By Ned McRae
National Broadband Network (NBN) has allowed millions of Australians to enjoy fast internet speeds while spearheading the digital revolution. With its rollout across the country complete, it emerged as the preferred mode of beaming high-speed internet among internet service providers, including award-winning Telco, SpinTel. Fast forward, customers' experience is about to inch a notch higher with the unveiling of 5G connections. Likewise, a big tussle in the 5G vs NBN debate is ensuing.
In the 5G vs NBN, it is essential to understand the tiny bits that differentiate the two, even though they are both tailored to deliver high-speed internet. 5G Is a global wireless standard known as the fifth-generation mobile network designed to provide superfast internet connections.
Thanks to technological advancement, the fifth-generation wireless technology guarantees higher speed, lower latency, and greater capacity than previous wireless technologies. Unlike previous wireless technologies, the 5G network was designed to deliver higher multi Gbps peak data that is more reliable and at a much higher network capacity. 5G wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular in some of the biggest cities thanks to their ability to guarantee internet speeds of well over one gigabit.
On the other hand, NBN is Australia's broadband network available in almost every part of the country. Its connection is supported by a network of optical fibre that internet service providers such as SpinTel use to beam internet to homes and offices.
After years of rollout and upgrades, NBN has also started offering top speeds of up to 1000Mbps, similar to 5G wireless networks. The availability of both networks is fueling the 5G vs NBN debate, as it's becoming increasingly challenging to know which option to go with.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that 5G is the same thing as NBN with slight upgrades. To set the record straight, 5G is modern technology utterly different from NBN. It is the 5th generation mobile network tailored to connect the world wirelessly compared to NBN, which relies on fibre optics to deliver internet connections to homes and offices.
NBN is mainly made up of physical connections. However, it also offers wireless coverage in areas where it is challenging to provide connections physically using Fiber optic cables. While NBN is available in almost every part of Australia, the 5G rollout is still in the initial stages thus, coverage is limited to the big cities.
The rollout for 5G broadband plans has been relatively slow, with major Telco's offering one or two options. Therefore, pricing has been less competitive with NBN connections. However, that should change as 5G coverage improves in future.
Billions of dollars were pumped into developing the NBN as it guaranteed much higher internet speeds than the ADSL connection that Australians were accustomed to. While NBN advertises minimum internet speeds of 25Mbps, that was the maximum that ADSL could provide. Therefore, NBN begins its internet speeds where ADSL connections cannot provide
NBN relies on modern hardware and infrastructure, such as fibre optics, guaranteeing high internet speeds compared to ADSL. Nevertheless, it is a no-match in the 5G vs NBN tussle.
5G is much faster than NBN, thus the preferred mode of connection where it is already available. For instance, 5G users can experience download speeds of up to 20Gbps theoretically, 20 times faster than the optimum NBN connection. However, the speeds vary depending on signal strength, network configuration, and, most importantly, the amount of traffic connected to the wireless network.
Regarding 5G vs NBN latency, the best internet speed you can expect on NBN connections is up to 1 Gbps. Moreover, for that to occur, you will need ideal conditions, which is extremely difficult to achieve.
Therefore, in the 5G vs NBN standoff, users can expect a minimum of 100MBps on 5G networks which are the maximum NBN can deliver when all the conditions are good. If you are in a big city, you can expect the SpinTel 5G network to consistently outperform NBN connection as the infrastructure is usually good.
Likewise, 5G home internet is likely to be a hit in the coming years with the erection of more cell towers to enable the connection. The need for superfast internet speeds to support content streaming and gaming should go a long way in settling the 5G vs NBN for gaming debate. For now, NBN has an edge due to coverage and is relatively stable even in the most remote parts of the country.
5G connections vary significantly if somebody is not in an ideal location. As a result, speeds can drop considerably, making SpinTel congestion-free NBN a better option. However, there is no doubt that consistent speeds on 5G and widespread coverage will be available in the future.
Pricing is another crucial aspect, as 5G is currently relatively expensive, especially for high internet users. However, as coverage improves and more service providers offer it in more locations, people can expect competitive pricing on 5G, as with NBN. Once 5G is made available in more cities, it will be much easier to know the outright winner in the 5G vs NBN debate.
Undoubtedly, 5G will consistently outperform NBN connections when superfast download and upload internet speeds are needed. This is because SpinTel's 5G network and other 5G networks guarantee increased internet speeds and reduced latency all the time.
While 5G is the more dominant of the two, it is improbable that it will replace NBN, which is more widespread in the country. Likewise, SpinTel delivers congestion-free NBN plans that meet most family and office seeds.
Even though the 5G vs NBN debate is all but settled for now with 5G coming on top, its unavailability in most cities and high price points means NBN is still a preferred option for the masses. It will take some time before people make permanent switches from NBN to 5G.
