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NewsThe best birthday present I didn't get - the NBN!
The best birthday present I didn't get - the NBN!

The best birthday present I didn't get - the NBN!

Tags: Telco/Broadband
Last updated by Kayley Harris on

It was my birthday last week and the one thing I wanted was an Apple TV. My friends told me this would enable me to access a whole bunch of movies on my television. 

So, as I do each birthday, I gave my three teenage kids a few suggestions of what I wanted and they can get any one thing from this list. Did I get it?

  • Apple TV – so I can watch movies - NO
  • Voucher for my favourite cafe - NO
  • DVD - “All This Time” by Sting - NO
  • Voucher for my beautician to get free lip waxing (yes you need this at my age) - NO
  • Tickets to see The Book of Mormon - NO
  • Gift card for Dan Murphys… need I say more? -  NO
  • Book – “Endurance” by Scott Kelly – YES

I could buy the Apple TV device myself but then there’s the issue of the internet. What’s the point of having an Apple TV or Google ChromeCast if I don’t have enough broadband? I don’t get great speed as I’m 10km from the nearest exchange but what I do get ends up going to the kids’ computers for gaming.

I’m hoping the NBN will improve our bandwidth speeds but unfortunately it is not due to be rolled out in my suburb until 2020!

A FiftyUp Club survey last week showed that many of you are unconvinced when it comes to the NBN:

  • Yes I have it and love it – 6%
  • I have it and it's ok – 39%
  • No I don't have it yet but I'm looking forward to getting it – 9%
  • No I don't have it and I don't want it – 42%
  • What's the NBN? – 4%

According to WhistleOut, more than half of Aussie homes are now wired into the NBN, with the remainder to be connected by the end of this year so let’s look at what you need to know when it lands... 

  1. You will probably need a new NBN compatible modem. The NBN is a brand new technology, and your current modem will need to be replaced with a newer model. Ask your provider about sending you one when you sign up.
  2. Look for a ‘No Contract’ plan and keep your options open to move to a different provider if you need to.
  3. Be brave and try one of the smaller providers. The best value plans tend to come from the companies you may not have heard of before.
  4. NBN 50 plans are currently the best value for money, with more speed than a standard ADSL connection and pricing starting at $59/month.

Here are some of the top NBN 50 plans according to WhistleOut:

 

 

Originally posted on .

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Trevor
Trevor from QLD commented:

We believed that we had no choice but to go with the NBN. We were told that it would be faster and cheaper. When the installer arrived they connected cables to the house and walked away. They did not check that our phone and TV worked and were gone very quickly. Since then our TV reception is sometimes pixelly and certainly not an improvement. Our internet is NOT faster even though the speed test shows that it should be and we now have more frequent drop outs. NBN say that it is our providers fault, and take no responsibility for anything. I suspect that somebody has been a little less than truthful in their advertising. I come from a generation who believes in being up front and truthful in advertising, so would have to say that my NBN experience has been less than satisfactory. Yes it may be a little cheaper, but we now get less than we had before. The 'providers' have all these plans and contracts and now require that if we want the service we had before, it will cost more. Consider me an unhappy customer, and consider me also unhappy that we the taxpayers once owned what was then the PMG, and later Telstra, but sold it off for some political reason. Telstra do not even use good accounting practices and are unable to come up wit an accurate closing balance when anybody wishes to depart from them. In closing let me say to the politicians who make decisions like this, be very very aware of what you say and do, because your job (highly overpaid) depends on it. 

Tom
Tom from QLD commented:

Margaret, you are SPOT ON. We have a Government that is forcing us into a situation where we will be forced to change from something that works to a "thought bubble" that clearly has fundamental problems. Lest my comments be taken as political rather than analytical, I stand right of centre but I believe there are some essential Government responsibilities which should never be given to the private sector. defence being an obvious one, but include electrical power generation and supply, railways, national road network, water supply, national communication system, prisons police and and courts. All the private sector provider has to do declare bankruptcy and walk away. Any bets on when this will happen with NBN Co? 

Tom
Tom from QLD commented:

I keep being pestered by some guy from Telstra to switch to NBN. I spoke with a former senior executive from Telstra at a dinner party last week and asked if he had switched, "Not a chance, don't move until you have to, they may have sorted out some to the problems by then." This seems to be good advice. If the power fails, NBN fails, at least your old fixed line continues to work. The Testra guy said I would get 20mbs or at least 15. He would not put that in writing. NBN Co says I should expect no more than 12mbs on my current payment and in all probability only 5 at peak time. I am on "fibre to the node". Thanks Turnbull for an out of date, over priced forced change. 

margaret
margaret from NSW replied to Tom:

Yes I also get these calls and a couple of months ago I asked to be put on a 'do not call list' as I was not interested. This worked until yesterday. Yesterday Received another call by a chap who was most insistent that I told him why I would not have it again. So I started to. Before I was halfway through he hung up. By the way these enticing call are all made by those for whom English would be 'first language'. If you fall for their sweet talk then have problems all you get,or at least all I ever got was a overseas call centre and then........Oh why go on when most of you have already experienced a couple of versions of this. 

Catherine
Catherine from QLD commented:

NBN!! What a joke and a bad one at that. I need the internet to help my mobile phone connection but my nbn is slower than the old internet and constantly drops out so that I lose connection during phone calls. Optus expects my monthly internet and mobile phones payment but doesn't want to know about my problem... they say it's the government's fault. 

Noel
Noel from NSW commented:

You missed a question of your NBN survey... Yes I have it and it's disappointing. I believe that question may well have gained considerable numbers. 

margaret
margaret from NSW commented:

I/'m confused. I thought that view sharing, was what we did last week 

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