Loading ...A dream becomes true
In a nutshell: We finally have the internet at our home!! 
Our provider, iinet, said they will switch the line between 1pm and 5pm, but already at noon I received the DSL signal. How great is that? Awesome!
BUT, it was only the dsl signal, which didn’t mean that we could surf the internet.
I had my German Fritzbox 7050 shipped over and was reading a lot of websites and forums to figure out the correct way to switch my modem’s firmware from Annex B (which is being used in Germany) to Annex A (which is used in Australia). The forums gave me quite a headache, because of the amount of posts to read through to that topic. A lot of people had trouble with switching the Annex version.
I had a very new firmware update in my Fritzbox and could finally find a posting that explained how to do the procedure with this newer firmware (14.04.33).
The DSL signal came to my box with even still haven’t changed the Annex from B to A, which made me think I may be able to use the modem without harming the firmware.
But I was wrong.
We couldn’t browse any site, which may be the reason because we haven’t received our iinet password yet. I called our provider “iinet” and was positively surprised that they have a call back service. I left my number and it estimated the time when I will receive the call back. Exactly at that time my phone rang, but unfortunately a computer voice said that my call back had been canceled. Bummer! Why that?
I called the support hotline again and decided to stay on hold this time….10 or more minutes later something /someone disconnected me. WTF? I wanted to call again but I ran out of phone credit (prepaid) and could not even send an sms anymore. Empty! Money gone, and I just recharged on the 11th! Normally I use the credit for a full month and have sometimes even a left over of credit. I thought the iinet hotline is only charged as a local call? Probably not. Now I was angry!
Nathan called from work and asked if he shall call them again. Sure, why not. I need to buy new credit first, anyway.
When I picked him up from work he had the password and the settings we needed. At least he was successful. But still, back at home, we could not get access to the internet.
That was the time when I changed the Annex version of my modem, because it really seemed that Annex B won’t work here in Australia. Yes, I knew it before…but you never know…software…computers…they are weird sometimes. Haha. :]
I uploaded the “fritz_as_annex_a_kernel_args_newer.tar” file, which I got from the “ip-phone-forum.de” and after the box rebooted itself the Annex was changed to A. Yeah, that was easy. Unbelievable (after I have read all that trouble people had with doing this)!
I also updated the software with the “fritz_as_avm_newer.tar” file. Don’t ask me why, the file was in the same thread in that forum mentioned above and I didn’t know if this file also need to get into my fritzbox. Well, I guess it didn’t hurt.
So we had Annex A, the right firmware for the Australian DSL market running, but still didn’t get the connection to the indernett.
We called our provider iinet again, left our number, and this time they called back and could help us.
There was a mistake in the password (an o instead of a zero, which most people spell as “oh”) and the username was wrong. The DNS settings weren’t that important, so we deleted them.
Yay, it wasn’t my mistake of hacking my fritzbox to the death, so we widened our eyes and made a big happy grin, because we finally, after months, have our own internet, only for us, at home, any time we want it. How wonderful!!!!!
The only thing is our speed…my Fritzbox only shows a DSL speed of 224kb/s, which is damn slow! It doesn’t feel that slow during surfing the web, but a speedtest online even said we have 185kb/s (down). That would be like twice the speed of an old fashioned dial up modem. 
Our upstream is around 500kb/s.
The iinet lady asked if our modem is a ADSL2+ modem. Yes, it is, isn’t it? Is says it is ready for ADSL2+. Maybe my adapter from RJ45 to RJ12 is not supporting the speed? Anyone an idea?
In the DSL information it only says “ADSL (ITU G.992.1) Annex A”, not ADSL2+. Hm, I have no idea. I already tried to find out about the low speed after switching the Annex, but could not find anything helpful yet. A long day is over and I am glad that we got the internet to work…now we can surf in the garden and everywhere in and around the house. ;o)
Well, f we can use skype phone and all that fancy web2.0 stuff (videos, radio streams…) is another question.
I also got myself a sipgate number today (sipgate.de), which means I have a German phone number that is connected to my Australian phone which is plugged into my German DSL modem that is running under Australian conditions. 
We don’t have a fixed phone line, but this number is like a fixed phone number. If you call from Germany it only cost you the same amount what you normally pay for a call in Germany. I know my parents can now call me for free, because they have a phone flatrate. Nathan tried to call the number from here to check if it is ringing and a voice said that the Australian (???) number is not available at the moment, which made me wonder, if my set up was right.
Well, tomorrow I will do a test call with my dad and see how it goes.
Good night from a happy online-at-home Cola. 
4 comments so far.
Wenn ich mich recht erinnere, sagen die in dem IP Forum (Da wr ich auch immer drin, wirklich top!) auch, dass die Geschwindigkeit mit der Umstellung auf Annex A zu tun hat.
Ich hatte es ja mit unserer Fritzbox nicht geschafft und letztendlich aufgegeben.
Glückwunsch!
Ja, Geschwindigkeitsprobleme hatte ich auch nach der Annex A Umstellung. Deshalb habe ich irgendwann einfach ein Billigmodem (gekauft in OZ) vor die Fritzbox gehaegt und die Fritzbox ueber LAN 1 dann damit verbunden. Und schon flutscht es….
Danke euch! Ja, ich warte noch ein paar Tage ab und wenn es mit der Geschwindigkeit nicht besser wird, schauen wir uns nach einem guenstigen gebrauchten Modem um, was ich dann auf Deinen Tipp hin, Sven, zwischenschalten werde. Ist dennoch komisch, dass sich das surfen nicht wie 225kb/s anfuehlt, sondern eher wie meine alte 1000er Leitung in Germany. Konnte sogar ohne Verzoegerung mit Deutschland telefonieren.
Sven, das Billigmodem sollte aber ADSL2+ Standard koennen, oder? Das Telefon haengt weiterhin an der Fritzbox bei Dir oder an dem Billigmodem?
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Gratuliere zum Internet!
Dann kanst Du ja jetzt sogar kostenlos von Australien nach London (naja, zumindest zu uns) telefonieren, da man ja auch unter Sipgate kunden kostenlos telefoniert
Bzgl. der Geschwindigkeit wurde uns damals gesagt, dass sich dies innerhalb der kommenden Tage einpendelt, da sich angeblich erst nach ein paar Tagen die wirkliche Qualitaet der Leitung ergibt.. keine Ahnung ob uns da Bullshit erzaehlt wurde… zumindest hatte ich nach einem Tag ne 20Mbit Leitung…. und inzwischen liegen wir zwischen 12 und 18 .. kommt eben auf Zeit und Tag an.
ABER die beruehmte Ausrede der Telekom Leute “Ihre Geschwindkeit haengt auch von der Entfernung zum naechsten Knotenpunkt ab” hab ich inzwischen satt… wir sind 50m von so einem Punkt enfernt und bekommen trotzdem nicht die 24Mbit die wir eigentlich bezahlen.
Naja, wir koennen nicht klagen… selbst 12 Mbit reicht zum surfen, saugen und noch zum telefonieren gleichzeitig