But with increasing demand because of improved technology — like streaming — the need for speed has already exceeded the predictions from back when the NBN first started to roll out. The reality is, the download and upload speeds you can achieve at home are at least, in part, dependent on the type of NBN connection you have. So, if you’re curious about the fastest NBN in Australia read on to find out about NBN connection types, plans and the fastest NBN speed.
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Sponsored Plans
The following table shows a selection of sponsored unlimited data Standard Plus Evening Speed (NBN 50), and Premium Evening Speed (NBN 100) plans on Canstar Blue’s database with links to referral partners..
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1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $63.90) Typical evening speed of 50Mbps
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Unlimited Data/month |
$63.90 Cost/month |
Go to Site |
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1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $65) Typical evening speed of 50Mbps
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Unlimited Data/month |
$65 Cost/month |
Go to Site |
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1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $69) Typical evening speed of 98Mbps
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Unlimited Data/month |
$69 Cost/month |
Go to Site |
Unlimited Home Standard (NBN 50) Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 50 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost (excluding discounts), from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited Home Fast (NBN 100) Plans
The table below shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 100 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
What is the fastest NBN speed?
The fastest NBN speed currently available is NBN 1000 — also known as ‘Home Ultrafast’. This is also the most expensive speed tier and is suited to larger households or households that do a lot of intensive activities such as concurrent 4K/8K video streams, along with downloading and uploading large files, such as game downloads. NBN 250 is the second fastest speed tier, which still offers a super-fast performance for large households and high intensity online activities. Keep in mind that these NBN speeds are only available to homes connected with the fastest NBN technology types — FTTP and some HFC connections.
If you like the sound of fast NBN plans, you can compare a range of NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans in the below tables.
The following tables show a selection of unlimited Home Superfast (NBN 250) plans on Canstar Blue’s database listed in order of standard monthly cost, from lowest to highest. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to a referral partner.
The following tables show a selection of unlimited Home Ultrafast (NBN 1000) plans on Canstar Blue’s database listed in order of standard monthly cost, from lowest to highest. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to a referral partner.
What is the fastest NBN technology?
Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) is generally considered the fastest type of NBN in Australia as it involves a fibre-optic cable running directly to your property, where it is met with a connection box. This is different to other NBN types where the fibre-optic cables only go as far as the local node, where existing copper wiring completes the journey to your home.
After Fibre to the Premises, Fibre to the Building (FTTB), Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial HFC) NBN connections should deliver the best and most reliable speeds.
Unfortunately, households generally don’t get to choose which NBN connection type they get, as this is decided by the National Broadband Network. This has made the NBN something of a postcode lottery. However, NBN Co is rolling out FTTP upgrades with millions of homes and businesses eligible for a free upgrade to the faster connection type.
NBN connection types explained
If you’re still uncertain about what the different NBN connection types are (and which type you have), read on to find out about the types of NBN connections and how well they perform when it comes to typical speeds.
Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)
Fibre to the Premises is the fastest type of NBN because it takes super-fast fibre-optic cables all the way to your home. According to the ACCC, Fibre to the Premise NBN connections typically operate at 89.1% of the maximum speed available during the evening peak.
Fibre to the Curb (FTTC)
Fire to the Curb is one of the fastest types of fixed line NBN connections, with fire-optic cables taken all the way to a local distribution point in your street. You don’t quite get fibre all the way to your front door, but it’s pretty close, meaning great speeds. According to the ACCC, Fibre to the Curb NBN connections typically operate at 90.5% of their maximum speed available during busy hours.
Fibre to the Building (FTTB)
Fibre to the Building (FTTB) is typically only used for apartment buildings, but delivers some of the best fixed line NBN speeds available through the network, with fibre-optic cables running to the node in the building, whereby copper wires take the line to individual apartments. This should put FTTB on par with FTTC speeds.
Fibre to the Node (FTTN)
Fibre to the Node (FTTN) is the most common type of fixed line NBN in Australia. It’s also the most basic — or slowest — given that it mainly utilises existing copper wires to take the NBN from the local node to your home. According to the ACCC, Fibre to the Node connections operate at 80.9% of their maximum plan speeds during busy hours.
Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC)
Hybrid Fibre Coaxial NBN connections use pre-existing cable wires, in most cases previously used for cable TV, to deliver super-fast speeds from the local node straight to your home. This makes HFC one of the better NBN connection types. The ACCC reports that HFC connections typically operate at 89.3% of projected plan speeds during busy hours.
Fixed Wireless
Fixed Wireless is the most common type of wireless NBN in Australia. It uses the same kind of technology as 4G and 5G broadband to connect your premises to the NBN via an antenna installed on your property. It’s typically slower than wired types of NBN and customers can expect speeds no faster than 75Mbps.
