NBN … FTTN, FTTB, FTTC, HFC, FTTP … please explain

This all just looks like I’ve drawn a really bad scrabble hand … can I buy a vowel?

Ah, the IT industry … we’re famous for TLAs & FLAs … that’s Three Letter Acronyms and Four Letter Acronyms to the uninitiated.  In fact, we use them so much we are starting to recycle them. So, depending on how long you’ve been around, you may have to differentiate, for example, between BFU and BFU based on context.

Which brings us nicely to the NBN and its FTTx FLAs.  Let’s simplify these terms for those shivering in the foetal position, lying cold and confused in the dark.

FTTN … Fibre to the Node

  • This technology uses your old copper telephone line into your house.
  • You need a VDSL2 modem and a router (or modem/router combined device) with a VDSL WAN port to connect using this technology.
  • This is the old (slow) ADSL technology with a speed bump to make it VDSL, hence the single letter difference in the FLA.
  •  Maximum speed 100Mbps … on a good day, downhill, with a tailwind and a very big push … it all has to do with the distance to your local “node” and the quality of the copper wire in-between.
  • For example, my house is FTTN-connected and I have a 50Mbps plan. The best speed I can get out of my connection is 35Mbps.  If I use some lower-quality modems, that figure drops to below 25Mbps. If my local “node” was closer to my house I could probably get the full 50Mbps I’m paying for … hint, hint, are you listening NBNco?

FTTB … Fibre to the Building/Basement

  • See FTTN, exactly the same technology but the “node” is in your apartment building/basement.

FTTC … Fibre to the Curb (technically it should be Kerb but NBN marketing obviously didn’t think FTTK looked the part)

  • This technology uses your legacy copper telephone line to connect to a NBN Connection Box in your house.
  • You need a router (no modem required) with an ethernet WAN port to connect using this technology.
  • Maximum speed 100Mbps (currently) … usually achievable but the quality of the copper wire may force a lower speed in some situations. 

HFC … Hybrid Fibre Coaxial

  • This technology uses the legacy cable-TV lines to connect to a NBN Connection Box in your house.
  • You need a router (no modem required) with an ethernet WAN port to connect using this technology.
  • Maximum speed 1000Mbps (i.e. 1Gbps) … older installations max out at 250Mbps.

FTTP … Fibre to the Premises

  • This technology uses fibre optic cable directly to a NBN Connection Box in your house.
  • You need a router (no modem required) with an ethernet WAN port to connect using this technology.
  • Maximum speed 1000Mbps (i.e. 1Gbps) … speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?

Fixed Wireless … sometimes abbreviated to “FW”

  • This technology uses 4G signals to communicate wirelessly to an antenna on your property which is, in turn, connected to a NBN Connection Box in your house.
  • This is pretty much the NBN’s version of the way the your mobile phone connects to the surrounding cell towers for data.
  • You need a router (no modem required) with an ethernet WAN port to connect using this technology.
  • Maximum speed 75Mbps … but, your mileage may seriously vary though. Distance to towers, weather conditions, obstructions between your external antenna and the NBN tower, etc.

So, in order of preference, this is how you would want to connect to the NBN if you had choice:-

  1. FTTP
  2. HFC or FTTC (tied, currently HFC is better but perhaps FTTC gets the edge because of its future potential)
  3. Two (2) tin cans and a piece of wet string.
  4. FTTN
  5. Fixed Wireless

Sadly, option #3 has been discontinued by the NBN.

Now for the bad news. I’m afraid you don’t get a choice of NBN connectivity type. You get what you’re given until if/when the NBN is upgraded in your area.

WhistleOut has some great articles on each of these technologies.  See the links if you want to dig a bit deeper.

FTTN – https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/nbn-fttn-everything-you-need-to-know

FTTC – https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/nbn-fttdp-everything-you-need-to-know

HFC – https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/nbn-hfc-everything-you-need-to-know

FTTP – https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/nbn-fttn-everything-you-need-to-know

Fixed Wireless – https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband/Guides/nbn-fixed-wireless-everything-you-need-to-know

I hope this simplifies things for the reader.