection that relies on fibre optic cables to deliver broadband services to your home , an NBN connection should be good enough for Netflix and other video streaming.

Fixed wireless services used in rural and regional areas, fibre optic cable runs to a wireless tower, which transmits a signal via 4G to an antenna on top of your house should be able to stream video during off-peak hours, but it's common for speeds to drop severely during peak usage times, and heavy rain or storms can also affect the connection.

Sky Muster premises used in remote locations, fibre optic cables run to several ground stations, which communicate with satellites should also be able to stream video, but speed is variable and dependent on several factors, such as the weather and network congestion. Video streaming needs a good rate of download measured in megabits per second , while online gaming also requires low and consistent latency — also known as ping.

Latency is the amount of time it takes for your device to send out a request and get a reply, kind of like sending someone a letter and timing how long it takes to get one back. Fixed-line NBN technologies used in rural and regional areas, fibre optic cable runs to a wireless tower, which transmits a signal via 4G to an antenna on top of your house should offer consistent latency for most households, though how low it is can differ.

Generally, it's well within what a gamer might consider acceptable, or at least low enough to avoid frustration. If this isn't the case for you, talk to your provider. There may be a problem with the NBN, how much capacity your provider allots you, or with something in your home. Fixed wireless used in rural and regional areas, fibre optic cable runs to a wireless tower, which transmits a signal via 4G to an antenna on top of your house has much higher latency, and as such won't usually provide seamless online multiplayer gaming.

Sky Muster used in remote locations, fibre optic cables run to several ground stations, which communicate with satellites connections can't support online gaming.

Given the roughly , kilometre round trip of your signal, latency struggles to get below ms — just over half a second. This is impressive for a satellite connection, but far too high for online gaming. Wondering how the NBN will play with your modem or medical alarm? Or if you'll need any extra cabling? Here are some answers. If you do need a new modem but have a separate standalone router you want to keep using, then that router will probably still work. New Wi-Fi modems work with the If you bought your laptop, smartphone or Wi-Fi device within the past 10 years, you shouldn't have a problem.

Maybe, depending on your premises and the NBN connection technology you get. Upgrading your home's cables and wires to handle technology often gets overlooked, but you might need to if you want to have the NBN internet services you want, where you want them. For more information on home cabling, check out Home cabling for the NBN. Medical alarms and emergency call services connected to the copper phone line won't continue to work after the month NBN transfer window has closed, except in some areas covered by NBN fixed wireless or Sky Muster.

This depends on the technology you have. To find out, go to NBN Co's power blackout page. You cannot dispute this fee with your provider. If you're renting a new apartment and you're charged the new development fee, we recommend you ask your landlord to reimburse you, as it only applies to the first time a new development premises is connected to an NBN plan. The NBN isn't replacing all of the internet infrastructure in Australia; it's only responsible for part of the chain that your data travels along.

Your set-up: Within your home or business, there are several factors that can affect your internet speed such as your router, the quality of your hardware laptops, phones, etc.

NBN is also responsible for this. This part of the broadband network is owned and operated by service providers such as Telstra, Optus and TPG. Whenever you do anything on the internet, the signal has to travel through your service provider's data centre or centres.

If this part of the network is congested or faulty, your connection will be affected just the same as if NBN's network was acting up. Smaller providers who don't have their own telco network not only have to purchase capacity on the NBN, they also have to pay larger providers for "backhaul" on their networks.

International connections: If you're visiting a website or using a service that's hosted overseas, any part of the data journey between your house and another country can affect your connection, including the telco or national broadband networks of that country. For more tips, see 5 ways to speed up your internet connection. After all, when you're getting connected you might have a lot of contact with one or more NBN contractors and assume that relationship would continue after your installation.

Instead of getting caught in a game of ping-pong between your service provider and NBN Co, you now deal directly with your provider, who will liaise with NBN Co on your behalf if necessary.

If you believe your provider is not abiding by ACMA's complaints resolution guidelines, contact the telecommunications industry ombudsman TIO. Unfortunately, scammers will sometimes use major government programs like the NBN to trick people into handing over their money or personal details. They pretend to be from NBN Co, a government agency or telecommunications provider to sound legitimate. NBN Co will never ask for your banking or financial details. If your internet speed is faster, then things will get done faster.

Quicker, smarter technology and processes make for productive, happier staff and the overall efficiency of the business will go up. You can take advantage of internet-based subscription software to introduce new processes in your business.

With reliable, quick internet you can reach a larger market without the need for a huge spend on marketing services.

Customers will have 18 months to move their services across from their existing network once the NBN becomes available in their area. The government is controlling prices in order to ensure every business can get connected and in most cases, the government will also cover the cost of installation. How the NBN is changing the way you do business.

Latest News NBN. Everything moves faster If your internet speed is faster, then things will get done faster. Search Search for:. Name First Last.