NBN connection woes

[lachlangmunro84]

Hi Folks,

I've had a less than wonderful experience with TPG customer service while attempting to get the NBN connected at my home. 

Just wondering if anyone knows if there are any fees or charges involved in cancelling my agreement to use them as my ISP before the NBN is actually connected? What happens with their equipment and any fees I have already paid to TPG?

Any advice would be great, thanks.

[BasilDV]

Hi @lachlangmunro84,

Welcome to TPG Community!

We're sorry to hear that you will consider cancelling your TPG service. We understand your frustrations regarding the delay in your NBN installation.

We were able to locate the account and the case was escalated to NBN Co for further investigation of the NBN network and activation of the account.

Soon all of Australia will be connected to the NBN and while in many cases there is a smooth transition we apologise that this was not your experience. We acknowledge the complexity of certain installations which can lead to unforeseen delays and sometimes additional appointments to complete the final installation, for which all internet providers are reliant upon NBN Co.

I will arrange a call from our Service delivery team to discuss further the updates with the progress of the NBN order.

Kind regards,

BasilDV

[BasilDV]

Hi @lachlangmunro84,

Our Service delivery team was trying to call you yesterday to no avail.

If you have a preferred time and best number to be contacted today, please shoot me a private message.

Don't know how to send a PM? Click here.

Kind regards,

BasilDV

[lachlangmunro84]

Hi @BasilDV,

Thanks, I'll attempt to give them a call later today when I'm free.

In regards to your other message, please note my issue was not with NBN Co having to attend to activate the service. I understand that this is not in TPG's control, and the availability of NBN Technicians is also not something your organisation is able to influence. 

My issue was with the customer service related to having this organised. A TPG technician attended my property and advised that an NBN Tech would be booked and TPG would be in touch. Nobody booked an NBN Tech and nobody from TPG was in touch. I called and was on hold for an extended period of time, only to be hung up on as soon as I was connected to a customer service operator.

I then went through the waiting game on hold again and finally got through to a customer service operator in order to book an NBN Tech myself. This process wasn't managed or communicated particularly well.

Thanks,

Lachlan

[BasilDV]

Hi @lachlangmunro84,

This is noted.

Thank you for sharing your experience. We welcome all feedback as hearing from our customers is the best way we can improve our business.

If you require further assistance, please let us know.

Kind regards,

BasilDV

[lachlangmunro84]

Hi @BasilDV,

Thanks for your offer of further assistance.

In the end my partner convinced me to wait and see how the service actually goes once NBN co had finished the infrastructure side of things.

So...after a few months, and several hours on hold to TPG, I now have the NBN connected at my premises!

Unfortunately the speeds being supplied via the NBN/TPG now appear to be significantly less than the "typical evening speeds of 44.5Mbps", in fact it seems to be less than half of that.. and in some cases a staggeringly slow 2Mbps.

Just a few questions:

Are you able to ping my TPG router/modem to get an idea of actual possible line speed?

My understanding is that if TPG are unable to supply anywhere close to the advertised speeds, I can cancel the service and receive a full refund, is this correct?

Outside of the high tech resolution process of turning my router on and off again, I will attempt to place the TPG router into bridging mode and use my existing (and more powerful router) to see if this will increase end user speeds, although i'm not holding my breath at this stage.

I look forward to your helpful response to my questions and any other insight you can give, thanks.

[BasilDV]

Hi @lachlangmunro84,

Thank you for the update.

We'd like to look into your speed issue and have some questions.

How often do you experience the 2 Mbps speed?

Does it happen on a specific time or random?

Have you tried testing the speed on both Wired and Wireless connection?

To answer your question:

1. We are unable to see the exact speed that your modem is getting from the NBN FTTC network. However, since NBN FTTC uses a shorter cable from the nearest pit/cabinet, we can assume that the speed should be close to what you've applied for.

2. The refund that was mandated by the ACCC was for NBN FTTN/FTTB users only. If you are unable to receive the speed based on your speed tier, our Tech team will need to look into it and escalate the case with our Engineering team for further investigation if needed.

Once the modem that we've provided is turned into bridge mode, the VoIP phone will not work. If you are experiencing the dropouts on your WiFi connection, then you can turn off the WiFi capability of the modem that we provided and then you can use your own router as an access point. You need to configure your own router as "Use as DHCP/Dynamic" for it to receive the internet connection from the modem.

Kind regards,

BasilDV

[lachlangmunro84]

Hi @BasilDV,

The service was connected as of yesterday so I have experienced less than half the "typical evening speeds" advertised for this particular plan, from the moment it was connected. 

I experienced the 2Mbps speed at approximately 10pm last night.

I have tried both wired and wireless, yes.

Just to confirm, you're unable to gain an actual possible line speed for the service to my home? And that includes requesting this information from NBN co? The pit is at the end of my drive, so you would expect that the speeds would be excellent. The NBN MTM Alpha also indicates good speeds expected.

I wasn't referring to a refund mandated by the ACCC? I was querying whether a refund is offered in the event that the advertised product with suggested users of 3 - 6, and a typical evening speed of 44.5Mbps is not possible via TPG on my line, and therefore doesn't meet the usage in which i'm paying for?

If your technical team is unable to resolve the speed issue, what happens then? From your message it comes accross that if the technical team cannot assist, I have no other recourse, is this correct?

I'm not too worried about VoIP, just concerned with not being able to effectively use my internet to a reasonable level, where previously I had no issues with Cable internet. I'll definitely give bridging a go to see if it improves things. I'm certainly concerned with the line capacity, which is why i was hoping to get an indication from TPG.

Thanks.

[BasilDV]

Hi @lachlangmunro84,

The "typical evening speeds" that's advertised was the average speed of our customers using the NBN service on the same speed tier.

The actual throughput speeds may be slower and could vary due to many factors including the type or source of the content being downloaded, the number of users and devices that simultaneously use the service, the way the service is being used from wired or wireless connection, the number of users that is connected using the network infrastructure for different services.

If you are experiencing a slow internet connection using both wired and wireless, our Tech team needs to check on this as we need to understand the nature of the issue and provide a proper resolution.

All refund claims will be assessed by our Engineering and Accounts team as the "typical evening speed" that's advertised means that you'll get the exact speed. You may receive more or lower speeds as many factors may affect the service.

You may shoot me a PM with your preferred time and best number to be contacted by our Tech team to check further the speed issue that you are currently experiencing.

How to send a PM? Click here.

Kind regards,

BasilDV