Why Is Australia's Home Internet So Slow???

Hotpotcorn on 12/11/2014 - 16:42
Last edited 13/11/2014 - 19:13

EDIT 1: just called telstra. they said adsl 2+ or cable are not avalible in my area. i am stuck with adsl…… omg omg fml im so jealous of u guys having ADSL 2+ OR CABLE OR EVEN NBN!!!! makes me so mad that i wanna move houses
Been praying for NBN to start in my area but it never did. Our internet speeds are that slow that even new Zealand is faster than us. Im also with Telstra and i'm getting crappy internet speeds. We pay $80 for 200GB NO home phone included. Seriously $80 is a lot a month and the thing i most hate about is that Australia is like the only country where you pay usage, not the speed. Where most other countries you pay for speed and you will get unlimited usage on any plans.
http://fiber.usinternet.com/plans-and-prices(like this company, you pay for speed up to WHOPPING 1GBPS UP/DOWN).
In china, my grandparents only pay 1000RMB A YEAR (lower than 200AUD) to have UNLIMITED ADSL 2+ with reasonable speeds.

And Also, our homes internet speeds are THAT SLOW that my phones internet (4G) is even faster than our homes internet. My 4g internet gets 75Mb/S while Our homes internet only gets 6.77Mb/S.

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3902718790 this is my homes internet speed, i live in 3116.

So my questions is, why is Australia's internet SO SLOW?? We are like the most developed country in the world and yet our internet speeds are just ahead of mongolia…

Internet

Comments

  • IIGnomeII on 12/11/2014 - 16:46
    +12

    Answers:
    1) Copper
    2) Distance
    3) Congestion

    • mattyman on 13/11/2014 - 10:41
      +30

      Don't forget the Telstra monopoly - the private phone company that is only interested in providing the bare minimum.

      Infrastructure should NEVER EVER be sold off and should always remain in government control abd leased to retail providers.

      • arescarti42 on 13/11/2014 - 17:35
        +11

        For ADSL this is pretty much the number 1 reason.

        When Telstra was privatised, the Government made a massive mistake by not splitting the retail and wholesale businesses, essentially granting Telstra, now a private company, a complete monopoly.

        Telstra has managed to charge outrageous prices and deliver awful services because what are you going to do, switch to another network? A handful of people in capital cities might have access to separate cable networks or now NBN, but for most people the only choice is still to pay a fortune to access Telstra's ancient, degrading copper network.

        • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 13/11/2014 - 17:53
          +9

          Absolutely correct.

          Doesn't help that our current government is in Telstra's pockets, so the original NBN plan was shafted. With the original plan Telstra would have had an enormous amount of km of useless copper after the NBN introduction, but noooo it now is 'economical' to run the the node so that copper to the household is still used. Telstra say the copper "has no value" yet in the near future will be receiving a giant payment to utilize it.

          Thanks pollies.

      • onlyletters on 14/11/2014 - 15:40
        +8

        Blame John Howard for that one.

      • [Deactivated] on 10/04/2015 - 09:03

        Exactly this.

        Businesses should have the ability to compete with one another. But the infrastructure should remain the property of the tax-payer. Perhaps in another 100 years we can do the NBN properly.

      • ESEMCE on 14/11/2014 - 08:10
        +9

        That's bullcrap..
        No idea what planet you live on where distance is not a factor in ADSL speed. Probably the same planet where we could all download hundreds of gigabytes on 4G.

        ISP's (not only Telstra) have had 15 years to invest in infrastructure and the only reason they've started now is because MTM NBN is so shit and someone realised that running fibre to an Apartment isn't terribly expensive once you have monopoly over that apartment (which is precisely what happens with FTTB). Great for the ISP, crap for the apartment dwellers.
        And if you don't live in an apartment, no one is interested in upgrading your infrastructure at all, anti-cherry picking legislation or no. Not even if you live next to an Apartment building with FTTB.

        It would always have taken NBN years to roll out fibre across the country. They had to start somewhere and they started (supposedly) in areas where there was no or terrible ADSL at all, not solely in regional areas.. eg. Prospect in central suburban Adelaide has Fibre. Possibly/Probably also assisted by where they might swing a few votes, but when has that not happened?

