The NBN Rollout and What it means to the new Home owner

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is being swiftly rolled out across Australia, homeowners and soon to be, new homeowners are asking “What is it, and what’s the fuss”.

Briefly, the NBN is an upgrade to the communication network which utilises Fibre optic cable instead of the old fashioned copper cable. This allows extremely fast data transfer for your internet connection and phone. With the everyday use growing and the connectivity capabilities of products being added to the internet, it is the only way to move forward.

With heavy use and the introduction to live streaming of movies, music and videos the data usage rate has increased at a very steady rate over the years.

You may be asking “What does this mean to me?”

This means that you will require an NBN or Fibre connection in your new home. As most estates are already rolling out the infrastructure the connection can normally be made as you move in.

“What does it look like?”

The standard installation includes a small connection box on the outside of the property, a fibre to digital converter called the NTD and an optional battery backup.

Below are a few example photos of an installation-




“Looks messy are there options?”

The standard installation from NBN Co, is supplied free of charge. The internal units will be installed as close and easy as possible to the incoming fibre. This said you may end up with the NTD installed in an inappropriate location, ie master bedroom or formal lounge. There are options to have the hardware located in area which are out of the way, and these will be at a cost to the home owner.

We would recommend you to speak to a local communications or electrical contractor who can pre install required conduits, additional data / phone points if required, and an NBN enclosure in chosen locations to keep your home looking and preforming like it should.

“Builder packages”

Builders across Australia are either including a basic fibre package or making it an optional extra to their homes.

“But I thought the NBN was free?”

It is a free connection service, and this is where you will face location issues with the hardware, if no preliminary arrangements have been made the hardware will most likely be mounted in an unappropriated visual location.

‘What’s in a basic builder package?’

A basic builder package normally consists of an internal run pipe from the entry point for the fibre, to a remote location ie, the garage. This allows the fibre to be pulled through the conduit and connect in the remote location.
The location then consists of a power point – to power the hardware and a couple data/phone lines which run though the property.

More advanced packages include a Built Boards NBN Enclosure – an enclosure box to protect and house the unsightly hardware and additional data points.

“Are NBN Enclosures supplied by NBN?”

NBN Enclosures are not supplied by NBN Co or FTTH suppliers, they are an addition that are supplied by contractors and some builders. The main reason for the enclosure is to hide the hardware and keep the components protected, as they will have to last years and years.

The NBN Enclosure

There are many enclosures on the market which are non-compliant for fibre and NBN use. Many builders in the past have installed enclosures only to have the hardware mounted next to the enclosure. This defeats the whole purpose.




Below is a fully compliant enclosure by Built Boards, Australia leading enclosure manufacturers.





Looks better than the above installations, what would you prefer in your new home?

Thanks for the write up and picture, but I can see one problem in the last picture you posted as the best solution; the wireless router inside a metal box.

Wireless signal and metal enclosures just don't go hand in hand, user will suffer from serious signal strength issues.

Also usually the boxes are always placed in the garage, which is where my 2nd problem kicks in. Keeping a wireless router in garage means your signal now has to go through N number of barriers to cross each wall and reach you at the room furthest away from your garage. Which is where I have seen most of the designs have their master bedroom. The only way to mitigate this is to then invest on wireless signal boosters.

However keeping the wireless router in a central location of your house minimises the amount of walls it has to penetrate to reach each of the rooms.

Shadowarrior!

Thanks for the input,

The Built Boards Enclosure has been Wi-Fi tested and does not impact on signal strength. This test was done by an independent testing lab.

I do agree with you with the placement of a WiFi router in the garage. I would recommend it being placed in the area which you would use it the most, ie Family room and these areas are normally pretty central. If a repeater is requiredthey can be bought for under $100, or most W-Fi routers can be setup as a repeater and I dare say this day and age most people have spares in a box at the bottom of a cupboard.

Great write up and with some questions now.

I have had about 30 data points in my house. Hand over will be in about 2 weeks. What do I need.

Do I need to get some type of switch to get everything pluged into the modem, if so who are the best people to do this as it will be well above me.

Hi Blish,

Now some questions back - have all the cables been terminated or just wired?

If they have been terminated they should run back to one central location. Have they installed a data rack or home hub?

You could use a network switch to get all the points hooked up, but just depending on how many will actually be used. A standard router will have 4-8 points on it, enough to get a normal house up and running. The 30 points is a great option, and will allow you for future use.

Your electrical company should do a handover too.. They briefly run over whats been installed and hook up any of your hardware. - to get you up and running

Hi Blish,

Now some questions back - have all the cables been terminated or just wired?

If they have been terminated they should run back to one central location. Have they installed a data rack or home hub?

You could use a network switch to get all the points hooked up, but just depending on how many will actually be used. A standard router will have 4-8 points on it, enough to get a normal house up and running. The 30 points is a great option, and will allow you for future use.

Your electrical company should do a handover too.. They briefly run over whats been installed and hook up any of your hardware. - to get you up and running[/quote]

I'm actually not sure if they have been terminated or just wired. I believe all the cables have gone to a box in the garage. Doubt on a home hub or anything else, they were average.

I believe my internet company will be sending me a router with 4 points, but this is not enough at all.

Do you or anyone know of someone or a company in the South Eastern area of Melbourne that can assist?

In addition to Built board's reply, I am guessing all those 30 points start from one place, which is a wall panel of some sort? Will you be using any POE device like ip cameras? A simple setup will be, nbn box to router via a rj45, router to a dumb 30+ port switch via another rj45. Then 30 ethernet cables from the switch to the central wall panel.

