Since the NBN speed upgrades arrived in September this year, I’ve been quite vocal about the value that the NBN 500 tier offers. Although, until now, that opinion has been largely speculative, due to the fact that any claims about real-world speeds come from the providers themselves.
That’s all changed thanks to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) release of its latest Measuring Broadband Performance report. Released today (December 17), the new report confirms that the NBN 500 more than delivers on its promised performance.
To give you an overview of the NBN 500 level (and before we get into the serious numbers), the ACCC confirmed that “[the] The average download speed on the updated NBN Home Fast plan during peak hours from 7 to 11 pm Monday to Friday was 503.9 Mbps, and 80.5 percent of services on this plan achieved an average peak hour speed of over 500 Mbps. “In short, the NBN 500 plans are actually overdelivery in speed, further establishing them as an exceptional value option for any Australian household that can afford them.
The best performing suppliers
As with previous ACCC broadband reports (which we often use here at TechRadar to support any claims we make when recommending certain internet service providers), performance data is broken down by provider and by time of day. The ACCC relies on monitoring real-world customer connections, and all nine providers mentioned in the new report have crossed a minimum threshold of 40 users in total. Those providers consist of the “big three” of Telstra, Optus and TPG, along with a selection of smaller providers such as Exetel and Leaptel. Data is then collected during all hours of the day and during peak evening hours, 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
In what may seem surprising news to some, Optus came out on top, offering 104.5% of advertised plan speeds during all hours of the day and 103.7% during busy times. Exetel, which regularly performs well in ACCC reporting, came in second, recording 103.8% and 103.4% for the same periods respectively.
Rounding out the top three is TPG, which achieved 103.4% of advertised plan speeds during all hours and 102.8% during the busiest nighttime hours. You can see the full results graph in the image below.
These figures cover all plans offered by a provider, so in the case of Optus that means the slower NBN 25 and faster NBN 1000 plans are also considered. In the case of Exetel, however, only NBN 500 is taken into account, as the provider has only offered its new 500Mbps ‘One’ plan since June.
And in what could be interpreted as proof that offering a single plan can benefit end users (and should be easier to manage from a provider perspective), Exetel was the only provider of the four mentioned in the report to successfully deliver four simultaneous 4K video streams 100% of the time. Aussie Broadband, Leaptel and Telstra were also evaluated: Telstra was able to consistently manage three streams without any issues, while Leaptel managed two and Aussie Broadband could only manage one.
Proof that the fiber upgrade works
The main thing to keep in mind with NBN 500 (and faster) plans is that you will need a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) or hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) connection type to access them. If you don’t already have one of these, you’re likely to be eligible for NBN Co’s free fiber upgrade, which will allow you to install the equipment needed for an FTTP connection at no cost. If you qualify for the latter, I 100% recommend taking advantage of it.
Because? Because ACCC data shows that customers with the combination of an FTTP connection and an NBN 500 plan will benefit the most. Data shows that this specific pairing resulted in customers achieving 102.9% of plan speeds during all hours of the day (or 514.5 Mbps) and 102.5% during busiest hours (512.5 Mbps).
On the other hand, customers on the same plan with an HFC connection only achieved 97.8% and 97.4% of the plan speeds during the same respective periods.
(Interestingly, customers with an FTTP connection and an NBN 750 plan achieved only 97.6% and 97.3% of the speed of their advertised plan, which I believe reinforces the great value of NBN 500 plans.)
Don’t consume complete fiber? No problem!
If you connect to the fixed-line NBN via older technology like fiber to the node (FTTN) or fiber to the curb (FTTC), then the maximum plan speed you can achieve is 100Mbps. While that might be all the speed less demanding households need, given that 5x faster NBN 500 plans generally cost the same as their 100Mbps counterparts, it makes more sense to get the upgrade in my opinion.
Still, if you use any of these connection types, the ACCC report also has good news. The consumer watchdog found that customers connecting via an FTTN connection were able to achieve 104.7% of plan speeds on NBN 25, 95.6% on NBN 50 and 90.1% on NBN 100. While those last two figures are below 100%, they are not far off. Furthermore, these figures represent an average of all monitored suppliers.
Overall, FTTN connections at all available speed tiers reached 95.8% of the advertised plan speed. FTTC did very well, achieving 105.1% of advertised plan speeds across all available tiers.
What plans to get?
In my opinion, what the ACCC data ultimately shows is that you should be able to turn to any NBN provider for a fast service. Therefore, it makes sense to opt for an affordable plan. I’ve selected what I think are the best affordable options at each speed level below, and you can also click on my dedicated guides for each level for more options.