        NBN Co was also ironing out kinks in how to do the job efficiently and with dodgy contractors (my area might have fibre but for a dodgy contractor who never started the job). Then Australian's kick out the Labor minority government and pick what they thought was the next worst option..

      • IIGnomeII on 14/11/2014 - 09:38
        +2

        Surprise there's still people believe in distance, congestion and whatever BS. I must admit this is a successful propaganda after all.

        I work at an ISP as a network tech so I must be spreading this propaganda too!
        I don't know how you think these things are not a factor, would love to hear your source.

      • AFA on 14/11/2014 - 14:26

        lul

    • rompastompa on 14/11/2014 - 16:00

      Not always.. I'm on an ADSL1 Rim. I'm about 3km away from an ADSL2+ Exchange, with iiNet, Amnet, Internode, Optus all in the exchange. But, because it routes through an ADSL1 Rim, I'm stuck with paying Telstra a home phone plan (never use) and a Telstra wholesale account (Amnet).

      It was put on the list for ADSL2+ Tophat, but was removed shortly before last election. I just measured the distance via Google Maps. The distance between the RIM and the exchange is just under 2KM, and I'm about 1KM away from the RIM.

      Edit: Oh, and I'm also less than 5km away from the Airport LOS.

      • RockyRaccoon on 14/11/2014 - 19:12

        No business will invest in ADSL technology when it will be made obsolete by the NBN.

        Problem was we and the telco's were lead to believe it would initially take 7 years when in reality it will take 21 years. (If it's a short time, they would recoup their investment)

        If the telco's knew it would have taken so long, they would have put in ADSL2 infastructure earlier.

        • rompastompa on 15/11/2014 - 10:53

          I understand that completely, but you would expect it to be on the nbn list to be upgraded within 5 years… It's not. It's like they thought "we'll rollout upgrades to the old ADSL1 rims, because its an easy job. Oh government is paying for nbn? Awesome. Cancel adsl2 top hat upgrades!"

      • cryptos on 14/11/2014 - 21:46
        +1

        The old "rim job"

        • rompastompa on 15/11/2014 - 10:54
          +1

          I bought candles and flowers… It was an unsuccessful rim job. :(

  • grog on 12/11/2014 - 16:49
    +2

    Wanna swap your DSL phone line for ours?

    Compared to our download speed on DSL yours is lightning fast.

    Our neighbours in 3 houses adjoining cannot get DSL at all.

  • 2jzzzz on 12/11/2014 - 16:59
    +2

    Because we are a massive country and someone has to pay for the infrastructure for the large distances. In China they can pay $200/year because there are more people paying, shorter distances and China wages.

    • scrimshaw on 12/11/2014 - 19:03

      Population density.

      Consider the relationship between population density and the distance between major cities and hubs, and the cost required to roll out network links and substations between these cities. You also have to factor in labour costs, not just materials.

      The population density of Australia is 3 per Sq KM. We're right at the BOTTOM of the list as far as pop density is concerned.

      China is 145 per Sq KM.
      Japan is 349 per Sq KM.

      Singapore is 7,713 per SQ KM and Hong Kong is 6,845 per SQ KM. Naturally these two countries will have access to pretty much gigabit internet.

      • FutureTech on 13/11/2014 - 15:21
        +1

        Country/region*

      • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2014 - 16:43
        +12

        Population density of Sydney or Melbourne (for example) vs all of Australia would be dramatically different, no? Given that we have very centralised city areas, surely that supports the case that we should have better infrastructure. People harp on about the fact that our housing approaches that of Hong Kong being due to a "land shortage" wouldn't make sense if we forgot how poorly planned out major cities are. The fact that everyone has to live near the CBD to tolerate living in any of our cities supports the notion that, hey, our population density is pretty damn high enough.

        3 people per sqm sounds like my morning commute to work should be a breeze eh?

