NBN and Airport

I just erased my answer by pressing the back key on the browser.. stupid!!

FTTC consists of two parts.. a box out in the curb pit.. one for every 4 houses.

That is DPU.. stands for Distribution Point Unit.

This runs a high speed fibre to 4x vdsl phone connections.

Inside your house is a box supplied by NBN which is NCD.. Network Connection Device.

Here is explanation of the lights on the box which are important to know.. when it breaks down.

https://myhelp.westnet.com.au/NBN_FTTC_Connection_Device_Status_Lights#:~:text=The%20article%20will%20explain%20the,may%20be%20useful%20for%20troubleshooting.

This is plugged into 240v power and supplies 48v back to the DPU.. so that powers the box in the curb.. it will use a few watts of juice.. less once all your neighbours join as it will pull power from all of you.. more from the shortest wire I guess.. I did measure the current draw but will need to look it up. It is only a few watts so no big deal.

The link between the NCD and DPU is all automated but the lights on the NCD will give you an idea of what is happening.

Now you do not need a modem.. That is the NCD which outputs ethernet to your network.

Will our current setup work by simply replacing the ADSL Modem with the NBN modem (probably Telstra Smart modem)?

Yes BUT.. big fat hairy ugly.. BUTT.

The next bit gets complicated.

Australian ISP (now called RSP retail service provider since NBN is now ISP wholesale for everyone but I still use ISP for Telstra etc) are split into several camps.

Camp 1. Good. Telstra, Aussie Broadband, Superloop, Optus?? etc.

They use IPOE authentication .. i.e. on the router it is simple DHCP. Your router requests a WAN address and one is given.

Your Apple routers can manage this without help.. so plug your Apple router directly into the NCD and reset it .. configure it to work as router. The rest of the network will work as before.

Camp 2. Bad. More complicated but still works.

They use PPPOE or Fixed IP.. No ISP comes to mind.

Camp 3. Ugly. TPG and minions,, iinet and internode.. and lots of others..

Use variety of methods IPOE or PPPOE and vlan on WAN.

This is ugly.. Not supported by Telstra modem/router or Airport router.

So it really matters who you sign up with.. if you go with Telstra they are fine.. except support is in Manila or Bombay.

I am on AussieBB support in Moe, Gippsland. Excellent support.

One more hassle.. fixed line phone.. otherwise called PSTN is lost in the changeover. You will be forced onto VOIP.. (voice over IP) If you don't use normal house phone no problems.. but if you still want to use it.. and the same number.. you will be ported over to voip system.

If you sign up with Big Boys.. Telstra Optus TPG and minions.. no using your own router.. you are forced to use the supplied modem router.. which are fairly trashy.. even the Telstra smart modem gen2 from Arcadyan.. LH1000.. earlier DJA0231 was good. This is because they will not release the details of the voip service. It is locked into the modem/router.

ABB and a few others.. give you voip details so you can use your own ATA or VOIP phone or voip equipped router.. whatever you like.. hence I am with ABB.

Little side note..

I have had NBN techs out twice and it has drops out every time it rains.. this was stupid folly of NBN and Libs who decided to try and use cheaper methods than FTTP.

This is universal in my area.. so they system is far from bug free.

Anything you need.. just ask!!

Assuming it's one of those two RSPs everything else looks straight forward although I would ask for one clarification. When you said: "Your Apple routers can manage this without help.. so plug your Apple router directly into the NCD and reset it .. configure it to work as router. The rest of the network will work as before." do you mean ditch the idea of an extra modem/router (like the Telstra Smart Modem) and simple use the router function of one of the Airports to run the whole Network?

As a test, temporarily connect a computer with an Ethernet port directly to the NCD using an Ethernet cable and check to see if you can get a good Internet connection that way. If you can, then you will be able to connect one AirPort directly to the NCD using an Ethernet cable and set it up as a DHCP and NAT router to run the entire network. A "modem" or "modem/router" would not be needed.

Could it be that simple?

Yes

Keep in mind though, that NBN will offer zero support for the Apple AirPort router that is running your network. If you are having problems, expect the NBN support folks to blame the AirPort router. Apple Support will of course blame the NBN connection. "Blame the other guy" is a nature of the beast when you don't use the products that the service provider wants you to use.

