Loading up the new NBN connection...

So far, my account of getting connected to the National Broadband Network has had almost 2000 views and is the third most viewed article on my blog. Soon it will pass the Russian meteorite post, but a long way to go until it catches the walrus on a Russian submarine, with almost 7000 views.

But (shameless plugs done) what can this NBN thing deliver?

I was watching ABC iView, streaming a show I missed, and decided to see if it could handle a bunch of YouTube clips running at the same time.
 
Four high definition YouTube clips and ABC iView all live streaming at once. Not the hint of a buffer.

Not that I'd multitask like this, but I could be watching a streaming show, while editing a video and keeping an eye on emails and social media. Toss in some software or podcasts downloading in the background and other users in the household, and that's a realistic scenario. Now possible with NBN.

But Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull reckon you don't need the NBN. Vote for Tony and wireless for everyone.

We are now connected to the NBN. Here's a run-down on the install. And the speed!

Today was the long-awaited connect to the National Broadband Network day. Yay!

After being involved for years in the community campaign to get Gungahlin's parlous internet access upgraded, it was lovely to be able to see the end result.

We've been paying Telstra the same price as someone in Sydney pays for an ADSL2+ service running at 20Mbps, but getting only an 8Mbps service. Except what it really ran like was this (speedtest.net):

And that was at a good time, with low congestion.

We went looking a while back for the NBN package that seemed the best-rounded solution of the well-respected major providers, so we'd already changed our internet and phone service to iiNet in preparation.

So as soon as we knew the NBN was ready in our area we got the install booked through iiNet, for "between 8 and 10am" today. The process of the install kicked off well, with a reminder call the day before from the contractor, who I found out later has been brought in from Melbourne because NBN Co has been having troubles with their prime contractor. I'll explain the whole process here so you know what is involved and can plan your conversion without surprises.