      • hahaboy on 13/11/2014 - 18:02
        +1

        on a side note. really surprised that Japan's population density is only 349 per sq km. Given tokyo is the most dense city in the world and they have one of the largest world economies, I'd have imagined them to be near the top of the list. They are not even top 10 :O

      • RefusdClassification on 14/11/2014 - 10:30
        +9

        I am tired of these lies being perpetuated by Telstra shareholders and Liberal voters. Only a few miners live in the desert, and a small number of farmers in the vegetated areas outside the capital cities. The average population density across the Australian continent is irrelevant.

        Australias population is heavily concentated in only a small number of cities, where their is far more than 3 people per km squared. This is where the NBN should be rolled out to benefit the majority of people. We could have an excellent broadband system if the government invested money in it instead of wasting it on middle class welfare schemes like Negative Gearing (cost 6 billion per year) and Paid Paternity Leave.

        • [Deactivated] on 14/11/2014 - 16:16

          I betcha liberals own a metric F-tonne of Telstra.

        • RockyRaccoon on 14/11/2014 - 19:15

          You have no idea.

          I am now on the NBN

          I am in a semi rural area

          They took 5 days to install with a team of 5 guys.

          It's a perfect example of distance and terrain issues

        • dentani on 01/12/2014 - 14:27

          @RockyRaccoon:
          It's a perfect example of wasted effort, which is better spent rolling NBN out in metro areas first.

      • Talonparty on 14/11/2014 - 16:21

        You really think that the nbn was going to supply fibre internet to every square meter of the country? What a terrible argument to use. Completely irrelevant and pretty stupid in my opinion. Population density is not a useful measure here.

  • timmypete on 12/11/2014 - 17:03
    +3

    Why? For speed, because of every reason IIGnomeII has listed already. Adding to the list of complaints, the Telstra monopoly on the exchange-household wiring just makes going with third parties a painful and more expensive proposition.

    Been praying for NBN to start in my area but it never did.

    The fibre is under the nature strip in front of my apartment, but won't ever be connected to us. Missed it by that much!

  • Davros on 12/11/2014 - 17:07
    -5

    Poor internet speed?
    Have you thought of changing provider.
    http://www.speedtest.net/result/3902775161.png

    • Hotpotcorn on 12/11/2014 - 17:10

      :( im jealous

    • felipe1982 on 12/11/2014 - 20:59

      You're faster than 81% of AU

    • Charity on 14/11/2014 - 00:18
      +5

      that is not ADSL. That is you being obnoxious.

      You are with Telstra. OP is already with Telstra.

      • [Deactivated] on 14/11/2014 - 16:18

        I use to get 6MB/s down. I got a wiring dude to check the line on the box at the side of the apartment block and he rewired my port on the wall and it up to 11.5MB/s down.

        No more dropouts too (I use to get like 3-10) an hour, especially during peak which is when I was using the most after work.

  • jzdhgkd on 12/11/2014 - 17:26
    +1

    Have you checked whether cable is available in your area? Way faster than ADSL

    http://www.speedtest.net/result/3902801071.png

  • [Deactivated] on 12/11/2014 - 18:04

    What I don't understand is why private enterprise doesn't roll out fibre to the home, like everywhere else. In the UK you can pick from Virgin, BT infinity and others, for a really low price (much lower than here) with no download limits and speeds up to 300mbps. NBN is going to be obsolete by the time it rolls out, and has no real advantage over the existing cable network (apart from uploads). I guess the cost of labour is so ridiculously high in Australia that private enterprises don't want to touch it. I mean its not like Melbourne or Sydney have population densities lower than other major cities around the world.

    • Agarwal on 12/11/2014 - 20:12
      +2

      Shirley you cant be serious.

    • Paul Atreides on 12/11/2014 - 20:12

      my thoughts exactly. mobile broadband has grown quite fast recently in terms of speed, but still has quite some way to go in terms of cost and allowance.

      give it 10 years or so, which is about the time where nbn should finish, and it should be there.

      4g700mhz now with 4g900 in 2016.

      hopefully the price will see a reduction, and allowance an increase sometime shortly.

      • ESEMCE on 14/11/2014 - 08:17
        +6

        Not going to happen. Read up on contention.
        Mobile broadband with current and foreseeable future technology fails miserably as soon as you have more than a few simultaneous active users per tower. Put too many connections onto Mobile Broadband and you get Vodafail.

