nbn™ speeds explained

Factors influencing maximum attainable speeds

At Telstra, we offer various speed tiers on our nbn plans. Your actual speed may be lower than the maximum attainable speeds on your line due to a range of factors that we outline below.

Types of nbn connection technology

Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)

Optical Fibre leading all the way to your premises, and to the nbn connection box inside your premises.

Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC)

Optical Fibre leading to a node in your street, or a nearby street, with a final stretch of coaxial cable to your premises, and to the nbn modem within your premises.

Fibre to the Node (FTTN)

Optical Fibre leading to a node in your street, or a nearby street, with a final stretch of copper to your wall socket inside your premises. 

Factors affecting nbn maximum attainable speed on FTTN include:

  • Length of copper line from your premises to the node
  • Quality of copper line from your premises to the node, including corrosion and joint quality.
  • Weather conditions, including heavy rain.
  • Quality and layout of in-premises cabling
  • Internal and External electrical interference

Fibre to the Building (FTTB)

Optical Fibre leading to a node in the buildings communications equipment room, with a final stretch of copper to your wall socket inside your premises. 

Factors affecting nbn maximum attainable speed on FTTB include:

  • Length of copper line from your premises to the basement
  • Quality of copper line from your premises to the basement, including corrosion and joint quality.
  • Quality and layout of in-premises cabling
  • Internal and External electrical interference

Fibre to the Curb (FTTC)

Optical Fibre leading to a small node in the telecommunications pit or mounted to the pole outside your premises. From the node, a copper telephone cable delivers the service to the wall socket inside your premises.

Factors affecting nbn maximum attainable speed on FTTC include:

  • Length of copper line from your premises to the curb
  • Quality of copper line from your premises to the curb, including corrosion and joint quality
  • Weather conditions, including heavy rain
  • Quality and layout of in-premises cabling
  • Internal and External electrical interference.

Fixed Wireless (FW)

A fixed antenna on your roof receives a signal from your local nbn Wireless tower, with internal wiring to the nbn connection box inside your premises.

Factors affecting nbn maximum attainable  speed on FW include:

  • Signal strength or obstruction of the antenna’s line of sight to the tower
  • Weather conditions, like extreme heat and heavy rain.

Speed tiers for nbn fixed line technologies (FTTN, FTTB, FTTC, FTTP and HFC)

An nbn service can never go faster than the maximum line speed available at your home, so for FTTN/B/C customers we will check your maximum attainable speeds after connection and let you know if your line is not able to achieve the maximum speed of your plan. For ordinary/personal domestic use.

Important

An nbn service can never go faster than the maximum line speed available at your premises, so for FTTN/B/C customers we will confirm your maximum attainable speed after connection and let you know if your line is not able to achieve the maximum speed of your plan as well as provide you with options to;

  • remain on your current plan
  • move to a lower priced plan (if one is available) and receive a proportionate refund to reflect the period you didn’t receive the full benefit of your plan; or
  • cancel your plan at no cost and receive a proportionate refund to reflect the period you didn’t receive the full benefit of your plan

Typical busy period speeds (7pm - 11pm) for Ultrafast is an estimate only. We do not have sufficient data yet to calculate the typical busy period speed for this add on. We will update this information once sufficient data is available.

We will update this information once sufficient data is available. 

Speeds experienced may be lower due to various factors inclyding in-home set up and wiring.  For ordinary/personal domestic use. For important information on speeds see nbn key facts sheet and Fixed Wireless key facts sheet.

Find out what nbn technology type will be used for your premises by checking your address.

Speed tiers for nbn wireless technologies (Fixed Wireless)

Speeds experienced may be slower, and will vary throughout the day due to factors including the signal strength or obstruction of the antenna’s line of sight to the tower, weather conditions, tower and network capacity, and in-home setup; and actual speeds may be significantly impacted by congestion, particularly during the busy hours (7-11pm).

Important

Your speeds may also be impacted by network congestion, as well as congestion at your local nbn Wireless tower.  If the local nbn Wireless tower is experiencing congestion, you are likely to achieve download speeds of less than 6Mbps This will impact your ability to enjoy some online applications such as slower browsing and/or lower quality or buffering for video streaming.

Find out what nbn technology type will be used for your premises by checking your address.

Your service provider's network capacity

During typical busy periods, like 7pm-11pm in the evening, internet speeds can slow down as more premises use the internet at the same time. The more network capacity your service provider purchases from nbn co for your area the less speeds will decline during these times.

We continually monitor traffic and adjust capacity to help meet demand from our customers. For Fixed Wireless customers, congestion at your local nbn Wireless tower will also impact typical download speeds.

Your in-premise setup and internet usage

Modem

The quality and age of your modem will impact the performance of your connection. We recommend using one of our latest Telstra branded modems to maximise your internet performance, such as the Telstra Smart Modem™, with hybrid technology that combines the power of Telstra's home internet and mobile networks in one device, for a more reliable connection. Please contact us if you require a new Telstra modem.

Wi-Fi

Your Wi-Fi performance can be impacted by where you place your modem, as well as any radio or electrical interference with other devices in or near your premises. Improve your Wi-Fi performance by placing your modem centrally in your premises, or near the stairwell in a two-storey building. To find out more ways to improve your Wi-Fi connection, search ‘Telstra Home Dashboard’ online.

In-premises wiring (FTTN/FTTB/FTTC)

If the copper lines within your premises are damaged, corroded, badly connected or poorly configured, it can significantly reduce your nbn speed. Our trained technicians can visit your premises and help fix issues related to in premises set up (fees apply). Please contact us if you would like to discuss this service.

Performance

Telstra is committed to providing a fast and reliable connection to the internet. However, if your performance on the nbn network is not meeting your expectations, you can test your connection speed. If your problems persist please contact us, and we will investigate what can be done to improve your performance. If needed we will engage nbn co to resolve any issues on the nbn network.

Content

Downloads taking too long? This can happen if the source of the content you’re trying to access is affected by congestion. An example is when a lot of users try and access the same website simultaneously. Also, remember that downloads from international websites are usually slower than Australian websites.

Devices

If your connection is slow on one device only, the problem could be malware, viruses or it might be too old to support higher speeds. If you’re downloading on multiple devices at once, your available bandwidth is shared between these devices. The more devices connected, the more bandwidth you share between them, and the slower your experience will be.

Power outages

Your nbn service won’t work during a power outage. This means that you won’t be able to make or receive phone calls if there is no power to your modem, including calls to Emergency ‘000’ services. You’ll need to rely on your mobile phone to make calls in this situation. If your premise has, or requires, critical safety devices such as medical, fire or back-to-base alarms, lift phones or fire indicator panels, you should consider connecting to a secondary communications technology, such as a mobile network. Contact your critical safety device provide for more details.

Battery backup

For Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connections, battery backup is available to customers with Priority Assistance, a medical or back-to-base alarm, lift phone or a voice-only service. Battery backup does not replace the potential need for secondary communications technologies to support critical safety devices.

Find out more about the nbn network

nbn™ plans

View our range of home internet plans.

Rollout map

See where the nbn™ is available and where it's coming next.

How to connect

We help make your transition to the nbn™ as simple as possible.

Questions about internet plans?

My Telstra app

View your services, pay your bill, troubleshoot tech issues, contact us via messaging and much more.

Support

More information about internet plans can be found in our Support section.

Send us a message

Questions about internet plans? Get in touch and we’ll help you as soon as we can.

Contact us

We're here to answer your questions.