nbn™ speed expectations

Typical Evening Speeds

Typical evening speeds are between 0.1Mbps and 100Mbps.

You may ask: “Why can we not be specific?”

Answer: Speeds are determined by many factors and this is what the NBN™ say multiple times on their website regarding speed:

nbn™ is a provider of wholesale speeds to internet service providers.

Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ network, depends on the nbn™ access network technology and configuration over which services are delivered to your premises, whether you are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside nbn’s control (like your equipment quality, software, broadband plan, signal reception and how your service provider designs its network). Speeds may also be impacted by the number of concurrent users on the nbn™ Fixed Wireless network, including during busy periods. Satellite end customers may also experience latency.

What they say is correct but there is even more to add.

There are too many factors in the mix. Therefore if we give you an exact figure for a typical evening speed then we would be misleading you.

We are required by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) to make this info prominent on our website. The only reason the requirement exists is because too many providers have been misleading everyone. So we think it could be a good thing to have the info available, because it stops providers intentionally misleading you, but it’s actually unnecessary if you’re not trying to mislead people.

Anyway, we do not want to mislead anyone in any way.

So our suggestion is, if you’re not happy with your current provider, give us a go on one of our month to month plans (we don’t do contracts). If the speed doesn’t meet your needs (or you’re not happy with anything else) then you are not locked in and you are free to move again and try another provider.

ACMA are responsible for the regulation of telecommunications, broadcasting and the internet, which includes overseeing compliance with the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2015 (the TCP Code). The TCP Code sets out rules for carriage service providers that supply telecommunications products and services to residential or small business customers.

The ACMA has undertaken a review of the NBN-related information Retail Service Providers make available to consumers on their websites against the requirements of the TCP Code.

Long story short.

We need to tell you the evening speeds you will expect, which are between 0.1Mbps and 100Mbps Download and the Upload will be between 0.1Mbps and 40Mbps.

Or more accurately, we must not fabricate speeds or lie to you saying the speeds you will get are faster than anyone else.

So as mentioned before, we recommend testing it out because it’s a little different for every location.

As explained above, this all depends on the plan you select, the quality of your copper (in the case of FTTN connections) and the amount of backhaul bandwidth the backhaul providers purchase (who we have to use and who we are dependant upon). We use more than one, yet the same issue exists, they buy the minimum because at the moment the nbn™ cannot sell their infrastructure at a price that is competitive to the rest of the world.

Having said that we constantly review and maintain sufficient capacity, but this cannot always be said for all stakeholders. e.g. the Fixed Wireless towers often need capacity increases by the NBN and it is not a quick fix.

What speed should I expect with the nbn™?

If you have the correct plan for the number of people in your household, generally speaking, it should do what you need it to do.

Will I get the exact speed of my plan tier?

You will not get the speed of your “plan tier”, but it may come close in certain areas. This is due to the big backhaul providers not purchasing enough backhaul from NBN to the towers and nodes. It is also due to the towers having limited capacity. In some areas the copper will affect speeds more so (due to length and/or quality of copper), and at certain times of day speeds will be worse due to congestion. Generally speaking speeds are ok and the NBN is good, however many providers are not being truthful about their typical evening speeds and many have already been fined over falsely advertising speeds that cannot be achieved consistently.

Will it improve?

The good news is, improvement is already being seen and it will continue to happen. Copper from the Node or MDF to the premises will systematically be replaced.