Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
When we moved here in 2001 we had an extra copper landline connected and set up ISDN. I tried to get ADSL but we were told it was not available (the distances were running close to the limit but not over it). Eventually they pulled the plug on ISDN too and after we installed a large antenna mast we managed to get NextG 3G, and eventually 4G. Despite often getting good speed, the connection isn't steady enough for video. Anything I want to watch off the 'net has to be downloaded first so I can watch it from the local network. And on long weekends when people come down to their holiday homes, forget it! NBN? The best they can offer is wireless much like I already have from Telstra: a dollar short and several years too late.
Meanwhile I dropped one POTS line but kept the other. Every couple of years water leaks into the joins between here an the exchange and I have to report a fault and wait for someone to get out here to replace the joiner. Otherwise it continues to work. It's very hard to find anything on my service provider's website admitting copper landlines exist, but so far no threat of disconnection (touch wood).
Mobile phone reception is ... on the edge. My phone works most of the time (on the north side of the house near the window), but my wife's very rarely. So we use WiFi-calling over the NextG connection using the big antenna, but on wet and windy days even that slows down enough that you have a choice between browsing the 'net or using the mobile phone, you can't do both (anyway, it's rude to browse while you talk  ).
I have considered satellite as a fall back (some of my work involves remote support and the latency of satellite can be problematic), but getting by without so far. |
Not much latency with Starlink, the satellites are only 350km up.
I was on an Optus satellite (Indonesian) a few years ago, only really adequate for low volume uploads and downloads, extended dropouts in heavy rain. The new owners installed Starlink a few months ago, last I heard they were more than happy.
Telstra's Next3G = Near End Crosstalk for 3 Grand?
BR