Telstra launches the Smart Modem 3 with faster Wi-Fi speeds; everything you need to know

Telstra has launched the Smart Modem 3, the organization’s most impressive modem yet that supports the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology to give Telstra nbn clients faster Wi-Fi speeds.

Telstra today launched its third generation NBN Smart Modem, close by a few quite large cases. The telco says its new modem offers faster performance than some other significant supplier, in light of internal testing with the approach supported by an independent third-party research organization.

It likewise incorporates various significant security upgrades to assist with keeping customers’ Wi-Fi networks safer, and to stay up with their security protocols up to date, including regular security updates, Telstra says.

Telstra claims the Smart Modem 3 is on average up to 40 percent faster than its past Telstra Smart Modem Gen 2 and up to twice faster than competitor modems in the category.

Telstra authorized testing of the Smart Modem 3 in November 2021, the results of which it says show that the Smart Modem 3 can give stronger Wi-Fi signals to a greater number of areas of the home than competitor modems.

Telstra tracked down its new Smart Modem 3 bested all major competitors in terms of Wi-Fi performance, including Optus, Aussie Broadband, and Vodafone, by a massive factor. While involving a gadget in a similar room as the modem, the Telstra Smart Modem 3 recorded 776Mbps of throughput, while the Optus Ultra Wi-Fi modem (a Sagecomm F@ST 5366 LTE) clocked 558Mbps.

Like past Telstra Smart Modems, the most recent offering features 4G backup, which kicks in to give 4G internet when the NBN is inaccessible, giving download speeds of up to 25Gbps and upload speeds of up to 5Gbps.

Smart Modem 3 will likewise feature SmartFix, which runs in the background and proactively monitors internet performance, identifying faults and attempting to fix them. If it cannot fix an issue, it tells clients to organize an appointment to have their problem addressed. Telstra says SmartFix is as of now used to fix around 15,000 customer services per month.

Telstra has adopted a green strategy in the production of its most up-to-date gadget which it says is produced using 80% recycled materials and enveloped by 100% recycled packaging.

To get yourself one, Telstra is giving it free of charge to new clients that change to Telstra and remain on a Telstra nbn plan for something like two years. On the off chance that you’re considering doing the switch, these famous Telstra nbn plans can be combined with a Smart Modem 3.

If you have a Telstra Smart Modem 2 and want to upgrade to a Smart Modem 3 you can, yet for an additional AU$9 per month. In any case, you’ll have to physically visit your closest Telstra store to update.

At the point when three rooms from the modem, Telstra observed its modem actually achieved speeds of 63Mbps, while the Optus offering just hit 35Mbps. Vodafone and Aussie Broadband’s respective modems couldn’t accomplish signal strength in these circumstances.

While not every person needs throughput this high, it’s particularly significant assuming you’re taking up an NBN 250 or NBN 1000 plan with the goal that you can really use the paces you’re paying for.

Wi-Fi 6 is the mystery sauce behind the Smart Modem 3’s performance, and Telstra is the first major NBN supplier to propose next-generation wireless connectivity on its default modem. Notwithstanding faster speeds, Wi-Fi 6 offers increased capacity to enable more simultaneous usage and is more battery proficient for connected gadgets. Gadgets really do obviously have to help Wi-Fi 6, however, this is becoming increasingly common across the two phones and laptops.

The Telstra Smart Modem 3 is packaged with Telstra NBN plans at no additional cost. Here is Telstra’s present Upfront range of NBN plans:

These plans are totally contract-free, and if you cancel during your first two years, you can essentially return your modem. On the off chance that you don’t return the modem, you’ll pay a $200 exit fee. Existing Big T NBN customers can head into a Telstra store to upgrade to the Smart Modem 3 for an extra $9 per month on a 24-month term. This can’t be done online yet.

Furthermore, this is the way Telstra’s NBN 50 plans compare to the providers it compared its modem with:

Telstra’s Smart Modem 3 additionally includes a 4G backup if your NBN carks it. Download speeds are limited to 25Mbps, while upload speeds are covered at 5Mbps. This is anyway the fastest 4G backup of any NBN provider. Optus offers 25Mbps down and 2Mbps up, while Vodafone and iiNet do 12Mbps down, 1Mbps up.

