NBN Confusion - Do You Lose ADSL during NBN Installation & Other Basic Q's

CrankyCarrot on 24/04/2019 - 17:59

The NBN confuses me and I've heard/read conflicting information. For the love of co-ax, please help clarify:

  1. If you have ADSL and the NBN ISP's are saying it's going to be 15-20 biz days before they can connect you, can you keep using the old ADSL up to that point or are you cut off? Someone on another post said if you're getting an HFC connection it's a totally separate cable and therefore you never have to lose ADSL at any point until you request it b.e cut off. I called the NBN hotline to confirm and they said that you wouldn't lose ADSL regardless of whether you have an HFC installation or any of the other six (?) types of NBN available. Exetel said you could keep it and Dodo (who we're with for ADSL) said you could not… I swear that Googling it people were complaining about long periods with no net whatsoever due to NBN installation, so ultimately I'm still perplexed:

DO YOU HAVE TO ENDURE A WIFI-LESS HOUSE DURING THE TIME THE NBN IS SETUP OR WILL ADSL CONTINUE WORKING THE ENTIRE TIME?

  1. Is it in fact a two step process where after signing up with an NBN ISP over the phone, first someone from Telstra comes with the little black box, drills some holes and feeds a co-ax cable into your home, then second after that 15-20 biz day waiting period, the ISP turns on "the juice" externally?

  2. If I'm spot on with 2., what is it that takes so long with the ISP's?

  3. It seems that people online are saying (on OzB and other sites) there's very little difference in the internet experience (speed/connection dropouts) between the various ISPs offering it as the gov't wholesales the same thing to everybody. Is that true? If I'm choosing between Dodo and Exetel for example, is there any reason besides price/router bundles to opt for one or the other?

  4. Finally, do all these NBN retailers have roughly the same wait period for getting you connected?

  5. We're with Dodo and looking at Exetel. If we stuck with Dodo is there any chance they'd disconnect our ADSL before the NBN was working, or is it safer to retain them for ADSL but switch to another provider (ie Exe) to ensure there's no disconnect? (assumes that for Q1. you can keep everything on simultaneously)

  6. Thanks for reading all that and thanks some more for answering any of it.

Internet Broadband nbn

Comments

  • follow on 24/04/2019 - 18:26
    +2

    when they install the hfc line and equipment, it'll take up to 24 hours for it to start working.

    your ADSL line can continue to run for 18 months from the time your area went live

    if your with the same ISP with ADSL and NBN, they might cancel you ADSL line when the NBN gets connected

    15-20 business days waiting period is for booking appointments for the installation to occur

    • [Deactivated] on 25/04/2019 - 10:56
      +1

      And just note you can't order a new adsl connection if NBN is available in your area. So wait till the NBN is connected in your house and up and running before canceling the adsl service. When NBN was available in my area I cancelled my adsl service with one provider to sign up with NBN with a different provider. It turned out NBNco messed up the wiring in our apartment block which ended up needing another 6 months work before they got it rectified during that time I couldn't apply for a new temporary adsl service as new adsl applications are automatically blocked when NBN is marked as ready and available in your suburb.

      So don't kill the adsl till the NBN is 100% up and running or you might end up offline for several months like we did.

  • CrankyCarrot on 24/04/2019 - 18:30

    Ok thanks a tonne, TON.

    Sounds like switching to Exetel is the way to go.

  • John Kimble on 24/04/2019 - 19:20
    +2

    Yes ADSL to NBN HFC you can keep both for a bit if you want to ensure no downtime because one is copper phone line and one is coax cable.

    I just switched from naked ADSL2+ to NBN HFC today. The process for me was:
    1) Signed up to NBN with a provider weeks ago
    2) Chose a date and 4 hour window for an NBN contractor/technician to attend (ie today)
    3) Cancelled ADSL2+ with old provider shortly after tech left

    Notes:

    • Contractor called and said he was early, so that was nice.

    • I wanted the existing port somewhere else, the Contractor resisted but eventually reluctantly agreed after I took him under the floor and showed him how easy it was.

    • NBN connection was up within minutes (I was browsing and speed testing), but technician couldn't leave until his system said it was working (in the end he had to call and get confirmation)…system wasn't updating for some reason.

    • I made the booking so it was halfway through my ADSL2+ billing month in case there were any installation issues/delays and I would still have some overlap/not be too bummed losing half a month of ADSL.

    • Old provider said no pro rata refund of my ADSL2+ month when I called to cancel, despite me calling and specifically asking this question to them weeks ago and they said they would. CS agent today escalated and gave me half my month back and a "special" offer to come back to them that expires in 3 months.

    • CrankyCarrot on 25/04/2019 - 01:15

      I specifically asked Dodo about an ADSL pro rata refund and they said yes, they'd do it. Soooo… they can just, not? Who was your old provider? I wish I'd recorded that call for quality and training purposes.