Try living with 4Mbps ADSL in a house that includes two teenage boys who love their gaming and streaming!!!!!

If you live near a 4G (or even 5G tower) have a look at plans available for connections.. they are not too bad. Optus has some excellent 5G plans if you happen to be near a tower... treat it as extra.. your slow ADSL is still cheaper for bulk downloads.. albeit slow.

Cranky about less than 20Mbps???

It is digital version of the haves.. lucky people who got FTTP first off. And the unlucky .. have nots.. who are stuck on FTTN on long stretch of 1930's oiled paper insulated phone wires. And won't ever get anything better.. at least during the Libs term of office.

The age of the Airports may be a stumbling block. All a couple of generations old now. Will probably need to update the one serving as router but the others might still work as bridging devices.

This might be the nail in the coffin..

On FTTC you can get 50/20 or 100/20 as standard. Old N wireless gear will struggle to deliver that speed.

The time has come.. the walrus said.. to upgrade. Since from your first post you are using ethernet backhaul you are in ideal position to buy wireless AP with proper mesh.

home's wired ethernet network.

Excellent!!

Cost wise this can be done with varying grades of equipment..

My recommendation is

1 Ubiquiti UAP.. but only if you are prepared to learn a lot of network jargon. Or prepared to pay for the support.

2 TP-Link Omada EAP units.. cheaper than ubiquiti and much easier to configure. Definitely not as good as Ubiquiti but the EAP225 for example costs just slightly over AU$100.

3 Cheap.. The Telstra router DJA0231 is very good. The LH1000 second series of smart modem2 (not so good as router but excellent wifi) has built in OpenMesh. With some jiggery pokery it is fairly easy to setup a DJA0231 main router plus 2 or 3 LH1000 units.. for <$100. No joke.. they are readily available on eBay for $30 or so. Telstra also sell an extender which is just a LH1000 with slightly different body and firmware for far too much.. so the idea comes directly from Telstra.

I have done all 3 of the above..

You could also go the easy route and buy a 3 pack TP-Link Deco M5 for about $240. These are proper mesh units that also do ethernet backhaul. My issue with them is signing up to Cloud for access to your own equipment. They have no built in setup.

Your 2014 express are valuable.

The express was the one golden bow in the sea of ordinary.

If you don't need them yourself for airplay put them on eBay auction for a $1. You should get $40-50 back.

Airplay over a cheap wifi or ethernet unit is really rare. They are in demand for people who run old fashioned stereo systems etc to connect sound.. and the A1392.. there is a sale now of 7 for $99.. each. And after a week only one left.

They are toy routers, 100mbit ports and wifi is nothing great.. so yes.. they need to be gone. Unless you use them for airplay yourself.. people are selling new ones for twice retail price.

Lots of typos in my screed so we are even.. I need more edit time.. like a week. Apple gives you 10min if that.

Bob has given you the goods.. If you get a modem with your signup.. in this case it is modem and router for any service so they don't have to think too hard. Then you can also use that.. and keep using the airports is fine but usually needs a fine tune since you have changed routers. You will be forced to do this for VOIP.. otherwise an Airport will work very well. I am assuming you have latest A1521 AC model.

Fully appreciate the difficulty of swapping to different ISP. If you have had a Telstra account for 20 years then changing is too big a pain.. I made conscious decision to keep away from ISP pop accounts to make it easy to move.

There is a kind of heavenly feeling when you phone Telstra the last time and tell them to close all accounts.. bye bye scum bags!!

Telstra service is still very good overall.. and as long as you never need to ring support.. all will be fine.

Just one more bit of preparation. When you are swapped from ADSL to FTTC all line or fixed filters must be removed. If you have a back to base alarm system it will no longer work after the change over. New arrangements will need to be made. Fixed filters are a pain. it will require you getting a licensed cabler to repair the setup and install a single phone point in the most suitable location. All other phone points can be disconnected. If the phone wiring in your house is poor, this is a good exercise anyway.

I had major ADSL problems and to prove to Telstra it was their fault, not mine, I get a cabler in to completely redo phone wiring. Did this long before NBN came along.. so only phone point was in workshop where I run all the network equipment. I did have all the other phone outlets plugged in via extension.. so it was simple to disconnect them.