Do I need to have a land line connected to have cable broad band?

Hi Ken,

The short answer is, no you don't need to be paying line rental on a land line phone to be able to use cable broadband. Cable broadband is different than ADSL and ADSL2+ in one important way- you receive internet access directly through a dedicated cable to your house, rather than through your telephone line from your nearest telephone exchange. There are many cable and home phone plans available, but it is not necessary to have a land line connected on a naked cable connection.

Cable has two advantages. One, that it is unnecessary to have a land line. This means that you can eliminate a lot of billing if you are not wishing to use a home phone, or do not make frequent house calls. The other factor which is appealing for most users is its speed. Because the cable is a dedicated single line to your home (the exact same which exists for pay-TV services like FOXTEL,) this means that it has the potential to provide a user with higher speeds than ADSL and ADSL2+.

However, there are two downsides to cable broadband. Firstly, there are only two main companies in Australia that offer cable broadband- Bigpond and Optus. With so few companies offering a cable broadband connection, it means that a lot of their prices are more expensive. It's important to take into account that if you don't previously have cable installed in your home, you will have to be charged to have the cabling placed through your home to receive access.

Also, one thing that most people are confused about is that cable's speeds can be variable. Because cable broadband is being shared by other users who use it for their own purposes, such as FOXTEL or cable internet, it means that it can be affected by network congestion. This means that there is a possibility that an internet connection can be slowed down for you, and variations in speed can sometimes be frustrating.

Optus have a 120GB Naked Cable broadband plan that includes a standard modem for $49.99 per month on a 24-month contract. If you're a larger user, Bigpond have a 500GB cable elite broadband plan for $119.95 per month on a 12-month contract.

I hope that his has helped your cable understanding. If you wished to see your home's availability for cable broadband, I would directly give Optus and Bigpond a call. Optus can be contacted on 1300 137 897, and Bigpond can be contacted on 13POND (13 7663.)

Thanks,

Jessica

CompareBroadband.