The best NBN plans for upload speed

Unlike home internet in other parts of the world, even the best NBN plans in Australia don’t offer symmetrical download and upload speeds. So if you’re buying a popular NBN 50 plan, for instance, you shouldn’t expect 50Mbps download and 50Mbps upload speeds.

Assumedly, because upload speed is far less important for most online tasks, NBN Co offers all of its NBN plans with upload speeds that are slower than download speeds. If you’re in the market for an NBN plan or the best NBN provider for upload, we’ve got you covered.

We’ll get into the nitty gritty of each NBN plan that’s best for upload speed below. But first, here’s a quick look at a range of affordable NBN 100/20 plans, which offer a great mix of download and upload speed, plus competitive pricing.

If you want a plan that has a great mix of upload and download speeds, it’s worth checking out any of Exetel’s NBN plans. That’s because whenever the ACCC updates its Measuring Broadband Australia data, Exetel is either at the top (or towards the top) for upload and download speeds.

Of the NBN providers included in the ACCC data, Exetel came out on top with 89.2% of max potential upload speeds during busy hours. And we’ve chosen the Exetel Power Home NBN 100/40 plan specifically because it offers up to 40Mbps upload speeds, which is the fastest available to most homes in Australia.

Alternatively, consider NBN 100/40 plans from Superloop, Aussie Broadband, Origin Broadband, Mate or More NBN.

The most competitively priced plans with the best value are from the NBN 50 speed tier. These NBN plans have up to 50Mbps download speed and up to 20Mbps upload speed. In terms of upload speeds, 20Mbps is plenty for almost every online task, outside of faster file backup and streaming to platforms like Twitch at high resolutions.

Of the NBN 50 plans in our comparison engine, Dodo NBN 50 Unlimited Plan is our pick of the lot with a mix of competitive promotional pricing and good ongoing pricing. Download speeds are set at the max 50Mbps, while you can expect around 17Mbps upload speeds with this Dodo plan.

For competitively contenders, consider NBN 50 plans from Tangerine, Exetel Superloop and TPG

NBN providers are required to advertise typical evening download speeds, but more are also stating the kind of upload speeds you can expect. Of the NBN 100 plans we track in our comparison engine, the Optus Plus Everyday Fast NBN plan is the only one to self-report 18Mbps upload speeds. For comparison, other NBN 100/20 plans from other providers tend to advertise 17Mbps upload speeds (or 16Mbps for Aussie Broadband and SkyMesh).

Interestingly, the Optus Plus Everyday Fast NBN plan’s 18Mbps self-reported upload speeds are faster than the averages from ACCC data (around 17.54Mbps).

All Optus NBN plans come with an Optus Ultra WiFi Gen 2 Modem, which includes WiFi 6 to help compatible wireless devices tap into the best upload speeds.

Alternatively, try Tangerine, Dodo, Exetel, Superloop or Southern Phone NBN 100/20 plans for solid 17Mbps self-reported upload speeds.

Full disclosure: the best chance of hitting the fastest upload speeds for an NBN 100 plan is with the Exetel Power Home NBN 100/40 plan at the top of this page.

For the next best alternative, have a look at the Superloop Power Home NBN 100/40 plan. The NBN 100/40 plans are the fastest available to most fixed-line NBN homes in Australia. There’s competitive promotional pricing and a reasonable ongoing monthly fee. Plus, you can expect around 35Mbps upload speeds, which is great for any home looking to stream to platforms like Twitch or those seeking faster online file sharing.

Outside of the aforementioned Exetel plan, also consider NBN 100/40 plans from Aussie Broadband, Origin, Mate and More.

The fastest upload speeds for residential users come from NBN 500 or NBN 1000 plans, admittedly, tapped out at a low 50Mbps. Well, normally.

Aussie Broadband likes to do things differently and one of its build-your-own plans offers up to 250Mbps download speed and 100Mbps upload speed. Admittedly, that’s reported as 84Mbps typical upload speeds, but even that’s 34Mbps above the best upload speeds you can expect from competing NBN 500 and NBN 1000 plans.

While this Aussie Broadband plan is effectively asking you to trade download speed for an extra upload allowance, it offers a healthier balance between upload and download that’s great for a home that wants the fastest online backups available.

Alternatively, consider competitively priced NBN 1000 or NBN 500 plans with up to 50Mbps upload speeds from Tangerine, TPG and Superloop.

You can save money by choosing an NBN plan that matches the upload speed to your online activities. We recommend most homes start comparisons with NBN 50 plans because they offer a good mix of pricing and speed. But if you only use the internet for common tasks—browsing, emailing, social media, gaming, video calls and streaming videos—you can also get away with a cheaper NBN 25 plan (up to 5Mbps uploads).

The 1Mbps max upload speeds from an NBN 12 plan are only appropriate for homes with very basic internet needs: basically, browsing, social media and emails. If you want to get faster uploads, you’ll need to skip the popular NBN 100/20 plans. Most fixed-line homes can opt for an NBN 100/40 plan, which is great for faster cloud backups and file transfers, using remote-access software like Parsec or streaming a screen and webcam content to services like Twitch in high definition.

Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) homes can consider an NBN 250 plan, but note it’s restricted to 25Mbps max upload speeds: faster than NBN 50 and NBN 100/20, but slower than NBN 100/40. For the fastest available upload speeds, FFTP and select HFC homes can go with an NBN 500 or NBN 1000 plan, both of which have up to 50Mbps upload speeds.