As title, anyone has experience 5G Home Broadband and can give advice if it's the same / worse or better than nbn?
Currently TPG has a $65 a month plan for up to 100Mbps, seems cheaper than the nbn plan of the same speed.
5G Home Broadband Vs nbn?
Comments
Great answer. Thanks so much.
Re-reading what I posted, I thought I'd add more colour as it might help you/others looking into this.
Why did I go 5G home broadband originally?
I could see the 5G tower from my bedroom window and checked the cell phone towers app and confirmed it was 5G for all 3 providers across the various bands too with capacity so it would be 'optimal'. I am also renting so didn't want to sign a long contract. And finally, Vodafone had the option to go in store, and go home with the 5G modem - perfect on day 1 after moving in. NBN/etc all had much longer wait times.Don't forget, the Home broadband 5G solutions (even from Vodafone and Telstra) are different to what you would get on a normal mobile service.
Also in my rental, they only have 100Mbps NBN and TPG FTTB. Nothing faster. No GigaComm either.
What was the performance like?
As mentioned I could get around 400Mbps during good weather in the evening with latency around 16-22ms across lots of servers. When it rained heavily though, sometimes those speeds dropped down to high 2's, low 3's. Uploads were also variable somewhere between 30 and 60Mbps. I didn't really notice much difference between business hours and outside business hours (always above 300Mbps), but as mentioned before, the random issues where stuff just wouldn't load, did happen every now and then. It impacted my wired PC when clicking links, it impacted my Apple TV when watching Youtube and Netflix, etc… and it would fix itself within a short while each time, but it's just frustrating when it happens. Looking at my speedtest.net results, the best I ever got was 520Mbps on Vodafone 5G Home.On a side note I could get about 500Mbps (when my home 5G would get 400ish) on my mobile phone in the same location.
What other experiences did I try?
Given pretty much every 5G provider has free trials of at least one month free with no cancellation cost if you return modem (NOTE: Optus does not hence I didn't try them), I also tried Telstra 5G Home too. I was initially able to consistently get 500Mbps-700Mbps and much lower latency 10-15ms back in May/June. Nowadays though it hovers around the 500Mbps mark more than the 700.For comparison, my iPhone 12 on Telstra 5G can get >1Gbps in this same spot.
What do I use now?
I switched to TPG FTTB. It's far slower at <100Mbps (circa 97Mbps) down and 30Mbps up (advertised 20 so I'm happy) but it is very reliable and has no download limit. Oddly enough though it has a higher latency than expected of 10-20ms.Why? Because I hit my 1TB limit two months in a row on my Telstra connection and got the warnings and some slight speed throttling. I was never sure how much it throttled but it made me nervous as I WFH and couldn't afford to not be able to have a reliable connection. In case you're wondering what I was doing, first month was I bought a PS5 (and installed a 2TB SSD) and downloaded all the PS Extra/Plus games and forgot to hold back. The other month was much lamer, I imaged my old desktop PC and saved it onto my NAS, forgetting that specific backup folder is then backed up to an offsite location (so it uploaded 800GB in the first couple of days of a new month).
(Edit: someone below commented on CGNAT and I forgot to mention, my Synology NAS never worked when trying to connect to it from outside the home on Telstra or Vodafone whether through Synology's QuickConnect or traditional DDNS servers - this was another factor in me moving to TPG FTTB)
I haven't cancelled Telstra yet as I'm still on the 3 months free with TPG, but I also enjoy having my ASUS router set to Dual-WAN where my speeds are reasonably quick. Dual-WAN used to be a bit buggy when I had the Telstra 5G and Vodafone 5G (some packets went nowhere; probably because of Vodafone issues) so I didn't end up using it much but it did hit a best ever speedtest of 15ms/906.84/163.01. Nowadays though with Telstra 5G and TPG on Dual-WAN, I get about 500-600 down, 100-160 up, which works well for me since the TPG Upload speeds are crap at 30Mbps.
Thanks OP * gives Reddit gold for thorough write-up *
Wow. This is more than awesome. Hi Jace, you have any suggestions for nbn router around $150 mark?
@Dealor: I’m using the free one from TPG in bridge mode connected to my asus XT8 mesh wifi. I needed mesh in my apartment due to signal not reaching each room otherwise. This may be overkill for you though as it cost $600+ on sale last November.
