Clearing up speeds on the NBN
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For the latest information, please visit: http://blog.iinet.net.au/nbn-speeds-explained/
In order to help Australians make informed choices when it comes to the NBN™, iiNet is amongst the first Internet Service Providers to follow recommendations from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to move away from unclear language such as “up to” when describing NBN™ speeds.
We now clearly state the speed ranges customers should experience on each NBN™ speed tier, as follows:
- Basic: Between 5 – 12Mbps download, 1Mbps upload.
- Boost: Between 5 – 25Mbps download, 1 – 5Mbps upload.
- MAX: Between 12 – 100Mbps downloads, 1 – 40Mbps upload.
These ranges are based on information supplied by our wholesaler, NBNCo. While iiNet has always endeavoured to provide the best experience to our customers this can be challenging as NBNCo itself does not guarantee minimum speeds at a wholesale level.
Why provide a range?
Providing information about the speeds customers can expect to experience on any internet technology is a lot more complicated than it may seem. There’s a huge number of factors which could affect speed along every step of the physical and digital network path. When you consider the complexity of telecommunications networking and how internet data gets from A to B, it’s virtually impossible to provide an exact speed, so a range is more realistic.
Just some of the factors affecting the speeds you may experience include:
Unique factors affecting NBN™ FTTN/FTTB services
As explained in Connecting to the NBN™ Network, NBN™ FTTN/FTTB services use copper cabling to connect the customer’s premises to a Node or Main Distribution Frame. You can check the NBN™ technology available at your address on our website.
The length and quality of this copper cabling has a significant effect on the customer’s connection speed, particularly in areas where NBNCo has installed fewer Nodes than originally planned, resulting in increased cable length.
Additionally, NBN™ FTTN/FTTB networks will typically run slower during the 18 month transitional period (known as the coexistence period) after NBN™ first goes live. This is required in order for NBN™ FTTN/FTTB to coexist with legacy non-NBN™ services. After 18 months, legacy copper services are typically disconnected and NBN™ FTTN/FTTB performance improves.
The first step in a series of improvements
iiNet NBN™ customers were found to be the most satisfied in two independent, national surveys (details here and here). As such, iiNet has a serious commitment to providing the Australian public with the information they need in order to make informed decisions when choosing an NBN™ plan.
We’re currently investigating ways to provide even more detailed speed information to customers when they make an enquiry about the speeds they can expect at a specific address.
The ACCC is also developing guidelines about communicating “peak speeds”, which would refer to when network congestion is typically at its highest. iiNet will be working to these guidelines once they are published.
The ACCC is also currently seeking volunteers for a broadband monitoring program across NBN™, ADSL and next-generation fibre internet services.
For more information about the program and how you can express interest, visit accc.gov.au.