There’s an overwhelmingly broad selection of NBN plans to choose from, with download speeds ranging from relatively fast to utterly blazing.
Superfast plans (over 1000Mbps) may seem like the best option in the age of streaming, working from home and online gaming. But they may be overkill for the average home and you could wind up paying for a service you don’t really need.
On the other hand, the most affordable options may not supply enough bandwidth depending on the size of your household. This can lead to connection issues, lag or inconsistent speeds.
The ideal NBN plan is largely determined by how many people are connecting to a home network at any given time. So, we’ve broken down the best options based on the size of typical households in Australia.
Your choice of NBN plan, and the speed you need, depends on:
The type of activities you’ll use it for and the number of people in your household.
Your NBN connection type, which determines the speeds available to you.
Internet service providers (ISPs) advertise a plan’s download and upload speeds in megabits per second (Mbps). For example, a plan advertised as 500/50 provides download speeds of up to 500Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50Mbps.
But “speed” is a bit misleading, because these numbers actually refer to two things that essentially happen at the same time:
Download/upload speeds: How quickly you can download and upload files (also affects video streaming quality).
Bandwidth: The total amount of data available on the network per second (affects the number of devices that can be connected and in use at the same time).
Activities like video streaming, web browsing, online gaming, working or studying from home and even smart devices, including lights and security cameras, all require a bit of bandwidth.
It all adds up, and eventually your home network can hit the maximum amount of data supplied by your NBN plan, per second (also known as your ‘speed cap’). At this point, some devices will slow down, and you may notice lag or buffering.
Text-only accessible version
500Mbps NBN connecting to a single device in a home can deliver a maximum download speed of 500Mbps for that device.
500Mbps NBN connecting to four devices in a home can deliver a maximum download speed of 125Mbps per device.
This is a technical example that doesn’t factor in the range of devices and their networking capabilities, typical evening speeds, content being consumed on each device etc. Actual performance will vary.
How does my NBN connection type affect my choice of plan?
The type of NBN connection at your home determines the maximum download speeds available to you.
There are five main types of fixed-line NBN connection:
We’ve outlined some typical household scenarios to help you decide what speed you need, based on how you use the internet.
I only need the internet to check emails (aka the most basic user)
Plan: Home Basic II – 25Mbps
If your browsing needs are basic, go for a 25Mbps plan.
There’s enough bandwidth here to tackle typical tasks for one, or maybe two devices, at a time – like web browsing, checking emails, downloading pictures and signing documents.
You should be able to stream audio and video too, on one device at a time.
Compare Home Basic II (25Mbps) plans on Whistleout
House of one
Plan: Home Standard – 50Mbps(or 25–50Mbps for FTTB)
Fighting for bandwidth isn’t an issue if you’re living alone, and 50Mbps will be suitable for most households working a typical office job from home.
But a 500Mbps (or 100Mbps for FTTN/FTTC) plan gives you the breathing room for just about anything, including running multiple smart devices at the same time and quickly downloading large files.
Compare Home Standard (50Mbps) plans on Whistleout
House of two
Plan: Home Fast II – 500Mbps (or 100Mbps for FTTN/FTTC)
In a house of two, the odds of two or more devices that demand substantial bandwidth operating at the same time is much higher.
500Mbps has more than enough room for two demanding users alongside a series of smart devices.
A 100Mbps plan (or speed cap) will be suitable for two residents if Home Fast II isn’t available for your property.
Compare Home Fast II (500Mbps) plans on Whistleout
Plan: Home Fast II – 500Mbps (or 100Mbps for FTTN/FTTC – but consider upgrading if you can)
Your household needs a fair bit of bandwidth for non-entertainment purposes, as well as the usual fun stuff like gaming and streaming. Parents may be working from home while kids or teens are watching video tutorials for their next assignment, for example.
Large downloads and uploads are usually involved as well. This is where faster speeds come in handy, provided the bandwidth is available.
All of this activity still probably won’t hit the 500Mbps cap available to households on HFC and FTTP.
If you’re stuck with a FTTN or FTTC connection, you can probably get by on a 100Mbps plan, but only just.
Compare Home Fast II (500Mbps) plans on Whistleout
Larger households of five or more
Plan: Home Fast II or Home Superfast – 500 or 750Mbps
Big households need enough speed and bandwidth for just about any usage scenario. Lots of residents equals lots of variety, and 750Mbps is equipped to handle that. There’s the possibility of five uni students attending online lectures at the same time, for example. 500Mbps will be fine if your home isn’t loaded with lots of simultaneous streamers, online gamers and smart devices.
But tech-heavy households may be better off with 750Mbps, especially if guests are regularly coming around (which is often the case in share houses). With speeds like these, the old practice of “making a cup of tea while files and updates slowly download” is a thing of the past. You may have time to down a glass of water, but that would be it.
Compare Home Superfast (750Mbps) plans on Whistleout
Now you know what speed you need, but if you can get more for your money, why wouldn’t you? Here are a couple of tips that can help you get better value from your plan.
Take advantage of free speed upgrades
If you’re limited to speeds of 100Mbps because of your FTTN or FTTCconnection, it’s worth looking into free FTTP upgrades in your area, as this will open up the 500Mbps speed tier at no extra charge.
Consider upgrading your plan, where pricing between tiers is close or your budget can stretch.
For example, even if you’ve worked out that 50Mbps is enough for your needs, it’s worth considering plans in the next tier up – 500Mbps (100Mbps for FTTN/FTTC properties).
The price difference is usually no more than a couple of dollars a month, but the speed and bandwidth differences are substantial (ultimately making the 50Mbps tier feel like a bit of a rort).
You may need to update your equipment to access the fastest NBN speeds.
Upgrade your equipment
Older Wi-Fi routers aren’t able to deliver the higher speeds available on the NBN. You may be limited to 100Mbps depending on the age of your router, regardless of the plan you’re paying for.
Typical homes should be using a Wi-Fi 6/6E or Wi-Fi 7 router. Not only do they have enough bandwidth for consumer NBN plans, they’re still receiving security updates from manufacturers. This helps keep your home network safe from cyberattacks.
We've partnered with search engine WhistleOut to help you find and buy the right plan for you. While we make money if you buy through WhistleOut, this doesn't influence our rankings. 100% of the money we make goes straight back into our nonprofit mission.
For more than 60 years, CHOICE has been fighting the good fight for Australian consumers.
In the past year alone we've uncovered systemic issues with sunscreens, investigated shonky supermarket pricing, fought for stronger scam protections and helped make complex energy pricing fairer and clearer.
CHOICE is here to provide unbiased advice and independent testing in our world-class labs. We buy the products we test, just like you do, and our expert reviews are influence free. We’re here to help you choose smarter. Hopefully you’ll also save some money along the way.
Thanks to CHOICE, you’ll never be alone when a business treats you unfairly. You can support our work by joining or donating to our cause.