    • IIGnomeII on 13/11/2014 - 09:41
      +1

      Keep an eye on TPG, they are trying to roll out their own fibre network but making other carriers pay them should they want to use it. It is going through the courts at the moment as there is a feeling that TPG may monopolise the fibre and stop other carriers from using it.

      • skillet on 13/11/2014 - 12:59
        +4

        TPG has always been the bang for buck ISP. Without them we will still be stuck under the stone. There's nothing wrong with investing in their own fibre network and charging other ISP a fee. It's just like Telstra wholesale. Installing the fibre network is not free.

        • IIGnomeII on 13/11/2014 - 13:48

          That's what I was alluding to that they are taking the initiative to roll out their own fibre so there is a good chance that people will see the fibre to their place sooner than the NBN rollout

        • ESEMCE on 14/11/2014 - 08:19
          +5

          @IIGnomeII:

          Note that TPG are targeting Apartments only.
          ie 1 fibre cable to 20+ dwellings.
          If you live in a house or a smaller complex, TPG aren't interested.

        • skillet on 14/11/2014 - 09:54

          @scubacoles:

          You can apply for fibre installation cost $5000 I am surely they are interested if you have the money.

          http://www.tpg.com.au/fibre-optic

        • IIGnomeII on 14/11/2014 - 14:34

          @skillet:

          "Min charge includes $5000 setup" and it is only available at on-net buildings. We have quite a few people that get a quote through this, one guy had a quote for $13,000 for a setup to his place.

        • [Deactivated] on 14/11/2014 - 16:21

          @IIGnomeII: I'd pay that…

  • Paul Atreides on 12/11/2014 - 19:55
    +1

    from my experience in telco, what i find is that old units suffer the most.

    building managers tend to not care about the mdf (main distribution frame) / idf (intermediate distribution frame) and let them sit in a room for them to rot. this is what distributes the line telstra connects to the apartment to all the units.

    ive seen internet speeds go from 0.60mpb/s to 13mbp/s simply because of the neglect of these. it had evidence of water dripping on it, covered in webs, and corrosion as well. it was fixed by bypassing the board and just hardwired.

  • BobD on 13/11/2014 - 07:44
    +1

    I'm a bit more fortunate than many. I have NBN fibre and my speed test is http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3904629603 . However, it doesn't give great benefits except for downloading. Many of the websites I visit are either on slow lines, congested lines, or underpowered servers and the result is I wait just like everyone else.

    A giant cost advantage is that I no longer have a phone landline in the usual sense. I don't even use the NBN voice attachment. That saves me about $30 per month. I use Voice over IP (VoIP) and neither I nor my callers can tell the difference between that and a standard landline from Hell$tra. My landline phone spend is $5.00 per month for included calls (up to 2 hours) to Australian landlines and many international destinations.

    • CI on 13/11/2014 - 17:30

      You have Nbn, and still you getting those speeds?

      • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2014 - 18:35
        +2

        I would assume he is on the 25/5Mbps plan.

      • BobD on 14/11/2014 - 07:34
        +1

        You get what you can afford or want to pay for. I am on 25meg down and 5 meg up. The NBN has 4 different speeds 12/1, 25/5, 50/20, and 100/40. As I said above, it doesn't do much for browsing but downloads are good.

        • CI on 15/11/2014 - 14:56

          Thanks. I didn't know about the speed structure, since Nbn is probably still a decade away from us. But I have just normal cu adsl2+from telstra. We get 18mbps

    • oringal on 13/11/2014 - 20:26
      +3

      nbn is still more reliable than copper… at least when it rains your internet doesnt slow down to dial up or just flat cut out.

      • Ramrunner on 14/11/2014 - 11:52
        +11

        Remains to be seen. The new Fraudband FttN plan still runs copper from the node to your house. In my neck of the woods that means it will cut out just as much. I'm on a pair gain/RIM system because there are not enough (good) copper pairs running in the pit. Whenever one dies, the technician spends ages trying to find another workable one.

