Is Starlink better than NBN?
NBN was originally intended to provide internet access to ALL Australians no matter where they lived. The Government at the time set it up as a Company and determined that it would be funded by the taxpayer but run like a private company hence the title NBN Co. Once rolled out it would be leased to service providers eg Telstra, Aussie Broadband TPG etc who would then on sell the service to end users and this would eventually repay the cost of the initial NBN roll out.
As the roll out progressed and the Government changed, the Turnbull Government decided that the cost was blowing out and essentially downgraded the type of connection many homes and businesses would receive by re-using the existing copper telephone and Cable internet/TV network infrastructure instead of rolling out new fibre to the premises as was originally intended by the Labour Government in 2007. This resulted in delays and in many cases a compromised internet connection with varying and slow speeds as well as dropouts caused by old cabling and the associated faults it causes. This is being continually addressed by NBN and a second phase of fibre to the premises is also being rolled out in some areas. There are still some areas that experience issues/faults.
Many people who wish to connect to the NBN now are surprised to find that their initial appointment with an NBN technician has has resulted in them being informed that they must pay for the cost of the lead in cable in conduit buried in the ground as well as the cabling at the house end and that they must reschedule another appointment with NBN after this has been done. This can sometimes be $1000's and also causes delays in getting connected. As NBN has no direct customer service the customer has to go back to their service provider for any additional advice and to schedule the next appointment. There are over 300 service providers that deliver NBN and some of them do not offer good customer service. This has been a major driver in people jumping to Starlink as it works as soon as you unpack it and activate it. There are also now 5G house modems which offer impressive speeds which need no physical connection except power, but this technology is only available in areas with good 5G coverage. Starlink is available everywhere. The rural NBN Satellite service called LTSS has now essentially been superseded by Starlink as Starlink speeds are much higher and the latency or lag much lower as the Starlink satellites are only a few 100 kms up vs 36000kms for the NBN LTSS satellite.
NBN monthly bills are still lower than Starlink but for some people who have had a bad or ongoing issues with NBN it's enough to make them switch to Starlink.
It's important to note that a good, fixed line internet connection like High-Speed fibre to the premises is still the best type of internet connection to have as there is low latency and no variation due to atmospheric conditions which can effect satellite connections. As Starlink is a Low Earth Orbit Satellite system, these effects are minimised but latency or lag is still higher than fixed line NBN.
Starlink is easy to order and either have delivered or you can buy it from any number of major retailers. You can start using it straight away when you get it after activating it but the kit you get can really only be set up in a "temporary" way with many people having to run the lead from the modem inside through an open door or window to the back yard, so the outdoor antenna unit has a clear line of site to the sky.
Currently Starlink does not offer any professional installation service or support. Thats where we can help! All Tech Sorted has 25 years of antenna installation experience and is fully insured. We can offer a professional Starlink installation in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich and all areas in between. We use proven commercial grade hardware to mount your Starlink antenna on the roof and we are very experienced at running cable securely in existing wall/roof cavities or secured in conduit as required. All installations are guaranteed not to leak. We can also help with Wi-Fi coverage issues as well as high speed data points. Call us today to book in your professional roof mounted Starlink installation and have the peace of mind that the job was done properly. Installations start from $300.