@jace88: Haha it is. I am still ok with the free one from Optus so guess a standard TP Link should be ok.
5G home broadband has … random drop outs
So, exactly the same as my HFC NBN?
The above post is an awesome answer. I would personally stay with NBN if possible.
I always say to people wired is always preferred as opposed to wireless… so much can cause interference to the wireless signal.
Have a look around companies doing NBN for a couple dollars more for 100MB. And in 6 months just churn to another provider who might have a similar cost.I just started churning credit card, now NBN. Guess loyalty doesnt pay off nowadays :(
Not often. To get the best nbn deals take advantage of free month trials and 6+ months discounted deals.
The 5G also does not include the home phone - if your into that sort of thing
Home phone, is that still a thing. Who even has one nowadays.
I get 500Mbps and 9ms ping with my Telstra 5G, the tower is 100m away with no obstructions, and is more stable for gaming compared to my old place that had NBN HFC.
So depends on what you can get, but I'm much happier with 5G.Just to clarify are you referring to 5G on your phone/tablet or the Home 5G service? The latter is quite a bit slower than the former.
This is with the Telstra 5G Wi-Fi Pro as the modem, wired to my router, then wired to my pc.
Yeah that's using the normal 5G service. There's a totally separate 5G Home internet service that Telstra sells for $85/mth with 1TB limits, and if you move the modem outside of your home address, you get throttled automatically.
100% varies.
The best physical line will always beat the best wireless signal. But the best line doesn't exist in the real world, nor does the best wireless signal.
Companies want you to use their infrastructure over NBN. They get to take home more of the profit, and they have more control over getting things working. Because of that some of them give you a month to try where you can cancel without penalty. That's worth doing.
Your property might have a great line going into it with NBN, and that might give you a much better service. Your property might have a cable long in need of being replaced (in the case of HFC, FTTN, FTTC, etc) and give you a pretty mediocre service.
Your property might have awesome 5G coverage and give you a fantastic service. Orrr, it might be crap.
I'd encourage you to avoid any contract and test both.
Right now on Vodafone's grandfathered discount on 5G home internet plan ($42.5/month for unlimited speed and data).
5G home internet has been going strong for me. Personally never going to be looking back to NBN. I will however drop down my plan though likely to save up money (as discount would end). But would likely be same as standard NBN 50 price (not talking about discounted promotion of like 6 month promos)
Max speeds I get 320 ish Mbps download, Ping is definitely higher than NBN if that bothers you so much,
I am using Telstra 5G Home and getting around 700-900mpbs down and 70-100mpbs up and paying $85 per month, compared to NBN the equivalent plan is 1gigabit plan and it costs $115 to $180 varies by providers. I am happy with the 5G as it is cheaper and faster than my old NBN.
Dont forget that, Telstra has capped 5G home internet @ 1TB/month
Yes I knew that but 1TB is more than enough for me, I use around 400-600gb per month.
Depending of you location (if you have excellent 5G reception) 5G could be the next best option after fttp.
fttp will remain the top option if you do have it.@drhip
All 5G home broadband networks have what is called a Carrier Grade NAT. You can't turn off Carrier Grade NAT yourself and this blocks your router from port forwarding. Carrier Grade NAT can block remote access to a home server running Plex, gives you a strict (type 3) NAT for online PlayStation/Xbox/Switch/PC gaming, selected IP cameras can't be viewed remotely and more.
If you need to use port forwarding go with an nbn ISP that doesn't use Carrier Grade NAT. Do you have FTTN, FTTB, FTTC, FTTP, HFC, FW? What speeds are you getting?
^^ This. For this sole reason, I'll probably never go 5G irrespective how higher the speed is or how low the cost is unless there is a way to port forward using 5G in future.
Have a look at ngrok as it may help with routing to access your devices behind CGNAT. There are other apps/services that do the same.
When I was using 4G broadband I used nggrok, but since going to NBN HFC I have a public IP I do not need to use it anymore.
Is this English not some Alien language T_T
I am on Optus HFC NBN paying $85 pm for 50Mbps over the last 6 years :( Looking to change to superloop for $55
Currently I am thinking of getting TP-Link Archer AX20 as a router since Optus router is locked and cant be used with other providersOptus are one of the most expensive. nbn HFC can reach speeds of 1000/50Mbps.
