Consumers are still confused about what to do once the NBN comes home, says Ian Millner, but a new guide sets out to change all that.

Who would’ve thought that home technology and internet speeds would come to dominate every bit of the Australian media? The people running the NBN probably aren’t always thrilled with the coverage, but for us who work in this industry it’s been a boon. Well sort of.

While lots of stories have helped the public get more familiar with things like bits per second, Cat 5 cabling, WiFi or home networking, the fact is there’s still a lot of confusion when it comes to the NBN and what to do with all that fast fibre speed at home.

And let’s face it, most people will have to think about that question at some point. Whatever happens to the NBN after the next election it’s pretty clear that it’s already well advanced. By the end of the year around 750,000 homes will have access to fibre and the current Government wants 3.5 million by 2015.

Perhaps one sign of public confusion is the poor connection rate so far-the most recent figures say only 13,500 homes are connected to it, though once again the Government expects that to be more like 419,000 by the time we all go to the polls next year.

The good news for us in the industry is that there’s now a majority of people who support the NBN’s promise of fast broadband and that when people do connect they’re opting for the highest speeds they can-in fact a new survey said 85% of Australians want 50Mbps at home!

One guide to rule them all

But what does 50Mbps of fibre mean once it hits our twentieth century homes and what do you need to do, if anything, to get the best out of it? I know consumers are confused about that because I meet a lot of people who ask me that exact question. Which is why I teamed up with three other experienced telecommunications consultants to pull together a free guide to “Connectivity Solutions for Home Networking”.

We started off by identifying the six options or ‘solutions’ on offer that let you connect your devices to the NBN once fibre comes knocking.

These include:

• Wiring with fibre
• Wiring with Cat 5 or 6
• Power Line Communication
• Ethernet over phone line
• Ethernet over coax
• Wireless or WiFi

We then take you through them all one by one, listing the advantages and disadvantages they throw up. We also wanted to make choosing a lot easier by giving them an overall score. We worked out the overall score based on the following criteria:

• Connectivity elements
• Standards
• Mobility
• Security
• Reliability
• Sustainability
• Installation cost
• Fault finding
• Regulated
• Affect on link speed due to multiple users

A 1 to 3 score was given to each criteria where 1 is poor and 3 is good. In addition to this the last criteria “affect on link speed due to multiple users” was given an additional weighting of 5 as this is by far the most critical requirement of the connectivity solution.

How did you score?

You’ll find all the detail in the free Guide downloadable from smartwiredhouse.com.au, but here’s a quick peak at how each solution went out of a possible score of 42:

1. Fibre-the installation of fibre to every room in the house and the adaptors that will be required to connect to the Ethernet port of your network device-got a 35 score.

2. Cat 5 or 6-installing category 5 or 6 data cable to every room in the house is by far the most efficient solution as it can plug straight into an Ethernet port in your network devices-got a score of 38.

3. Power Line Communication-the installation of adaptors that convert the Ethernet signal so it can use the electrical wiring through a power point so you can make a connection from where you broadband modem is installed to where ever you have your network devices-got a score of 19.

4. Ethernet over phone line-the installation of adaptors that convert the Ethernet signal so it can use the existing telephone cabling so you can make a connection from where your broadband modem is installed to where ever you have your network devices and you have a telephone outlet-got a score of 18.

5. Ethernet over coax-the installation of adaptors that convert the Ethernet signal so it can use the antenna cabling so you can make a connection from where your broadband modem is installed to where ever you have your network devices and your have TV antenna outlets)-got a score of 18

6. Wireless-installing a box that connects to your broadband modem and converts the Ethernet signal to a wireless signal for connection to wireless devices only-got a score of 24.

So the question is, what is the optimum solution? Interestingly, the industry’s answer to this is that combining the best of wired Cat 5/6 with wireless-as detailed in the Code of Practice for Home Wiring known as Smart Wiring-is best. Only Smart Wired gets the perfect score 42 out of 42 (I’m happy to say).

Only a Registered cabler can install a Smart Wired Connectivity platform and under the new ACMA requirements only a Registered Cabler with the appropriate endorsements will be able to meet the needs of the consumer to have a world class connectivity platform that does not place limitations on the users.

So this means a Smart Wired solution is a great outcome for the consumer, as well as a good outcome for the installer industry.

Have a look at the Industry White Paper, on www.smartwirehouse.com.au (Experience The Power of Smart Wiring Banner)if you want to make up your own mind….

*Ian Millner is a consultant to the International Copper Association Australia with over 30 years experience in telecommunications. During this period Ian has been involved from hands on installation of radio systems and telephone systems to the development of telecommunications standards and codes of practice. Development of training resources to support the deployment of the national telecommunications training package and also an author of technical articles for NECA Magazines in various states and territories.