At long last this part of the state is (slowly) getting connected to the NBN.
I am getting FTTN (Fibre to the Node) and, according to the NBN Web Site, it is due this month. I am hoping that the lines will support the NBN 50 (50Mbps down) speed which will seem very fast compared to my current top “speed” of 2.0 to 2.5 Mbps down and up is measured in Kilobits.
A friend was lucky enough to get FTTC (Fibre to the Curb)and he got connected last week. FTTC will support the top speed of NBN 100 (100Mbps down) but he opted for NBN 50 which is more than enough for his needs.
He decided to stay with Telstra and contacted them by phone to make the arrangements. He reports that they were quick and efficient and a new “Smart” modem was delivered within 48 hours. Then it was just a matter of disconnecting the old modem and plugging in the new one.
After changing his WiFi password on his devices it was “all systems go”. A speed test showed he was getting 45Mbps down and 18 Mbps up.
TELEPHONE
For the record his fairly old phone works after being plugged into the NBN modem. It is not one of those original Telstra Phones that don’t need to be plugged into the power, but still it is probably well over a decade old.
SPLITTERS
He only has one phone line into his house and it has the old “610” type socket.
Previously he used a splitter to connect to the RJ11 sockets on his phone and modem.
For the NBN he left the splitter in place and connected the new Smart Modem to the splitter using the ADSL Plug.
The speed test confirmed that this did not affect performance but it is important not to plug into the “Phone” outlet as, apparently, it is the Splitter’s “Phone” line that has the filter.
This is good to know as I have an outside central splitter that was installed by my Home Alarm company.
The Alarm company has since moved over to the Mobile Phone system but at least I know that I can just keep using the current internet outlet and it won’t be necessary to get the outside splitter removed.