What average NBN speed should you expect in Australia?

Why this happens

• Average speed figures are an aggregate across all plan tiers — customers on 25 Mbps plans and those on 1000 Mbps plans both contribute to the same national average
• Connection technology sets a hard ceiling — FTTN customers physically cannot achieve the speeds that FTTP customers can on the same plan tier
• Evening congestion varies by ISP — the same 100 Mbps plan can deliver 95 Mbps on a well-provisioned ISP and 55 Mbps on a congested one
• Speed test results also vary depending on the server used, the device's network card, and whether the test was run on Wi-Fi or ethernet

How to fix it — step by step

1. 1. What the Australian average actually represents

   The ACCC publishes a Measuring Broadband Australia report with average speed data per plan tier and technology. For 100 Mbps plan customers, the national average during peak evening hours is typically in the 80–90 Mbps range — but this aggregates customers on FTTP, HFC, and FTTN into one figure. Customers on FTTP or HFC with a well-provisioned ISP regularly achieve 95 Mbps or above on the same plan tier that FTTN customers may achieve only 50–60 Mbps on, due to copper line limitations.

2. 2. Why your technology matters more than the national average

   Your NBN connection type sets a physical ceiling on speed. An FTTN address with a long or degraded copper run may top out at 50 Mbps regardless of plan or ISP. An FTTP address on the same plan should comfortably achieve 95 Mbps or above. Comparing your result to a national average that includes both is not particularly useful. Compare instead to the Typical Evening Speed published in the CIS for your specific plan and technology.

3. 3. What a well-run ISP should deliver on your technology

   On FTTP or HFC with a 100 Mbps plan, a well-provisioned ISP should deliver a Typical Evening Speed above 90 Mbps. During off-peak hours, speeds should be at or very close to the plan maximum. On FTTN, expected speeds depend on line length — your ISP can tell you what sync speed your line achieves, which sets the realistic ceiling. If you are consistently below 80% of your plan speed at any time of day on ethernet, it is worth investigating whether the ISP is congested or there is a line fault.

4. 4. How to benchmark your own service accurately

   Run a speed test on ethernet — not Wi-Fi — using fast.com or speedtest.net, selecting a Brisbane or Sydney server. Test at least three times: once at 10 am, once at 8 pm on a weeknight, and once on a weekend evening. The 8 pm weeknight result is the one to compare against your ISP's published Typical Evening Speed for your plan. If your results are consistently below that figure, you have grounds to ask your ISP to investigate.

5. 5. Check what your address and plan should deliver

   Enter your address at hitpacific.com.au to see which technology is at your place and which plans are available. The CIS for each plan lists the Typical Evening Speed you should realistically expect — a more useful benchmark than a national average.