19 November 2014

Recommendations for internet installation?

| Kahulie
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I recently had a TPG technician come round to my house and he mentioned that our speeds were not as good as they should be and it is possible that our internet is running off a phone line instead of an internet line, as when he connected outside the house, he had really good speeds, but once in the house, the speed dropped dramatically.
Any recommendations to have a look and ensure that the internet is running off of the correct line?

At the moment we don’t have internet. It comes and goes…

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had the same bugging issue at my old place and always used to get stranded at important times.The technician monitored and changed the wiring , resulting smooth functioning. Complementorily checked my LCD as well :p
http://www.canberracomms.com.au was the party.

Alexandra Craig said :

Grimm said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps.

Kids these days…
Missed out on all the fun of the 9.6k modem on dialup.

I had dial-up! I remember having to ask my parents if I could use the internet, then get the modem and run the cord all the way down the hall to my bedroom where the computer was. Not to mention getting to listen to that crazy noise about 8 times before it successfully connected.

Not to mention the constant outages which always seemed to happen early on Good Friday and Christmas Day when there was nobody answering the tech support line and you had to wait for the holidays to end before someone could help.

Roksteddy said :

rosscoact said :

Maya123 said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Grimm said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps.

Kids these days…
Missed out on all the fun of the 9.6k modem on dialup.

I had dial-up! I remember having to ask my parents if I could use the internet, then get the modem and run the cord all the way down the hall to my bedroom where the computer was. Not to mention getting to listen to that crazy noise about 8 times before it successfully connected.

In my day we used string and tin cans.

We could only dream of tin cans, we used jungle drums

We could only dream of jungle drums. In my day we had to walk 100 miles each way to the library with a sheep in each pocket because we couldn’t afford gloves.

We used smoke signals but that really screwed us on total fire ban days…

rosscoact said :

Maya123 said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Grimm said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps.

Kids these days…
Missed out on all the fun of the 9.6k modem on dialup.

I had dial-up! I remember having to ask my parents if I could use the internet, then get the modem and run the cord all the way down the hall to my bedroom where the computer was. Not to mention getting to listen to that crazy noise about 8 times before it successfully connected.

In my day we used string and tin cans.

We could only dream of tin cans, we used jungle drums

We could only dream of jungle drums. In my day we had to walk 100 miles each way to the library with a sheep in each pocket because we couldn’t afford gloves.

Maya123 said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Grimm said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps.

Kids these days…
Missed out on all the fun of the 9.6k modem on dialup.

I had dial-up! I remember having to ask my parents if I could use the internet, then get the modem and run the cord all the way down the hall to my bedroom where the computer was. Not to mention getting to listen to that crazy noise about 8 times before it successfully connected.

In my day we used string and tin cans.

We could only dream of tin cans, we used jungle drums

watto23 said :

dungfungus said :

What a great and helpful response from someone who clearly knows his/her stuff.
Could you comment as to what you have recommended becoming redundant because with the eventual availability of the NBN optic fibre? Will the current wiring will become useless anyhow (I understand the standard NBN home connection is fibre to the house and connection to a service provider’s supplied home wifi modem).
Also, wireless broadband is currently available and although it is comparatively expensive it will become a lot cheaper and faster which will again obviate the use of the home’s existing wiring.
I live in one of the suburbs that is last on the NBN roll out (another 4 years) lists so I am closely following the development of wireless.

So the fibre to the home NBN does nothing to affect your internet inside your house. Instead of a wall mounted phone outlet you get a box which has I believe has 6 ports on it, some for phone/voice and the rest for data. One of those ports is connected when you sign up for a service. If its a ISP then you connect your pc directly to it or your home wifi modem.

In some cases for older modems they may only have an ADSL uplink and not a WAN uplink. If WAN/ADSL the port on the back is the smaller 6 pin RJ11 connector it will not be NBN compatible, but a new NBN compatible modem is under $50 depending on features.

The difference in cables is telephone cable is usually 2 pair and unshielded and not of great quality. As for data cabling, its 4 pairs often shielded and there are numerous standards like CAT5e or CAT6. There was the whole myth spread by certain people about needing to rewire your home, but reality is wifi from your home modem is going to be fine for transferring to and from the NBN in most cases.

Basically, what watto23 said. There’s a bit of jargon in the response, so I’ll try to break it down into non-IT speak!

If you’re lucky enough to get Fibre to the Premises, the ‘first port’ I talked about earlier will be recreated, and your existing internal wiring will become redundant (eventually – the copper connection to your home won’t be decommissioned for some time after your FttP connection is activated, to give you time to transfer over to the NBN). Again though, what happens beyond that first port is your responsibility. If you want to have your home wired up with wall ports in every room you can, as long as you’re willing to pay for it. In a world where tablets, phones and laptops are the norm though, most people will settle for a wireless router to share the connection to all of their various devices.

