Optus specialists answer your internet questions
Social distancing rules have put increased strain on Australia’s internet infrastructure, with a traffic surge of up to 30 per cent. Our tech experts give their advice on how to get the most out of your download speeds.
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Social distancing rules have put increased strain on Australia’s internet infrastructure, with a traffic surge of up to 30 per cent since the start of the lockdown.
Optus Vice President Regulatory & Public Affairs Andrew Sheridan and Head of 5G Harvey Wright answered readers questions in an online Q and A forum from midday AEST.
They confirmed that the large number of Australians working, studying and streaming from home was causing “localised issues”.
They suggested avoiding holding meetings or starting downloads on the hour or half-hour.
“These are the popular start times for meetings. If you’re working from home, try starting a video conference at a quarter past the hour instead,” Mr Wright said.
“Downloading your viewing or games updates overnight will result in a better experience.”
Read the Q&A session below:
Am I crazy or has the internet been getting slower out here in the suburbs? Is that because people who normally use the internet in the city are now at home?
– Hi, Andrew here
With many people at home at this time either working and studying online or streaming entertainment we are seeing a significant increase in traffic on our network. Traffic is up between 10-30 per cent.
The overall performance of our network remains strong – but there may be localised issues. We are working hard to address these.
Here are some tips on how to improve your experience.
Avoid trying to download movies on the hour and half-hour during the day as these are popular start times for meetings. If you’re working from home try starting a video conference at a quarter past the hour instead.
Downloading your viewing or games updates overnight will result in a better experience.
Perhaps consider how many devices you have running in the household at once and whether all are necessary at the same time – I know my kids in particular often have 3 devices running simultaneously!
For further help check-out:
https://yescrowd.optus.com.au/t5/Broadband-Telephony/How-to-improve-your-Optus-broadband-at-home/td-p/604462?_ga=2.101178951.791402606.1586570634-211726765.1550116493
– Hi it’s Harvey here …
Don’t worry Kate, you are not going crazy ;-)
With more and more people working, studying and staying home we are seeing a huge increase in demand on our network. Optus monitors traffic on a daily basis to identify any hot-spots and we will provide additional network capacity where we can to make sure our customers keep connected. In the meantime, here are some tips for how to get the best out of our internet given the increased load:
– Avoid trying to download movies on the hour and half-hour during the day as these are popular start times for meetings. If you’re working from home try starting a video conference at a quarter past the hour instead.
– Download movies or games updates overnight when the network is less used.
– Perhaps consider how many devices you have running in the household at once and whether all are necessary at the same time. I know kids in particular often have 3 devices running simultaneously!
We have fixed wireless, will we see any up grades happening in speed,
– Andrew here
The industry is working with the nbn to make sure performance is optimised at the current time.
Sometimes my internet just drops out and I have to restart my router for a connection to be restablished. This happens maybe twice a day if there is a lot of usage. I’ve got NBN fttp, with tpg and my download speeds are not a problem (50mbps). Do you think these drop outs are due to my provider or isolated to my home network? Maybe that I have too many devices using data all at the same time?
– Hi Jason. Harvey here. Sorry to hear you’re not having a great experience with your internet connection. Drop outs can be frustrating, but they shouldn’t really be happening. I’d suggest you contact your service provider and if you are still having problems, get in contact with Optus. We have a specialised NBN Concierge team that help our customers get up and running on NBN.
– Andrew here
It is unusual for you service to drop out twice a day. I would check with your provider, TPG, in the first instance.
Optus need to put another tower up at Jannali – since the massive block of units has gone up between the West side hill & the railway station, coverage is dreadful – 2 bars at best!
– Andrew here
Thank you for your feedback. We do rely on customer feedback to assess performance of our network. I will pass your feedback onto our network team.
Can you say hand-on-heart that 5G is safe for especially children, the environment and all people … and that you’ve done enough testing to show this?
– Andrew here
We understand that some people have concerns about the safety of 5G. We hope that it provides comfort that ARPANSA, the Australian Government’s primary authority on radiation protection and nuclear safety, has recently told the Parliamentary Inquiry that “5G is safe”.
The industry relies on respected, independent scientific organisations, like the World Health Organisation and our own regulators, the ACMA and ARPANSA, for establishing rules regarding the safety of mobile transmissions. Optus also complies with strict regulations set by the Government regulator, the ACMA, which align with international standards.