I am guessing all the wiring was cat6, so be consistent by using cat6 for all the connections between the nbn box and the router and switch as well.

I'm not really sure about any of the above info. All I asked for was about 30 data points to different spots in the house. All I can see is a whole bunch of cables going in to a black box in the garage.

I wont be using cameras or anything like that.

I also did ask for all the wiring to be cat6 as well.

Can you take a picture of the black box for us please? Maybe they have used a patch panel..or a switch already.

I will be going to the house in the next few days and will take some photos

Hi,

I am trying to research how much it's going to cost us to connect NBN & Phone (not sure if we need phone if we have NBN?) to a brand new home. Our builder is providing communications distribution box for NBN/FTTH but there is no allowance for the connection of NBN or phone to the home.

They said it would cost us $1,600 to have this connected. Does this need to be done through a builder OR can it be done through the service provider? which option would be cheaper?

And do we need a phone line if we have NBN? We use broadband & have a wifi router.

Thanks in advance, I don't have a clue about any of this.

Ask the builder what does the communications cabinet include. For example, our communications package includes the nbn equipment mounting cabinet, the one pictured here, plus the NBN fibre run from the outside of the house, through the slab, to the garage where this box is mounted. The package also includes fixed phone line to the outside of the property and a phone and data point anywhere in the house.

Fibre phones via NBN are kind of like VOIP. So if you do not have internet or power (unless your NBN equipment comes with a battery backup), then you can't make any phone calls including emergency calls. That's why all ISPs that provide a fibre phone bundle make you agree to the terms that you understand this risk and if you need access to a 24x7 phone line, NBN's telephone solution will not be suitable for you.

For us, we don't need the fixed phone line, so we won't connect via Telstra. Our mobile phone plans cover all unlimited local mobile and landline calls.

Once your area has NBN connection ready, you should receive a status from NBN Co. that your house's NBN status is now Active and ready for service. You then contact your preferred ISP, like iiNet, Internode or Optus amongst few. (Optus's new Unlimited NBN for $90 looks like a good deal, with 3 options to pick from).

Your ISP then contacts NBN Co to setup the NBN equipment inside the box your builder provided previously, and connects the NBN fibre from the outside of your house to their network from the street (for FTTH). If you sign up for a 12 or 24 months contract, then usually this setup cost is 0. If you go month to month, then the connection fees can range from $75 to $150 depending on the ISP you select. Usually on signing up for the 12-24 month plans, they also provide a free wireless router which is NBN compatible.

Your router, if it is compatible with NBN connects to the NBN equipment box (or theirs if they gave you one for free).

Hi Guys,

Im in a similar position to Pink86 and would love to hear some responses. Clarendon are quoting us $1450 for the NBN install but I thought that this was something that NBNco do free of charge after the build has completed. Unless they are charging for the conduit to run the fibre connection as well as the NBN box management. Would love to know if this is something that can be done after the build is finished.

Tullyman, a friend of ours just built with beechwood & he paid the electrician directly $1,800 to connect NBN & phone after his build completed.

If your conduit needs to go through slab, then this should be done early. I paid for the conduit to run through slab and the cabinet to be installed along with a phone and data point. I also got a pull wire I put in to pull the fibre cable inside the garage later. Think we paid around 700 for that. Nbn co later installs your utility box and connection box (outside wall and garage usually) later. You would want this done after paint, and after you have power points etc already set up.

So.. we are getting the Hill Hub thingy.. do we wait till handover to do the NBN connection? Or have we missed something and should be doing it during the build?? I'm getting very confused.

You have to wait till practical completion stage at least before calling your ISP to book in a date with NBN CO to install the devices and connect. They need active power source near the cabinet. And electrical fittings etc is done after paint. Also I ran a pull-string from outside to the Hills cabinet reducing part of their work.

Shadowarrior. The NBN battery back up only supplies power to the voice section of the NBN converter not to the Internet section. If you use an ISP like Telstra that use VOIP on the NBN for their phone calls then you won't have a phone during a blackout. If however you use an ISP that does have the phone over the voice connection you would need a hardwired phone to make a call during a blackout as a cordless phone will not work as the base station will not have power. I would carefully check the ISPS available in your area as I bet Telstra are not the cheapest or best value and as they use VOIP for the phone and not the voice connection to me that is just another disadvantage.

We are getting the hills home hub as its part of the package and having installed in a cupboard in the middle of the house.
However to me this hills home hub is next to useless. It only has 8 network points and 4 TV points through a passive splitter. Then it has 4 or 8 telephone points. It's in a large box and to me is useless. If you only want a few points in the house in sure this keeps it neat but as shown above the NBN equipment is not allowed to be installed in it and as it is metal you can't install a wireless router in it as you won't get a good signal.
I've heard stories in new estates where they are installing these in garages that on really hot days the Internet dies as the modem overheats. Some very unhappy people. That means for telstra customers no home phone either which is not good for older people who don't have mobiles and tend to stay with telstra.

I am building a new home in Southern River, WA.
I am in the process of finalising my plans and came across the question of "Where to fit the NBN box?". I am tossing up two options, good to hear people's thoughts on both from technically, aesthetics etc.
Option 1:
Install NBN box in the garage (typical for any new house installation).
Have data point A installed in garage (connects to NBN equipment)

Have data point A installed in family and connect up to a wireless router.
Have data point B installed in family and connect up to router

Have data point B installed in Theatre for data connection.

Option 2:
Install NBN box in Master bedroom WIR (on the top shelf) and follow similar set up for data point.