        Unfortunately Australia voted liberal which mean Malcolm got the reigns. Threw out the fibre (which would have fixed everything) SOMEHOW decided the POWERED nodes and copper maintenance costs a year were going to cost less than pulling the fibre (no power required nor susceptible to moisture etc.), put all his ex-Telstra friends in to run NBNCo, and decided it is OK to spy on each and every one of us with this data retention thing.

        People are still trying to convince me he's NOT a Telstra/Foxtel lackey. I'm sorry but you might as well stop trying. Bad broadband means Foxtel/Telstra still keep their monopoly. If we had good broadband, Quickflix, Fetch, and soon to be Netflix here in Australia would gain a foothold. And who would pay $45 month to Foxtel to watch shows such as Game of Thrones if other providers can throw it in full HD over your fibre at $10-$20 per month AND you get to watch those shows WHEN you want WITHOUT ads?

        It all stinks to high corruption. Sorry for the tin foil hat rant but that's how I feel.

  • freesteakknives on 13/11/2014 - 08:10

    All depends where you are. I get 100mb/s with optus cable so the NBN with their higher pricing is not at all attractive. Speed tests are OK but none of the sites that I go to are able to deliver content at the speed that the cable is able to run so it's kinda pointless anyway.

    • Dan_ on 13/11/2014 - 16:14
      +3

      Downloading BF4 for the 7 day free game time in about 20 minutes was pretty good.

      -Downloaded and installed in 20 minutes.
      -Tried the multiplayer.
      -Felt glad I didn't spend money on that piece of rubbish.

  • rbrb on 13/11/2014 - 08:43
    +11

    Because we have a government led by an idiot who thinks telecoms and fast internet are only for people to pirate content. FTTN is a waste of time and money. The only way to make the NBN work is FTTH.

    • Aneurism on 14/11/2014 - 10:35
      +10

      Who is the greater idiot, the idiot leader or the people that voted him in ?

      • Ramrunner on 14/11/2014 - 11:55

        To be fair there wasn't a great amount of choice. For the record I did NOT vote these idiots in, and even warned others this would happen, but I think the majority of Australia needed a change. Labor made a mess of other things and the whole "Get Kevin in again" blowing up in their faces didn't inspire any confidence now did it?

        Their NBN idea was spot on though. How I wish Malcolm wasn't such a lackey, got some balls, and continued the full roll out.

        • [Deactivated] on 14/11/2014 - 16:24

          On the bright side, news it littered with factions anymore. Just Abbottism.

      • Miami Mall Alien on 15/11/2014 - 02:08
        -4

        Who is the greater idiot, the idiot leader or the people that voted him in ?

        What does it even matter?

        Both parties would have cut back on spending, it's as simple as that, so you would have kissed FTTH goodbye either way and thus essentially condemned yourself to decades of indecision and slow progress. They're coalescing into an indistinguishable singularity so much that you need a goddamned Venn Diagram for our ballot papers, not a bunch of tick boxes.

        Anyone who the thinks the NBN ever really amounted to anything more than a pre-election sales pitch is full of it.

        • BartholemewH on 15/11/2014 - 15:26

          I'm using it to type this right now. Maybe I just wished for it harder?

        • Miami Mall Alien on 15/11/2014 - 15:59
          -2

          @BartholemewH: Fascinating. The billions spent on it so far was really worth it so you and a few thousand other Aussies in your new developements can have FTTH. Job well done.

        • superklue on 15/11/2014 - 16:08
          +1

          @Amar89:
          Sounds like you're a little misinformed.

          Facts:
          NBN Co transit network under construction. 121 Points of Interconnect nearing completion. This is the backbone of the network.
          FTTH Footprint: 430,000 premises passed, 160,000 active
          Fixed Wireless: 130,000 premises covered, 25,000 active
          Satellite: 41,000 premises active. New satellites launched in Q3/Q4 CY15. Capacity for 250,000 premises.
          Greenfields (new devs): 138,000 premises passed. 63,000 active
          FTTN Footprint: 250,000 premises under construction. Live in July 2015.

          Source: nbnco.com.au

        • Miami Mall Alien on 15/11/2014 - 16:20
          -2

          @superklue: Sounds like you're a little naive.

