Tophat ADSL2+ Rollout Status & FAQs

[Gareth]

http://www.itwire.com/your-it-news/home-it/50599-telstra-to-upgrade-200000-phone-lines-to-adsl2

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/10/telstra-raising-its-top-hat-to-adsl2/

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1723486&p=9#r180

Telstra yesterday announced its continued commitment to improving and expanding the ADSL2+ footprint across the country. Over the next 18 months we will enable home broadband (ADSL2+) to areas for the first time whilst also installing additional ports (ADSL2+) in numerous locations that have "no spare ports".

It’s likely a few of you are here in this forum for this very reason and may be familiar with RIMs, pair gain system etc.

Moving on... ADSL2+ DSLAMs are being built into a housing which is ingeniously being mounted to a pre-existing streetside cabinet (RIM or CMUX) which services the surrounding streets. Thus the name "tophat". This investment is building on the successful trial in Cranborne which was discussed within here http://crowdsupport.telstra.com/t5/Home-Broadband/Top-Hat/td-p/5540

The production solution will look a lot slicker than the Bunnings toolbox in Cranborne however...

Two sites have launched already (Miller in NSW- DA625 and Tarneit in VIC DA95 & DA97).

I'll be keeping you up to speed on the detail in coming days, weeks, months (whilst doing my day job also).

Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer them. I'll kick things off...

Q. How can I find out if my home is currently scheduled for a tophat?

A. Telstra wholesale has maps available here http://www.telstrawholesale.com.au/download/document/tophat.xls

Q. Has Telstra not heard of Google Maps/Whereis? I'm finding it hard to see if I will be able to enjoy the benefits of this in my street...

A. The site is built for wholesale customers. There will be a google earth layer that I shall upload here as a goodwill gesture in coming days.

Q. What's a DA?

A. Distribution area. Basically an ESA (your exchange service area) is split up into multple DA's. A tophat may serve one or more DA's dependent on size of DA.

Q. My street/house isn't on the maps, can you tell me if I am on one of the sites not yet within the list?

A. Not until TW post it on their site.

Q. Why isn't my suburb on that list?

A. There is a lot of work in terms of scheduling, determining and finalising the installations. In the interests of sharing what is currently "locked in", there is an initial list of 969 sites on the TW site - part of the grand total of  2100+ sites. Expect the list to grow.

Q. Why are there only dates next to 42 tophat sites?

A. Similar to the above, we are working very hard ATM to get the project underway and full steam ahead. In coming weeks/months the dates for the installations for the remainder will appear.

Q. I already have Home Broadband, but I can only get ADSL1, does this mean I will be able to upgrade to ADSL2+?

A. Short answer is yes if your street is getting a tophat. There is migration work as part of this, however you will still need to change your plan online via "My Bigpond" once the device is installed to access the speed increase.

Q. Is there supporting backhaul for these rollouts?

A. Yes gigabit ethernet to each tophat at this stage.

Q. Why are the tophats that particular colour? Why not in the spirit of Telstra's new colour spectrum?

A. Apart from blending in to the local envioronment, there is actually heat dispersion factors in the choice of colour of our street cabinets and the paint used. Australia is a hot place...

Q. What sync speeds can I expect once the tophat is installed?

A. Given that street cabinets are generally located closer to where you live, sync speeds will be good. Less distance = greater ADSL2+ speeds.

Q. Will any ADSL2+ modem work on a tophat.

A. Yes, but my recommendation is the new TG587 HNG from Telstra. Has some nice features such as DLNA, 3G backup, dyndns support, Wireless N, dual core and in a sexy matte finish.

[jokiin]

nice to see, no love yet for the RIM I'm connected to unfortunately but good for those that can get it nonetheless

[sebapl10]

cool once again my suburb is missing out and i will continue having the 1mb download speeds that im getting

[bgodsall]

I have a better idea.  Instead of spending millions of dollars rolling out ADSL2+

Why don't you guys put that money towards fixing your current problems.   Congestion is rife throughout the Telstra network.  Myself, i've been suffering constant slow internet and terrible pings for over 8 months now with no resolution in sight.

And i'm not the only one.  Numerous threads on Whirlpool detail this same problem all over Australia.

[Gareth]

Martin advised (a while back) that there is an upgrade scheduled to be done before January. I'll raise the issue with him to see if we can work something out...

[bgodsall]

Appreciate any effort you can get to have this issue expedited.