Do you do any of these things?
- play online games
- access any computers, a NAS or a home server remotely
- access security cameras remotely (if yes what brand and model?)
I do play online games but it's not a hard core game. Other than that nothing else on 2 and 3
@drhip: Test 5G in your area and see what happens. Personally I would continue to stay on the fixed line nbn HFC.
Cant you use a VPS to route traffic to and from your premises ?
so map cloudflare to your vps ip and then have a wireguard connection to your router ?
oracle cloud has free tier which i use.I haven't tried that as I have no need.
I would strongly advise everyone to use the NBN. No matter how much it costs you.
So you won't slow down my much cheaper 5G internet connection.
Those on NBN can take it for the team!…drop outs, non service etc…..
I have Fiber that comes into my apartment, TPG NBN 50 I get 3-5ms pings for Brisbane servers and 52-54Mbps down 19-21mbps up all day around, the issue with this apartment is my Telstra 5G can be patchy as, I live in Fortitude Valley in QLD and right now in my bedroom have 2 bars of 4G which is pulling 24Mbps/16mbps with 30sec ping. Switched to Wifi whilst watching a HD video on my laptop 52/19 with a 12ms ping to Sydney
6 months ago I was on NBN (FTTN)… and getting a 28 mb/sec download speed (none to extremely rare drop outs) … next door neighbour moves in and tells me he's getting 400 mb/sec with optus 5G
The very next day I ordered optus 5G as well and on a speed test done today I'm getting 931 mb/sec down and 30 mb/sec up (also with none to extremely rare drop outs).
That being said, I do not live in a congested area (acreage block) & I'm probably 200m away from a 5G tower (with some trees in the way and part of my house blocking the line of sight from my modem to the 5G tower (I'm usually only getting a 2 or 3 signal out of 5 bars on my Optus modem) because my house is kind of in a L shape and my modem is in my home office which is pretty much where the 2 lines of the l_ intersect and the 5G tower is slightly NW of the l part of the house so effectively the l part of the house fully blocks the line of sight to the tower. I wanted the simplicity of plugging in the router via LAN cable to my PC in the home office as well as kind of being central for the rest of the house (which has Wifi extenders both ways to expand the coverage / provide LAN cable from extender into TV
5G in my case is an absolute no brainer (even for gamers) on the assumption that you live reasonable close to a 5G tower (after 1km away latency will affect the hardcore gamers)
How do you know where the 5G towers are located?
aus phone towers app
Its really simple.
The NBN is speed limited. The only way to get lots of speed is to pay lots of money.
5G is data volume limited. The only way to gets lots of data is to pay lots of money.
So decide which is most important to you, and buy it.
I don't need lots of data each month, so 5G is great for me. I can get it for less than even the slowest of NBN plans. Someone who needed lots of data would have a harder decision. The problem is that whether its radio or fibre or whatever else, peak times with their peak loads determine how much it costs to build the network, and accordingly how much they have to charge. And the designers of the NBN decided to solve that problem by charging for speed to keep the peak load down.
Thats not really true.
5G has its own set of congestion and limitations which can only be solved by installing new 5G equipment/towers.
5G overall relies on the fact that not many people will use it as their normal internet connection, while its possible for them to solve this, 5G performance in Australia has proven that internet providers do not care about congested areas unless its preventing basic functions.
5G can definitely work for many people, especially if that area is not yet congested but NBN is miles ahead in all areas.
It's different.
5G home broadband has much higher latency (close to 20ms) and random drop outs, and your reliability of connection depends on your proximity (and any obstacles) to the 5G tower.
I live in a near ideal location as the 5G tower is <500m away, unobstructed, and I live almost at eye level to it due to the height of our building and being on a slight hill. With Vodafone/iinet/TPG/internode I used to get 400+Mbps (before they introduced the 100Mbps cap across the different brands) but there was high latency (ping) and sometimes things just would take forever to load (eg browsing a Youtube video on Apple TV).
I ended up switching to TPG FTTB (instead of NBN) and funnily enough it has pretty high latency too (>10ms) vs what I previously had with both Telstra NBN (2-5ms) and GigaComm's service (1ms).
Try searching Whirlpool for the Vodafone Home 5G (they're all same company just white labelled) as that's got a lot more experience in there.