This appeared a day or so ago…
The NBN is getting its biggest upgrade ever. Most people have no idea
By David Swan
August 9, 2025 — 5.00am
Fairly or not, Australia’s NBN has long been the butt of jokes. After years of political football and criticisms that the network is subpar compared with global standards – we rank below Nicaragua and Venezuela for download speed – a high percentage of Australians will finally gain affordable access to world-class broadband speeds. The network is quietly getting its biggest ever speed upgrade in about a month, though not all households will benefit.
What’s happening?
From September 14, NBN is ramping up speed tiers for homes and businesses on fixed-line connections, with many plans set to double or triple in speed at no extra cost to consumers. NBN calls the new speeds a “monumental leap forward for the NBN network and Australia”. The upgrade is unrelated to a deal announced on Tuesday for Amazon to deliver NBN satellite broadband.
To be specific (and slightly technical), 100 megabit download plans are going up to 500, 250 megabit plans are going to 750 and 500 megabit plans are going to 1000, with upload speeds also ramping up. These are big jumps and should mean noticeable improvements ... as long as you have the gear to take advantage of them. To compare, when the NBN rollout began in 2011, the average household broadband speed was just 9 megabits per second. By the end of this year more than 10 million homes and businesses will be able to access speeds of up to 2000 megabits per second.
Who’s getting the upgrades?
The NBN uses different types of technology, depending on where you live. If you’re connected to the NBN with fibre to the premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) technology you can benefit from the upgraded speeds. To check what technology your home is on now, enter your address into the NBN website. Customers on plans below 100 megabits or connected via fibre to the node (FTTN), fibre to the curb (FTTC), fixed wireless or satellite technologies won’t get the upgrades.
Will I need to do anything?
The short answer is no, at least for customers who are already on NBN’s Home Fast, Home Superfast or Home Ultrafast plans and have a router that’s not too old. The upgrades are happening behind the scenes, and no work at your property will be required. Telcos will start automatically increasing the speeds of their plans from mid-September, and most have said they will do so without any extra cost to consumers. If you’re not sure what plan you’re on, you should check: many Australians are on “Home Standard” plans, which are 50 megabits per second and won’t be getting the speed upgrades. You can check with your provider what speed you’re on by looking at your bill or your account details on your provider’s website.
NBN says two-thirds of Australians haven’t upgraded their broadband plans in five years, despite greater demand for data. Upgrading just one speed tier could give you up to 10-times faster speeds, NBN says. So upgrade to Home Fast, Home Superfast or Home Ultrafast if you want to benefit from the upgraded speeds.
The last step is making sure your home equipment can keep up. NBN recommends you update your modem about as often as you would your mobile phone, especially if it’s older than five years. Older routers with older technology, such as Wi-Fi 4, will be able to deliver speed of only about 100 megabits per second. If you want the best current speeds, of up to 1000 megabits per second, consider upgrading to a router with Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7.
What are Telstra and other telcos saying?
Each of the providers contacted by this masthead said they will pass on the upgrades.
“We’ll be passing on NBN’s new internet speed upgrades to customers on eligible plans and technology at no extra cost,” a Telstra spokesman said.
Optus says it will automatically enable the speed upgrades in September at no extra cost, as will Aussie Broadband, Superloop and TPG.
“This is one of the biggest upgrades we’ve seen to the internet in years, and we’re making sure our customers are ready to take full advantage of it,” a TPG spokesman said. “Some modems, regardless of how new they are, simply aren’t built to support these higher speeds. That’s going to cause frustration, so we want to ensure customers understand what’s changing and how to get the most out of it.
“We’ll be contacting customers with everything they need to know, including when their upgrade is happening, how to check their modem and what to do if a new one is needed.”
The advocacy group for communications consumers, ACCAN, says customers shouldn’t rush to upgrade unnecessarily.
“Don’t feel pressured to upgrade to a faster or more expensive plan unless you’re confident you’ll benefit from the extra speed,” ACCAN chief executive Carol Bennett says.
“We welcome these improvements to NBN infrastructure and speeds but also want to ensure all consumers – especially low-income households and those in regional areas – can access affordable and reliable services, not just faster ones.”
What will this mean for Australia’s broadband rankings?
Australia most recently ranked a lowly 75 on Speedtest’s global speed rankings, one place above Uzbekistan and just below Oman, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Jamaica, with customers reporting an average of 88 megabits per second. Expect this number to climb over the next few months as customers upgrade plans or automatically have their speeds bumped up.
Will there be more upgrades in the future?
Yep. NBN has announced a “Home Hyperfast” plan coming in the future that would offer speeds of up to 2000 megabits per second for FTTP connections, which would be the fastest residential NBN plan ever.
“We are actively investing in our FTTP and HFC networks to support future technologies such as AI, smart homes and quantum computing. This continued investment signals that further upgrades will follow to meet growing data demands,” NBN general manager Jane McNamara says.
“In January we announced we will upgrade the remaining fibre-to-the-node network across Australia. This investment will benefit around 622,000 homes and businesses across the country, with more than half located in regional Australia. The upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of 2030.”
Here is the link:
I have to say I am one of them who had no idea! However, it sounds like good news to be!
I am one of the lucky ones close to the Sydney CBD woo already has 80+ Megabits/sec so really I am not feeling any great need personally for much more but I can understand many families with multiple users and businesses many feel annoyed and slower than they would prefer.
If things are going to speed up at no extra cost it sounds good to me and I wonder why there is not more publicity. I also wonder about my old modem in the new faster world!
Is the article a con? I wonder. Confirmation and details either way appreciated!
David.
1 comment:
"If things are going to speed up at no extra cost it sounds good to me" ...
As the article states, that's only going to happen if people are already paying more for a higher-capacity plan. For those on a budget, on a lower play getting 50mbps, they will see no improvement unless they upgrade and pay more.
People are on those lower plans for a reason. The "upgrade" just sounds like more of what they live with every day: for those who can afford it, life's grand.
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