yep i love talking to people overseas ( not ) which is one of the reasons i went with
aussie broadband because they have their call center here in auss.
On a side note people wonder why its all gone to crap , i had a meeting with
the nbn installers who are installing the nbn into the basement on a building
i look after and we had aa few verbals about where it would be installed etc
and once i got my way we went upstairs to the pit on the street and this is
what i was confronted with. Open pipes water piss's into the building etc
Belong IS Telstra!
Yes, I know that. Thats why I went with them, I want Telstra's network but am happy to pay less as I don't require half of what Telstra's bundle offers and their standalone options werent great. I am providing a honest head to head comparison between the service of the 2 in regards to getting connected. As previously mentioned, another mates Telstra service was connected with no problems from an online signup and his speeds are almost right on 25/1.
Personally I dont care too much about support as I basically never have to speak to them.Whether this changes with NBN, we will see. My ADSL has been rock solid since it was upgraded years ago from a Rim cabinet to a Top Hat. I dont think too many people would be getting these sort of numbers 4.5 kms from the exchange. And the cabinet is at least 400 meters away.
Upstream Downstream
Current Rate(kbps) 1097 20091 Max Rate(kbps) 1090 21540
I received an SMS this morning from Belong stating that my NBN Co appointment is scheduled for tomorrow between 7AM and 2 PM.
I ended up finding the new cabinet the other day, and did a rough distance check using the cars trip meter from the cabinet to my property. My guess is a bit over 300 meters, my mate whos order I only recently put in is also my next door neighbour, so it will provide a good comparison in regards to speed.
Of some interest upon sign up......when I signed my mate up via Telstra, he was offered speeds up to 50 (he just wanted standard speed). I just put his address in to Belongs website, and like me, Belong are only offering low speed offerings, guaranteed 12 or 15 at peak times.
Its obvious that Belong are taking a very conservative approach to what they offer, I am presuming many companies are after the ACCC smacked them all recently over this matter. Realistically its the smart thing to do, connect you first and see what your line speed is.
Edit : It seems Belong are refusing to offer full speeds on FTTN only. Its likely my stay with them will be brief as if I am 300-325 meters from the node, I could expect maybe 70 down. But I will get connected first and examine modem stats and see what they say.
i am about 50 - 70 mtrs further than yourself and i am rock solid at 85Mbps
ADSL went off this morning at about 9 am. Didnt bother waiting for Belong to send notification, plugged modem in. Up and running.
I am connected at 28000 and 6400. Modem shows that "attainable" rate is about 80/40, which is slightly better than I expected, so I will have to see whats Belong's attitude is like.
While I am happy with my NBN connection, it would seem that Belong are not offering ANY premium type speed to FTTN/FTTP users. I signed up based on a comparison sites information that they did, and Belong do NOT state on their website that they will not offer any speed above 25/5 to FTTN/FTTP users.
I have sent them a complaint, asking that due to the above facts, they either offer me a premium speed service or let me go without any penalty. I will post back when I get a reply......I will also make a TIO complaint if they are not reasonable.
Apart from that, the connection is great with no slow downs or problems. The supplied modem is basic , and I only planned on getting it as an eventual backup once I decided on what I wanted to get to replace my TP-Link D7 Archer which has been faultless over the last 3 years.
I will also see my neighbour on the weekend to see how his Telstra order is progressing.
Edit : Belong answered within 5 minutes (not an auto response, it referred to me by name) stating they need time to address my complaint and gave a time of up to 5 days. I dont have a problem with that.
I also had a look at my first mates modem connection yesterday. Interestingly, he lives in town, while I am 4kms out of it, both FTTN as previously mentioned.
His Telstra modem stats showed he is obviously a lot further from the node than me and at full speed can only achieve about half of what I can, so I am presuming he must be up to 600 meters away from the node. He doesnt care, he is like a pig in shit on 25/5 after suffering a very poor ADSL1 that suffered everytime in rained.
I seem to have a lot of luck with Internet, moved here and was horrified to be on a RIM in a new estate, but complaints to Telstra got us a new TopHat installed so went from a RIM on ADSL1 to a TopHat on ADSL2 connected at 20+.
Some good figures there mate, I am considering them should I move which is likely. They are reasonably expensive though, but having said that I believe in general you get what you pay for.
From a price example, 100/40 with Telstra for 1000 gig is about the same money (thats with me knowing Telstra will offer 1/2 price speed upgrades). But ABB are offering a special at the moment which is second month free, so that firmly puts them in front.
Had some fun times over the last 2 days.
Got sick of Belong's crap modem and its lack of features and usability after banging my head on the desk trying to get my security cameras to work remotely. So I saw a 5 month old second hand Asus DSL-AC68U on Ebay for $150 and grabbed it. It was in Melbourne, so I thought I would pickup given its almost Xmas and Oz Post are unreliable as hell these days.
I was lucky enough that the seller was going to the beach for the day near my place and dropped it off, so I got it not much more than 12 hours after I bought it. Thats a good start I thought
Anyway, plugged it in and couldnt connect. Tried for 30 minutes, plugged old Belong modem in. No connection. Hit Google.......oh dear. By default, this modem has 2 particular settings turned off and not on, meaning that NBN Co see it as an unauthorised device and lock your port for 48 hours.
