NBN so far, whats your experience?

[russellw]

Originally Posted by Fed

Here's one for the brains trust?
My question is, will I need to buy new telephones (2) to replace the existing old white ones I have at the moment?

That modem has 2 x FXS ports, - an RJ11 port that connects internally to an analog office phone or fax machine. The phone manufacturer should be able to advise if your handsets are compatible.

[EgoFG]

Originally Posted by Fed

...

My question is, will I need to buy new telephones (2) to replace the existing old white ones I have at the moment?

My Experience has been that all old PSTN phones that will plug into the voip out port on a router will work fine - that is the ones with what looks like a smaller version of an ethernet plug (Dont try a rotary dialler)



SideNote - why do ISPs insist on rubbish NBN routers ? They should all support dual band ac wireless and gigabit LAN. Or (better) give sufficient instructions to allow us to config our own choice of router with builtIn voip if needed

[russellw]

Originally Posted by EgoFG

SideNote - why do ISPs insist on rubbish NBN routers ? They should all support dual band ac wireless and gigabit LAN. Or (better) give sufficient instructions to allow us to config our own choice of router with builtIn voip if needed

Money. The same reason a Foxtel iQ box is buggy and has a high failure rate. I'm on my 4th Telstra NBN Gateway although only 2 of the previous ones failed with (in both cases) the 5G Wireless being the bit that failed. The 4th one was to upgrade to one with 4G backup.

The units typically used by ISP's are in the cheaper bracket but even the 3 Telstra options (Base, Max2 and Frontier) which are priced between $186 and $384 are still poorly made although at least all but the base offer dual band wireless and Gigabit Ethernet.




Modem / Routers range from ~$50-600 ....



Cheers
Russ

[EgoFG]

My Optus Netgear will be replaced by a Draytek Vigor 2926 (as soon as I get the coins together) - I will have to keep the Netgear in a DMZ hanging off the Draytek for the phone to work. Support in Syd say they have done this before. Then the free Item will be just a glorified Voip box.


I like the draytek for its VPN (In/Out) and onboard "parental" filtering (Most, including Netgear use a DNS for filtering - that is very easy to circumvent).
My observation is that most ISPs use a crippled version of the firmware - but in the case of the Optus offering, this even stops me from expiring IP leases.



When I have done this I will publish my procedure ... here if the thread is still getting hit

[sgt_doofey]

Fritz!Box for the win!

Available from my ISP, Internode. (And other retailers too! Not all isps sell rubbish!)

Only modem with a 5 year warranty.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Fritz!Box for the win!

Available from my ISP, Internode. (And other retailers too! Not all isps sell rubbish!)

Only modem with a 5 year warranty.

I have a fritz!box. got sick of the unreliable 'free' ones. mine's been bulletproof since buying it many years ago.

[Mechan1k]

The only thing when it comes to changes with telephones.
You don't you your normal wall port anymore for a phone ... it gets directly plugged into the MODEM when going to NBN .... according to my booklet.

Mind you .... I have hardly used the home phone anymore .... i get more nuisance calls from telemarketers ..... we all use our mobiles all the time now.

[russellw]

I've updated the table above with the current crop of modem routers - quite a few are now EOL and represent good value if you can find them while stocks last.

I've also placed them in (theoretical) 'speed' categories and the first few are modem / routers only, having no wireless capability.

Where they have been end user rated (product review AU), the score is included but that score is in RED if they have less than 5 reviews.
Where they have been part of a professional review (CNET) that score is also included.

If you intend to make use of wireless (and you might as well buy one of the first few if you aren't) then you should probably be looking in the AC1300+ bracket these days although some of the Telco bundled modems are in the bracket below that.

Interestingly, the Telstra Frontier (base bundle, actually a Technicolor DJN2130); Max 2 (business bundle, actually a Technicolor TG800v2) and Smart Modem (optional, actually a Technicolor DJA0230) are all quite reasonable specification being AC3100; including at least one USB 3 port and having PSTN, VOIP and DECT support. Pity the 5G isn't more reliable.

Beyond that, it really depends what features you want / need. There are manufacturers who will sacrifice speed over security features and provide parental controls or dual firewalls. Then there are those that provide voice capabilities (FXS, FXO, VOIP, SIP, DECT) which is handy given the fact that PSTN services effectively disappear with the NBN roll out .

Cheers
Russ

[Maka]

A massive big thank you goes to RussellW from me for his awesome contributions, expert advice & knowledge to this thread & others over time, very much appreciated!! 🏆🏅

cheers, Maka

[EgoFG]

Call me silly, but I want to block for example you tube from a list of devices between the hours of 9pm and 7am. because the apps use many different IP addresses it cannot be done with keyword of IP blocking.
You need a service that you subscribe to
Most of these services rely on you setting them as your DNS - which is too easy to get around, I would rather have a subscription to a service, that updates a database on the router on a regular basis, and have the blocking done on the router.


