Thinking of moving to the beautiful Somerset Region? Planning to buy a house or perhaps some land and then build your dream house? And of course, when you move in to your new home, you will need Broadband Internet, won't you?
Well, it may not be as easy as you think. Somerset Region is riddled with Broadband Black spots, so do your research before you buy.
Some townships, like Somerset Dam are just one gaping Broadband Black hole. Other less obvious Broadband Black spots are caused by the extensive use of pair gain technology in the region. Pair gain is a technology used by telecommunication companies to increase the capacity of the telephone infrastructure without physically installing more lines. Pair gain stops ADSL Broadband in it's tracks.
Or you may just be too far from the ADSL enabled exchange - anything over 4.5 km is marginal. Anything over 6 km and you are out of range and out of luck. That's 'as the telephone line runs', not 'as the crow flies'. You may only be a couple of kilometres from the ADSL enabled exchange, but perhaps the telephone line goes for several kilometres up one side of the road and then returns down the other. If you are on the wrong side of the street, it's just too bad.
Notice the phrase "ADSL enabled exchange" - if your local telephone exchange is not ADSL enabled, then ADSL Broadband is simply not available to you. End of story.
But even if you are connected to an ADSL enabled exchange, are their any available ports? With the rapid growth in demand as more and more people move into Somerset Region, there have been times when both the Fernvale and Lowood exchanges have not had any available ports, so newcomers have had to wait until the exchange is upgraded, which can take several months.
If you are building a new home, be sure to specify that you want a Broadband capable line when you order a new telephone line.
Personally, I fail to understand why developers are not required to install fibre optic cable into new housing developments at the same time as they are installing other services. But that is another story.
But it is not all doom and gloom - if you can't get ADSL Broadband out of the ground, then look up to the sky.
In addition to the Telstra Next G wireless Broadband coverage, there is a more affordable wireless Broadband service offered by Cirrus Communications, an independant wireless internet service provider with transmitters on Mt Stradbroke. Their service is available to the regions surrounding GlamorganVale, Minden, Marburg, Lowood, Fernvale and westwards towards Brightview.
If you can't get ADSL or wireless Broadband, then all is not lost. Satellite Broadband with a subsidy from the Australian Government 'Australian Broadband Guarantee' program may be available, but be wary as the customer service offered by some satellite providers can be a worry. I had one customer on an 18 month contract with a satellite provider that would routinely take 3 days to respond to a tech support call.
If Broadband is important to you or your business, it is critical to make sure that a service will be available to you after you move in. At Paul Computers, we get several calls every week from newcomers in the region who have moved into their new home and only then discovered that Broadband is not available at their location.
The Paul Computers website has a comprensive guide to Broadband services available in the Somerset Region - click here for more information or request a free Broadband availability check.