Bangs head on desk again.Hmmm.....might upgrade the firmware on it (this problem is only on original firmware). Hang on, I have no internet. No problem, I will tether the S8+. Strange.....no 4G. Fark, what next ? Speed is so slow, I had to get in car and drive to the mobile tower to download it. 4G was not working at the tower, only 3G. Did that, got home and upgraded it to latest firmware.
Rang Belong on my mobile (I live in a bad mobile area) and none of the "press1" options worked at all, so it took me forever and a day to speak to someone. When I did, he was clueless as to what I was talking about, but used his brain and put me through to NBN Technical Support.
To my surprise, I spoke to someone that sounded like they were Australian.......Belong must have some local support. Anyway, I told her I bought a third party modem and because of a setting not being turned on, NBN Co had locked my port for 48 hours and I would like it unlocked. She was very surprised and said " I have never heard of this before ". At least she was honest. She said "What do you want me to do ?". I said the port needs to be reset, I dont know whether you can do it or you need to contact NBN Co.
She said I have a port reset option, do you want me to do that ? Yes please.
And so it unlocked
This Asus DSL-AC68U is soooooo much nicer that that other lump of junk. Its been out for quite a while, so isn't new, but is great bang for buck with the features it has. The interface is great. When I bought my TP Link D7 Archer 3 years ago, I bought some larger more powerful antenna, so I put them on it as well. I also have 2 wifi booster at either end of house, so I am covering everything I want at good speeds.
Now I have everything working, including cameras. I didnt realise how often I checked them via smart phone, not just for security, but to see who is at home with cars in the driveway etc.
So all I have left is my neighbours to do. I saw him briefly and he said he got his modem and Telstra TV box, but his daughter opened them all and through all the paperwork out. They cant find an email from Telstra with the NBN tech appointment time, but they can never find any emails so I will have to go over later and have a look.
My sync speeds with the Asus are slightly slower than with Belongs modem. The Asus has a Mediatek chip in it and not a Broadcom. The speed isn't a lot difference, the Belong modem showed I am capable of 80/40, the Asus shows 79 and 38. It doesnt make any difference to me........I could realistically keep using 25/5 after ADSL2.......my download speed has doubled and my upload is 5 times faster.
Great unit and yep if 2 settings are not enabled before plugging in you
will get a port lock. ( G.INP (G.998.4) ) ( G.vector (G.993.5) )
If you go into admin you can also have a play with the settings to get
a nicer stable setup and keep an eye on it in the System Log - DSL Log
i like the modem it also allows you to setup a dns
address with xxx.auss.com etc which is inbuilt and
keeps it updated perfectly which i find a plus .
the other thing i like about the modem is you can see
a list of everything that is connected and where it is looking
so much in the unit to list but i am more than happy with it.
Haha, I didnt even spot that you had the same modem (its in the corner of your screen shot)
Yes, like you I am more than happy with the feature list.
i just noticed yours is running older firmware which could also
have been the reason for the port lock etc. The newer firmware fixed
issues with Australian vdsl2 as well as some wireless issues
mine is running
Product ID DSL-AC68U
DSL Firmware Version 1.0.4.1
DSL Driver Version FwVer:5.5.2.7_A_A60901 HwVer:T14.F7_0.2
Signature Version 1.196 Updated : 2017/11/25 03:00
Firmware Version 3.0.0.4.380_7712-ga519811
Random internet images above mate, not mine
But yes it was running older firmware, but all firmware works. The only issue is 2 important settings are off by default in the original firmware.......if you don't turn them on before setting up then you get locked.
But its not super bad as a phone call to your providers support can unlock it straightway.
Is it for NBN or ADSL ?
By all reports they aren't great for ADSL that's on a line length longer than 2.5 km's as they have a Mediatek chipset, Broadcom is recommended for anything over 2.5 km.
If its NBN, no problem, other than take note about what I said in regards to getting port locked in the other post if its second hand and has the original firmware on it. As mentioned, its not a problem, just dont plug the line in to it to start off. This doesnt applt to ADSL, only NBN.
Fire it up, and then use wireless to connect to ASUS (no password required from default). Then open a page at 192.168.1.1 and then to the following :
1. Configure “Administration\DSL Settings\G.INP (G.998.4)” to “Enabled”
2. Configure “Administration\DSL Settings\G.vector (G.993.5)” to “Enabled”
Hit save, and probably worth a reboot to make sure. You are then good to plug the line in and start the automatic connection wizard.
Guiseppe (19-12-17)
It is for NBN FTTN. I will have to have some cabling work done - hence my question elsewhere on the forum - because there are multiple phone sockets. I understand that best results are with the phone line connected direct to the modem/router.
It will give me a chance to check firmware and the settings you mention.
Hopefully the node around the corner - about 300m - is the real one.
If Australia is a democracy why, then, is voting compulsory?
"What has changed between the arrival of the First Fleet and today?"
"Wearing leg irons is now not required."
All should be good then. You should be up for some pretty decent speeds if you are after speed, ie, 100 package. You should be good for at least 80/40 or better based on that distance.
Re: sockets, I have also read ab it about them being a problem with speed. Many on Whirlpool have ditched extras sockets and just kept the one closest to the kerb so to speak. I presume you are doing something along these lines ?
That is the plan. I will have to discuss with the cabler how the other rooms will be reconnected.
If Australia is a democracy why, then, is voting compulsory?
"What has changed between the arrival of the First Fleet and today?"
"Wearing leg irons is now not required."
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