Informed choices of your Retail Service Provider (RSP) – ACCC Broadband Performance reports
(If you do choose to go with AussieBroadband – use this link and referral code 2408946 for $50 credit on your bill (and mine for referral))
The Project is now complete with over 130 premises connected (over 30% of the estate!).
Thank you to the committee for their hard work, and those who participated.
The proposed option to have fibre connected to your premises is the best opportunity for at least a decade, to rid ourselves of the old communications technology we have in place. We do not believe that the copper used in the NBN rollout for our area will offer residents a quality internet solution that will meet our growing needs now and into the future.
The project aims to negotiate the most structured and cost effective option to remove copper infrastructure and provide fibre optic internet direct to the premises for residents of the estate.
There are ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ with Fibre To The Premises (FTTP)
As the Gleneagles Estate Community, we need to decide whether if we want to be one of the ‘haves’.
The opportunity of ‘free fibre to the home’ has passed, particularly with changes made to the Definitive Agreement with Telstra. The only way that residents will be able to get a fibre to the home connection in a ‘brownfield’ estate is by paying for it. Whilst NBN is still in public hands, this represents the best opportunity to enhance your property in this way.
WHAT WOULD FTTP MEAN FOR GLENEAGLES ESTATE?
It means reliability, scalability and quality of service delivered.
- Distance is not an issue for your connection;
- Altering a service for one residence does not impact any others;
- Reliability: The physical network has a very low maintenance requirement (ie. install and don’t come back);
- It is a ‘plug and play’ network – no re-termination required once installed;
- It is literally waterproof. The groundwater problems we have in the estate will be mitigated;
- Scalable to meet future need for many decades to come;
- A range of speeds are available depending on your requirements – with assurance of that quality of service being offered to the ISP level (ie.wholesaler cannot blame the connection to ISP)
FTTP has a tangible impact on the value of your house (Remember the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’?).
Benefits of Technology Choice through the Gleneagles Estate NBN Project:
The Gleneagles Estate NBN Committee has worked very hard over the last three years to deliver benefits to our local community.
- Significant discount on design and cost fees;
- Significant savings on costs through community based cost sharing;
- Structured construction process which should result in more efficient and quicker build for your premises;
- Designated timeframes for start and finish of work; and
- Commitment from NBN for a project manager to liaise with the Gleneagles Estate NBN Committee, to provide updates and information.
Looks like a very good project
I would love this in my place, it would help when sharing the net with my family!
Its time to move into the modern world with fibre rather than stagnate with copper which was used for telegraph messages more than a century ago.
I like the idea and support it. It will come down to how much based on the response level.
Agreed. At this stage the committee is simply asking if people would be willing to pay “an amount” (which should be reasonable) towards getting their home connected. We need people to indicate their interest, so we can ask for a price. No commitment at this stage.
Many thanks for the information. We, being in the older age category, don’t use the internet much at all but feel that we should keep up with progress. It will, of course depend on the cost of this installation. We are not at present connected to NBN. When I enquired with Telstra they said we were not scheduled to receive NBN at this stage and would receive a letter when our street was ready for connection which could be quite some time. We would receive a letter in due course.
Hi,
Gleneagles Estate has been ‘Ready For Service’ since early July. If you enter your address into the address checker – https://www.nbnco.com.au/ – it should confirm whether they have done the necessary work for your premises. You then apply to your internet provider (“Retail Service Provider” – RSP) to get NBN activated at your address.
To get NBN do we need new fibre just from the home to the node or further back to the exchange or even further??
We have fibre to the CMUX at the entrance at Stage 2 of the Estate. It is almost certain in a few years we will end up with a VDSL2 NBN solution, which will provide a range of different results for people.
There will be no scalability, the quality issues we experience now will only get worse not better as the copper we have is pushed beyond its limits, and the results people get will vary (including impacted by things like rainfall etc. as they are now).
FTTH/P addresses ALL of these issues.
We are happy to explain in detail further either offline or at the proposed community meeting, however this link describes FTTH/P vs VDSL2: http://nbnmyths.wordpress.com/why-not-fttn/
edit: here is a new page with a table comparison: http://www.gleneaglesestate.net/NBN/?p=259
If you require any assist would be glad to assist,
Thank you Andrew, we will be in touch
Good initiative. As a person who moved here in 1994 we are almost the last suburb to get ADSL, and then it was just ADSL; we can’t get ADSL2 unless there has been some change in the last few years. If you wanted faster internet than 64kb back in the 90s you had to get a few ISDN lines like I did. Then at the same time we did not receive mobile coverage and were again one of the last suburbs to get coverage. I think maybe someone took the initiative and did a petition like this.
