NBN speeds explained Telstra Small Business
nbn™ speeds explained for businesses
Find answers to your nbn speed questions - including how different nbn technology can affect your internet speed and what this means for your business.
Factors influencing maximum attainable speeds
nbn co is rolling out the nbn network to Australian homes and businesses. 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.
Factors affecting speeds
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.
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.
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.
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.
Speed tiers for nbn fixed line technologies (FTTN, FTTB, FTTC, FTTP and HFC)
Speeds experienced may be lower due to various factors including your in-premise setup and wiring. For FTTN/B/C customers, maximum attainable speeds will be confirmed after connection.
‘Typical download speeds (9am-5pm)’ is a measure of network speed to customer premises, not a customer’s in-premise received speed experience.
Typical busy period speeds (9am-5pm weekdays) for Superfast (upload only), Ultrafast, Premium Plus (upload only), Ultra and Ultra Plus are an estimate only. We do not have sufficient data yet to calculate the typical busy period speed of these add ons
We will update this information once sufficient data is available. For important information on speeds see nbn key facts sheet and Fixed Wireless key facts sheet.
Please note: We are currently only offering the ‘Premium Evening Speeds’ tier to new and existing Telstra customers on nbn HFC, FTTP and FTTC technologies and selected customers on FTTN/B. Not everyone can achieve the full benefit of Premium Speed on the nbn and we want to make sure that your experience as our customer is a good one before we return to selling Premium Speed on FTTB/N/C. Customers who are already on the Premium Speed Tier will remain on the Premium Speed Tier. We will continue to offer Standard Plus Plans on all nbn tech types.
Speed tiers for nbn wireless technologies (Fixed Wireless)
Fixed Wireless Plus
Typical busy period speeds range 7-11pm
Download: 13-143Mbps
Upload: 2-15Mbps
Speeds experienced may be slower and can vary due to several factors including your nbn hardware and will change over time.
Around 50% of customers achieve speeds greater than 21Mbps typical download speed.
Suitability
For businesses with up to 5 concurrent users.
Simultaneous emails and browsing, social media, SD video streaming and conferencing as well as downloading and uploading of files.
Find out what nbn technology type will be used for your premises here, opens in a new window.
Your service provider's network capacity
During typical busy periods, like 9am-5pm on weekdays, 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.
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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
Superfast, Ultra, Ultra Plus, Premium Plus and Ultrafast are new nbn speed tiers. As a result, we do not have sufficient data yet to calculate the typical busy period speeds (9am-5pm, weekdays) that these tiers will provide. We will update this information once sufficient data is available.
In the meantime, we estimate that these nbn speed tiers will support a typical busy period speed (9am-5pm, weekdays) of at least 230Mbps for the Superfast Add-on, 230Mbps for Ultra and 700Mbps for the Ultrafast Add-on. 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.