It continues to amaze me how NBN continues to operate. With over $50B AUD of taxpayer funds later (See NBN Project costs) folks like me that live in the suburbs continue to have less than ideal quality Internet service.

As of this post, I’m sitting on a vDSL2+ connection, with a Fibre to the Node backhaul, delivered over ~450m of Copper cable (last mile). At the time of writing, two LQD (Line Quality Diagnostics) tests later show the SNR/Noise Margin to be averaging around ~5db. 😳

If you do a simple Google search for “vDSL2 SNR” you will very quickly find:

The transmission noise margin limit is 6 dB, a value below which a VDSL connection is not guaranteed at all. If the noise margin is below 6 dB, frequent interruptions may occur. If the noise margin is greater than 10 dB, the line has good parameters for data transmission.25 Apr 2022

Anyone with experience in wireless technology, radio of electromagnetic radiation knows that a signal with such a low SNR is pretty piss poor. It’s amazing the service works at all (oh wait it doesn’t really, with 16 drop-outs in 48hrs 😱)

What can I do about this? 🤔 Nothing, absolutely nothing! 🤬 All I can do is continue to complain to my ISP, make posts like this, and continue to put political pressure on NBN Co who is run by folks (Stephen Rue as CEO), that have some pretty backwards ideas of economy and networking.

If anyone managed to reach this far, I’ve been battling with NBN Co for years now. I will continue to do battle with them on many fronts until I get some goddamn Fibre rolled down the street. The only thing I worry about the most, is that by the time that happens, I’ll have well and truly retired 🤣

#nbn #internet #vdsl #snr