The NBN officially began being rolled out across Australia in 2008, and whilst the network is estimated to be 90% complete, there is still more work to be done. During the rollout, it has provided a better broadband network to homes and businesses but also given scammers an opportunity to exploit people in various ways. One must be aware of such scams and report them immediately for the awareness of neighbors, family, and friends.

Who are these scammers?

There could be several scenarios where fake NBN technicians can attempt scamming you. If NBN has not rolled out in your area, yet these fake vendors can approach you for property inspection, where they actually review your place for a robbery instead.

If you are already using an NBN connection, then they may also attempt to reach out to you for selling additional low-quality products. These can include Wi-Fi extender, Wi-Fi booster, NBN compatible modems, or even for the NBN repair. They pretend to be company representatives and convince you of possible access to your personal computer to steal information from it.

These scammers can try breaking into the house, sell you fake connections or products, or even take your critical payment information and use that in several illegal ways. Be aware when you receive any such call or receive (so called) NBN technician at your doorstep. Ensure that you check every possible element from your “Fake NBN Call” checklist. If you do not have a checklist yet, continue reading till the end of this article, and you will find one here.

How do they look like?

Just like any other human being, a company representative who has ID card, some papers, verification questions, your necessary information and may or may not know the current issue you are facing with your NBN connection. They act smart by targeting masses; it means that they will go door to door in your neighborhood to pretend that you are not alone who has been approached by the company, they are approaching all potential or existing customers.

They could act smart, but you can always outsmart them by asking many questions, identity proofs, asking for authorization details, and most importantly, by staying patient when you receive any such representative at your door or receive a call. You may not recognize the fake ones by their looks, but you can definitely sense the suspicious one by encountering them with full attention.

How can one try avoiding scam attempts?

Scammers may have some basic information about you and your family to build confidence. But they always lack information that they can use to initiate the fraud; that is where they will ask you for additional unauthorized details. You can knock down this process by not providing that information. However, if a real NBN authorized person also came in the picture, it is crucial to differentiate between both and get your work done. Let us provide you a simple guideline and a checklist here.

Identifying Real vs. Fake NBN Company Technicians

• Be thoughtful

If someone approached you acting as a representative of NBN, give yourself a wakeup call and check if they should really be approaching you.

• Ask for identification proof

Carefully look for the company and government-provided identities to identify the real ones. Also, there is absolutely no harm in double-checking from other sources to ascertain if the identity is real.

• Do not let every technician get in the house

Not every issue requires the technicians to get into the house and inspect the property, be vigilant in letting technicians inside the house.

• Do not share personal computer access to fix issues

If you called for a private technician for internet issue fixing, they should not ask for access to your personal gadgets. Instead, they always have their own tools to check and fix issues.

• Do not share payment related details

NBN authorized technicians will NEVER ask for payment or payment details directly. All payments are made to the company through the already approved mode of payment.

Summary

The key tip to identify scamming attempt is to deal them full attention. If you have any doubts about suspicious activity, immediately call the NBN call center or your phone/internet provider to check the authenticity of the representative at the door or on call. Simply refuse these suspected calls and get hold of the authorized service providers to deal with the issue a hand.

Many of us are aware of the role of Wi-Fi extender or Wi-Fi booster in a steady and powerful internet system at home or in offices. Both are presumed to enhance the poor Wi-Fi signal quality so that the user may experience better service. However, in reality, it may not be necessarily accurate. In fact, users complain that internet service over a Wi-Fi extender or Wi-Fi booster results in a slower internet. Do not worry if you are also facing the same issue as there are better solutions available.

While NBN has already enhanced the performance of internet connection for most of the users in Australia, there may be areas that still need an upgrade. Wi-Fi mesh devices are far better than regular extender or booster.

Here, you will find many recommendations to choose from. However, before making another investment, do ensure that there is no need for NBN repair or if you have NBN compatible modems to address the slow internet issues at ground level. You can always get a private technician to visit and give you the best advice. However, if you need a recommendation in Wi-Fi mesh devices, here is what we have to recommend to you:

The NBN should be providing a vastly better internet experience Australia wide. Yet, we continually have instances where this is not the case. So whats the deal? After upgrading the latest and fastest NBN plan, we should be able to get our Netflix without delay, or participate on that conference call without any issues! Yet, if you feel that you are not getting the speed that your internet provider promised you at the time of purchase, it is most likely due to the issues with your wireless devices rather than the provider. Have you heard or seent he recent advertisements by the NBN regarding the placement of your wireless device?

NBN is a wholesaler – they are responsible for the delivery of the cables in the ground. Why are they advising on the wireless in your house?!

Because they are getting a bad name for something that is not within their control.

Wireless networks, devices and access points are highly commoditised. It is extremely easy to get something setup with very little technology experience or know how – if everything is all good. But if you have brick walls, or some sort of signal interference, it can be a frustrating situation to sort out on your won.

Hence, our tips for a better WiFi experience!

Whenever you feel that you are experiencing low wireless signals, slow streaming, or browsing or even quality below the promised service, you must first look into the tips given below. Before jumping to buying a Wi-Fi extender or Wi-Fi booster, you need to look into existing equipment to get the most out of it. You may not need a private technician to go through these steps, you can do it yourself.

