As the NBN continues to roll out across the country, knowing which properties do or do not have access to the service is becoming an increasingly important question, particularly if you’re moving house.
Surprisingly, the only way to find out if a property has it is by visiting the NBN co website, which just becomes another tedious process in the already shitty task of finding somewhere to live. Luckily, Aussie legend Ben Jennings has come to save us all. Bless you, Ben.
He created a
Chrome plugin called
nbnm8, which essentially adds an indicator to real estate listings that shows whether the property has the NBN, saving you the hassle of searching it.
We had a chat to Ben about the clever plugin and why he decided to make such a rad little utility. He says it’s a result of our piss-poor internet standing compared to the rest of the world, combined with his own love of tinkering.
“Living in San Francisco for the past 2 years has made me lament how poor the internet quality is in Australia,” he told PEDESTRIAN.TV.
“A decent internet connection is becoming more and more of a requirement, whether it be for business or leisure. It makes sense that I would want to know if I can get it before I buy a home or commit to a lease. All of this information is already available to people, I just made it easier to get.”
A designer that works mainly for tech startups, Ben has also created an incredible app that I personally urge you all to download.
“I enjoy tinkering with software in my spare time, mainly under the heading of small and/or stupid ideas,” he said.
“The last thing I worked on in this vein was Melbourne Tram Simulator 2016. nbnm8 is arguably a bit more useful.”
Don’t take my word for it, though, just look at this glowing customer review by user insertrandomchars.
“Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding,” he said.
Photo: nbnm8.com.