NBN Co website is showing dates again for HFC connections

jimbobaus on 19/04/2018 - 10:27
Last edited 19/04/2018 - 10:27

As most of us know the past few months the nbn co address checker has shown limited information particularly for those expecting to get HFC

I noticed yesterday that when you do an address search they are again giving dates for those of us waiting for HFC.

A couple things I have noticed when checking a few addresses.
1) The timeline has been pushed back by many months. (1 year for one address I checked)
2) a couple addressses I checked showed HFC before but are now showing new tech. (FTTN or FTTC)

Anyways thought I would share for those who were waiting to find out their new install dates given the recent switch off of HFC connections.

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Comments

  • Detective Pikachu on 19/04/2018 - 10:29

    For point two, likely unusable Optus Cable or required extension in order to add HFC to the particular area, for reasons why the areas switched technologies.

  • 2jzzzz on 19/04/2018 - 11:02

    Getting this "Planned technology: nbn™ Fibre to the curb (FTTC)*." Have Optus cable at the moment.

    "An nbn™ Fibre to the curb connection (FTTC) is used in circumstances where an optic fibre line will be run to the street front of your premises. Existing copper technology will then be used to make the final part of the nbn™ broadband access network connection."

  • scotty on 19/04/2018 - 11:04

    Thanks. Just checked my address & my in-law's address again. Both are planned with HFC now (mine was changed to FTTN early last year and then back to HFC with Jan-Mar 2018 planned availability before all that HFC fiasco). Mine has been pushed back to Jan-Mar 2019 again, and in-laws' Jul-Dec 2019. Finger crossed that we will get NBN before the end of this decade.

    Currently: Telstra cable.

  • picklewizard on 19/04/2018 - 11:10

    Yup! A few months back I was showing HFC in 2018/2019, now I'm FTTC in 2020… I'd rather wait another couple of years for that be given an inferior version of what I already have!

    • jimbobaus on 19/04/2018 - 11:49
      -1

      Technically hfc (where it is not stuffed as in Optus cable) is a better product that FTTC but I think long term FTTC is where most will end up. They just need to stop doing fttn completely.

      • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 11:58
        +1

        Maybe now it is, but long term it's really not, and the upgrade cost to FTTP is no doubt more. At least there should be some form of reasonable upgrade path. Technology choice isn't available for HFC so we've gone from a guaranteed FTTP by 2017 system to a maybe 2 years later get something shitty which you can't PAY to upgrade AT ANY COST!.

      • picklewizard on 19/04/2018 - 13:29

        I'm curious about this as I've been wondering what product would be superior, but came to the conclusion that FTTC would be better. What's your reasoning here? Mine was that fibre is not susceptible to interference and degradation, and is a pure digital signal right up until the front of your property; HFC is a digital signal over an analog carrier, making it susceptible to interference and poor-quality, corroded connections also being a factor.

        I would have thought several kms of fiber with a few meters of copper would be a far superior option than pure coax, but there's certainly factors I haven't considered.

      • Iggemo on 19/04/2018 - 15:47

        what's wrong with Optus HFC and how do i know if im Optus (i am HFC and we just had the NBN box attached to our house the other day)

        • Kiato on 20/04/2018 - 00:32

          Most cases it’s telstra hfc cable. As they had the greater coverage/speed/reliability, and in cases where the area had both the Telstra is being used and the Optus is being thrown in the bin. Just have to know what was in your area before nbn co rolled into the area.

          • bobzor on 05/07/2019 - 00:31

            @Kiato: sorry to hijack old thread

            I have optus and telstra cable here, and nbn says I'm getting fttn not hfc or fttc?

            This feels like a Downgrade.

            Anyone else had this?

  • autolux on 19/04/2018 - 11:40

    can someone explain the 'HFC fiasco' that happened? seems i've missed the memo..

    all i know is about a year ago, tpg was getting in contact with me several times a week pushing NBN for my apartment block and to upgrade my ADSL2+ connection for the imminent NBN arrival for my address. when i looked into it more, it was because the area had HFC and they were offering NBN-HFC, to which i was like ummmm go and gf, no thanks…. i had cable in the mid 90s, don't need a way-back-when time machine…

    heard nothing since, checked the other week and all of "NBN" offerings for my address had disappeared completely, not even HFC, which i found confusing….. was there uproar about existing HFC being used or something? due to its totally outdated inefficiency? and even tho the NBN is all about totally outdated inefficiency……

    • jimbobaus on 19/04/2018 - 11:52

      There was a lot of complaints regarding reliability on hfc so they stopped installs but kept working on the set up while repairing the system. Hfc is actually quite good but nbn co bought the old Optus network which was beyond repair and also Telstra’s in some areas had issues. They have now recommended roll out of hfc and in some cases have decided to switch customers who were getting hfc to FTTC which is better than fttn but not quite as good speed wise as hfc.

