In a classic case of "shoot the messenger", the Minister for Communications and the Arts, Mitch Fifield has suggested that the way the TIO reports complaints about the NBN is flawed and needs to be reviewed, despite this being the same way they have reported data for several years. Of course the big difference is that the subject of the complaints, the NBN, is a constant thorn in the government's side and bad numbers make the people responsible for the policy decisions for the current rollout plan feel bad.

At the end of 2016, we published a complete list of the Australian suburbs that were getting their internet upgraded to the NBN in 2017. At the end of 2017 - we didn't. We're jerks. But now, it's time to rectify that. The rollout continues in 2018, so read on to find out when your area will be getting connected.

More Australians are being connected to the NBN than ever before and with this new service comes... a few bumps in the road. Or, a lot of bumps. Okay, a really large bump. For the period between July and December, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) saw NBN complaints rise 203.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Kogan have launched their own NBN service, Kogan Internet, featuring unlimited data and month-to-month contracts. They're also spruiking an introductory offer of NBN 50 for less than $60 a month, making them one of the most affordable NBN providers in the country.

Based on the conversations I've had with many businesses, one of the concerns they have with connecting to the NBN is a worry that critical business tools like EFTPOS machines, alarm systems and other services won't work on the new network. In order to assist ICT consultants supporting those businesses as they make the switch, NBNCo has new channel that provides ICT consultants with information about the steps businesses need to take when connecting to the NBN as well as a other support services.

Shadow Minister For Communications Michelle Rowland gave a speech today at the Commsday Summit which covered Labor's position on the digital divide, 5G, and digital inclusion.

Rowland called out Australia's "great complacency" – the "she'll be right" attitude that assumes because we have prospered in the past, "it must inevitably continue".

Rowland also went into significant detail about the NBN, and it was way more fun than it had any right to be. Here's everything that was said.

So, it turns out the NBN isn't the steaming pile of garbage that the tidal wave of news coverage has lead us to believe. Even the ACCC said that the results of its broadband monitoring program were 'better than expected', when it revealed that peak time speeds for the major providers hovered around 90-percent of the maximum plan speeds. Sure, there’s room for improvement, but that's not too shabby.

Following a halt in November last year "to improves customer service", NBN's HFC network will resume wholesale sales to retailers on April 27.

NBN made the announcement this morning, confirming around 1000 1000 premises in Melbourne and Sydney will be available in the first round of sales.

Just when it seemed like the NBN rollout was finally going to plan.

Last week, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its first performance report for the Monitoring Broadband Australia program. Against many critics' expectations, the results paint a reasonably positive picture of our National Broadband Network (NBN), although there is obviously still lots of room for improvement. This infographic from the ACCC breaks down the chief findings from the final report.

Last week, the ACCC released its first monthly report looking at the state of broadband in Australia, with a particular focus on whether the NBN is delivering on the promises made by RSPs, as well as how ISPs delivering pre-NBN services are faring. The data, collected with SamKnows under the "Measuring Broadband Australia" project paints a positive picture although there is room for improvement.

The rollout of the NBN has been "interesting". While early adopters of the originally planned FttH service have been happy with fast speeds, others who have been on the receiving end of the multi-technology mix have been subject to poor speeds, loss of services and poor technical support.

This prompted the ACCC to take a more direct approach, launching a broadband speed testing program. The first results from that testing are in, and they suggest the recent legal actions and public comments are making a difference to broadband performance.

In late 2017 I signed a thirty year mortgage on a house in Melbourne's northern suburbs, in an area due to be connected to the NBN in "early 2018". With the ink barely dry on the contract, NBN Co announced it was halting all planned rollouts until further notice. Cable was not available in the area, so I assumed my only option was ADSL.

Good news, everyone! The NBN is slowly, but surely, getting better. According to the ACCC, the average CVC acquired by the providers is on the up, with the national average now at 1.52Mbps per user, an increase of 37% in the fourth quarter of 2017. It seems the providers are finally being shamed into positive changes. Hurray!

Of course, this doesn't mean everyone is having an awesome time surfing the big waves of the internet data stream. In fact, for some the NBN will never be a suitable way to get online.

On March 7, we reported that an NBN Node had been taken out by a car in Kellyville, NSW. In perhaps the perfect summation of everything that has gone wrong with the NBN, that same NBN node has once again been taken out by a car, disrupting services in Kellyville for the second time in two weeks. Less than 24 hours later, it was reportedly then hit for a third time.

Malcolm Turnbull is now connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN) at his Point Piper home on a 100 megabits per second (Mbps) plan. But only because his department intervened to avoid delays affecting other customers.

And while the Prime Minister might be happy with his NBN connection, that’s not the case for the 2.5 million customers waiting on a connection through their pay TV or cable service who have been left in limbo. So what can you do about it?

Over recent weeks, I've been testing out a bunch of smart home gear, ranging from security cameras to environmental monitoring through to door locks, switches and lights. And while most of those rely on a robust home network, some will also depend on a fast uplink connection to the Internet. Most existing ADSL and cable internet services aren't going to cut it.

Here's an issue that likely wasn't planned for when NBNCo started building their NBN nodes around Australia. Those big green boxes on the side of the road might be prone to flooding, rendering them useless, or they might even be taken out by a vehicle. That's what happened in Kellyville, NSW recently.

So what happens when a car hits an NBN node?

Many of the complaints levelled against the NBN stem from poorly executed migrations from older internet or phone services. And while slow performance is a pain, losing access to your phones, email and other communications can be crippling to a business. With the first round of disconnections from old systems now underway, NBNCo has added some new service options to help with the migration.