Australia’s dedicated national and international broadband network for research and education
The AARNet ultra high-speed network connects Australian universities, research organisations, vocational training providers, schools and other organisations involved in research and education to the Internet, the global research and education community, scientific instruments and online resources. Our network is specifically designed to deliver a high-quality experience for everyone, anytime.
Who can connect?
Generally, all institutions and organisations involved in research, education and training are eligible to connect.
Please make an enquiry to find out if your organisation qualifies.
If you are a Cloud Service provider you may also be eligible to connect via the AARNet Connect program.
Connection options:
AARNet Internet
Our flagship service. Dedicated optical fibre provided by AARNet or one of our partner networks directly to your institution or organisation.
Connections to the AARNet network are scalable, and are typically 1, 10 or 100 gigabits per second. We help you choose the right bandwidth for your needs.
We are a retail service provider for the National Broadband Network (NBN) which means that regional and remote schools and organisations involved in research and education can also connect to AARNet via NBN optical fibre (Enterprise Ethernet), wireless or satellite networks. Learn more about dark fibre, passive wavelengths and other methods we use to connect customers to our network.
AARNet peers with leading online content and service providers to enable a high quality experience for AARNet customers everyday, at any time.
Connectivity Services
Our connectivity services portfolio provides customers with a range of options for managing very large data transfers, global roaming, interconnecting campuses, data centres and service providers, and other network needs.
Why connect?
- Connecting to AARNet gives you access to the high capacity and high performance afforded by Australia’s only dedicated national and international network for research, education and training.
- On a cost / performance basis, AARNet is the best value for money for research and education. We focus on creating long-term, sustainable, sector-owned Infrastructure and can provide our customers with high- bandwidth and quality services at low cost.
- You can also utilize AARNet’s range of services, including collaboration services such as video conferencing, file transfer and storage services, mobility services, such as eduroam, and network services, such as virtual private networks.
- We are committed to advancing excellence in Australian research and education and support our customers by developing communities of practice around our services.
How to get started?
For pricing and more information, please contact us.
Methods of connecting your site to AARNet
We offer two main methods of connecting from your site to AARNet Network Access Point (NAP) sites or optical network: dark fibre and passive wavelengths.
These methods of connecting can also be used to interconnect your sites or campuses.
Dark Fibre
Fibre is the most common method of connecting into the network. Usually the most long-term cost-effective method is the installation of dark fibre. AARNet will co-ordinate the provision of this fibre. The installation of the fibre can be via any of the following methods:
- Direct Burying (Ploughing) in rural areas
- Trenching to install conduit
- Boring to install conduit
- Installing “Sub duct” in other carriers duct
Passive Wavelengths
To make better use of dark fibre, especially where there are limited pairs available, AARNet uses a variety of methods of multiplexing a number of services over a single fibre pair. AARNet will install and manage the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system over the fibres. These WDM methods include:
- Passive coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM)
- Passive dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM)
- Amplified dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM)
Other Methods
AARNet will investigate and supply alternative methods for connection. These may include:
- Radio or Laser connections
- Leased Fibre
- Managed Services
- Infrastructure Maintenance
Dial Before You Dig
To reduce the likelihood of the fibre infrastructure being damaged we register all AARNet fibre assets with Dial Before You Dig (DBYD). We respond to requests for information and managethe location and identification process with contractors.
In the unlikely event there is a fault with the fibre or WDM equipment, we manage the restoration of the AARNet service in a timely manner. Using “on call” contractors and holding spare parts helps with a speedy restoration.