As Australia's largest NBN provider, Telstra has a lot going for it. Its NBN plans are advertised as having perfect typical evening speeds, which means your Telstra plan should be giving you fast Internet speeds all the time.
If you find your Telstra connection is struggling, a quick speed test can help you figure out if it's just you, or if there really is a problem.
Just click "Go" on the speed test below and find out your results in 30 seconds.
You'll see a couple of different things being measured on the speed test, but the most important ones to look at are your download and upload speeds.
Now that you know what to look at, let's take a deeper dive into what speed you should be getting versus the speed you're actually getting.
This depends on the kind of Internet connection you have with Telstra since it offers NBN, ADSL and mobile broadband plans.
| Response | 75+ yrs | 65-74 yrs | 55-64 yrs | 45-54 yrs | 35-44 yrs | 25-34 yrs | 18-24 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never | 68.18% | 66.28% | 63.98% | 52.07% | 52.43% | 45.26% | 47.06% |
| Once a month | 22.73% | 27.33% | 22.98% | 34.91% | 34.05% | 34.21% | 42.35% |
| 2-3 times a month | 4.55% | 4.65% | 11.18% | 8.28% | 9.19% | 14.74% | 8.24% |
| More than 4 times a month | 4.55% | 1.74% | 1.86% | 4.73% | 4.32% | 5.79% | 2.35% |
To see whether your NBN plan is running as it should, find out which Telstra NBN plan you're on. If you're not sure, this is usually listed on your monthly Internet bill.
The maximum speeds for Telstra's NBN plans are as follows:
You'll notice that Telstra's typical evening speeds are the same as its maximum download speeds, which means you should be getting the fastest speed available on whichever speed tier you're on.
Take the result of your download speed from the speed test and compare it to the speeds we've listed above for the different Telstra plans. If you're not getting close to the typical evening speeds above, you may want to try a couple of things at home before escalating the issue to Telstra itself. We've suggested a couple of things here.
Are you happy with your internet speed?
45% of Australians are somewhat satisfied with their broadband speeds, according to our consumer sentiment tracker (November 2023). Tasmanians had the highest number of people very satisfied with their internet speed (32%). Somewhat surprisingly, 29% of people in regional locations were extremely satisfied with their internet speeds compared to only 25% in metro areas.
Telstra is one of the few providers that still sells ADSL plans to customers. Its speed profile is the same as all other ADSL connections: 24Mbps maximum download speed, with an average 8Mbps download speed in Australia.
Unfortunately, there's not much you can do if you're suffering slow ADSL speeds. The NBN has officially completed its rollout, so you may be due for an upgrade to an NBN plan soon which should guarantee faster speeds.
Otherwise, you could give mobile broadband a try, where speeds are often faster than ADSL, as we've listed in the next section.
Your mobile broadband speed will depend on which Telstra mobile network you're using to connect. Here are the speed ranges you can expect on Telstra's different networks:
| Telstra network | Speed range | Average speed |
|---|---|---|
| 4G | 2-50Mbps | N/A |
| 4GX | 5-150Mbps | 47.3Mbps |
| 5G | 50-300Mbps | 231.8Mbps |
Grab your download speed result and see if it sits around the average speed for the network.
If you're out and about, you might achieve faster mobile speeds by moving around until you find an area that has a stronger connection.
If you're at home, it could mean that Telstra's network isn't very reliable in your area, and that switching providers might offer you a stronger, faster connection.
Old-school cable Internet maxes out at around 100Mbps download and 5Mbps upload. Unfortunately, there's not too much information on what kind of speeds you can expect at peak hours. Some users have reported extreme slowdowns, dropping to 50% or less of off-peak speeds.
Old cable connections should have been upgraded to an NBN HFC connection following the completion of the NBN rollout. If you're still on the older cable connections, there's not much you can do about slow speeds, besides waiting for the NBN to arrive in your area or looking at an alternative like mobile broadband.
Telstra used to have quite lacklustre performance, but now regularly comes in the top 4 or 5 providers out of 10 on the ACCC Broadband Performance speed report. This should mean that a Telstra connection delivers a fast and reliable connection compared to other providers.
The speed of your Telstra connection will also depend on a couple of things such as:
As well as the above quick fixes, here are a couple of things you can try to speed up your Telstra connection.
Adjust the speed filter on the table below to find a plan that's faster than your current one.
Be online 24/7, wherever you are in Australia with a Telstra mobile broadband plan. Compare the different plan options now.
