plan speed vs typical evening speed
Every plan has two speed figures:
Plan speed (e.g. 100/20 Mbps) is the wholesale maximum — the ceiling set by the NBN tier. This is the best you can achieve under ideal conditions.
Typical evening speed is what you’ll realistically get between 6pm and 11pm on weeknights, when the network is busiest. This is the more useful number for day-to-day use.
Our typical evening speeds are measured and published on the plans page each quarter.
download vs upload
Download is data coming to you — web pages loading, videos streaming, files downloading.
Upload is data going from you — video calls, uploading files to cloud storage, gaming.
For most households, download speed matters more. If you do a lot of video calling or work from home uploading large files, a plan with higher upload speeds (Elite Fast, Elite Superfast, or Elite Ultrafast) may be worth considering.
what affects your speed
NBN technology type — FTTP and HFC generally deliver speeds closer to the plan maximum. FTTN is limited by the copper distance from your premises to the node.
Time of day — evenings are busier. Speeds during off-peak hours (daytime, late night) are typically higher than during the evening peak.
Wi-Fi vs ethernet — a direct ethernet connection almost always gives you faster, more consistent speeds than Wi-Fi. If you’re not getting expected speeds, test on a wired device first.
Your router — older routers can bottleneck speeds. A router sold as “AC1200” or similar has a maximum throughput — if you’re on a fast plan, make sure your router can handle it.
Other devices on your network — large downloads or backups running in the background on other devices will reduce available bandwidth for everything else.
what speed do I need?
| Household | Recommended plan |
|---|---|
| 1 person, email and light browsing | Home Starter |
| 1–2 people, streaming, occasional WFH | Home Basic |
| 2–3 people, HD/UHD streaming | Home Standard |
| 4–5 people, gaming, WFH (most popular) | Home Fast |
| Large household, heavy downloads | Home Superfast or Home Ultrafast |
| Any of the above + priority fault response | Elite tier (Elite Standard → Elite Hyperfast) |
running a speed test
For an accurate result:
- Connect your device to the router via ethernet cable
- Close other tabs and pause any downloads or cloud syncs
- Use fast.com or speedtest.net
- Run the test at least twice and average the results
If your results are consistently and significantly below your plan’s typical evening speed, see slow speeds for a step-by-step guide, or contact support and we can investigate.