[LINK] Advertised NBN plan speeds impossible to achieve: ACCC

[David]

On Sunday, 10 November 2019 08:49:56 AEDT Tom Worthington wrote:

> The term may be understood in the industry, but what is needed is a measure of network performance the general public can understand.

> Perhaps there needs to be some sort of rating system, with little game consoles to indicate speed for gaming, and TVs for video streaming speed.

Yes, in principle, but that could become very complicated.  For example, some games may require far higher bandwidth than others, high-definition TV requires more bandwidth than standard-definition TV, and both require low & stable latency time.

To further complicate things, families often have several people using various applications on desktops, tablets, etc. at any given time and small businesses typically have quite varied requirements.  The perception of performance is also partly determined by the performance of the application-provider's servers, network, etc.

I think what's required is:
(a)    consistently high network performance in terms of clock-rate, latency time, and congestion for a given NBN technology;
(b)    honest recognition of the limits of the various technologies in NBN's multi-technology mix;
(c)    recognition that good performance requires good customer-premise equipment (modems, etc.).

In relation to (b), how many ISPs will tell a potential customer in an FTTN area they're probably wasting their money buying a 100 Mbit/s connection?  It is possible if the customer is an optimum distance from the node and the copper is in really good condition, but I think that's rare.  And in relation to (c), I think many modems used on NBN services are probably rubbish.

David L.