Satellite (SkyMuster)
Satellite NBN goes through the SkyMuster satellite and services regional and remote parts of Australia. Customers need a satellite installed on their property and can only expect modest NBN speeds ofaround 25Mbps on most plans, although Sky Muster Plus Premium is capable of ‘burst speeds’ up to 100Mbps in the right conditions.
NBN connections vs NBN plans
The type of NBN connection at your property goes a long way to determining how fast you can expect your uploads and downloads to be. However, it’s not the only factor that will decide your NBN performance. This is because NBN plans are delivered through six main speed tiers that bring increasing maximum theoretical speeds. These are:
- NBN 12 (Home Basic I): Up to 12Mbps download, 1Mbps upload
- NBN 25 (Home Basic II): Up to 25Mbps download, 10Mbps upload
- NBN 50 (Home Standard): Up to 50Mbps download, 20Mbps upload
- NBN 100 (Home Fast): Up to 100Mbps download, 20Mbps or 40Mbps upload
- NBN 250 (Home Superfast): Up to 250Mbps download, 25Mbps upload
- NBN 1000 (Home Ultrafast): Up to 1000Mbps download, 50Mbps upload
These speed tiers are available through the different NBN connection types, delivering varying speed performance. Plans may also have a ‘typical evening speed‘ listed, which gives you an indication of the speeds you can expect during the busy evening peak.
NBN 100 and above are also typically only available on some NBN connections, like FTTP and HFC. With the assumption that FTTP NBN is the best NBN connection type, when coupled with an NBN 1000 plan, it should deliver the fastest overall NBN speeds for your home. For other NBN connections that are unable to sign up to NBN 100 plans and above, an NBN 50 plan will most likely be the fastest speed plan available at your home.
Unlimited NBN 100 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 100 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited NBN 50 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 50 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited NBN 25 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 25 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited NBN 12 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 12 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
FAQs about NBN plans and speeds
If you feel your internet speeds are a little slower than they should be, or you’re simply curious about what kinds of speeds you’re getting, you can use a free speed test tool to see how your internet is holding up.
Testing your internet speed is also good to ensure that you’re getting the internet speeds your provider has promised — and that you pay for. It’s also important to test your speeds at different times of day to gauge how consistent your internet speeds are. After all, there are certain times, such as the evening peak, when speeds are expected to be slower.
If you’re frequently disappointed with slow internet speeds, it’s time to look into your NBN connection type and plan. There are some things you can do to improve your download and upload speeds:
- Disconnect your unused devices from the WiFi
- Upgrade your NBN plan to a faster speed tier
- Upgrade your modem or buy a WiFi extender
- Check if your household is eligible for a free NBN fibre upgrade via the NBN Co website
- Check out the NBN Technology Choice Program, which allows households to pay to upgrade their connection type, although this can be very costly
It’s correct to say that your NBN speed is at least partly out of your hands, given that it depends on the connection type you have in your area. However, by choosing the right NBN speed plan for your needs, you should still be able to achieve the download speeds you need. If not, you can take the above mentioned steps to try to improve things or read our guide on how to increase your internet speed for more tips and information.
While NBN providers are technically offering the same service, some providers do offer more consistent speeds for their customers. Every quarter, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) measures the broadband performance of some of Australia’s most popular NBN providers to see how real-world performance measures up.
The September 2023 report showed that Launtel was the best performing NBN provider for its average NBN speeds during busy peak hours, followed by Exetel, then Telstra and Optus. Results from these reports tend to fluctuate, and while it’s not a measure on which provider is the ‘best’ for NBN speeds, it can be a good indication of what kind of performance you could expect and perhaps which is the fastest NBN provider on average during that period.
If you’re unsure about what NBN speed you have with your current provider, it’s good to know what speed you’re on so you know if that speed is right for your needs. Knowing what NBN speed you have also means you’ll be able to tell if your plan is delivering the right speeds and it will also be easier to compare other NBN plans if you’re looking to switch.
Once you know what NBN speed you currently have, you might want to assess whether this speed is meeting your needs or not. You might find you need a faster NBN plan to keep up with your household’s internet demands, or you could save some money by switching to a slower plan if your current speed is faster than what you really need. To find out more about NBN speeds, you can read our guide on what NBN speeds you need for your household.
Of course it might be tempting to assume that the faster the NBN plan, the better the plan is. However, a lot of this depends on your household and internet needs. Fast NBN plans can be rather expensive, typically around $100 or more, so if you’re on a tighter budget, a fast and expensive plan might not be the best choice.
Ultimately, finding the best NBN plan for your household’s needs will be a combination between cost and speed. Consider how you and others in your household use the internet and find a plan that will deliver the speeds you need and fit your budget. If you’re trying to save money on your bills, you might need to make some compromises to your internet usage and switch to a slower speed.
Main image: Image Craft/Shutterstock.
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