Hi
I have both NBN( HFC,) and 5g available at my place. Which one should i sign up for? Which one is better?
NBN vs 5G
bargainfinder on 18/06/2021 - 15:19
Last edited 18/06/2021 - 15:21
Last edited 18/06/2021 - 15:21
Poll Options
- 65G
- 43NBN(hfc)
Comments
I have nbn ( HFC) and i am about 450m away from a 5g tower
Ultimately it comes down to whether that HFC connection is stable or not. (Mine wasn't and it became uneconomical to fix it. The fact I have given up has probably been better for the taxpayer, since I had multiple visits in the time I was connected to the NBN)
Go with a provider that allows you to pay month by month.
5G for light use like daily browsing, productivity and 1-screen video streaming.
NBN for multi-person/device connections, gaming and heaving downloading/streaming.
So that means that NBN ( in my case its HFC) is faster than 5g in term of speed?
"Up to" speed is not the only measure of a connection. Stability, bandwidth limits, congestion, jitter and crucially latency/ping are also important depending on what you're doing.
You're not going to be playing competitive games on a 5G connection even though marketing suggests you could.
Conversely, you don't need 1 Gbit HFC connection if all you do is browse OzB, BBC News, Twitter and stream Netflix/Prime Video.
Depends on your plan and location, you can get 1gbps speed plans on HFC but it will totally depend on your location/quality of cabling as well.
Even for 5G speeds, it depends on what device you are using as a modem.
Wired broadband is better as it often comes with unlimited data allowance, whereas 5G plans usually have certain limit.
Here is my story about how I am using mobile towers instead of HFC.
Roughly 2 years ago I got HFC first installed. Everything was not working properly at the time, and there were multiple dropouts per day. In the next few months I had several tech visits (5+ where each time they replaced something new, isolator first, cabling second, wall plate third, corroded tap in another visit, and then some other things I don't recall.). After this everything worked fine for around 7 months, then the dropouts randomly started appearing. I switched providers at this time, but when it came to reactivate, NBN noted that the signal from the modem was too low to be activated and therefore I got around 2 months of free internet whilst waiting for a tech visit, albeit it kept dropping out and the speeds were terrible. Sometime later the signal apparently came back and it activated one day when I woke up to an email stating so and when I called the provider they stated NBN had cancelled the tech visit, so it was never resolved. Dropouts continued and therefore I decided to cancel NBN and start using 4G. I realised at the time it was slower, but it basically solved my dropouts issue.
Now we have 5G and you can guess I'm very satisfied with the fact we actually have some usable internet at my place.
I would like to ask others whether I have any remedies and if anyone has been successfully upgraded to FTTP in these situations.
I have an opinion that fixed line cannot be substituted for 5G, but sometimes you just have to make do when the world throws lemons at you.
For HFC did nbn install the Arris CM820 or Arris CM2800 modem?
You won't get FTTP installed for free. Request a free online quote here and nbn will email you back the total within minutes.
I am not sure what was originally installed, but it was replaced sometime last year.
Currently it's the CM8200B P2.
@StinksGoDown: That is the latest modem. I'm not sure what else it could be. Did you get the online quote?
I've done the same switching from FttN NBN to 4G more out of protest than anything.
4G was reliable and faster than my FttN NBN connection and cheaper to boot!
Our usage slowly crept up past to the monthly download limit and I'm back on FttN for this year (Telstra $40/month 500Gb plan was too good a deal to pass up), but will likely jump back to 5G at the end of this contract as it's my only option for a fast service and the price:performance ratio sits heavily in 5G's favour.
I can definitely help out because I am ex-sale of 1-of-big 3 Telecommunication company.
Base on the information you provided, I am recommending you to go with 5G (450m away from the towel).
Extra information, Opxxx is doing 5G portable for $75.00 and you will get one month FREE. Worked out $71.88 (75x23 / 24 = 71.88 per month)
I'm on 5G and it's better than NBN from a speed and cost perspective. Meets our houses internet needs.
Are you in Western Sydney?
Have both atm, on a 1 month trial of Optus 5G (kinda shady but have 50mbps guarantee that can't be fulfilled) and Optus NBN 50/20. 5G is brilliant when you have a good connection but suffers massively from congestion and associated dropouts/speed limiting. Can get variation in D/L speed from 300+ to 10 mbps in the space of 30mins depending on network load, esp around the 5pm-6pm mark.
Can't really rely as WFH network as a result, esp when downloading/uploading large files, which is why I originally wanted to test it out. NBN whilst slower overall has been a much more stable experience, but I'd be happy to come back to 5G in a year or two when they sort out the capacity constraints (Add more towers/larger freq range). 5G now is for early adopters I must say, and despite having line of sight of the tower (approx 500m), I can only get green signals on the modem from a window sill at the very corner of the house (can't open the window now), so you may experience similar issues.
My Optus store pushed the 5G plan onto me as I complained about the NBN speeds, and I'd assume that that's what they've done with a majority of their local customers. This is probably so they can reap higher profits (and commission for staff) as they don't need to pay as much for NBN line rental (Optus notified me that they're increasing my NBN plan by $5m p/m last week). As a result, my area is significantly congested and I'm suffering speed constraints that others may not necessarily experience. I will be cancelling the 5G plan in the coming weeks and upgrading the NBN plan to suit my needs (outside of Optus).
Hopefully in coming years, I can return to 5G plans as the speeds are truly brilliant and its clear its the way of the future, I just can't rely on it yet.
The issue is that there is a constraint in the wireless bandwidth, so they have to deploy more and more cell base stations to manage congestion. Eventually, it will end up being a base station every block, in which case you might as well have a NBN link and wifi.
Obviously poor NBN congestion/network performance can be equally frustrating.
i am in Liverpool
You might have better luck than me. I’m near Parra
I'm currently using 5G and my speeds are 799 Mbps down 124 Mbps up 14ms ping. My speeds on 5G are consistent. HFC should have a lower ping than 14ms.
Thats speed is awesome.
What area are you in?
Thanks all for your comments.
I have decide to give optus 5g a go. @$75/month with no contract. I can trial for 1 month for free or switch to NBN if it is not up to scratch.
Completely depends on your location.