An increase in the number of devices per household is leading to widespread internet connectivity issues for families across Australia.
David McEwan, who has six children and eight grandchildren, describes his home as experiencing "digital chaos" during family visits, with 28 devices vying simultaneously to stream, game, chat and browse on a strained connection. McEwan also operates a consultancy from his home, encountering frequent video call drop outs and screens freezing while meeting clients.
He explained that these connectivity issues have forced him onto phone calls with clients, stating it "isn't a good look for my clients". According to McEwan, after switching his provider to Occom, the issues ceased. "Since switching providers his meetings haven't dropped out and all 28 devices are able to stream movies on the internet without facing the 'circle of death.'"
Recent data from NBN indicates that the average Australian household now supports over 20 connected devices, a figure expected to grow to 44 devices by 2030. Many homes, however, do not have internet plans or connections built to manage this growing demand.
Occom reports increasing numbers of customers leaving major telecommunications companies for its services, citing frustrations with connection reliability, drop outs and customer service.
Philip Luo, Chief Executive Officer of Occom, believes many consumers are unaware that good internet speed does not guarantee a reliable connection absent low latency and low packet loss. Luo said, "Lag time is the invisible barrier that's frustrating millions of Australian households every day." He elaborated that, "The demand for fast, low-latency internet is only growing, as Australians increasingly embrace AI, smart homes, streaming and cloud gaming. Latency is starting to bother more and more people in everyday households."
Lag time, also known as latency and measured in milliseconds, is the interval between when a user makes a request online and when the network responds. According to industry guidelines, latency under 10 milliseconds is optimal but disruptions become noticeable on video calls above 100 milliseconds. Online gaming, in particular, can be severely impacted once latency exceeds 50-80 milliseconds.
Luo added, "High quality network services are becoming even more critical to meet the growing requirements for bandwidth, latency and stability and guarantee user experience." He emphasised that, "True internet performance isn't only about download speed. It also depends on factors like latency and packet loss." Luo stated, "It's all about how quickly and reliably your actions get a response. For households lag time can prove to be frustrating whilst for those who game this can be the difference between winning and losing."
Occom has been recognised for maintaining consistently low domestic latency and low network congestion, benefiting latency-sensitive activities such as online gaming. Riot Games' official Lag Report ranks Occom as number one across three performance metrics—latency, packet loss, and jitter—within Sydney, Inner West Sydney, South West, Melbourne Inner and Melbourne South East.
For international connectivity, particularly with Asia (China), Occom employs dedicated network links and optimised routing. The company claims more than 40% lower latency and over 80% less packet loss compared to larger telecommunications providers for connections to this region. This is particularly relevant for online gamers playing titles such as World of Warcraft, CSGO and Honor of Kings on Asian servers.
Luo suggests several steps for households experiencing lag: ensuring their modem or router is up-to-date or rebooted, repositioning the router for better coverage, upgrading to high-performance equipment to handle greater device numbers, reviewing their current internet plan and provider's network management strategies, and scanning devices for malware that could slow network operation.
Luo encourages consumers to be proactive in addressing lag, stating that, "Occom is focused on 'optimised routing' to balance network performance." The company reports a surge in demand for its services as consumers seek solutions to persistent problems with their internet connections.
