NBN Update September 2017

Update Monday 25-Sept. Several NBN suppliers now confirm that the service is available. These include Telstra, Optus, TPG, AussieBroadBand.

 Update Friday 22-Sept. There are a couple of owners who have been advised by different NBN suppliers that an NBN connection is now available at The Waves. A check of the NBN website does not yet confirm that, but that may just be because they have not yet updated their web site. More details will be posted here as more concrete information becomes available.

On Friday September 15 2017 there was a public meeting, organised by the local Federal representative, Luke Howarth, held at the Redcliffe RSL.

Several “Waves” residents were present and the meeting was filled to capacity.

There were presentations from representatives for the NBN, for Telstra, and for Optus.

Very little new information was presented, but the question time did provide some hope that we will get good quality internet service from our NBN connection when it becomes available.

At the end of the meeting, there was a chance to ask location specific questions of the NBN representatives. This I did and after queuing for about 10 minutes I had a chance to enquire as to the present status of the NBN connection here at Waves. here is what I was told;

1. Some apartment buildings in our area have been changed from the HFC (Hybrid Fibre Cable) connection to the FTTB (Fibre To The Building). I was told that 17 Marine Parade is NOT one of those switched to FTTB.
2. We will continue to be served using HFC. The connection is not yet available, but could be soon. No specific date is available yet, but Owners will be contacted by service providers once it is made available by NBN.
3. The reason we have not yet been connected is for technical reasons and they (the NBN) has been working to overcome reported problems of current HFC users. To this end, the NBN are adding more coaxial cable runs in our area so as to reduce the number of households connected to any one cable section.
4. Once our building connection is further tested and it meets necessary speed/capacity specifications we will be “switched on”.
5. The connection to each unit will be via the coaxial cable NBN have already installed and which is in the ceiling just inside the front door of each unit, near the first light fitting.  See update note below .
6. The HFC connection we will soon get, will be upgraded sometime by the end of 2018 to a much faster technology (DOCSIS3.1). Discover more about DOCSIS here

Regarding item 5 above:- (My opinion here) If you sign up NBN and have not pre-arranged to have a registered cabler install the necessary small wall-plate and coax terminus in your unit where YOU want it installed, then it is likely that when an NBN installer calls to do the install, the wall-plate will be installed near the power point closest to your front door. That lead-in is likely to be run down your wall in a conduit and be visible and unsightly.

If you want the new outlet close to where you have your current Modem/Phone/Computer, then you should organise the cabling before requesting an NBN service. Yes, it will cost you $$$s, but you will be assured of a connection where you want it and as neat and tidy as possible.

 Update Tues 3rd October.

Unit 15 has had the cabling completed, ready for the NBN technician to attach the necessary HFC modem. We plan for that to happen late November, as we will be away until about then.  The layout plan for our unit made it possible for our cable to be routed through the ceiling space to the laundry, Then it runs down the laundry wall in a neat channel, and then through the wall to a wallplate in our study area. Time taken by the cabler was 4 hours. Getting access to the laundry ceiling space was a fluke, as the wall panels seem to go all the way up to the concrete above.  There was one small opening we finally found where a previous electrician had created a hole.

John Griffiths, U15