[ohhaiijade]

---

@bgodsall wrote:

I have a better idea.  Instead of spending millions of dollars rolling out ADSL2+

Why don't you guys put that money towards fixing your current problems.   Congestion is rife throughout the Telstra network.  Myself, i've been suffering constant slow internet and terrible pings for over 8 months now with no resolution in sight.

And i'm not the only one.  Numerous threads on Whirlpool detail this same problem all over Australia.

---

LOL I DON'T THINK SO. Do you know how long I've waited to get ADSL? I think you've got it good that you actually HAVE an ADSL connection, be grateful, others are suffering without it. 

And there are hundreds if not thousands of posts on whirlpool about people not even being able to get ADSL to start with. 

[bgodsall]

I hardly consider what i have "broadband".

What is the point of giving everyone shiny new ADSL2+ if the network in its current state is congested country wide?


Don't get me wrong, i completely understand your frustration.  But currently the system cannot handle what it currently has, adding more will only make the problems far worse.

[sebapl10]

Yeh I'm paying 80 buks a month for ADSL2+ and getting less than 1mb download speeds, won't I be better off paying 15 dollars a month on a different package and will get the same speed lolol

[ohhaiijade]

Trust me, we deserve an ADSL connection. They are mainly rolling it out to cabinets where there's limited or NO ADSL ports available, and/or the area is expanding and is on cabinets. Not everywhere is congested FYI.

I hardly consider my 'mobile broadband' as broadband, I get speeds of around 0.2 megabits per second. I'm sure you're getting much faster. AND I'm sure you're not paying 70 dollars a month for only 8GB and slow speeds and drop outs. :-(

[Gareth]

I'll be moving to cull further comments around congestion as its getting off topic but I am still keen to help you all get the most of your services. If your service is slow send me a PM and I will investigate and give you guidance/investigate a fix. Tophat locations all have gigabit ethernet backhaul FYI so the point about this "worsening" is invalid.

[Wanglese]

Just a futures question.

Does this lay groundwork for ongoing connection of affected suburbs and DA's to the NBN, or is this a totally separate excersise, and  is a "stop gap"?

I mean that in the nicest possible way :-)

[Gareth]

Totally unrelated to NBN.

This is something Telstra is doing to improve the experiences of the unfortunate who can't access ADSL2+.

[bgodsall]

How does the Top Hat actually work? If you can tell us that is.

[Ben_F]

As I understand it, its a way for us to put ADSL2+ ports onto Existing Roadside Cabinets in a way which isn't cost prohibitive. It basically gives you the equipment you would normally find in the exchange, on top of the existing roadside cabinet.

And its financially viable, which means its a win win for everyone!

PS: Gareth, all I need you to do now is to connect me directly to the Gigabit Ethernet, instead of via the ADSL connection

[ohhaiijade]

Will the Top Hat reports be updated like every week or every few weeks if they're slowly adding dates to all the upgrades?

[Ben_F]

As I understand it, our Wholesale Customers will be notified before our Retail Customers (this is a requirement under the law AFAIK).

[Devilman05]

if we are on a adsl1 connection and are one of the lucky ones to be within an upgraded DA, how do you know when to go to the "my bigpond" page to switch plans?

[Gareth]

It's a great question Devilman05.
I just launched a page this week which gives a strong indication on t.com re tophat availability.

Please keep in mind the usual caveats and the fact that only sites which have an actual reasonably firm delivery date are being mapped and cross referenced.

More will be added over coming weeks/months as dates firm up.

http://www.telstra.com.au/misc/tophat/

Once you know your DA you can also look here.

http://www.telstrawholesale.com.au/download/document/tophat.xls

That XLS will keep on updating over the coming months.

[nicholas]

 It's great to see that Telstra is making progress on expanding the availability of ADSL (ADSL2).   Is there any way of highlighting the problems being experienced in different areas to get the DA listed for upgrade.   I am located on the BATH exchange in DA115.   Like many other areas we are also experiencing poor speeds particularly during peak periods.   Any suggestions appreciated.

[glenno]

---

@Gareth wrote:

This is something Telstra is doing to improve the experiences of the unfortunate who can't access ADSL2+.

---

Hi Gareth,

Do you know the process to select DA's for Tophat's? Is it based on the technology back at the Exchange, a full RIM, NBN rollout schedule etc?

And how one might lobby Telstra to get on the list Ill happily pound the pavement walking around our rural community doing a letterbox drop if it helps mobilise everyone to get onto ADSL (no Fibre NBN for us so really keen for ADSL2+).

Cheers,

Glenn.

[Pete15]

Hi Gareth,

My address is shown on WBRK DA5 but when I use the Tophat availability tool it comes back as negative. I have called Telstra and Bigpond several times to confirm that my address will be part of the tophat upgrade and they all say no.

