NBN Alternatives: Contract & Performance issues

Changed the tags for you.

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Full disclosure: I used to work for TransACT as an embedded software engineer and left around 2008. I have not interest in it or any of the companies that bought it later (Except as a customer).

First the pedantry: There has never been any HFC in Canberra (No Optus or Foxtel coaxial cable was run in Canberra - We gad Galaxy satellite TV instead). The original TransACT network in overhead-power suburbs was VDSL with fibre-to-the node (FTTN) and a maximum copper length of 300m (The twisted-pair cabling from a house to the node). When built in 2001 this had a maximum line rate of about 50Mbit/s (But sadly most was reserved for video only leaving 2Mbit for Internet). After I left, the network was upgraded to VDSL2 and currently my modem reports about 100Mbit/s line rate down.

iinet’s VDSL2 plans come in “liimitless” (SIC) 30/5 and 80/20 flavours.

But line rate is just the sync speed between the modem exchange equipment. The Internet bandwidth (and contention) is another issue. iiNet have some of the most variable throughputs I’ve seen. Sometimes I get ~75MBit/s. Right now (Sunday night) I’m getting 50. Often it’s about 20 in the prime-time slot. Sometimes it’s been as bad as 2. whether that’s a TIO issue or not, I cannot say.

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That’s interesting. So the thick black cable below the power lines is twisted pair?

In that case, the only difference between TransACT and NBN (using Telstra’s old twisted pair) should be line length and quality of copper. I gather both use VDSL2.

Competition in infrastructure is poor value for (taxpayer/customer) money, but it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Let the game begin!

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If it’s the last <300m from the node to the house, then yes, its twisted pair of some sort. This could be a thick multiple-pair bundle that is then split-out later. Like I said: I was in software and the field cabling was well out of my work area.

Ironic, isn’t it.

There is a difference in the speed-plans on offer: iiNet/TransACT max-out at 80-down, whereas NBN is 100-down and IIRC iiNet don’t have any “expected throughput” as you often see of NBN.

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