There may be others, but that is what lead me to the SOHO level Drayteks.



the 2926ac is a little north of $500, it would be an AC1900-2800 in Russ' table


Supports VPN in and out (when I travel I would like to use my home network - many reasons), But also I might want to do some legal GeoDodging.
It is Dual Gigabit WAN, and 4port Gigabit LAN.
I prefer USB for 3g/4g/5g because then I could get anyone's dongle. ( the 2926Lac has 4g built-in).
Because I use Optus I cannot benefit from built in VOIP


I am sure there are others if you spend this much money, but the first requirement eliminates many, and I had great experience from my last Draytek.


I have NAS, 5x8 port gigabit switches plus a nighthawk 1900 that all hang of my cruddy free NetGear EVG2000 with crippled firmware

[danzvtil]

After 3 months on NBN with tpg I’ve had to upgrade, I had 100g split 50 peak,50 off peak, but would hit the wall 15 day into the month.
Now I’m unlimited on the slowest speed, which is ample for my house, my 14yo daughter streams/Skypes 24 hours a day, and I hardly watch tv now, just watch YouTube.

[Syndrome]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/7969900361

[stefcio007]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

After 3 months on NBN with tpg I’ve had to upgrade, I had 100g split 50 peak,50 off peak, but would hit the wall 15 day into the month.
Now I’m unlimited on the slowest speed, which is ample for my house, my 14yo daughter streams/Skypes 24 hours a day, and I hardly watch tv now, just watch YouTube.

I’m living with 5 people and we manage with 200GB (non-NBN), actually works to keep them from using the internet too much (kids under 18).
My phone plan now has 80GB and that’s enough for me as a backup.

[wodahs]

well the day is coming
had a letter in the mail the other day to say [inseret telco name here] sees my area is going to be live NBN as of mid year and they would be more than happy to accommodating my NBN needs with letting pre enroll to be one of their clients
now i had signed up to the NBN website to receive notification WAY back and still havent received anything
so yes i pop on the the website and yes its almost here , hallelujah
but they have decided to revert back again to FTN tech and even tho i own an older house in an older verb of perth i have no phone line AND im not bout to pay for a copper line to be installed , so i call them and explain this
at which i was promptly told yes i can look at upgrading the service to go fully FTP
i only have to fill out the application for this service and pay $340 just to have an inspection as to how they will go about it , and even tho its easy done and i have the conduct down already this a cord in it to pull new cable thru , if they decide not to do it i loose the $340 no grantees on anything and is in addition to an install price (say what)
im currently wireless and had a few inspectors come out to see if their company could supply and they priced the first inspection free and the second off the installation price

[Syndrome]

So far so good. No complaints.

[sgt_doofey]

Being an old house, it's probably had a phone connected at some stage in its life, so the copper is probably already there.

If you're slated to get FTTN and want to upgrade to FTTP, expect the quote to be very expensive. They'll have to run fibre from the node to your house, so if the node is a fair distance away, then it can be quite expensive. You can probably share the cost if other houses on your street also want to go fibre.

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Being an old house, it's probably had a phone connected at some stage in its life, so the copper is probably already there.

If you're slated to get FTTN and want to upgrade to FTTP, expect the quote to be very expensive. They'll have to run fibre from the node to your house, so if the node is a fair distance away, then it can be quite expensive. You can probably share the cost if other houses on your street also want to go fibre.

being an old house copper was there , yes
ive owned the house over 12 years now and it was dug up some time before i owned it , found out trying to connect a phone line back then and with the expense to have one re fitted well it wasnt worth it
the cable does run down my street , and i was under the belief it was able to be tapped in to at the curb as thats where it is (15mtrs of cable to travel and thats the telstra pit from my power box location side of house max) even tho the node is miles away
and i may be wrong but my suburb for its size doesnt have many nodes and all adjoining ones are FTTC so across the road from me they have FTTC
so why pay for a copper line upgrade old tech just to connect may as well stay wireless for now then
oh and the house is already smart wired cat6

[devilcv8]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Being an old house, it's probably had a phone connected at some stage in its life, so the copper is probably already there.

If you're slated to get FTTN and want to upgrade to FTTP, expect the quote to be very expensive. They'll have to run fibre from the node to your house, so if the node is a fair distance away, then it can be quite expensive. You can probably share the cost if other houses on your street also want to go fibre.

Running fibre from the FTTN cabinet to the house doesn’t upgrade you to FTTP. The fibre will need to be run from a GPON which is located upstream of the node cabinets, which means a longer fibre run.

It’s surprising how many people think they can get a full fibre service just by running fibre to the node.

As FTTC is mentioned I thought I’d add that the update FTTC to FTTP requires the lead in to be replaced with fibre only.
In order of best it goes FTTP, FTTC, FTTB/N, fixed wireless and finally a long way behind Skymuster

[EgoFG]

I am curious to know if any Urban FTTN installations are getting less than 90% of the rated speed that they pay for (I pay for 100 down, 40 up, FTTP and get an average near 94 down 36 up --- whoa -- Just checked, and today I am lucky to get 70/35)

[sgt_doofey]

I pay for 50/20. I get approx 32/11.