          So that's 0.006% of our population that have access to the NBN in the non-gimped, fully-fledged, future-proof plan, that was promised to all Australians when the NBN launched six years ago.

          At this rate we'll have maybe 0.1% of the population on FTTN in another decade.

          This is supposed to be a yardstick for success?

          Hell I agree with Aneurism's comment now.

          the idiot leader or the people that voted him in ?

          Also, of those FTTH consumers, how many of them are actually on 100Mbp/s up and 40Mpb/s down? And not some obsolete sync speed that's achievable with HFC Cable. I'm willing to bet nowhere close to a majority because the plans are so hideously expensive because the uptake has been far slower than projected hence economies of scale haven't made it anywhere near as affordable as predicted.

          Edit: Seems my assumption was correct.

          “Overall, 38 percent of active services on our fibre network have been on the fastest speed tier, which is 100Mbps down,”

        • superklue on 15/11/2014 - 17:29

          @Amar89:
          Naive?

          Your quote was taken from 2012, approximately 2 years ago when the network was still in its infancy. Nevertheless, yes, its very encouraging to see people taking the higher speed tiers available on NBN. Many people presume that these speeds won't be available on the 'inferior' FTTN/B technologies.
          Here's a media release from September 2014 on actual end user experience using FTTN.
          http://www.nbnco.com.au/sell-nbn-services/new-connections-ne…

          96mbps down, 36mbps up. Doesn't sound 'inferior' to me. I currently have 4mbps down, 0.8 mbps up.

          After the election, the Government issued NBN Co with the Interim Statement of Expectations. Basically a document that outlined how the Government expected the company to operate in the future. You can read it here. http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/SOE-Sha…

          Key point:
          …providing download data rates of at least 25mbps to all premises (in Australia) and at least 50mbps to 90% of fixed line premises as soon as possible.

          Since then, NBN Co have set a number of strategic objectives. One of which is to connect 8 million premises by 2020 - with there speed criteria set above.

          That sounds like a pretty good yardstick of success to me. Can we put away the burning torches and sticks now? The rollout of the NBN is an incredibly complex and difficult task and there are 2,900 employees (plus more contractors) who are trying to make these plans a reality.

        • PVA on 16/11/2014 - 22:50

          @superklue:
          yep, pretty poor numbers for how long its beig going, isnt it. and the numbers show take up is slow, most dont until the date comes that you have to switch.

        • superklue on 17/11/2014 - 10:52
          -1

          @PVA:
          Again, baseless comments without facts.

          Are you a fibre network engineer working on the project? Who are you to say what is poor in terms of network deployment?
          Where are you figures that show take up is slow? Where is your proof that slow take up is uniform across the network?

  • mick1 on 13/11/2014 - 09:12
    +3

    I have DSL and Cable in my area, but need to use VPN for work so have to use DSL (static IP).
    I'm a bit under 2km from the exchange. On a Sunday morning (or any quiet time) I get download speeds of 3Mb to 4.5Mb regularly, which is not great but is workable.
    But at times when other people want to use the Internet (eg evenings during the week, the download speed slows to 0.6Mb to 1.0Mb. That's not workable and you can't, for example, stream Apple TV with it. It wouldn't be classified as broadband in other first world countries.

    The reason for this is that the the provider is cheapskating on backhaul from the Exchange, which means the contention ratio goes through the roof at times when everyone wants to use the internet. All of them do it for residential services - so there is not much point in me switching providers.

    The sad part of this is that backhaul is not very expensive now, but the providers want to squeeze whatever profit they can out of your subscription so they keep the contention ratios high, and carry on advertising their products as (in my case) ADSL2+ with download speeds up to 15Mb or more.
    That is just plain misleading if the provider doesn't adequately provide the rest of the infrastructure for good quality internet.

    Australians are being ripped off badly, but it's not just the FTTN / FTTP argument.
    My mother lives in a small centre 50Km north of Wellington in NZ, about 2km from the exchange. Her DSL never seems to drop below about 2.5Mb at the busiest of times.
    Lat year we stayed for 2 weeks with friends who live about 10km north of Bath in the UK - again a small centre. I never saw their DSL speed drop below 4.5Mb.