Ensure you have a modern wireless device

Having a modern device is critical. If you were around back when 56K internet was a thing – it felt fast and normal. Until something better came along.

Wireless is the same. As video quality gets higher, so does the internet bandwidth required to deliver it to your home. Ensure that both your wireless router and your devices are relatively new to be able to deliver a Seamless Technology Experience.

Lets break this down. Your wirless device will probably tell you the speed you are connected at (see below). Halve that. You lose half of the speed due to error correction. The greater the distance from the device or the weaker the signal – the lesser the speed.

At least 5Mbps is required for 1080p Netflix. And 25Mbps for 4K streaming.

Choose the central location or set up a mesh

Signal strength makes a huge difference to your reliability and your speed. If your home is quite large, multi-storied or made of a solid material such as brick or concrete – you will need to ensure a higher density wireless deployment.

What does this mean? More devices.

Having said that, you don’t want to deploy any number of random devices, you need to ensure you have a mesh that is smart enough to talk to one-another and ensure that you are connected to the best signal for your device.

There are two ways to boost Wi-Fi signals in large spaces; either you need to find a central location from where most of the spots where you frequently use the internet are nearby, and the signals can reach out to the devices.

Alternatively, you can setup a wireless network mesh and ensure that the wireless signals reach the existing dead areas through the mesh configuration. The benefit of having a mesh network over standalone range extenders is that mesh router components are designed to work together, and you will be able to communicate between one-another to move your device to the best wireless access point to ensure the best experience.

Upgrade your wireless adapter

In this case, the technology upgrade is physical hardware. You must look for an upgrade in your hardware device if you subscribe to the latest broadband technology. Using a wireless adapter for years will not be helpful in experiencing the best out of your internet service provider. Hence, you must get it checked in order to determine the compatibility and upgrade the software or hardware (or maybe both) in a timely manner.

Below is a great indicator of the standards of wireless released over time, and what the speeds are. Keeping in mind, this is not relating to when your device was released, but when the standard was – there could be some lag time. Also remember to halve the “advertised” speed.

Remember when 11Mbps was fast? No? Ok I’m just getting old then.

Are you experiencing random disconnections while you are trying to surf the web, watching movies, and playing online games? We totally understand your frustration that comes with poor wireless signal strength.

If you are working from home and facing the problems of slow Wi-Fi, each minute can seem like an hour. Poor Wi-Fi signals in certain parts of the home or dead wireless zones can ruin the whole internet usage experience. In the world of today, the internet has become as compulsory as breathing.

Don’t fret. Here are some viable tips that can improve the wireless connection at your home.

Best ways to improve your wireless

Here are some tried-and-tested ways you can try to improve the performance of your wireless in your home:

1. Select a good place for your router

Do you know that the place where you keep your router can influence the coverage of your wireless connections? It means that all locations are not equivalent or appropriate for putting your router. As a general rule of thumb, never place your router near metal objects or any appliances because they emit electromagnetic waves. Nearby metal objects can affect your Wi-Fi coverage and can lead to a large dead zone. Ideally, you should place your router in the center of the house to improve your wireless performance.

2. Keep updating your router firmware

Have you ever heard about malware attacks? To protect your router from malware attacks, it is vital to update your router. If a router is infected by malware, it can spread across the network to connected devices, and can additionally interfere with your wireless coverage. So, one tip to get rid of your wireless connectivity issues is to update the firmware of your router on a regular basis. This will get you better characteristics, improvement in performance, and also keep your wireless connection safe.

3. The antenna of your router should be stronger

A small and weak antenna of the router can also be a cause of issues. Check your router, and if this is the issue, you can add an external antenna as well. You can easily boost your Wi-Fi by changing your antenna. It depends on you which antenna you want: the omnidirectional one that sends signals to all the directions or a directional one that sends signals only in one direction where you are facing the issue of weak signals.

4. Set your wireless range extender/booster

Are you worried that there is a great distance between your workplace and the router? The distance might be the reason that the router is failing to send good signals everywhere? You don’t need to worry as a wireless range extender can help to improve your wireless connection. Most routers are competent in broadcasting till a fixed distance, but to extend your signals, you will need a range extender.

Range extenders work similarly to a router. They just pick the existing Wi-Fi signal and rebroadcast them. In this way, you can get wireless coverage in your home, even at greater distances from the router.

5. The quality of the router

It is a good idea to get the best quality router to improve your wireless; don’t stick with outdated hardware. You cannot expect the best performance from old hardware. A higher-quality router can support the faster standards, yield a better selection of channels, and have better features.

6. Switch to a higher frequency

Firstly, you should know what the frequency of your wireless is? If you have a dual-band router, then instead of using the more common 2.4GHz band, you can switch to your wireless to 5GHz band frequency. It provides faster speed, and you are likely to experience less interference from other wireless networks. So, if your router supports it, just switch it to a higher frequency.

7. Reboot your wireless

Simply switch it off if your device is not working properly. It is yet another tried and tested method to improve your Wi-Fi speed by rebooting it.

So, if you are thinking why my Wi-Fi signals are so poor, stop wondering. Read the above suggestions and solve your issue right away. Some common factors that might affect your wireless performance are distance, interference, router capacity, and obstructions – so figure out what is causing the issue and solve your issue accordingly.