So well do in using your initiative to help us all. You have my support.
Thanks Ian – your understanding of the history of the internet in the Estate is quite valuable.
congratulations on this initiative. It deserves both political pressure and perhaps some individual financial contributions through a community group to help make the business case for our reluctant telcos & NBN Co.
Thank you, and agree.
We are one of the bunnies running ADSL2 on a 4.3Km run of copper…1.6Mb down, 1Mb up… We have been hanging out for the NBN.
Sorry to hear this. Optus or TPG? Changing to a provider that uses Telstra wholesale (such as iinet, bigpond etc.) will generally mean you will get switched to the CMUX and off the exchange, which should give you a more download bandwidth (up to about 7mbit in real terms) but will cut your upload to 0.3 mbit due to the caps that Telstra puts on ADSL1.
WestNet – reselling Telstra ADLS2+….seems ADSL1 provides better download (but slower upload) speeds.
Thanks for this. Most are connected to the CMUX units here at the estate, which offer ADSL1 only through a Telstra Wholesale retailer. Telstra caps ADSL1 uploads to 384KBPS.
We built in Gleneagles in 1996 and along with everyone else have endured many broken promises by Transact, Telstra and the pre-election NBN. We consider ourselves lucky to get about 8Mbps download speeds with iinet ADSL but this has only been achieved by continuously harassing Telstra to undertake repairs in the pit just outside our home – especially after rain. For many years the waterproofing was a poorly taped damp plastic bag wrapped around the junction container which leaked gel. This corroded most of the connections which then had to be piggybacked around the cover to get the lines working again. A number of times we have had no phone or internet for several weeks as current leakage between lines in the pit was not the usual 48volts but over 70volts. We had to bring in a private contractor to troubleshoot the problem before Telstra would consider undertaking any repairs.
The recent political solution of using existing copper to the home will be little better even if all the underground copper in Gleneagles is replaced. If we do not join together to fund or move toward an earlier solution we will be left behind the rest of Canberra for many more years to come due to our geographical location on the periphery of the major suburbs.
Thanks John, and thank you very much for sharing your experience. This is very useful information.
Great to see this initiative, I would love FTTP, it would enable me to work from home. The current 5Mbit down 300Kbps up (on a good day) are no where near good enough to vpn to work, I think it would add value to properties in the estate, I know that the internet connection is the first thing many people look at when looking for a home.
Hi Vincent,
this is spot on – there are some very real tangible fiscal benefits in terms of real estate value to be had – a clear Return on Investment (plus the benefit of using the facility in the meantime).
Telecommuting is another huge change in the way we live our lives, as more and more office workers are switched to a virtualised infrastructure, which will provide both the public and private sector with capability to allow employees to work from home etc.
Agree totally.
Those who are happy with their current speed and broadband service should ask themselves the question will they still be happy in years to come with increasing failures of the copper network and potentially decreased internet speed.
Hi Steve, Thanks for taking the initiative on this I would support the idea. Any early indications of what this might cost?
You are welcome. The market testing phase is to gauge interest, so we can ask for a price.
It would be expected to be reasonable, and the tangible benefits in terms of marketability of the home would be material i would expect.
Ok I am in I really need a decent FTTP/H and am quite happy to provide a contribution
At the meeting on 1 dec the principles of co-funding will be explained further, though happy to catch up off line or meet at the golf club family fun day on 23rd if you would like to discuss.
Steve, thanks for taking the initiative. I have lived in Gleneagles for 20 years, and worked from home for all that time. I like other residents have pursued Telstra on many occasions to try and get better internet performance. Every time Telstra would call me to see if I was happy with their performance, I would start the process of requesting better internet performance. Of course it falls on deaf ears.
In a nut shell, because of our distance from the exchange, you can have ADSL1+ with up to 7MBits/sec but an upload of only 384Kbits/sec. Since I run VOIP and video conferencing, people would continually complain that my voice or image was breaking up. The solution was to pay for a 20MBit/sec Freedom plan which provided a guaranteed 1MBit/sec upload. Unfortunately as soon as they connect this up at the exchange it drops the download speed to 1.5MBits/sec. So I have endured this for the past 15 years and as most would appreciate the delays are getting worse as file sizes get bigger.