  • IIGnomeII on 13/11/2014 - 09:51

    I think freesteakknives and BobD have touched on a very important point.

    The speed at which your connection runs is one thing but the path your network takes and the server hosting the data you are trying to access play an even bigger role.
    You could have a 1000mbit connection but at the end of the day if the other end is using its full connection bandwidth then you may only be connecting to them at 3mbit.
    Having a faster connection at your end does mean that you can access a lot more information at the same time however, for the majority of the residential population I believe a 20/20mbit connection would be sufficient for everyone for the next few years.

    • Ramrunner on 14/11/2014 - 12:01
      +3

      "I believe a 20/20mbit connection would be sufficient for everyone for the next few years"

      Yes you are right. Even this would carry happily 2 Full HD television streams.

      BUT

      Australia is spending tens of BILLIONS of dollars building this thing. Shouldn't we "do it once, do it properly", and have the capability of delivery Terabit speeds to each house (yes, they have managed to get fibre up to 76Tbps over 54 Km)?

      Why spend those tens of billions building something that CANNOT be guaranteed to ever go over 50Mbps or less? As soon as you hit near 800m from a node, guess what? That's what you'll be dealing with.

      4K TV is real. It is here. Not prevalent yet, but I see in the next 4 years it will be very much bigger. You can throw out your 20/20mbit then because it won't be enough.

      We need to stop thinking about the NBN as data only people. It does a lot more than that.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2014 - 11:13
    -1

    That upload speed in relation to your download speed indicates you are still on ADSL1 (max 8000/384) - you might get some more juice out of an ADSL2+ connection (max 24000/1000) as its a slightly different and newer tech.

  • grabngo on 13/11/2014 - 15:29

    We live in the sticks.
    Just got NBN
    $49.95 a month
    50gb Downloads
    Running on 25mbps
    For an extra $10 they will give u 100mbps
    PS My phone and pc cant handle that speed!!!
    25 still is fast bro

    • BobD on 14/11/2014 - 07:39

      which provider is that? Are you happy with them?

    • BartholemewH on 15/11/2014 - 15:32

      Which provider does 100mbit and 50GB for sixty? I'm currently on 25mbit and 100GB for 49.

  • ahly92 on 13/11/2014 - 15:31

    I've been with optus for nearly 7 years now and last year i called them up to complain about my speed~20mbps …called at like 11pm when the call center is in india. tolled them and they gave me a free upgrade to the super speed pack now i get roughly 100mb…So try your luck an call at night when the call center is overseas…be nice and if they dont offer much try and tell them you got a call from them a couple if days ago for some special offer

  • plmko on 13/11/2014 - 15:40

    People are just too focused on 'bandwidth' not speed. 6.77Mb/s is plenty for everything but for instant piracy and maybe some 4K video streaming. It's latency that we should all be worried about, that directly affects how fast website will pop-up on the punch of a URL and your gaming experience.

    I was plenty happy with the internet I got in Japan, maybe only 5Mb/s but lantency was 6ms, which gave me an extremely smooth experience.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2014 - 16:19
      +5

      Single user maybe, try sharing that much bandwidth across a multi person household.

      • plmko on 14/11/2014 - 00:03
        -5

        I do now, 2 computers and a TV streaming vids on a 3.5Mb/s connection. What's your point?

        • azorax on 15/11/2014 - 11:44

          While I do believe the general consensus here is that at 3.5 megabits or 437 kilobites a second would be worse than shifting through mud for most of us.

          I do believe plmko and his/her household are 'light' users. (does not watch youtube/streaming services or download games [if there was a 40GB game on steam, probably won't download it])

  • bargainbot12 on 13/11/2014 - 15:50
    -2

    I really don't have a problem with my internet speeds!
    http://www.speedtest.net/result/3905454398.png

  • Hotpotcorn on 13/11/2014 - 16:08

    just called telstra. they said adsl 2+ or cable are not avalible in my area. i am stuck with adsl…… omg omg fml im so jealous of u guys having ADSL 2+ OR CABLE OR EVEN NBN!!!! makes me so mad that i wanna move houses

    • BobD on 14/11/2014 - 07:41

      Before I moved house and got NBN I had Tel$tra hardware adsl2+ billed by Internode and it was running at about 16 to 17 meg and that moved along fairly well but it slowed down badly every afternoon because of congestion.

