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Every 3 months, the ACCC ranks NBN providers by what percentage of their plans' maximum speed they consistently provide their customers.
This means that if users got an average of 80Mbipps out of a maximum 100Mbps on an NBN 100 plan across the course of a day, that provider would get a score of 80%.
According to the latest report published in September 2021, Exetel scored an overall of 100.5% on the rankings, meaning its customers received about 100.5% of its plans' maximum speeds during all hours of the day.
Exetel still did well during peak hours (7-11pm), with 96.3% of max speeds achieved.
As a result, Exetel can be considered the fastest, most reliable NBN provider in Australia at delivering the speeds it advertises.
In the following table of the ACCC's results, the higher the rank of the provider, the more reliable you might consider it to be. The September 2021 report had the fastest speeds on record, with plans performing better than ever over the pandemic period.
We've sorted providers by their overall download speed performance.
| Rank | Provider | Downloads (peak hours) | Uploads (overall) | Downloads (overall) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Exetel | 96.3% | 88.9% | 100.5% |
| #2 | Optus | 94.8% | 85.1% | 100.4% |
| #3 | Telstra | 97.6% | 85.6% | 99.8% |
| #4 | TPG | 96.3% | 85.0% | 98.3% |
| #5 | MyRepublic | 94.5% | 87.7% | 98.0% |
| #6 | Aussie Broadband | 94.3% | 82.4% | 96.9% |
| #7 | iiNet | 94.1% | 82.0% | 95.4% |
| #8 | Superloop | 91.7% | 86.4% | 95.3% |
| #9 | Vodafone | 90.0% | 87.1% | 95.2% |
| #10 | Dodo | 89.2% | 82.5% | 92.2% |
| #11 | iPrimus | 89.2% | 82.5% | 92.2% |
*Peak hour refers to the hour with the lowest average speed out of all the month's busy hours. It's essentially the hour when the most people are using the network.
The ACCC covers 11 major broadband providers, based on data collected from volunteers all over the country. Devices known as Whiteboxes are mailed out to volunteers, which allow the ACCC to run tests on their NBN connections.
This report does have its limits, since the results are based on a specific sample of the population and doesn't represent everyone. Just 1,144 NBN connections were tested for the September 2021 report, the majority of which had one of the above as their Internet provider.
The results above also may not reflect your own connection's performance, since your own NBN connection could be slow due to a huge number of factors.
For this section, we've focused mostly on NBN 50 and NBN 100 plans, since they're the most popular speed tier for medium and larger sized households. We've also included a number of NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans from some providers for those who might want something even faster, though you'll need to have a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connection if you want to sign up to these speedy plans.
Exetel delivered 100.5% of its maximum speeds during busy hours. It offers a high-speed unlimited data plan in the NBN 50 tier, along with a modem that will cost you $79 upfront.
Optus hit 100.4% of its maximum speeds during busy hours. It offers an NBN 50 plan, which comes with unlimited data and an Optus Sport subscription, plus the option of adding on a Fetch TV entertainment bundle for extra each month.
Telstra hit 99.8% of its maximum speeds during busy periods. Its NBN 50 plan comes with unlimited data and a host of extra features, such as a smart modem with 4G mobile backup Internet, free BINGE Standard for the first three months and access to the Telstra Air national Wi-Fi network.
TPG reached 98.3% of its maximum speeds during busy hours. TPG offers an unlimited data NBN 50 plan, available month to month or on an 18-month contract with an included modem.
MyRepublic consistently delivered about 98.0% of its maximum speeds during busy hours. Its NBN 50 plan is available monthly, or you can get it with a rental modem for $1 (+shipping) on a 12-month contract. MyRepublic is one of the few providers to also sell NBN 250 plans to households with an FTTP connection.
Aussie Broadband hit 96.9% of its maximum speeds during busy hours. It offers an NBN 50 plan with unlimited data or you can customise your own high-speed plan and choose different data limits and upload speeds. It will also let you sign up for NBN 250 or even NBN 1000 speeds if you have a connection type to support it. Usually that means you'll need an FTTP connection.
iiNet reached 95.4% of its maximum speeds during busy hours. Its NBN 50 plan has unlimited data and a Fetch TV entertainment option.
Superloop achieved 95.3% of its maximum plan speeds in busy periods. It has unlimited data on all of its plans, discounts for the first 6 months, and 100% Australian customer support if you need to get in touch.
