BigPond is finally retiring the notorious "heartbeat" authentication system from its cable network, according to notices sent to some customers.

The change has come about because of a new billing system Telstra has been implementing over the past 12 months, which will consolidate a number of different systems and increase flexibility for both BigPond and its customers.

A statement to customers said that the proprietary login software BigPond Cable users were required to run will no longer be needed. "After your account is moved to our new billing system, your service will auto-connect and authenticate to BigPond from your modem", said the statement.

The "heartbeat" system is unique to BigPond in Australia. For the connection to work, special software has to run on the users PC, or their network router has to have BigPond specific support built into it. Even when a router does support BigPond it is often unreliable. In contrast, competitor Optus requires no special software, and plugging in the cable modem is all that is required.

The upgrade will no doubt be welcomed by customers, who have been plagued with technical issues due to the heartbeat system. These include connection dropouts and difficulty setting up routers for multiple computers and VoIP.

When BigPond cable was introduced, the typical user setup was a single PC and the broadband modem. These days, households have multiple PCs and a myriad of other equipment, so the removal of the heartbeat makes a lot of sense.

Links:

• BigPond FAQ page