Those of you who already have the NBN may have noticed that your connection has improved. This is due to a promotional deal offering extra bandwidth for retailers. This promotion is set to end on October 31 this year. After that date, the levels of congestion on the network is set to increase.
According to Life Hacker, before the NBN began its promotional pricing last December, the average congestion experienced by users was five hours a week, and in August this year was down to just one hour a week. However this is already more than double what it was in July, at 28 minutes a week, and that’s an increase again on the all-time low of 12 minutes in February.
At the end of this month, according to the NBN’s statement, “we do expect these [congestion] levels to fluctuate as our promotional discount ends (31 October) and as we help service providers adopt our new wholesale discount bundles.”
NBN stresses that the new changes “aren’t things that affect consumers directly,” but end users will feel the effects of congestion at least in the short term.
Currently, the contributing factor to congestion is retailers not providing enough bandwidth for their customers, which was a big problem before the NBN released its promotional pricing last year. The NBN promises to work closely with retailers to minimise disruption while transferring retailers from the unlimited bandwidth plans. However, it is highly likely that the issue will emerge once again as the bonus bandwidth period ends.
You may have noticed the NBN is urging users to do their part to reduce congestion on the network, with the “how much speed do you need?” campaign. This initiative asks users to be aware of their internet usage in peak times between 7 pm and 11 pm, to make sure they’re on the right speed plan for their usage, and to use the right home router/modem set up for connection quality.
If you have any questions about your Internet connection feel free to get in touch. We are more than happy to have a look at your connections and bandwidth to ensure it is correct.