I would just like to know for sure if it is happening because I can't get ADSL because of a lack of ports and I have been trying for over a year.

Thanks Peter

[ohhaiijade]

---

@Pete15 wrote:
Hi Gareth,

My address is shown on WBRK DA5 but when I use the Tophat availability tool it comes back as negative. I have called Telstra and Bigpond several times to confirm that my address will be part of the tophat upgrade and they all say no.

I would just like to know for sure if it is happening because I can't get ADSL because of a lack of ports and I have been trying for over a year.

Thanks Peter

---

That address is currently on the list; don't worry that availability tool doesn't even work properly it says that all of the houses where I live including mine aren't receiving top hat upgrades even though we are.

[DanK]

As I understand the process our availability link returns positive results for area's where the upgrade has reached the final stages (ie. finance and planning approval then a date is set).

If your address is on the spreadsheet that Gareth shared but not on the availability checker then I would assume it hasn't reached final approval.

[Mickdm]

My address was on the list for december 2011. The tophat was installed to my rim cabinet NAWN CA20 DA117 on about 2/12/11 but is yet to be activated. 

I have applied for adsl and was told its now available, so i signed up on 14/12/11, within days I received adsl equipment from telstra like it was all happening. Then nothing happened. after about a week i called telstra and told the usual story no ports available.

Checked the roll out list again after the no ports available answer and its on the defered list out to Jan 2012. Check the lastest roll out plan update on 23/12/11 and its defered again to feb 2012.

Who can advise why the delay in the set up of the top hat. I ve tried calling Telstra numerous times to fined out info but most call centre staff don't no about the topshat system or are not letting on.

It would be good if Telstra could come out and say why its defered. Its easier to accept the delay when there is a reason.

Thanks

Mick

[Ben_F]

---

@Mickdm wrote:

My address was on the list for december 2011. The tophat was installed to my rim cabinet NAWN CA20 DA117 on about 2/12/11 but is yet to be activated. 

I have applied for adsl and was told its now available, so i signed up on 14/12/11, within days I received adsl equipment from telstra like it was all happening. Then nothing happened. after about a week i called telstra and told the usual story no ports available.

Checked the roll out list again after the no ports available answer and its on the defered list out to Jan 2012. Check the lastest roll out plan update on 23/12/11 and its defered again to feb 2012.

Who can advise why the delay in the set up of the top hat. I ve tried calling Telstra numerous times to fined out info but most call centre staff don't no about the topshat system or are not letting on.

It would be good if Telstra could come out and say why its defered. Its easier to accept the delay when there is a reason.

Thanks

Mick

---

Top Hat is something which has only been touched on briefly in our Contact Centres. I liken our Call Centre/Retail Staff in some respects to Frontline employees in other businesses. That Coles employee will know where the Tim Tams are, and how much they cost (as 99% of customers want) be he won't know why its that much, and why the Blueberry (Example here people) Tim-Tams are a limited time only offer.

Now, to answer your question. I can *speculate* that the reason is either logistical, financial, or people based. There either isn't enough Techs to get the job done at the moment (in some areas, the same techs to faults as well as new installations, so a higher then expected number of faults will cause lack of staff, therefore causing the deferral), someone has blown their budget for this month (Financial), or we need additional approvals from Local Government or something to that effect.

Gareth might be able to shed more light on it, but those would be some examples of why a project is deferred. It's not simply a case of going "Ok we are going to push x, y, z back because we feel like it).

B.

[Mickdm]

Ben,

Thanks for the reply. I assumed the delay was for one of the reasons you mentioned, it would just be nice to know exat reason.

hopfully Garith will be able provide more info.

Mick

[Gareth]

Mickdm

The information here on the Telstra Wholesale site for proposed service date is a guide only. Until you see your particular tophat get an "Activated on x date" then you shouldn't attempt to signup.

We are keen to share as much information on what we are doing and when but this can in turn disappoint when additional field and behind the scenes system work is required at specific sites in order to provision properly.

Hope this helps.
Gareth

[dirk808]

Funny:

Ive noticed that Bonnie Doon in Vic has had a exchange/top Hat upgrade ...??, for a Country town with mainly retirees and holiday makers to get Prioirity over and Melb Suburb like Lyndhurst Vic 3975.

We have been without ADSL of anykind for 4 yrs since we built there, but I have seen that we are due for a upgrade but have no idea for when that will be, Wireless is hopeless there, bit of a Bad spot for reception.

