It is estimated that by 2020, roughly 90% of Australian households will be receiving Internet speeds of 50 Mbps. Why? Because they’ll be connected to the nbn™, allowing for faster, more reliable speeds.
The promise of increased speeds for downloads and uploads is exciting. On the nbn™, speeds up to 4 times faster than those on ADSL2+ are possible. Considering that the average ADSL2+ network delivers roughly 9 Mbps (with maximum speeds around 24 Mbps), the possibility of 50 Mbps is a welcome improvement.
The top tier of the nbn™ indicates potential speeds of 100 Mbps. This is when operating in ideal conditions. Truthfully, such speeds may not be feasible, but will more likely hover around 80-90 Mbps, depending on the time of day and other elements. There are actually many factors which can affect your Internet speeds on the nbn™. Your nbn™ tier will provide a range for your speeds, but the following factors play a strong role in determining your actual speeds.
The nbn™ access network technology available for your home
One of the major indicators of your nbn™ speeds is the technology your home will use to connect. This will depend on what is available at your premises. Ideally, all configurations will be able to provide the same general level of fast speeds, but depending on your home’s setup, your day-to-day speeds will likely vary.
There are various methods of getting your premises linked to the nbn™ network. A combination of satellite and fixed wireless will deliver broadband-level speeds to those in rural and regional areas of Australia. In suburban and urban locations, homes will typically be connected using more “direct” links, including FTTN, FTTP, or HFC.
Approximately 50% of Australian homes and businesses will connect to the nbn™ via FTTN or fibre to the node. This approach links your premises to a central cabinet in your neighbourhood, aka ‘the node.’ The node is connected via fibre optic cable to the nearest nbn™ Point of Interconnect. NBN Co claims that these speeds are comparable to those using an FTTP setup, but because of the inclusion of copper wiring (as opposed to a purely fibre connection), there is the possibility for some lag time.
FTTP, fibre to the premises, is the most truly direct nbn™ configuration, in which fibre optic cable is connected straight to the premises. With no competing technologies, FTTP should ostensibly be the fastest, smoothest Internet available over the nbn™. But as we’ll see, the factors that affect speed go beyond your at-home configuration.
The configuration of your local network and how your provider configures your network
Your home’s configuration may affect your nbn™ speeds, but the local network setup could have an influence as well. These are factors outside of your control, and include such things as your home’s distance to the node, the amount and quality of copper cabling needed for your connection, or your provider’s network capacity. The latter will be especially important during peak hours when more users are online simultaneously. Providers with a larger capacity will better serve the needs of large communities. You can ask your provider or potential provider about their capacity capabilities, but most trusted providers will have purchased enough capacity from NBN Co to supply the typical, expected speeds. Providers should also be continually monitoring traffic and adjusting their capacity as necessary to best meet customer demand.
It seems the more complicated an nbn™ connection, the more potential there can be for speed issues. Unfortunately, this means that those on the common FTTN (fibre to the node) may have more factors that will impact their Internet speeds.
The distance from your home to the node is important. The greater the distance your premises is from the node, the more likely you are to experience speed lags. This is made further problematic because the greater the distance from the node, the more copper wiring is involved. The length and quality of this copper line can both influence your nbn™ speeds.
The time of day
Trying to stream a show on Netflix at 7 pm? You may experience slightly reduced speeds at this hour than at midday. That’s because this is during “peak” times, evening hours when most Australians are home from work, eating dinner, and relaxing with the Internet. At these hours of high Internet traffic, you should expect slightly lower speeds. A higher nbn™ tier might be helpful to you if you use the Internet heavily during peak times. In fact, the nbn™ tiers now reference ‘Evening Speeds’ so that users can have a clearer idea of typical speeds.
During off-peak hours, you shouldn’t notice any issues when it comes to your Internet speed. These periods experience far less congestion and thus may provide a smoother Internet surfing time. While off-peak speeds will be more stable between different providers, it’s at peak time that you may see the most significant differences.
If you're currently on an nbn™ plan and experiencing speeds slower than expected, you should perform a speed test during peak and off-peak times to compare the disparity. You can contact your provider for more information about your options. They will have information on performance and busy periods, and be able to offer solutions or insight into improving your service.
Accessing the Internet at 7 pm often means heavy traffic or ‘peak time’
The content being viewed/downloaded
Sometimes, your Internet speeds will have little to do with your nbn™. You will find that certain websites or applications bring about their own delays. This can be caused by a number of issues. Photo-heavy websites, or those taking up significant resources, can be much slower to load. That’s because each item on a page has to make an individual server request. Basically, denser websites will have enormous server requests. If there are performance issues with the server itself, the response time can be delayed even ors-more. All this can add up to a super slow Internet experience.
You may have noticed that downloading massive files is a much slower process than posting a Facebook update, for instance. Your Internet speeds will largely depend on what you’re doing online. Of course, faster speeds and providers with higher capacity can make even those slow-loading applications that much speedier.
The hardware/equipment you’re using
Is your internet moving at a snail’s pace? You may just have a slow computer.
The speeds of your nbn™ connection are affected by the equipment you’re using to get online. This included not only your device, but your modems, WiFi routers, or Ethernet cables.
You can troubleshoot the problem by testing the connection directly. Use an Ethernet cable to directly hook your laptop up to the modem. If you find that speeds are improved with this test, your issues might be with the WiFi, as opposed to the nbn™ connection itself. Poor WiFi may indicate its time to upgrade to a newer modem. Many users report that the right modem can make all the difference. Often, the kit modem that is provided for you from your ISP is not the ideal equipment for you. The right modem could ensure that your Internet speeds are truly up to scratch.
Which nbn™ tier or plan you’re on
Perhaps one of the simplest answers to an nbn™ speed issue is the tier that you’re signed up for. The cheapest plan, for instance, generally doesn’t offer speeds greatly outperforming common ASDL2+ levels. This means you may not see the marked improvement with nbn™ that you were hoping for. Chat with your provider and consider upping your tier. Many providers across the board are suggesting that the nbn™ 25 plan is a solid baseline---ideal for homes with one or two individuals. Families, especially those made up of serious Internet users, may need to opt for the nbn™ 50 or even the 100.