Past generations of the Smart Modem have featured 4G backup (used by more than 50,000 customers daily); smart technical support features which have brought down how much time spent on the phone, and similarity with EasyMesh for our Smart Wi-Fi Boosters to power Wi-Fi Coverage Guarantee.

Our most recent modem, which we’re calling Smart Modem 3, keeps every one of the features you love, while additionally giving faster Wi-Fi networking because of software and the option of Wi-Fi 6.

It’s still exceptionally good-looking with a smooth new all-black design where the enclosure is currently produced using 85% recycled materials.

Let’s dive into what everything implies.

What is Wi-Fi 6?

Similar to cell phones, Wi-Fi technology is classified into various “generations”. The latest generation to roll out to Australians is known as Wi-Fi 6. Basically, it offers a better range and more bandwidth for an entire home of connected gadgets.

With the addition of Wi-Fi 6, close by software and hardware, you’ll get a major leap in speed, security, and convenience.

Wi-Fi 6 on the Telstra Smart Modem 3 can do faster theoretical maximum speeds for your networking, with throughput up to 9.6Gbps accessible over your in-home Wi-Fi network (remember: home Wi-Fi speed and internet connection speed are two different things). That is a sizable jump contrasted with Wi-Fi 5, which finished out at 3.5Gbps as a theoretical maximum.

More significant than straight-line speed, be that as it may, is the Wi-Fi 6’s ability to interface numerous gadgets immediately without slowing down the wi-fi performance of different clients connected.

While past Wi-Fi generations were intended for a few laptops and perhaps a gaming console to connect at once, Wi-Fi 6 Smart Modem 3 will keep everything connected smoothly. Because of our in-built software, your gadgets will get the Wi-Fi speed they need for a smooth experience.

We likewise update that software regularly, pushing out a great many little changes to make streaming, working, and remaining connected more straightforward at home.

The modern home presently comes total with smart assistants, connected TVs, multiple gaming consoles, smartphones all over the place, and similarly as numerous laptops and tablets. During peak times, you could have many gadgets all interfacing with the modem at once, subsequently the requirement for the Smart Modem 3 and its multi-channel Wi-Fi 6 abilities.

The new Telstra Smart Modem 3 keeps on supporting “beamforming” with Wi-Fi 6. This really intends that as opposed to broadcasting a signal in all directions, the Smart Modem 3 locks onto the gadget it’s streaming a connection to for a better experience.

We’ve worked with a third party to validate that our modem outperformed every one of the competitors’ home modems that we tested, giving you the best Wi-Fi experience in the farthest corners of your home, so you can use technology like Wi-Fi 6 to capitalize on your home nbn connection.

Safer than ever

Through Wi-Fi 6, the new Smart Modem 3 delivers significant security improvements to assist with keeping the home wireless network secure. Automatic software updates likewise guarantee the modem’s security protocols are kept up to date.

Outside of the modem, we’re likewise working on how to keep you more secure online.

While other nbn retailers will simply offer you the connection to the ‘net (and some make you pay for your modem!), we stop harmful messages, emails, and attacks from contacting you in the first place.

Smart diagnosis, more time for you

We as a whole are hyper-connected, and regardless of whether you’re working from home or in any event, maintaining a business: each minute of downtime can prove costly.

The Smart Modem 3 not just has a 4G backup that takes over in the event of an nbn outage, but a suite of smart diagnosis tools that assist you with getting back online faster.

Another cool feature called “SmartFix” proactively monitors internet performance and automatically attempts to determine issues in the background before they cause an issue or blackout.

We’ve been testing it for some time now and observed that it fixes more than 15,000 services a month automatically.

If it runs into an issue it can’t right by itself, it automatically contacts the client to organize an appointment with nbn Co assuming one is required.

Also, Telstra Smart Troubleshooting assists customers with easily diagnosing Wi-Fi issues and offers troubleshooting suggestions within the My Telstra app. These proactive help features – and more – assist with delivering an extraordinary customer experience if a fault does happen.