You’ve certainly heard a lot of terminology regarding different sorts of internet connections, but what exactly do all those numbers and letters mean? Let’s go over the several ways to access the internet in Australia, as well as home internet cheap plans. We’ll look at the National Broadband Network (NBN)
Fibre Optical
When it comes to the NBN, you’ve probably heard the word “fibre.” It gets to your house via high-speed fibre-optic cable placed in the ground or above power lines. Fibre connections come in a variety of shapes and sizes:
- Fibre to the Node (FTTN) — fibre optic cable is laid to a centralized location in your neighbourhood, then connected to each house’s existing copper phone connection.
- Fibre to the Building (FTTB) — fibre optic cable is laid to a centralized location in an apartment block and then connected to each apartment’s current copper phone connection.
- Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) — fibre optic cable is installed down your kerb or driveway and then connected to your current copper phone line.
- Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) — fibre optic cable runs to your house.
Fibre NBN connections can deliver speeds of up to 100Mbps (that’s 100 megabits per second.
Why does the type of fibre connection you have to affect your connection speed?
Because the intensity of the internet transmission does not deteriorate as it flows over a lengthy distance, fibre optic cable is the preferred medium. When the copper cable is included in an NBN connection, however, it can be a weak spot. A signal degrades as it travels via copper wire; thus, the longer the distance, the slower your connection becomes.
This isn’t an issue for Fibre to the Homes connections because there’s no copper involved, and the small length of the copper part shouldn’t hinder your performance for Fibre to the Public or Apartment connections.
Fibre to the Node connections, on the other hand, include more copper and may not be capable of reaching the NBN’s maximum speed of 100Mbps. If your home is more than 400 meters distant from the nodes, you may expect a top speed of less than 60Mbps, with speed decreasing as you move further away.
Other NBN connection types
Cable (also known as Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial, or HFC) is a broadband technology that connects you to the internet using the same type of cable used for pay Television. Cable NBN connections with rates of up to 100Mbps are also available.
Hot-spot: Fixed Wireless connects your home to the internet using the same technology as your smartphone. It’s a sort of NBN connection that’s presently accessible in a few rural regions at speeds of up to 50Mbps. It is one of the home internet cheap plans.
Satellite: The two Sky Muster satellites launched as part of the NBN deployment beam data down to a dish on your property for satellite internet. It’s a sort of NBN connection that’s presently only accessible in a few rural places – far fewer than fixed wireless – and at rates of up to 25Mbps.