      All other info = very useful! Thanks.

      • werdnanostaw on 25/04/2019 - 10:59
        +2

        I find that using chat is a better way of contacting service providers/banks/whatever because you get a transcript of what was said/promised.

        Also you have time to formulate your questions and the process is semi-asynchronous, ie you can do other things while you are waiting for their reply.

        Biggest plus is that you may not be able to understand or be understood by foreign call centre operators with voice call but they can "usually" read and write English.

        • CrankyCarrot on 25/04/2019 - 16:11

          That's my experience too. Good tip. There's nothing worse than being on hold forever and you can't even concentrate on something else 'cause they keep interrupting the music with repetitive/pointless info.

  • werdnanostaw on 25/04/2019 - 10:42
    +1

    My 92 year old mother's phone and data were disconnected 10 days before the HFC installation appointment in February.

    When I contacted her ISP Spintel they said it was Optus' fault and they couldn't do anything about it.

    I asked for:

    1. a temporary mobile phone with data for her

    2. a refund of charge for period when service was unavailable.

    3. one month's free connection in compensation for inconvenience.

    The mobile phone arrived on day 8 without a connection. As soon as it was switched on and her iPad and PC were connected to it some update process sucked up the 1GB of data provided. When it reached 2GB they cut the data.

    On the next bill they charged a mobile phone delivery fee, one month of mobile phone rental and a very large amount for the excess data usage. All charges were eventually reversed; 2 months later.

    They gave a refund of about $5 even though 10/30 * $40/month = approx $13.

    They said they calculated period without phone and data from day phone was shipped even though getting from Sydney to Perth with a weekend in between took 7 days.

    They did not provide any compensation.

    • CrankyCarrot on 25/04/2019 - 16:14

      Man, that sounds like a pain. I have the horrible feeling that it's not just Spintel that might pull this type of thing, although I definitely won't be using them after your story.

  • werdnanostaw on 25/04/2019 - 10:49
    +1

    More fun facts about Spintel.

    My mother is on 12/1 $45 plan.

    They are cancelling 12/1 and 25/5 plans. She will be moved to 50/20 plan.

    When I asked whether they would grandfather rate for the remainder of the 18 month contract they said they would not and she would be charged the 50/20 rate.

    When I asked whether this was grounds to cancel contract they said no.

    • CrankyCarrot on 25/04/2019 - 16:30
      +1

      Sounds like an ACCC thing maybe?

  • werdnanostaw on 25/04/2019 - 11:14

    Final horror story about connecting to NBN. When we switched over to FTTN several years ago they couldn't port phone number after 3 weeks of trying without a phone.

    They (Dodo) said that they couldn't say how long it would take to port number but if we changed numbers they could do it immediately. We reluctantly agreed to this. We think/hope all of our family/friends/contacts had our mobile numbers and we sent out email notifications so we didn't lose too many of them.

    With this in mind I didn't want to risk the same thing happening to my mother's phone number that she has had since 1954 (it started as X1234) so I stayed with same ISP/RSP. You can see how well that worked out.

    At least they didn't mess up porting the number. If they had, I wouldn't have known who to contact amongst her remaining friends to let them know her new number.

  • CrankyCarrot on 25/04/2019 - 17:00

    I'm still unclear on something:

    Is it only HFC that let's you keep ADSL in theory up til the changeover, or every single kind of NBN connection (7 of 'em?). Is it only a problem if you switch to FTTN or something? Never?

    • follow on 26/04/2019 - 13:31

      you can keep your ADSL connection on any NBN technology that doesn't use the copper line. so you can't keep it on fttn/fftb/fttc. The rest you can.

      • CrankyCarrot on 26/04/2019 - 13:36

        Right. So basically if you hear the word "fibre," with reference to internet tech, the copper line is involved (as it was with ADSL) and thus you couldn't have both going simultaneously in normal circumstances.

        • follow on 26/04/2019 - 13:37

          there's fibre to the premises which doesn't use copper

          • CrankyCarrot on 26/04/2019 - 13:40

            @follow: Alright, I'll defer to Google for any more questions around this.

            Back in the days of 56k dial-up I was all over this stuff. Of course, there weren't like 12+ different ways to connect back then.

            As long as we don't lose the net for 3-4 weeks when the NBN gets put up (which we shouldn't as it's slated to be an HFC connection) that's good enough for me for now.

            Cheers all.

    • CrankyCarrot on 01/05/2019 - 01:59

      Wish I had stumbled across that site a week ago.

  • Laziofogna on 30/05/2020 - 10:50

    Can someone clarify this please, on a letter from NBN telling me phone and adsl will be disconnected soon in my area they say NBN connection does not involve any fee, but when I look at providers they all mention installation fees from 99 to 300 dollars? It is hfc.

    • Twix on 30/05/2020 - 17:34
      +1

      NBN standard installation is free. There are ISPs that charge sign up fees and ISPs that don't.

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