If however you end up with Fibre to the Node, then the existing connection is what will be used, and your homes internal wiring will still be a factor when it comes to the quality of internet connection you have. How you share that connection with the rest of the house is still a matter for you to decide to pay for, but the wiring to your first connection is still the telco’s responsibility.

As for wireless, I don’t want to go into any great depth about it as more often than not, these debates lead to a heap of opinions and counter opinions rarely based on fact, and the end result is discussion is derailed. All I’ll say is that whether you end up with FttP, or FttN, connecting via wired network, then setting up a Wireless router in your home to provide the wireless signal, will just about always be faster, cheaper and more reliable than a purely wireless based plan. The 3G / 4G network is really about mobility outside of the home, and in my opinion should only be your home’s permanent connection where alternatives aren’t suitable. There will be some people for whom 3g / 4g is their best connection option, but I think they’re in the minority.

Alexandra Craig said :

Grimm said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps.

Kids these days…
Missed out on all the fun of the 9.6k modem on dialup.

I had dial-up! I remember having to ask my parents if I could use the internet, then get the modem and run the cord all the way down the hall to my bedroom where the computer was. Not to mention getting to listen to that crazy noise about 8 times before it successfully connected.

In my day we used string and tin cans.

watto23 said :

dungfungus said :

What a great and helpful response from someone who clearly knows his/her stuff.
Could you comment as to what you have recommended becoming redundant because with the eventual availability of the NBN optic fibre? Will the current wiring will become useless anyhow (I understand the standard NBN home connection is fibre to the house and connection to a service provider’s supplied home wifi modem).
Also, wireless broadband is currently available and although it is comparatively expensive it will become a lot cheaper and faster which will again obviate the use of the home’s existing wiring.
I live in one of the suburbs that is last on the NBN roll out (another 4 years) lists so I am closely following the development of wireless.

So the fibre to the home NBN does nothing to affect your internet inside your house. Instead of a wall mounted phone outlet you get a box which has I believe has 6 ports on it, some for phone/voice and the rest for data. One of those ports is connected when you sign up for a service. If its a ISP then you connect your pc directly to it or your home wifi modem.

In some cases for older modems they may only have an ADSL uplink and not a WAN uplink. If WAN/ADSL the port on the back is the smaller 6 pin RJ11 connector it will not be NBN compatible, but a new NBN compatible modem is under $50 depending on features.

The difference in cables is telephone cable is usually 2 pair and unshielded and not of great quality. As for data cabling, its 4 pairs often shielded and there are numerous standards like CAT5e or CAT6. There was the whole myth spread by certain people about needing to rewire your home, but reality is wifi from your home modem is going to be fine for transferring to and from the NBN in most cases.

That’s good info – thanks. Cabling a home appears to be on the way out.

Alexandra Craig3:43 pm 20 Nov 14

Grimm said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps.

Kids these days…
Missed out on all the fun of the 9.6k modem on dialup.

I had dial-up! I remember having to ask my parents if I could use the internet, then get the modem and run the cord all the way down the hall to my bedroom where the computer was. Not to mention getting to listen to that crazy noise about 8 times before it successfully connected.

dungfungus said :

What a great and helpful response from someone who clearly knows his/her stuff.
Could you comment as to what you have recommended becoming redundant because with the eventual availability of the NBN optic fibre? Will the current wiring will become useless anyhow (I understand the standard NBN home connection is fibre to the house and connection to a service provider’s supplied home wifi modem).
Also, wireless broadband is currently available and although it is comparatively expensive it will become a lot cheaper and faster which will again obviate the use of the home’s existing wiring.
I live in one of the suburbs that is last on the NBN roll out (another 4 years) lists so I am closely following the development of wireless.

So the fibre to the home NBN does nothing to affect your internet inside your house. Instead of a wall mounted phone outlet you get a box which has I believe has 6 ports on it, some for phone/voice and the rest for data. One of those ports is connected when you sign up for a service. If its a ISP then you connect your pc directly to it or your home wifi modem.

In some cases for older modems they may only have an ADSL uplink and not a WAN uplink. If WAN/ADSL the port on the back is the smaller 6 pin RJ11 connector it will not be NBN compatible, but a new NBN compatible modem is under $50 depending on features.