    • [Deactivated] on 14/11/2014 - 14:08

      I wouldn't worry too much.

      a) I always ran ADSL2+ on ADSL settings anyway. Unless you're right next to an exchange you will probably be better off with the stability of an ADSL profile.

      b) Browsing speeds don't change. I'm on fibre now and there is really no speed advantage on the WWW. You're limited by povvo ISP links and ocean links etc.

  • coldmyst on 13/11/2014 - 16:18
    +4

    Why are you guys testing your speed on an Australian server??? It like testing speed on your LAN. what's the point. if you want to know your true speed i suggest you test on a overseas server.The reason why australia internet is slow is because telstra buys a blended product from overseas and all other provider goes through their carrier access network(CAN)! That right even NBN goes through telstra. Telstra is a 3 tier Telco its buys its bandwidth from reach in HK who in turn buys it from a international supplier like softbank, atnt…etc. Just think how many server and switches it goes through when it reaches you if you go through someone like iinet. For example

    for NBN play on iinet

    iinet->nbn->telstra->reach->softbank->www

    • [Deactivated] on 14/11/2014 - 14:13
      +1

      Actually this is a really good point and raises the point that ISPs are assholes.

      Let me explain:

      If you have any type of speed complaint they will get you to run a line test or speed test. This is a speed test between you and them with only TWO possible outcomes.

      (a) if the speedtest is okay they will say sorry bad luck it must be a problem with your PC or home network.

      (b) if the speedtest is bad they will blame Telstra and limitations of the physical line

      In other words they accept zero responsibility for poor performance.

  • emibel19 on 13/11/2014 - 16:46

    "all other provider goes through their carrier access network"

    That's not true. Different ISPs go via different routes to overseas sites. They don't all go through Telstra. TPG, for example sends a lot of US traffic via Pipe's cable to Guam (because they own Pipe), whereas some other ISPs use Southern Cross cable (e.g. via New Zealand and Hawaii).

  • supaderp on 13/11/2014 - 17:28

    I can help provide some information about why the nbn roll out is taking so long from experience working at a NBN contractor.
    Basically the green field projects have priority for nbn compared to the people who have been using copper. Which is why most newly developed areas have the capability of fast internet.
    Second if a installer was to find asbestos whilst digging(very common), legally they must return to the warehouse and dispose of it to the asbestos bin after the job. The company which I worked at had issues where the bin would be filled up the day after the bin has been emptied and have collection 2 times a week. = delays.
    Another thing is not enough labourers. I have heard from most sub contractors that most people coming in just does not want to dig or doesn't know how to. And would need additional training.
    These are just some issues I have experienced. The guys work very hard in the hot summer days and when it rains there is no work.

  • hahaboy on 13/11/2014 - 18:17

    What's a reasonable speed to expect from internet? We've just been lazy and using the same one for the past 5+ years in Melbourne. It feels slow, but works so we stuck with it.

    Paying $99 p/m for unlimited internet, home phone and fetch TV bundle.
    Speed test: Down=1.76Mbps Up=0.30 Ping=27ms

    Are there better deals out there, or is it reasonable?

    • Hotpotcorn on 13/11/2014 - 18:47

      check your adress to see if cable is avalible in your area.

      • hahaboy on 13/11/2014 - 23:17

        will do. thanks.

    • emibel19 on 13/11/2014 - 18:47
      +2

      That would be reasonable if you're on an old ADSL1 1500 kbps plan, otherwise pretty awful.

      • hahaboy on 13/11/2014 - 23:16

        thanks :)

  • Manh on 13/11/2014 - 21:09

    $80/m for 200GB ADSL is a rip off. You seriously need to change providers. The only requirement the other providers require for ADSL/ADSL2 is that you have a Telstra copper line so that means you're all set.

    To do a search for the best deal for you, start with the Whirlpool site, and since you said you don't have a phone number, we'll go for the general plan search:

    http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/bc/?action=search

    Find the plan you like and contact that provider by phone or via their site to see if they cover your area.

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