Try using an Apple TV. We select the movie we want and then come back 24 hours later to watch it! Takes some planning.
I am definitely interested in paying for added performance. Even to achieve my stated Telstra plan of 20MBits/sec would be great.
Hi Michael, you have hit the nail on the head – upload speeds are problematic – with cloud computing becoming part of how we interact with technology very soon, telecommuting etc. FTTP/H would solve all the telecommunications issues we have now, and for the longer term…but more at the meeting.
I work from home and the internet has become much worse over the past few months I have noticed… it lags dreadfully… My son works in IT and loves his gaming… he is always trying to get a better performance out of Telstra/ Bigpond … I notice they come and change wires or split connections quite frequently as the box is outside our home on the corner.. Recently lagging not speed has been effected… We would be very interested and supportive of a long term solution… Could this be a yearly fee or a one off calculation…
Natalie
Hi Natalie, yes you are right the copper here is a constant maintenance project for Telstra. The community co-funding proposal being put forward is where resident pay for a portion of the installation costs to their individual premises for their FTTP/H connection.
I’m very supportive of this initiative. As others have mentioned Gleneagles has in the past been left behind with advances in ICT and working together as community to overcome this constant wouldbe very beneficial.
Steve
Can you give any feedback regarding the meeting for those who could not attend.
yep, i got the notes today, will post something tonight 🙂
Cheers
Steve
Thanks Melanie for doing the rounds at Ferrier Place!!!!
Agreed, thank you very much Melanie, awesome work!!! 🙂
Hi all – great initiative and I also support it. There is clearly some general uncertainty going forward re internet speeds in/to the Estate, so it’s valuable to have options.
Bring it on!
Interested
We moved in in mid December 2014 using my previous iinet provider. Pathetic speeds so dropped them. I’ve just taken on Optus and at the moment I’m getting only about 0.90 Mbps download speed. Does anyone know whether Optus connects with the CMUX box just outside of Gleneagles stage 2? Should I be getting faster download speed than this? Should I move to Telstra?
please see my reply to http://www.gleneaglesestate.net/NBN/voice-and-internet-outages-19-23-december-2014/
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4232207866
I like the potential for more effective and affordable health care.
We run an online company from home + have just purchased a property in Gleneagles, only to discover it is in the stone ages of the internet. NBN speed internet is a necessity for us. We are happy to co-fund. Please keep us in the loop of what is happening and how we can support this moving forward.
Hi, welcome to the Neighbourhood!
Registering is the best means of keeping updated. We will be collecting more detailed information from people soon-in particular if you run a business from your home – this is important to flag.
Laying fibre is not cheap. You should budget around $1000 per metre for virgin underground installations. It would be marginally cheaper for overhead or through existing conduit but Telstra would never allow access to their pits and pipes.
We understand this – however as a community we are trying to work with nbnco and the private sector to come up with some sort of a solution. we do not see fttn as being suitable.
Today’s CT – Lightning 5.8 Ghz rollout in Melbourne
As millions of Australian homes wait for the NBN to reach their door, Lightning Broadband is deploying a wireless network promising fibre-like download speeds to suburban users.
Starting in Melbourne’s inner suburbs with plans to extend to other state capitals, Lightning Broadband is connecting homes and businesses via 5.8 GHz microwave links capable of delivering 100 Mbps download speeds. The links also support 100 Mbps upload speeds, outpacing uploads on the National Broadband Network’s fibre connections.
Read more here – http://www.canberratimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/lightning-broadband-offers-australians-crazy-highspeed-internet-without-nbn-20160721-gqb8rs.html
The geography of Gleneagles would really suit a central antenna in the centre of the valley. Its just a question of numbers needed to encourage the suppliers to install. $500 for the dish antenna on each house sounds great compared to some of the costs floating around for NBN. After investigation and if the NBN ever (never) makes it here this might make a great fall-back solution
Hi John Thanks for this. As part of the due diligence process, we explored the option of wireless service with a number of providers. One of the options that was put forward was that the community would have to fund $60K for a tower – and hence wear the risk etc. We have also spoken to the Signal Co however with 394 premises for two towers that would be required (trees!) it isnt a viable business proposition. We also did polling for wireless and found the interest was low.
