Quite a few Australians are still waiting for the National Broadband Network, but if you’re a Telstra subscriber on cable, Telstra is at least easing the blow by upping the speeds.
Australia is a big place, and that means it takes time for good internet to get around. While we all should have solid internet connections, projects like the NBN still haven’t made their way to every home.
But if you’re a Telstra customer, you may get a little breathing room very shortly, and that’s because the telco and ISP is boosting the cable speeds of its customers, the half million of them that exist.
This week, Telstra announced that customers on the standard cable speed tier will see their maximum speeds lifted, with the download speed rising from 30Mbps to 50Mbps, while the upload will shift from 1Mbps to 5Mbps.
Granted, those speeds aren’t necessarily the most whiz-bang on the planet, but the 50Mbps download maximum is equivalent to the speeds on offer from NBN50 plans, while the upload speed is closer to NBN25, giving you a sort of middle-ground as far as broadband goes.
“We know how integral fast broadband is to your life. And that you’re increasingly streaming video to screens big and small throughout the home. That’s why we’ve just sped up our cable service so our loyal home and small business cable customers get faster speeds at no extra cost,” said Jana Kotatko, Head of Fixed Products at Telstra.
These speeds will come into play for cable users on Telstra, but they are also maximum speeds, and cable customers tend to share their bandwidth across the board, so while the extra speed should be good, remember that if you’re not hitting those maximums, you may be sharing it with everyone else in your neighbourhood.
If you’re a Telstra cable customer and you’re keen to see the new speeds, consider switching off your cable modem for a few minutes and switching it back on again. It sounds crazy and like a page from “The IT Crowd”, but power cycling a modem is one way to see these benefits apply.
