I have been using Aussie Broadband since getting the NBN connected at my place and I can’t fault them. It’s always been a reliable service with no connection or sync problems. I’ve only needed support a couple of times for modem configuration issues and they’ve always been very helpful. The fact tech support is all based in Australia helped greatly.
I originally went for the 100/20 plan but after a couple of months I settled on 50/20 Unlimited for $79 for my needs. My line is rated to 121Mbps down.
If you’re still looking around for an internet provider but can’t decide which one’s best, I highly recommend giving Aussie Broadband a go. You’ll also get $50 off if you use my referral code (1187533) when creating your account!
Windows doesn’t really make it easy to remove the Dropbox icon from Explorer’s navigation pane. Hopefully one day they will integrate this in their settings, but for now it requires a bit of tweaking.
Below is a quick guide to getting rid of it.
Step 1
Open Registry Editor. To do this, press Windows Key+R and type regedit.exe and press OK.
Check out this awesome NBN fibre-to-the-node interactive map. It provides copper line distances and speed estimates. It needs updating but a lot of areas are still covered.
After waiting over 10 years since it was first announced, I was finally connected to the controversial but desperately needed National Broadband Network on Friday.
The results are good for the technology on offer because I am lucky to be situated within an area of the network that has high speeds. I am very pleased with it overall and I plan to upgrade to a faster speed soon.
My new NBN provider
An NBN node
Like most Australians, I live within the NBN’s fibre-to-the-node network, or FTTN. This basically means my internet connection now comes from a node around the corner of my house instead of the old telephone exchange which is a fair distance away. The data now travels on far less copper cabling than before – around 350m.
I chose Aussie Broadband as my new internet provider. They appear to have a bit of a reputation in the local tech community for having better management of congestion, a robust backhaul network and good locally-based support.
My plan is the Standard Plus NBN50, which offers speeds of 30-50 Mb/s down and 20 Mb/s up with a 500GB download limit for $75 per month. Aussie Broadband is a company that doesn’t offer unlimited data and they make a pretty good case as to why. You can read about that here.
The speeds I now get
I never used to achieved anything over 7 Mb/s on any of my past ADSL connections. Well that has certainly changed now! For my 50/20 plan, I can now get:
First speed test after activation of new NBN service.
Not bad at all. I’m getting what I pay for and so far it hasn’t dropped below 48 Mb/s. I’ve even managed to get over 50 Mb/s on my Wi-Fi connected mobile!
Various speed tests yesterday
Aussie Broadband supplied me with a Netcomm NF10WV modem/router with pre-configured settings for a once-off $120 purchase. It literally connected straight out of the box. So far it seems like a good device for internet connection. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do AC Wi-Fi and only comes with 100/10 LAN ports. I previously used a Telstra TG799vac Gateway, which had solid AC Wi-Fi but cobbled with a pretty crap web interface.
My line sync speeds
Previous ADSL providers I’ve used
I’ve lived in 4 houses while ADSL has been available, all of which have been situated on the fringes of the local loop resulting in minimal speeds and line quality.
Westnet (2005-2008)
Plan: ADSL 1.5 Mb/s down, 256 kb/s up
Actual speeds: Around 256-512 kb/s down
4.5km from exchange
People Telecom (2008-2009)
Plan: ADSL 1.5 Mb/s down, 256 kb/s up
Actual speeds: Around 256 kb/s down
5.5km from exchange
I went with these guys because Telstra refused to connect me due to my copper line being 5.5km+ from exchange at my new rental. People Telecom were more relaxed with their tests and allowed connection.
Amcom (2010-?)
Plan: ADSL2 8 Mb/s down, 512 kb/s up
Actual speeds: Around 4-5 Mb/s down
Still 5.5km from exchange
Short-lived with these guys as I think they ended up being too expensive? Can’t remember why but I churned to Westnet eventually. Same premises as above.
Westnet (2011-2015)
Plan: ADSL2+ 20 Mb/s down, 1 Mb/s up
Actual speeds: Around 5 Mb/s
Still 5.5km from exchange
Back to Westnet. It was as good as it could get as I was still in the same premises on the fringe. ADSL2+ gave only marginal increase in line stability.
Telstra (2015-2018)
Plan: ADSL2+ 20 Mb/s down, 1 Mb/s up
Actual speeds: Around 6-7 Mb/s down
4.5km from exchange
Essentially forced to use expensive Telstra as new premises had a faulty copper line that Westnet could not fix for months. Telstra fixed the line eventually but only because I became one of their customers. Achieved higher speeds than previous rental, around 6-7 Mb/s down. Moved to new home and lost 2 Mb/s.
So that’s it. I’ll do another post when I upgrade to 100 Mb/s. Until then I am very happy I am getting what I pay for for the first time ever!
I found this great article on conspiracy theorists. It explains how they’re not necessarily unintelligent people. It’s how they think that’s broken.
The problem with conspiracy theorists is not, as the US legal scholar Cass Sunstein argues, that they have little relevant information. The key to what they end up believing is how they interpret and respond to the vast quantities of relevant information at their disposal.
