COVID-19 has Aussies asking one question... has the NBN got what it takes?

As huge swathes of Aussie employees move into makeshift home offices, there’s one very serious question on everyone’s lips.

Whether we’ve done enough to flatten the curve? Whether your setup is ergonomically optimal? Whether you have enough toilet paper/snacks/self-motivation to make it through this trying time? Nope. Nope. And nope.

Of course, we all want to know whether the NBN is going to rise to the occasion, or spectacularly topple over.

StartupAus chief Alex McCauley tweeted to share his story of switching to the service at “a risky time”, but ultimately, he emerged unscathed.

Others, however, have not been so lucky.

Feels like a risky time to switch over to NBN with the whole household working from home, but install was done in 15 mins and already got blazing fast speeds re-established. The 10-15x increased upload capacity particularly useful with so many video calls on the horizon! ???? pic.twitter.com/KvrY39jDz7

— Alex McCauley (@alexmccauley) March 17, 2020

I run my business from home and wish all you new to working from home good luck.

Yesterday’s @NBN_Australia work has left me with no connection, and @Telstra can’t seem to connect my backup wireless.

Good times. All to common with the NBN.

— Lenny (@fat_lenny) March 17, 2020

One Twitter user said they will soon have two adults and two high-school-age kids working from home, with broadband speeds they say is “equal to Iraq”.

Others have reported disrupted video links, painfully slow connection speeds and drop-outs, leaving both business owners and employees frustrated and, in worst cases, completely without internet.

Some have gone as far as calling the service “an absolute farce” and a “crock of shit”.

@NBN_Australia we were just told NBN is planning outages 0800-1100 in Wynnum QLD for the next week? Going to be awfully hard to work from home and self isolate #COVIDー19

— David Byrne (@dnbyrne) March 17, 2020

Still no #NBN Been down all morning. Just using my limited capacity on my phone. What a crock of shit this network is. And you want people to work from home,……

— Just Davo (@hitinman) March 17, 2020

NBN itself says it is “responding to a shift in Australia’s usage patterns”, as more people use their home connections to work during the day. And, just as importantly, to keep streaming running smoothly for self-isolating humans in the evenings.

Just yesterday, it also announced it is waiving charges for additional capacity for about 40% of its retail service providers, in a bid to help them support their residential and business customers (presumably one and the same, at this stage).

“We’re proud to play our part to keep Australians connected and productive through this crisis,” chief executive Stephen Rue said in a statement.

“We are also mindful that these are unprecedented times and remain vigilant to any unexpected market and usage changes.”

Also, credit where credit’s due, the people managing NBN Australia’s social media accounts have been putting some serious shifts in, too.

That does sound frustrating. Moshii. So we can help you will need to contact your provider directly, they will be able to complete a line test to diagnose the issue and work with our support teams to get you back online. We look forward to seeing this resolved soon. ^Paul

— nbn™ Australia (@NBN_Australia) March 17, 2020

Hi Lizard Lips, hope you’re being safe out there. NBN Co’s team of data scientists and network engineers have been studying data consumption patterns in other countries that have been significantly impacted by the pandemic in recent weeks. 1/4

— nbn™ Australia (@NBN_Australia) March 17, 2020

Hi Paul, just checking in to see how the situation is going? We recommend keeping in contact with Telstra to manage the connection for you. If you have a medical alarm installed in your home please private message us your address and contact details. ^Adam

— nbn™ Australia (@NBN_Australia) March 18, 2020

But, that’s not stopping the complaints from flooding in — at least, if Twitter is anything to go by.

Do you have an NBN horror story? Let us know.

How good is the NBN? #WorkFromHome #australiansbeingaustralians pic.twitter.com/PC7g0LrCau

— Ruth Barber (@rutharr) March 16, 2020

Good luck with working from home my fellow Australians… early morning o/s video link has been thwarted by the @NBN_Australia #fraudband solution we’ve been delivered #QuarantineLife #coronavirusaus pic.twitter.com/8nrx8lGNlE

— Duncan Ferguson (@duncanferg) March 17, 2020