      Also for the record nbn hfc is not the same as cable. It’s an updated system which allows for better speeds and uploads but you do share the bandwidth with your neighbours. FTTC you share with 4 houses total but this means the speed is shared regardless of users connected (if that makes sense)

      • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 12:02

        FTTC makes sense because they can save a bucket load of money doing lead-ins. It probably made the most sense for the network as a whole. Instead, there's this fiasco where I'm going to wait until AT LEAST last 2019 (like I believe them now) to get a BRAND NEW HFC lead in run. If I were just one isolated house in an HFC area that might make sense, but given that the majority of locations in my area don't have lead-ins and they're all expensive to connect unit blocks it makes no sense.

        Meanwhile, a bunch of people got free FTTP, which by the NBNCo's own publicity, immediately devalued my property.

      • autolux on 19/04/2018 - 14:16

        So FTTP/FTTH is the holy grail, but how is FTTN not as good as FTTC or HFC? is that last bit of copper ruining everything even vs shared networks?

        i honestly weep for this country….

    • Detective Pikachu on 19/04/2018 - 11:55

      The main complaint with HFC as far as I'm aware was with the installation/transfer process, in which NBN needed to manually authenticate modems by MAC Address for each service installed, commonly referred to as "activation". So one service is locked to a specific NBN issued HFC modem. This created an unnecessary backlog for a process that should have been automated or should have eliminated the need for MAC authentication. Some contractors at the early stages failed to notify NBN of the installed modem's MAC address, so customers had to deal with submitting the details themselves, after figuring out with NBN/their ISP what the issue actually was. Even now, many of us with HFC, need to disconnect an existing service in order to switch to another provider. All this, excluding the Optus Cable situation, was enough for an uproar.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 11:52

    Build has commenced!
    Jan to June 2019 LOL!

    Thankfully I now live in a developing country with 500/500 fiber at home for $100 a month.

    • Iggemo on 19/04/2018 - 15:50

      where?

      • whooah1979 on 19/04/2018 - 18:27

        it isn't somewhere we want to live.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 11:55

    :\ Had a planned connection date of 22 Dec 2017. Then mysteriously mid-December, 'Upgrading the network check back in Feb 2018 for an update. In early March that was updated to 'Upgrading the network' no further info.

    Now:
    Planned | nbn™ Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC)
    Planned availability: Jul-Dec 2019*
    The rollout of the nbn™ is being planned in this area.

    Was seriously hoping to be upgraded to FTTC given that my street only 50% of the places have lead-ins, and all the ones without are unit blocks. And it's < 6km of Brisbane CBD. Like seriously WTF people this makes no sense.

    Currently. 8mb down and < 1mb up. This is appalling.

    • scrambledeggs on 19/04/2018 - 13:56

      Same as me, I'm in Yeerongpilly, was December 2017 now Jul-Dec 2019.

    • jimbobaus on 19/04/2018 - 14:03
      -1

      A lot of people would not consider FTTC an upgrade.
      When I did my nbn training for work I certainly decided FTTC was not a technology I wanted. The biggest issue is the bandwith is not based on load (like hfc is) it’s shared regardless of whether anyone else is connected where as hfc fluctuates based on how many connected at one time.

      • techno2000 on 19/04/2018 - 16:11
        +3

        FTTC will give 100/40 Mbps speeds right now and can be upgraded in the future with G.fast and XG.Fast technologies.

        So while not as good as FTTP its way better than FTTN and as good as HFC in the sense that it can give you 100 mbps right now same as HFC.

        Also i can envisage that people who desperately want FTTP might be able to upgrade to FTTP from FTTC in the future if they are willing to spend a couple of thousand dollars.

        • StingyBritches on 20/04/2018 - 11:54

          Has anyone paid for upgrading to FTTP from FTTC? I keep hearing cots of 'thousands' to go from the kerb/curb to premises, so I'm curious…

          The Telstra guys were here yesterday checking the pits and I was told we're up for FTTC July-December 2019. Hopefully by then the dreaded NBN will have sorted themselves out, or Tony Abbot will be back in power handing out 56k modems as the 'most affordable' technology.

        • whooah1979 on 21/04/2018 - 08:51

          @StingyBritches:

          I keep hearing cots of 'thousands' to go from the kerb/curb to premises,

          It depends on the amount of work and how difficult the job is. You’ll be looking at north of $2000 (wholesale) for an easy installation.

        • [Deactivated] on 21/04/2018 - 21:55

          @whooah1979: I've seen a < 200m quote for FTTN costing upwards of $14,500. HFC ranges (1km+) I imagine would be six figures. A couple of thousand is quite potentially justifiable. Tens of thousands not so much.