Kambah is on the 3 year rollout plan, and we are following the process set out by NBN to get fibre for the community. We have spent 2 years working with them toward this outcome, and I personally think it is a very good deal – and much better than anything else that would be on offer in the future. Also, keep in mind the NBN is more than likely to be sold off in 2020, at which time you can expect the private sector to charge alot more for a fibre upgrade.
Thanks Steve,
You make some good points. I would only see the wireless solution as a fallback if we are lumbered with a minimal upgrade solution when compared to the rest of Kambah. The article also stated that the tower installation costs were covered by the supplier but our problem would be subscriber numbers in a low density housing area with fewer subscribers than a high density inner city area.
Yep – it has to make business sense for the vendor – and the wireless providers we spoke to wanted us to absorb capital costs. There would have to be a very high take up rate for it to be worth while, and positioning would have to cover rest of Kambah, which is adequately served by VDSL2 at the moment through TPG/TransACT.
On a side note, the fibre that will be installed will be a completely separate network from the FTTN network that will be deployed to the estate within the next 2 years…
Happy to support the broadband project
I Can hardly wait!
Hi guys. What do fellow residents think about sattelite internet? Lighting Broadband offers competitive solutions with fast speeds. I enquired about joining up but they need more numbers. You can find out more on their website.https://www.lightningbroadband.com.au/. In order to get enough interest please consider registering your interest by completing the following link https://www.lightningbroadband.com.au/contact-us/.
Thanks for the suggestion.
This is wireless internet service FYI. We have approached a number of providers, and run polling on the option as well as part of the due dilligence process.
The providers we spoke to wanted us to absorb the risk (ie. construction costs of tower, which we would need two of due to trees etc.).
At this stage we have over 38% of residents who have registered their details and indicated they wish to submit a technology choice application, and take advantage of the arrangements we have in place with NBN. This is a significant figure and a clear indicator of demand and enthusiasm in our local community for fibre to the home.
Cheers
Steve
Has the option of any area switch been considered?
Yes we did consider this, however you need 100% takeup as you have to pay for the entire rollout upfront, have an association formed, and credit checks done.
Hi Steve,
It looks like you (and the committee) have put a significant amount of work into this and FTTP is something that I am 100% interested in. However I live in Stage 1 and it is not clear to me how/if Stage 1 is even getting FTTN let alone FTTP. I have only heard about node(s) being setup in Stage 2 which means for Stage 1 to get anything cables would need to either going around or through the golf course. I could be wrong but my understanding is anything over 100m requires fibre. Has something changed?
Thanks, yep thousands of hours just myself have been poured in, and then the work the rest of the committee have undertaken as well!
Stage 1 won’t be getting a node (http://www.gleneaglesestate.net/NBN/blog/2017/04/07/stage-1-no-node-to-be-installed/) so everyone in Stage 1 will be connected to the node at the west end of Ivo Whitton (DA71). In short, and extra 261m of copper for everyone in Stage 1. Extra people loading up the node DA71 as well.
In sheer frustration after logging over 38 dropouts in 14 days and from Jan 20-23 our connection lost completely, I’ve switched to wireless 4G via the towers in the golf club carpark. Now getting at least twice the speed promised by NBN.
What’s the process for doing that, Ron?
Less than one percent of areas that explore a mass upgrade of their last-mile NBN access technology actually go through with it, according to new figures released by NBN Co.
The network builder told the NBN joint committee that 358 “area switch” applications had been received by NBN Co since July 2012.
That figure is notable because of its size: NBN Co has previously only revealed low double digit numbers for the amount of area switches being sought.
An area switch is one of two options available to people unhappy with the type of connection they have been given under the NBN.
It is mostly characterised as an option for councils to improve connectivity of constituents in a given area, such as part of a town or a multi-dwelling unit (MDU).
NBN Co said of the 358 applications it had received over the years, it had supplied cost estimates for the upgrade in 90 cases.
However, only two sites are currently in service and a third site is designated as being under construction – under one percent of all applications received.
Two of the sites – most likely the ones that are live – have been known since early 2017. They are both areas that are paying to upgrade to the top access technology, fibre to the premises (FTTP).
A small increase in those numbers is possible, with 15 applications still listed as “in flight”.
Applications for area switches were known to have risen as NBN Co deployed a greater amount of fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) connections, though the amount of applications has not necessarily resulted in any more switches.
Ron, are you still using your 4G wireless? How is it going and which provider is it through? I’m likely going to explore a similar route.