Considering the Top Hat upgrade was made public back in 22 June 2011 and some places have allready waited yrs for a upgrade.

Be nice to get at least ADSL1 min at Lyndhurst.

[TonyL]

Hi Gareth,

I used to be the Business Analyst at the BCRT before it was rolled back into the NCRT a few years ago.

I was just wondering about my local RIM cabinet location so I can keep an eye on it for the installation as it is due to occur this month hopefully. I'm on TRAL CA15 DA17 (which I haven't been able to locate) and I have noticed that TRAL CA15 DA15 (the neighbouring RIM which I have located, that is also scheduled for this month) already has its TopHat cabinet installed.

Is it possible that TRAL CA15 DA15 also services TRAL CA15 DA17 as the only other RIM cabinet I know in the suburb is a fair distance from my location (1km+) and could not explain my high sync speed (8024 down, 384 up)?

Tony

[dazcuz]

Hi,

I have seen that my DA is going to gave a tophat dslam put in. (STMACA280 STMA St Marys upgraded to QSTMAE4013M)

How long does it take and is there a timetable to when this can be done?

Darren

[dazcuz]

Got ADSL1 connected yesterday.  Took 3 days and went great. Installed ADSL splitter C10100e.  Modem installed easy, had a bit of configuration with my Media server (serviio) and very happy. 3 times faster than my Wireless Modem Internet. Wireless modem works great through the house and streaming video works well. Looking forward to TopHat so I can go ADSL2+.

Darren

[iwijaya]

Hi Gareth

I have just came across the news with regards to the top hat and just would like to say thanks for the information.

Just a question with the DA on my area, I saw under the "change list" for DA69 and it says Site PCOK CA33 removed.

Does this mean that TW will not install the top hat to this particular DA or it is just a temporary thing?

It will be very frustrating if our area can't get ADSL2+ T_T

Thanks again.

IW

[Jono76]

I would love to know if I can pay anything to get adsl2? I am in zip 4272 on mount tamborine. I believe it exists up here but not on my rim? I work from home so the speed really matters. Getting around 5mbs down which is okay but .25mbs up which is vet poor. My virgin / Optus 3G modem does this speed at home also.

[Ben_F]

The figures we would be talking in private investment would be more then most consumers and businesses would be willing to pay.

[Gameboy]

Any reason why http://www.telstra.com.au/misc/tophat/ shows my street as a no go, but http://www.telstrawholesale.com.au/download/document/tophat.xls my street listed?

And for the record, while I have ADSL 1 at home, my mobile broadband speeds are absolutely awesome and I've never had a drop out.  Having said that, I am only 40 KMs from CBD.

[Ben_F]

---

@Gameboy wrote:

Any reason why http://www.telstra.com.au/misc/tophat/ shows my street as a no go, but http://www.telstrawholesale.com.au/download/document/tophat.xls my street listed?

And for the record, while I have ADSL 1 at home, my mobile broadband speeds are absolutely awesome and I've never had a drop out.  Having said that, I am only 40 KMs from CBD.

---

Reasoning is probably that the Tophat.xls doesn't have a date as of yet? Only those streets with a confirmed date will be on telstra.com

B.

[iwijaya]

Any chance that a DA that was removed from the list before to be put back on the list?

I am on Point Cook DA69.

Thank you

IW

[Fisher]

I am about to be one of the lucky ones as I am connected to a recently installed and activated Tophat (TRALCA15,DA17).

Unfortunately I used My Bigpond to request a change from ADSL to ADSL2+.  This request appears to have fallen into a dark hole somewhere and I am hoping my phone call to the help line this morning will get me upgraded.  So while all my neighbours are being upgraded to ADSL2+ I am still languishing on ADSL (but at a much faster speed than before the Tophat).

I think my problem was caused by jumping the gun as I put the request that looked like it was accepted and resulted in an update on the MyBigpond screen over a week before activation. While that part of the system was updated it was before the new ports were released for ADSL2+ activation.

In early December we were door knocked to let us know that ADSL2 was coming by the end of the month.  I lodged an upgrade request via MyBigpond but it was knocked back after a couple of weeks as from the accounts section point of view ADSL2 was not available (even though I knew it was coming via the Tophat advice on the Telstra website). Fair enough, and the plan displayed never changed.

Then the implementation of the Tophat was delayed to Jan and then finally to Feb.  Once the neighbourhoodspies spotted the technicians installing the gear I submitted another request to upgade (not plan, just speed).  After a few days this one was accepted and the plan displayed against my account in MyBigpond was updated to ADSL2+ and so I thought that once the ports were activated and signed off I would be upgraded - not so.

