Households can choose between 6 different NBN speed tiers.
This will determine the maximum speed you can receive on your plan.
Majority of Australians are signed up to NBN 50, which suits a household of 2–3 people.
What are the NBN speeds in Australia?
There are 6 NBN speed tiers available in Australia. We've listed them down from slowest to fastest:
NBN 12 (Home Basic I): Up to 12Mbps download, 1Mbps upload
NBN 25 (Home Basic II): Up to 25Mbps download, 5Mbps upload
NBN 50 (Home Standard): Up to 50Mbps download, 20Mbps upload
NBN 100 (Home Fast): Up to 100Mbps download, 40Mbps upload
NBN 250 (Home Superfast): Up to 250Mbps download, 25Mbps upload
NBN 1000 (Home Ultrafast): Up to 1000Mbps download, 50Mbps upload
This means that if you're signed up to an NBN 50 plan, you can expect maximum download and upload speeds of 50Mbps and 20Mbps.
You will also notice NBN providers will display typical evening speeds. These indicate what download speeds to expect during the busiest hours of the day (7-11pm) when most people are online at the same time.
Typical evening speeds will vary between providers. However, you will always find that several of them do offer the fastest typical evening speeds available such as 50Mbps on an NBN 50 plan.
What is a good NBN speed?
While the NBN speed tiers determine the maximum download and upload speeds you can get, you might not experience those speeds in reality.
On NBN plans, providers will list a typical evening speed. That's the speed you're more likely to receive based on the average speed for users of that tier between the busiest hours of the day, 7–11pm.
You can run a free internet speed test and see how your speed compares to these benchmarks:
NBN speed tier
Poor NBN speeds
Average NBN speeds
Good NBN speeds
NBN 12 (Home Basic I)
0–8Mbps
9–10Mbps
11–12Mbps
NBN 25 (Home Basic II)
0–15Mbps
15–22Mbps
22–25Mbps
NBN 50 (Home Standard)
0–30Mbps
30–40Mbps
40–50Mbps
NBN 100 (Home Fast)
0–60Mbps
60–85Mbps
85–100Mbps
NBN 250 (Home Superfast)
0–110Mbps
110–150Mbps
150–250Mbps
NBN 1000 (Home Ultrafast)
0–250Mbps
250–500Mbps
500–1,000Mbps
If you find that your speed sits under the "poor NBN speeds" section, it might be time for you to switch to a better plan that offers faster typical evening speeds.
If your speed seems to be going alright (either "average" or "good" NBN speeds for your tier), but you're still not happy with your NBN speed, you may want to consider moving up a speed tier for even faster speeds.
What about upload speeds?
While it's standard practice for NBN providers to advertise a typical download speed, there are no standards around upload speeds.
Some of the major providers like Telstra and Optus will specify a typical upload speed, whereas others leave it open to the default maximum available defined by the speed tier.
If you're someone who works from home, a good upload speed will be around 20–40Mbps to ensure video calls are running smoothly. This would correlate to getting an NBN 50 or NBN 100 plan.
Good to know: NBN 100 plans come in 2 flavours of upload speeds – 20Mbps or 40Mbps, with the difference being around $10 per month.
Finder survey: Are different generations of Australians confident about their NBN speed choice?
Response
75+ yrs
65-74 yrs
55-64 yrs
45-54 yrs
35-44 yrs
25-34 yrs
18-24 yrs
Yes
40.91%
37.79%
41.61%
34.32%
41.08%
42.11%
25.88%
Not sure
13.64%
19.77%
10.56%
14.2%
10.27%
8.42%
3.53%
No
6.82%
5.81%
7.45%
11.24%
11.89%
8.95%
7.06%
Source: Finder survey by Pure Profile of 1006 Australians, December 2023
NBN 12 speed tier – Best for casual users
Maximum download speeds: 12Mbps
Maximum upload speeds: 1Mbps
Household size: 1
NBN 12 is good for basic internet activities like sending and receiving emails, browsing the web and some social media. You won't find NBN 12 offered by all providers because most people need faster speeds.
If you're an infrequent user, Flip has a cheap NBN 12 plan including a discount for seniors.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
NBN 50 is the most popular speed tier and is great for medium to heavy internet use like HD video streaming, gaming or working from home where you're doing lots of video conferencing.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
If you're a family of 4 or a household with lots of people using the internet simultaneously, you might want to look at an NBN 100 plan. On an NBN 100 plan you can conduct simultaneous video streaming, gaming and other online activities without losing too much bandwidth.
NBN 100 plans typically come with a 20Mbps upload speed, but can offer a maximum of 40Mbps depending on the provider.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
If you're in a larger household then an NBN 250 plan might be the way to go. An NBN 250 plan will let you run multiple 4K streams at once and download very large files with multiple users online at the same time.
You'll be able to find an NBN 250 plan for less than $100 a month but you might notice typical evening speeds offered are closer to 200Mbps than 250Mbps on these plans.
Keep in mind: NBN 250 is only available at premises with FTTP or select HFC connections. You'll be able to confirm your availability before you sign up.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
NBN 1000 speed tier – Fastest speed available in Australia
Maximum download speeds: 1,000Mbps
Maximum upload speeds: 50Mbps
Household size: 5+ people
The ultimate NBN speed tier, NBN 1000 can handle a ton of simultaneous activity at once. That means all the downloads, Ultra HD stream and gaming you want.
Prices start at $100 a month for typical evening speeds of 350Mbps and can go as high as $180 a month for 700Mbps.
Keep in mind: NBN 1000 is only available at premises with an FTTP connection or some HFC NBN connections. You'll be able to confirm your availability before you sign up.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
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Frequently asked questions
Netflix recommends a speed of 3Mbps for HD streaming or 5Mbps for full HD streaming. That means you should be able to enjoy Netflix on any NBN speed tier.
However, when it comes to 4K or Ultra HD streaming, Netflix recommends a minimum of 15Mbps which means you'll want to have at least an NBN 25 plan or above.
With most Australians being on an NBN 50 plan, a normal internet speed in Australia could be considered to be around 50Mbps. This is the maximum speed available on an NBN 50 plan.
NBN 25 or faster is recommended for 2 or more people.
However, it really depends on how much those 2 people are using the internet. A household with 2 people working from home and using video conferencing during the day may be better off with an NBN 50 plan.
Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) is the NBN technology type that offers the fastest speed.
With FTTP NBN, you can achieve theoretical maximum download speeds of up to 1Gbps and maximum upload speeds of 400Mbps.
Only around 25% of the population have an FTTP connection.
SPONSORED: Upgrade your internet before the end of 2023 and get ahead on your life admin! We take a look at some of the benefits of a faster internet connection.
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