Is there anything more frustrating than trying to finish a task online, and have the internet so slow you sit transfixed at the forever-spinning loading icon?
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Newly-formed New England Vision 2030 has taken a close look at our internet usage in the time they've dubbed the 'corona-crisis', to see what can be done to increase productivity.
As an unprecedented number of people are outside their offices and schools, working from home, the team's convener Maria Hitchcock and a collection of experts hung-out virtually to discuss three important points.
The team comprises of telecommunications and NBN expert Alun Davies, adjunct professor Tony Sorensen, and director of ICT and Australian Computers in Education president Martin Levins.
Reflecting on the meeting, Ms Hitchcock says we all need to sit back and think about our new reality.
"When the NBN was set up, nobody ever thought this would happen," Ms Hitchcock explained.
"Some businesses thought they would work online, some for tutoring and studying, but nobody expected this huge, sudden demand and need for NBN services."
Nobody expected this huge, sudden demand and need for NBN services.
- Maria Hitchcock
Mr Davies said home Broadband usage will increase greatly during the Coronavirus Pandemic, with competing demands from those working at home, educating virtually, as well as entertainment like Netflix and computer gaming.
"It will be very much a case by case or location by location issue. If the broadband performance drops off report it straight away to your Retail Service."
Mr Levins says quite a lot of the NENW area has the benefit of good Fibre to the Premises, NBN coverage, however there could be the potential for problems to arise with over-use.
Managing how many devices a family has operating can be the key to finding a schedule that works, he says.
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"All families will need good leadership from their children's schools and this begins with those schools having good knowledge about their communities," Mr Levins said.
"For example, if a family has three children, do they have three devices? If not, do they have advice about how to schedule use? How will they deal with this inequity?"
Video conferencing is now key to remote productivity, but in terms of expecting this to be the norm in the future, Dr Sorensen says it's unlikely to be the big shift some are saying.
"Face to face meetings in a room also contribute to better bonding and understanding of themes and people's personal approaches to them," he said.
"While this thinking suggests a return to normal face-to-face meetings, we may occasionally wish to bring remotely located people into discussions by audiovisual means.
"I therefore see it as being important that meeting venues be able to provide audio-visual contact when needed."
