The National Broadband Network (NBN) has conducted a DOCSIS 3.1 test on a customer's hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) line at Templestowe, Victoria that has clocked in at 994Mbps.
The trial made use of more spectrum than most HFC lines do currently, thanks to a better bandpass filter that the company responsible for deploying NBN across Australia will deploy. Otherwise, the node used still had Foxtel and Telstra using spectrum for their pay TV and broadband products, respectively.
NBN said the premises used was a "regular private residence" with a standard connection, although it conducted the test on the network layer it controls -- layer 2 -- thus bypassing any ISP systems.
"This is an important day for NBN. It shows how a specific technology -- HFC -- is evolving to meet customer demand for greater capacity from their broadband connection over time," NBN chief technology officer Ray Owen said.
"As we work to complete our network rollout, we're constantly looking at what's over the horizon for all of our technology assets and how we can evolve our network as demand grows."
A recent study of NBN modems conducted for the Australian Communications and Media Authority showed users were better off relying on 5GHz Wi-Fi[1] only.
"The 2.4GHz band is often promoted as a better choice for longer range communications," Enex, the company conducting the tests, said. "However, Enex's findings did not support this. Operating in the 5GHz band appears to be the best choice for consumers under all circumstances."
"The 5GHz band also has the benefit of more recent technology developments which includes features such as directional beamforming and MU/MIMO