Fastest NBN providers in Australia: According to the ACCC

Typical evening speeds are very similar these days, so it can be hard to pick out the fastest NBN providers in the country. Luckily, the ACCC has your back.

Every quarter, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) releases a report as part of its Measuring Broadband Australia program. This ACCC NBN report includes data for 11 Australian providers primarily offering insights into how NBN providers perform in terms of download and speeds during the internet’s nightly busy hours.

Performance is measured as a percentage of the maximum speed for a plan achieved. So if an NBN 100 plan is shown to achieve 98% of the plan speeds, then the average speed is 98Mbps, or 49Mbps for an NBN 50 plan.

The report also breaks down daily outages, average download speeds, as well as more granular details such as webpage loading times, latency and even packet loss. It can be quite dense, so we have compiled the most important data to help you find the fastest provider in Australia.

Launtel topped the speed results this quarter, overprovisioning to the point of hitting 103.8% of the maximum speed during peak hours. This means that during the busiest times, Launtel customers would typically be getting higher speeds than their plan indicates.

We don't currently have Launtel plans available on our site, but we're all about transparency regardless. Launtel has an interesting offering where they charge you a per-day rate, rather than a monthly rate. These plans start at $2.25 per day ($67.50 for a 30-day month) for an NBN 25 plan, and go up to $4.60 per day ($138 for 30 days) on an NBN 1000 plan.

They're not the cheapest NBN plans, but they do have a unique proposition. Due to the day-rates you can change your speed tier every single day if you want to, and you'll simply pay the total on your bill. It makes your internet customisable, and you can even pause it if you go away for a while. 

Telstra customers were noted to get 101% of the maximum attaninable speed during peak periods, meaning you'll see speeds of around 101Mbps on an NBN 100 plan.

Like most other things Telstra, the provider's plans are on the premium side of pricing, so you'll be paying for the privilege. Telstra NBN plans do however, come with a few perks that sweeten that price tag. Every plan comes with Telstra Broadband Protect, a system that automativally protects your connection. Customers can install Anti-Virus Plus Security on all devices for extra protection from viruses and other threats, at no extra cost.

Customers can also opt in to Telstra Plus - the provider's reward points program. Every dollar spent with the provider contributed to a points balance which can be used to purchase products from the store.

Exetel is a frequent entrant to the top spots on the ACCC speed report - this time coming in at number three. With speeds hitting 100.9% of the max speeds, Exetel customers are likely to recieve around 101Mbps line speed on an NBN 100 plan.

The provider consistently has NBN deals that bring its pricing down to the cheaper bracket. These deals normally run for six months before reverting back to the original - and relatively standard - pricing. Each NBN plan with the provider also comes with five free Speed Boosts per month. Boosts allow customers to up their NBN speed to the next speed tier for a day. Up to 30 unused days rollover in to a Speed Boost Bank to be used at any time.

Optus, like many other providers in the top 5 list frequents it. The provider achieved 100.6% of maximum plan speeds during busy times in this ACCC report, putting it at number four.

Similar to Telstra, Optus is a premium provider and it's prices reflect that. NBN plans start from $70/mth, which is around $20 dearer than many other telcos on this list. In exchange, customers that stay connected for 36-months get a free modem with 4G backup. If the plan is cancelled before then, the modem fee still needs to be paid out to a maximum of $306.

Customers also get access to SubHub - Optus' streaming service consolidation platform. From one platform users can control subscriptions, and track spending, and get a 10% total discount when enough eligible services are bundled in.

Dodo and iPrimus are both owned by Vocus, and tend to be bundled together in these reports. The two tied for fifth place in this report, sporting 98.7% of maximum plan speeds. This is the equivelant of around 99Mbps on an NBN 100 plan.

Vodafone, TPG, iiNet, Aussie Broadband, and Superloop are also covered by this report every quarter. These providers take up the bottom rung of the list, with speeds ranging from 96.9% (Superloop) through to 98.1% (Vodafone).

These speeds are still decent, with the lowest hitting a 97Mbps speed on an NBN 100 plan. Here are how these plans compare:

The ACCC also tracks plan speeds by their technology type. Some technology types are able to achieve faster speeds than others, but this data gives a solid indication of exactly how far behind certain technologies are. 

These numbers tend to stay relatively stable, undulating by 0.1-0.2%. FTTN however has made the most notable improvement YoY, going up by a whole percentage point since September 2022.

FTTP, FTTN, FTTC, and HFC are all measured, and we have documented how they stack up in the table below.

The ACCC also tracks speeds for homes signed up to the source of the fastest of internet in Australia: NBN 1000 plans. These plans have a max download speed range of between 500Mbps and 990Mbps as well as max upload speeds of 50Mbps. You can see the averages in the table below.

There are a few reasons why your internet may still be slow, even if you're with one of the fastest NBN providers. It could be one of three things;

1. Your NBN plan is too slow
2. There is a hardware issue
3. Your technology type is underperforming

The first issue is relatively easy to solve - upgrade to a faster plan. NBN 50 is the most popular speed tier, but it may not be enough to cater for your online needs. New updates to the CVC pricing structure has seen NBN 100 plans and faster drop in price, so it is worth comparing to see how much a quicker plan would cost you. Alternatively, you could shop around for a new provider with faster typical evening speeds.

Hardware - specifially modem - issues are one of the top causes of subpar NBN speeds. Some key problems you may experience with NBN modems are congestion, out of date firmware, and signal inteference.

Finally, you may be stuck on an underperforming technology type. According to the ACCC, FTTN still performs worse than any other fixed line technology type - so it may be the root cause of your issues. NBN upgrades are slowly rolling out to FTTN and FTTC areas however, so keep an eye out for how you can upgrade your NBN for free.