We were transferred to the new ports at the beginning of last week which was evidenced by the increase in ADSL1 speed as we started using the gigabit backhaul.  Then the ports were signed off for ADSL2+ at the beginning of this week and the others around me got upgraded via requests to their ISPs.  I used the live chat on Tuesday night to check where my account was at and was told that yes, I am in line for ADSL2+ and it should be active by today, 23/2.  Anyway it isn't so I rang and spoke to someone this morning who said I was on n ADSL1 plan and they couldn't see any request for ADSL2+ but they would put a change through for me!

So the moral of the story seems to be to wait until AFTER it is all up and running before requested a change via MyBigpond.

[quiggs]

Hi all i have been trying to read up and find out any info on the tophat upgrade, my main problem is the rim for my street does not even have ADSL i know it has a datalink to the exchange in Lancefield but thats all the info i could find (we are stuck with satallite which is a ripoff and rubbish, no wireless cos of a network dead spot in my part of the world). i was trying to find out if our rim was going to get an upgrade but the DA 500 areas don't have any maps attached to check. The rim down the road has had the tophat installed, but i dont even know if ours will, could some body please end my pain eather way and give me a way to find out if the rim will or wont be upgraded. for the record the main exchange is QLANFE1M.

[Gareth]

The DA 500s are unique. They don't have tight geospatial boundaries.

The rule of thumb I can provide here is that if you live close or in the large urban centre that dominates the area, then you have a high degree of benefiting.

QLANFE1M is due for an upgrade at the end of March BTW.

Regards

[quiggs]

Gareth thanks for your reply,

I am only 8 kms from town, so i might have to hold my breath and hope that our rim gets the upgrade then.

[mike1]

Hi, I live in South Australia 6km outside a small country town (Meadows 5201) which has ADSL available but there is nothing where i live (brookman road). Neither is mobile available (very poor signal) Currently i have to use satelite which is expensive, slow and poor service. Can anyone tell me if  i'm ever likey to get an improved service?

[sameer]

I am moving in 2 week to Tarneit in a street that has absolute no ports from any of the providers. It falls under the DA113, according to the tophat.xls my DA is supposed to get the caretaker Top hat but I am hoping that happens soon, else the frustration is going to kill me without any ADSL.

Sam.

[matthew_fitzy]

I am on the CORRIMAL exchange, and would like to know, why would Telstra decide to upgrade DA135 and DA136 which has at least 30 available ports when myself and so many others are suffering with NO PORTS on other sub exchanges such as DA132!?

[sameer]

Hi Gareth,

I have been calling Telstra every week and finally today managed to jump on a free port which will provided me ADSL.

Would you be able to let me know when the DA113 is going to get the Hat?

[jimmej]

Hi,

I am on WACL CA19 on DA19. The spreadsheet is currently saying that upgrade is due for completion in March. 

I know that it must be complete because a friend up the road on the same RIM has had his ADSL1 moved to ADSL2+. All my applications although have been declined due to no ports being available.

Is it possible to find out why this is not happening? Does it take a while for the new ports to become available? Will there be no extra ports?

Am I just being impatient? (having no fixed internet for many years is probably the cause!)

[Gareth]

---

@bgodsall wrote:

What is the point of giving everyone shiny new ADSL2+ if the network in its current state is congested country wide?

Don't get me wrong, i completely understand your frustration.  But currently the system cannot handle what it currently has, adding more will only make the problems far worse.

---

Congestion where its occurring is primarily on legacy equipment, very very localised, and usually with limited backhaul (i.e. is a streetside cabinet). Geographic factors such as distance from fibre can compound an issue. We are working hard to roll out relief on these sites.

Tophat often intersects with these sites. The good thing about tophat is that its a new ISAM, and sites are provisioned with gigabit backhaul.  So it largely kills the two congestion causing birds with one stone.

The network at a macro level is the best in the country.

[Gareth]

---

@jimmej wrote:

I know that it must be complete because a friend up the road on the same RIM has had his ADSL1 moved to ADSL2+. All my applications although have been declined due to no ports being available.

Am I just being impatient? (having no fixed internet for many years is probably the cause!)

---

Part of the provisioning involves physically cutting all ports over to ADSL2+ capable ones in the new ISAM. Once this is complete and the backend systems are updated then your SQ result will change and you will be able to signup. Hang in there.... 

[Gareth]

If you have been impacted by the issues at TRALCA15, field work was "completed" yesterday to solve. Orders at that site will now flow through correctly.