The difference in cables is telephone cable is usually 2 pair and unshielded and not of great quality. As for data cabling, its 4 pairs often shielded and there are numerous standards like CAT5e or CAT6. There was the whole myth spread by certain people about needing to rewire your home, but reality is wifi from your home modem is going to be fine for transferring to and from the NBN in most cases.

dungfungus said :

What a great and helpful response from someone who clearly knows his/her stuff.
Could you comment as to what you have recommended becoming redundant because with the eventual availability of the NBN optic fibre? Will the current wiring will become useless anyhow (I understand the standard NBN home connection is fibre to the house and connection to a service provider’s supplied home wifi modem).

Also, wireless broadband is currently available and although it is comparatively expensive it will become a lot cheaper and faster which will again obviate the use of the home’s existing wiring.
I live in one of the suburbs that is last on the NBN roll out (another 4 years) lists so I am closely following the development of wireless.

NBN Co recently announced that unless you are in one of the areas where the roll out is already in an advanced stage (in the ACT, most of Gungahlin and north Watson), you won’t be getting optic fibre, and the NBN will be delivered over your existing telephone line.

In either case, if you get it rewired properly, then it shouldn’t become redundant under either system.

Alexandra Craig said :

Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps.

Kids these days…
Missed out on all the fun of the 9.6k modem on dialup.

Alexandra Craig1:55 pm 20 Nov 14

I have a similar problem with internet. When we moved into our house (a rental) we were told by the owner (who previously lived there) that we should get internet with Telstra because we’re only about 1 kilometre away from the exchange and the speeds are super quick. So we did. Our internet speed is something ridiculously slow like 3 mbps. Had Telstra come out and check it twice which was an adventure in itself (specifically told them that we both work so they need to call us beforehand so we can get there in time, yet the guy would just turn up, then call), but they reckoned nothing was wrong with it.

All the info provided by thatsnotme is helpful… except I’m in a rental and probably have no capacity when it comes to wiring etc 🙁

We got a letter a couple of months back though saying that we’re getting NBN, hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.

thatsnotme said :

Ok, so firstly, assuming that you’ve connected with ADSL, it runs over telephone lines, inside and outside the house. There’s no such thing as an ‘internet line’, but it is quite possible that your internal wiring is old and dodgy.

Basically, your phone provider is responsible for your connection up to the first port in your house. If the internal wiring is faulty going to that port, they should fix it for you. There are a number of criteria they use to determine whether they’re responsible for doing anything – issues with voice over your phone line is the quickest way to get something done, but if you’re unable to maintain an internet connection, that should be serious enough to get something done.

Now if someone’s gone and installed extra ports in the house, and your modem’s attached to one of those, then that’s different – it’s not the telco’s responsibility to fix those.

Other options that could improve your speeds without re-wiring everything are things like central filters, which can do a better job than the dongle style filters used for ADSL.

Basically though, if you can’t get reliable internet and it’s likely to be your internal wiring, get in touch with TPG again and escalate. Rewiring can certainly help you future proof your home and give you outlets where you don’t have any at the moment, but that’s not exactly a cheap option.

What a great and helpful response from someone who clearly knows his/her stuff.
Could you comment as to what you have recommended becoming redundant because with the eventual availability of the NBN optic fibre? Will the current wiring will become useless anyhow (I understand the standard NBN home connection is fibre to the house and connection to a service provider’s supplied home wifi modem).
Also, wireless broadband is currently available and although it is comparatively expensive it will become a lot cheaper and faster which will again obviate the use of the home’s existing wiring.
I live in one of the suburbs that is last on the NBN roll out (another 4 years) lists so I am closely following the development of wireless.

Holden Caulfield12:10 pm 20 Nov 14

Whatever you do, don’t put “Google” into Google.

Ok, so firstly, assuming that you’ve connected with ADSL, it runs over telephone lines, inside and outside the house. There’s no such thing as an ‘internet line’, but it is quite possible that your internal wiring is old and dodgy.

Basically, your phone provider is responsible for your connection up to the first port in your house. If the internal wiring is faulty going to that port, they should fix it for you. There are a number of criteria they use to determine whether they’re responsible for doing anything – issues with voice over your phone line is the quickest way to get something done, but if you’re unable to maintain an internet connection, that should be serious enough to get something done.

Now if someone’s gone and installed extra ports in the house, and your modem’s attached to one of those, then that’s different – it’s not the telco’s responsibility to fix those.

Other options that could improve your speeds without re-wiring everything are things like central filters, which can do a better job than the dongle style filters used for ADSL.

Basically though, if you can’t get reliable internet and it’s likely to be your internal wiring, get in touch with TPG again and escalate. Rewiring can certainly help you future proof your home and give you outlets where you don’t have any at the moment, but that’s not exactly a cheap option.

Your house was probably wired up with cheap and nasty cabling. You might need to shell out to have it re-done from the connection point to your port on the wall. CAT6e is the best quality cabling you can use for this.

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