As per Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) rules, internet service providers are expected to display typical evening speeds on their NBN plans.
These incidcate how fast a user can expect their internet connection to be during the busiest hours of the day, which is 7pm–11pm.
It's when most people are online around the same time carrying out activities such as streaming, gaming or browsing. This is also when you might experience network congestion, or slow internet, similar to a traffic jam on the road.
Typical evening speed is different to an NBN speed tier, which is essentially the maximum speed you can expect on a particular plan.
When you're comparing NBN plans from different providers, you'll want to look for typical evening speeds that offer the best bang for buck.
For example, an NBN 50 plan offers a maximum of 50Mbps speeds. It's also possible to get typical evening speeds of 50Mbps on this plan from some providers.
Good to know: It's not always the case that you'll be charged more for higher typical evening speeds. That's why shopping around is so important – you'll be surprised that you can get fast internet at a good price point.
Know how many devices and users you have in your household to get an idea of what typical evening speed is most likely to work best for you. While extra speed is always appreciated with an NBN connection, you don't always need it if you're only a light internet user.
Mark Neilsen
Utilities writer
| Response | 75+ yrs | 65-74 yrs | 55-64 yrs | 45-54 yrs | 35-44 yrs | 25-34 yrs | 18-24 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | 65.91% | 69.19% | 64.6% | 62.72% | 60% | 50.53% | 57.65% |
| Yes | 34.09% | 30.81% | 35.4% | 37.28% | 40% | 49.47% | 42.35% |
There are over 20+ NBN providers on Finder that offer the maximum available typical evening speeds across NBN 25 and NBN 50.
That means you can expect 25Mbps and 50Mbps respectively during the busiest hours of the day.
The list becomes slightly shorter across NBN 12, NBN 100 and NBN 250 plans but some providers do come quite close to offering the fastest available typical evening speeds.
You’ll find the likes of Southern Phone, Telstra, SpinTel, Exetel and Optus advertising solid speeds across some of the more popular speed tiers such as NBN 50 and NBN 100.
Compare their plans via our table if you’re interested in switching providers.
There’s a chance your internet connection won’t consistently achieve a provider’s advertised typical evening speed – at least not 100% of the time.
Each quarter, the ACCC releases its Measuring Broadband Australia report which measures the reliability of the top 11 broadband providers in the country.
As part of the report, it checks how providers fare during the peak hours of the day.
As an example, the report from September 2023 saw Launtel hit 105.5% of maximum speeds, Exetel knocked out 101.9% and Telstra was at 100.4%.
The NBN provides guidelines on what a reasonable evening speed should be.
This is important if you find yourself saving a few dollars each month with a provider that doesn't necessarily offer that fastest typical evening speed.
| Speed tier | Average typical evening speed on Finder | Minimum speed | Maximum speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBN 12 (Basic I) | 9.8Mbps | N/A | 12Mbps |
| NBN 25 (Basic II) | 21.8Mbps | 15Mbps | 25Mbps |
| NBN 50 (Standard) | 45.5Mbps | 30Mbps | 50Mbps |
| NBN 100 (Fast) | 89.4Mbps | 60Mbps | 100Mbps |
| NBN 250 (Superfast) | 220.2Mbps | 150Mbps | 250Mbps |
| NBN 1000 (Ultrafast) | 549.2Mbps | N/A | 1,000Mbps (1Gbps) |
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There is two people in my flat and we use the internet for the operation of our $350 SHELD from Harvey Norman and we r with dodo charging us $65 month how can we get cheaper
Hi Leo,
If you’re talking about the Nvidia Shield and you use that for streaming, then it sounds like with 2 people in your flat, you should be able to get by with an NBN 50 connection. That would be a suitable speed for 2 people using the internet simultaneously for various activities.
You can compare NBN 50 plans here: https://www.finder.com.au/broadband-plans/nbn/compare-nbn-50-plans
As you can see, there are a few options that are cheaper than the $65 a month you’re currently paying, so you can compare those and see if one of them suits your needs and budget.
Hope this helps.
We want to be able to use two PCs for word processing and watch movies on SBS and iView and maybe Netflix between 7pm and 11pm. How much data would we need?
Hi Bill,
Thanks for your comment and I hope you are doing well.
If you’re watching a live stream, SBS On Demand may use as much as 1.2MB per hour. Serious streamers should opt for a plan with at least 500GB per month, but if you’re exclusively watching SBS On Demand, you could easily get away with a smaller allowance.ABC recommends a minimum Internet speed of 1.5Mbps for best results and provides the following guide for how much data iView typically uses: A 60-minute program will consume up to 300MB of data on-demand and 360MB when live streamed.
For watching Netflix, you would need about 1 GB of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for each stream of HD video. This means you would need around 17-20 MB per day. You can multiply that amount for how much you are watching TV for 30 days and you would know how much data you would need all in all.
Hope this helps and feel free to reach out to us again for further assistance.
Best,
Nikki