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by devilcv8

As FTTC is mentioned I thought I’d add that the update FTTC to FTTP requires the lead in to be replaced with fibre only.

and that is where my question lies
my service isnt FTTC
but i do have fiber running at the curb my side of the road (which they just installed)

so the question am really asking is . is it possible that they could run a lead in from this
if not i feel an upgrade is a waste of time and money and wouldnt even waste the $340 to see if they'd proceed with it from there

[GasoLane]

We were supposed to be getting the NBN 2 years ago, then it was put back to this time last year, then it was supposed to be July this year (they started digging past our place three weeks ago) now it's been put off again until Jan-July next year.

As we're supposed to be getting FTTC (fibre to the curb) I wonder if this means a direct connection with the USA, as we spell it Kerb. Not Curb

[prydey]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

We were supposed to be getting the NBN 2 years ago, then it was put back to this time last year, then it was supposed to be July this year (they started digging past our place three weeks ago) now it's been put off again until Jan-July next year.

As we're supposed to be getting FTTC (fibre to the curb) I wonder if this means a direct connection with the USA, a we spell it Kerb. Not Curb

It's sure taking long enough to be a direct link.

[Mechan1k]

With a little more use of 4K streaming at home .... I might move up to 100/40 from 50/20 at some point.

Not needed right now ... but will look into it.

My FTTN pretty much gets within 2Mbps of its congestion limit all hours of the day and night.

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

We were supposed to be getting the NBN 2 years ago, then it was put back to this time last year, then it was supposed to be July this year (they started digging past our place three weeks ago) now it's been put off again until Jan-July next year.

As we're supposed to be getting FTTC (fibre to the curb) I wonder if this means a direct connection with the USA, a we spell it Kerb. Not Curb

thats like us , we were meant to het it years ago and it kept betting bumped by 6 to 8 months a time
and started as FTTN then mid way thru it went FTTC , but a few months ago when it still read as planed Dec this year to June next they dropped it back to FTTN

all my surrounding suburbs were meant to receiver NBN after us have it already and have FTTC
funny part is across the road out my front door is another suburb which has FTTC and they still have cable running down both sides of my (the main) street

[devilcv8]

Originally Posted by wodahs

and that is where my question lies
my service isnt FTTC
but i do have fiber running at the curb my side of the road (which they just installed)

so the question am really asking is . is it possible that they could run a lead in from this
if not i feel an upgrade is a waste of time and money and wouldnt even waste the $340 to see if they'd proceed with it from there

Short answer is no. Just because you have NBN fibre running past your house doesn’t mean you can connect to it.

[cs123]

Originally Posted by wodahs

and that is where my question lies
my service isnt FTTC
but i do have fiber running at the curb my side of the road (which they just installed)

so the question am really asking is . is it possible that they could run a lead in from this
if not i feel an upgrade is a waste of time and money and wouldnt even waste the $340 to see if they'd proceed with it from there

If you are looking at upgrading to FTTP with Technology Choice then you must have a fair bit of cash kicking around. Most plans above 100mbs cost a fair bit, then you need to consider what the real world performance is going to be like. Fibre will definitely give you better performance for some things, especially multiple users , but for 1-2 users that may be browsing or viewing content then I think 100mbs will be plenty

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by cs123

If you are looking at upgrading to FTTP with Technology Choice then you must have a fair bit of cash kicking around. Most plans above 100mbs cost a fair bit, then you need to consider what the real world performance is going to be like. Fibre will definitely give you better performance for some things, especially multiple users , but for 1-2 users that may be browsing or viewing content then I think 100mbs will be plenty

if you havent understood from my previous comments

if i want to go NBN hard wired im either going to have to pay for new copper line from well somewhere to the house as it was severed in atleast one location over 10 years ago not just disconnected at a point or node

or if i was lucky and was able to (rather than refit old tech seeing ill have to fit something) have a fiber line fed from the curb

but looks like ill just keep waiting and stay wireless

[cs123]

Originally Posted by wodahs

if you havent understood from my previous comments

if i want to go NBN hard wired im either going to have to pay for new copper line from well somewhere to the house as it was severed in atleast one location over 10 years ago not just disconnected at a point or node

or if i was lucky and was able to (rather than refit old tech seeing ill have to fit something) have a fiber line fed from the curb

but looks like ill just keep waiting and stay wireless

Yeah, I did understand. The point I was making is that you are probably not going to consume more than 100Mbs anyway due to the month to month costs of those plans and the "need" for extra speed for a regular user.

Just getting a new copper lead-in is a more effective solution

[devilcv8]

Originally Posted by cs123

Yeah, I did understand. The point I was making is that you are probably not going to consume more than 100Mbs anyway due to the month to month costs of those plans and the "need" for extra speed for a regular user.

Just getting a new copper lead-in is a more effective solution

Getting a new copper service from NBN is $300. There are no cheaper options like Telstra had.

As for the reasoning around FTTP and the cost or benefit of over 100Mb services, it’s simple. Everyone on a fibre service can get 100/40 now and faster speeds if required. However, for those on FTTN not everyone can even get 25/5 so forget 100/40 or anything faster. Also active equipment vs passive equipment, guess which one will fail more?