For some, the days when Australia was still on track towards a high speed internet environment for all seem like a long distant past. For them, the dream ended when the government scrapped its predecessor's plan to roll-out a fibre-to-the-premise network around the country, to replace it with a multi-technology strategy.
With fibre-to-the node (FTTN) and fibre-to-the building (FTTB) options, the network still relies on old copper feeder lines to connect with the NBN's fibre backbone, and this can lead to unsatisfactory consumer experiences. This has also been acknowledged by the company administering the project, NBN Co.
According to latest figures from NBN Co, at the end of the 2019 financial year there were close to 10 million Australian able to connect to NBN services, slightly ahead of the company's forecast target of 9.7 million (and representing more than three quarters of Australian homes and businesses).
There were 5.52 million premises that have now activated service delivered through the NBN, which is in line with previous estimates.
According to NBN Co data, 0.123% of premises accessing NBN services experienced network congestion in May 2019, compared to 0.09% in May 2018 (network congestion can slow down internet speed markedly, and varying between internet providers).
However, a new study released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) reveals that there are actually a number of factors that can impact on consumer internet speeds, and an important one may be the type of modem in use.
The research was conducted by technology consulting firm Enex Pty Ltd, which looked at the performance of 43 fixed-line modems and modem/routers commonly available in late 2018. For its tests, Enex closely emulated ‘real world’ environments for FTTN/FTTB services.
Copper lines of less than 450 metres, which are typical for most FTTN/FTTB services, were found to not greatly affect the performance with most of the tested modems (bar one that was identified as not NBN suitable), but download speeds then dropped with increasing length of the cable.
Performance issues and differences in the performance of the modem, however, were observed when the copper lines were subjected to ‘noise’, which in the ‘real world' may come from, for example, electric interference or poor cabling.
The test also revealed considerable variations in how the tested modems delivered Wi-Fi, potentially adversely affecting consumer experience. Especially in the 2.4 gigahertz Wi-Fi band, obstacles in the signal path, such as walls, had often detrimental effects, as had external interferences similar to that from neighbouring Wi-Fi routers.
Most 5 gigahertz devices generally delivered better data streaming performances than 2.4 gigahertz devices.
Notably, though, buying an expensive device does not guarantee better performance. In many cases, cheaper devices even outclassed more expensive devices.
According to Enex, “there were no consistent factors observed indicating why some devices performed better than others.”