To provide further reassurance I have noted the following statement from Professor Brendan Murphy, the Chief Medical Officer:
“I’d like to reassure the community that 5G technology is safe. There is no evidence telecommunication technologies, such as 5G, cause adverse health impacts”. Check out the link below.
https://www.health.gov.au/news/safety-of-5g-technology
We’ve received a letter saying we have to sign up for the NBN because our area will switch over in a few months. It’s the last thing anyone wants to deal with now. Can rollout times be extended?
– Hi its Andrew here.
Given the current situation we are re-looking at the nbn migration schedule and prioritising service issues over moves to the nbn. Please look out for further information on changes to the dates.
Hi, I use a range extender but it slows my NBN down drastically. Any tips?
Thank you
– Hi Frank, Andrew here
I would check out your service providers web page or the nbn web page for tips on how to improve coverage. These may have details of compatible range extenders.
https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/optimisation/in-home-optimisation
https://www.optus.com.au/for-you/broadband-nbn/nbn
What are the main differences between NBN and 5G? Can you please explain what the benefits are?
– Hi Angus – it’s Harvey here.
5G is the “fifth generation” in wireless technology. Just as 3G allowed us to connect to the internet on our phones and 4G allowed us to stream video and music on the go, 5G looks set to change the way we communicate.
However, 5G is not just about connecting mobile devices, it can also provide a broadband connection to your home. Last November, Optus launched the 5G Home broadband product that comes with an unlimited data allowance, simple ‘plug and play’ installation, a minimum 50 Mbps Satisfaction Guarantee and, at $70 per month, is good value too.
So in many ways, our 5G Home product is very similar to NBN, in that it provides a fast broadband connection to the home. If you are interested, I’d recommend checking out both our NBN and 5G broadband plans on the Optus website.
What are the improvements to average download speed when you compare 5G to 4G?
– Hi Alex – it’s Harvey here.
5G technology is designed to provide super-fast connectivity and has a number of technical advantages over 4G. To give you an idea of the speeds that are available today, our 5G Home broadband customers are currently experiencing average download speeds of ~150Mbps during the peak time. As 5G technology improves, and as 5G coverage increases, we expect those speeds to increase even further.
Is 5G exclusive to Optus? I’m currently with Telstra and we have poor reception in our local area. Would switching to Optus 5G increase our coverage? Is 5G compatible with my current iPhone device?
– Hi Alycia – it’s Harvey here.
Australia was one of the first countries in the world to commercially launch 5G and both Optus, Vodafone and Telstra are busy rolling out their 5G networks.
To see if you have Optus 5G coverage in your area, I suggest you go to the Optus website at https://www.optus.com.au/for-you/5g#5g-mobile-coverage
Please note, you will need to have a 5G-compatible phone to connect to a 5G network and, unfortunately, Apple do not yet offer a 5G iPhone. However, Optus have a range of other great 5G-ready handsets available and I’d recommend you check them out on our website.
Hi, do you know how soon will Vodafone deploy 5G with Nokia in Australia? Also, is the 5G millimetre waves certified by the governing bodies of the Federal health commission? They were used as a crowd control agent/weapon earlier due to their impact in the human body.
– Hi Subhadeep Andrew here
Optus has been in the market with 5G for many months and we have over 700 sites offering both 5G home broadband and mobile service.
The millimetre wave spectrum will be auctioned in 2021.
We rely on independent experts who confirm the safety of the technology. All spectrum is certified and regulated by respected, independent organisations, like the World Health Organisation and our own regulators, the ACMA and ARPANSA.
The Australian Government’s primary authority on radiation protection and nuclear safety (ARPANSA), has recently told the Parliamentary Inquiry that “5G is safe”.
Professor Brendan Murphy, Australia’s Chief Medical Officer also recently stated that:
“I’d like to reassure the community that 5G technology is safe. There is no evidence telecommunication technologies, such as 5G, cause adverse health impacts”.
Check out the link below. https://www.health.gov.au/news/safety-of-5g-technology
Hi there, stuck on adsl even though most of my street is nbn. Long story. But since nbn has been rolled out to my street, my adsl speed has reduced from 1.2 mbps to 400kbps. Nobody can seem to tell me why and the speed is almost unusable. Any ideas ?
– Hi Chris Andrew here …
If the nbn service in your street is FTTN (i.e. using the copper lines for the last mile) there can be some impacts on the legacy services. I would encourage you to move to the nbn as soon as you can as it should offer much better performance than ADSL.
At Optus we have a great range of nbn plans and have the fastest average speed in the peak period as tested by the ACCC. Check out our plans here.
https://www.optus.com.au/broadband-nbn