If you’ve ever scrolled through Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace, you’ve likely seen people selling something that’s absolutely not their property.
Australian online marketplaces are awash with listings for “NBN connection boxes”, which are devices that connect your home or work to the national broadband network so you can use the internet.
These little boxes, usually white or black with the NBN Co logo, are typically found tucked away under desks or in closets in most Australian houses. Crucially, these belong neither to the homeowner nor the person who signed up with the internet provider.
NBN Co owns these boxes and is aware of people selling them online. It wants you to know that it is sick of having to replace them after people take them.
“NBN Co owns the NBN connection boxes, and they should not be removed, sold or moved to a different address. Each box is linked to a specific property and must remain there,” an NBN Co spokesperson told Crikey. Most devices have “property of NBN” written on them.
Despite this, there are dozens of NBN boxes listed for sale online right now for as much as $60, despite being both free and — if they’ve already been set up — completely useless if used anywhere other than the original address. It’s a problem that has been going on for years and it’s unclear whether any of these boxes are actually ever purchased.
Part of the reason for this problem is likely due to confusion between NBN boxes and the devices used to connect homes to the internet.
NBN connection boxes — also called network terminal devices — are modems that either connect through fibre to the curb (FTTC) or through a hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connection. Then there are routers (sometimes also called modems), which connect your phone or computer to the NBN box, whether through a corded or wireless network, that is owned by the individual.
If your eyes glazed over, the only thing you really need to understand is that most of our homes have two internet boxes with flashing lights that talk to each other. One is supposed to stay with the house and is owned by NBN; the other is owned by the occupant and goes with them if they move. Understandably, people get the two confused, which is why both end up online.
When this Crikey reporter tried to tell the people who had listed the boxes for sale that they were supposed to stay with the house, their answers did not suggest they were grateful for the help:
“Okay, people are selling them on Gumtree. I’m not the only one.”
“Anyone can use this is brand-new, never used.”
“Listen, first of all this is none of your business if you aren’t buying, secondly this is NEW IN BOX which means they have NEVER BEEN INSTALLED IN OR SENT TO ANY HOUSE BEFORE, thirdly the supplier gave me a written email saying I was free to do whatever I want with it, so please stop bothering me. Goodbye.”
In 2020 and 2021, NBN Co had to replace 101,402 boxes, although a significant portion were due to lightning damage. Even among missing boxes, the company said the majority are not being sold online. It’s likely many are taken by Australians who are moving and anticipate having to set up these devices in their next residence.
Understandably, NBN Co is trying to let people know that there is no benefit to hoarding those little internet boxes.
“We are currently running an information campaign to educate the public about the importance of leaving the boxes behind when moving. We are also collaborating with the real estate industry and exploring how we could work with them to reduce the incidence of missing devices.”
