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.
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Basic Speed
Typical speeds
12Mbps typical download and 0.8Mbps typical upload speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Available on
NOTE: Telstra doesn’t include Basic Evening Speeds (nbn tier 12) in our standard offerings.
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Standard Speed
Typical speeds
25Mbps typical download and 4Mbps typical upload speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Available on
Speeds experienced may be lower due to various factors including your in-home setup and wiring and will be confirmed post-connection for FTTN/B/C.
Speeds experienced may be lower due to various factors including your in-home setup and wiring and will be confirmed post-connection for FTTN/B/C.
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Standard Plus Speed
Typical speeds
50Mbps typical download and 17Mbps typical upload speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Available on
Speeds experienced may be lower due to various factors including your in-home setup and wiring and will be confirmed post-connection for FTTN/B/C.
Speeds experienced may be lower due to various factors including your in-home setup and wiring and will be confirmed post-connection for FTTN/B/C.
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Premium Speed
Typical speeds
100Mbps typical download and 17Mbps typical upload speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Available on
Plan available on FTTP, HFC and selected FTTN/B/C connections only. Speeds experienced may be lower due to various factors including your in-home setup and wiring and will be confirmed post connection for FTTN/B/C.
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Superfast
Typical speeds
250Mbps typical download and 22Mbps typical upload speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Available on
Available on FTTP and HFC connections only.
Available on FTTP and HFC connections only.
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Ultrafast
Typical speeds
700Mbps typical download and 40Mbps typical upload speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Available on
Available on FTTP and HFC connections only.
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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 including 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).
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Fixed Wireless Basic
Typical speeds
2-11 Mbps typical download speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
ldeal if you're a small household with1-2 people with multiple connected devices and just want to cover all the basics: light web browsing, social media, email.
Around 50% of customers achieve download speeds greater than 8 Mbps (7pm-11pm).
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Fixed Wireless Standard
Typical speeds
2–23 Mbps Typical download speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Ideal when there are 1-3 users at home. Cover all the basics: web browsing, social media, email, stream video.
Around 50% of customers achieve download speeds greater than 15 Mbps (7pm-11pm).
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Fixed Wireless Plus Speed
Typical speeds
2–55 Mbps Typical download speeds between 7pm-11pm.Suitability
Ideal when there are 1-5 users at home. Cover all the basics: web browsing, social media, email, stream HD video, large file downloads.
Around 50% of customers achieve download speeds greater than 25 Mbps (7pm-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
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