        • StingyBritches on 22/04/2018 - 11:35

          @Bargs:

          Thanks Bargs and whooah1979. I'm naively hoping the potential cost would be under $2k. The access from my kerb/curb to the (current Optus Cable) outside point is in a straight line with only lawn on the ground - no concrete or gardens in that area.

          If an 'easy' installation cost ~$2k, maybe I'm in the wrong profession?

      • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 19:57

        Currently there is no upgrade path from HFC to FTTP, for any price, the fiber terminates way too far away for them to even bother letting you get a quote. FTTC as a topology is already capable of gigabit with just hardware replacements and no doubt an upgrade to FTTP would be cheap, especially in MDU areas.

        Upload speed for me is also more important and that’s limited to 40mbit/s on HFC.

        FTTC looks at least as good as HFC now, but more easily upgradable in the future. Shared bandwidth for FTTC is per 4 users as I understand it, but 10-40 for HFC.

  • mysterytal on 19/04/2018 - 12:09

    Mar 2019….hmmm…I'm leaving before then hopefully to somewhere that is reliable, has reasonable and consistent speed and unlimited data usage.

    My mobile broadband is much faster but isn't unlimited usage and isn't consistently high speed.

  • Cheaplikethebird on 19/04/2018 - 12:53

    Just checked mine. Mine changed from HFC to FTTC after the news reports started coming out about the dramas with HFC. Glad to see it's still showing as FTTC and hasn't swapped back.

  • Hellfire on 19/04/2018 - 13:25

    Jan-Jun 2019 :(

    Originally Oct 2017. Going to be a long wait. Thankfully I have a decent connection.

  • picklewizard on 19/04/2018 - 13:32

    Curious as to who has the longest wait - I'm Jan-Jun 2020, who's got worse than that?

    • YLD1 on 19/04/2018 - 13:58

      Kenthurst

      fixed wireless

      was 2016 then 2017 then 2018 then 2019

      Now…. NO DATE

  • unco on 19/04/2018 - 14:36

    Not very knowledgeable on this but I'm currently ADSL, it says planned HFC. I thought HFC would only be for areas that can be serviced by cable? Or is it still possible that they'll be coming in with HFC in my area?

    A few days ago my parent's place said Build Commenced, today it's gone back to the 'planned' stage.

    • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 19:59

      Yes, they’re idiots and they’re connecting NEW HFC lead ins, for the worst of both speed and price to make a political point. If you were one of only a few homes in an area without a lead in for your area it might make some sense.

  • chrisie on 19/04/2018 - 15:48

    I just check my NBN HFC expected connection, January - March 2019. last time I received advice connection December 2017 - What a farce ……………

  • tumsum on 19/04/2018 - 18:09

    Checked in Nov 2017: HFC for Jan-Mar 2018.
    Checked Dec 2017: FTTN Oct 2018
    Checked Today: FTTN Jan-Jun 2019

    currently crap ADSL 2+ with 5mpbs down, 0.8 up

  • nowlan on 19/04/2018 - 18:11

    Boo. Have foxtel here, previously bigpond cable 10 yrs ago.
    Checking address, and says "Planned availability: Progressively from Jan-Jun 2020*."

    Used to say H2 last year once upon a time, then H2 this year.

  • smuggler on 19/04/2018 - 18:14

    Mate, negative gearing and other tax concessions are more important than fast internet. That's why I voted Liberals. ;)

    • [Deactivated] on 19/04/2018 - 20:04

      Moving to get fiber will cost me at least $40,000 probably $200,000 all up if I’m at all picky. Negative gearing etc wasn’t even on the table when the coalition started wasting my tax dollars on this bulllshit. Doing nothing would have been better at least then my property wouldn’t have devalued due to not having FTTP.

  • tonyjzx on 19/04/2018 - 20:39
    +2

    faster cheaper sooner

    three time liar

  • original15 on 20/04/2018 - 08:52

    FFS thanks for the prompt to check this depressing website
    Initially our place said July 2018, then december 18
    Then HFC fiasco, had an nbn box installed on our property
    Now may 2019, will be lucky to get it by 2020 yeh?
    Currently on 3mbps adsl2+, suburbia Melbourne 😞

  • Enoch29 on 20/04/2018 - 09:22

    In Mile End SA our build commenced in early mid 2017 with completion Dec 17 to Jan 18 on hfc. Now early 2019.
    Are Telstra still doing cable internet connections? I might cut over to that if it is.
    It a pity uniti wireless is so too expensive to be mainstream.

  • tekisei on 29/04/2018 - 15:30

    I got pushed back to first half of 2020, but was upgraded to FTTC!

    Sydney North Shore, New FTTC zones: https://imgur.com/a/YlcVSju
    The North Willoughby zone continues up the map to include all of Castle Cove, Roseville Chase, East Lindfield, Lindfield, some of Killara (SE corner), and half of Roseville (north of the station + east of Archbold).

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