nbn™ Speed Information & Guide

You’ve probably heard a lot of things that attempt to describe nbn^tm speeds; nbn25, 50/20 100 Megabits and so on. In addition to giving you insight into what speeds to expect from our nbn^tm services, we also provide some insight into nbn speeds in general with our nbn^tm speed information below.

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• Typical and Maximum speeds on innoTel nbn^tm services
• Frequently Asked Questions & Answers on nbn^tm speeds
• Factors affecting nbn^tm speeds

Typical and Maximum speeds on innoTel nbn services

The following table provides you with a guide on what the typical and maximum speeds to expect from innoTel are for each nbn^tm speed tier.

Frequently Asked Questions & Answers on nbn^tm speeds:

Q: I see nbn25 and 25/5Mpbs used to describe plans and speeds, however, I see from the guide above I can’t actually get a download speed of ’25Mbps’, why is that?

A: nbn25 or 25/5Mpbs is used to describe the upper limit of the connection or line speed of the service, however, there are a few reasons why you might not see this ‘upper limit’ speed.

The first is that not all connections will be able to connect at a line speed at the described rate (25/5, 50/20, 100/40). Different technology types, including Fibre to the Node (FTTN), Fibre to the Building (FTTB) and Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) rely on the old copper phone lines for the ‘last mile’ of the connection.

Just like your ADSL broadband connections, the distance and quality of these copper lines will ultimately determine your line speed; you may not necessarily connect at the highest line speed.

Fixed Wireless is a whole different story with different factors that play into the speeds you’re likely to achieve. There are many factors that might affect your nbn^tm speed. See Factors affecting nbn^tm speeds below to read more about these factors.

The second factor, without getting too technical, is that with any data transmission, there are ‘overheads’, which are usually around 10% of the connection speed. Say you have a 100/40Mbps connection and you can only theoretically achieve a maximum download speed of 94Mpbs; yep

At innoTel, we do our best to ensure your connection runs as fast as it can while being realistic and working within the technology constraints that exist.

Q: Can you tell me what speeds I’m likely to get before being connected?

A: For some nbn^tm technologies, like Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) and Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial (HFC), which are less affected by distance (but still affected by quality factors), your maximum speeds will generally be within 90-95% of your maximum connection speed tier; for example you can expect a maximum speed of 90Mpbs on a nbn100 (100/40Mbps) speed tier connection.

For other technologies, including Fibre to the Node (FTTN), Fibre to the Building (FTTB) and Fibre to the Curb (FTTC), we’ll only be able to tell you what speed your service is capable of once it’s up and running. If your nbn^tm connection is FTTN, FTTB or FTTC and your line speed isn’t capable of the speeds noted in the table above, we’ll work with nbn^tm to find a resolution or in the event we can’t, we’ll change your plan to suit the speed tier it can achieve so, that you’re not paying for the speed you’re not getting.

Factors affecting nbn^tm speeds

Copper line quality, length, environmental issues

Technology types: Fibre to the Node, Fibre to the Building and Fibre to the Curb

Much like ADSL broadband services, VDSL, the technology used to deliver FTTN, FTTB and FTTC services, the length or distance of a copper phone line has a large bearing on the line speed you’ll be able to achieve. The longer the distance, the higher the loss of signal otherwise known as ‘line loss’.

Despite FTTN going some way to improving the distance and line length, placing nodes closer clusters of premises, VDSL technology is less resilient to long line lengths and line speeds can degrade quickly over long or poor quality lines.

Like in the ADSL broadband days, water and moisture can have a negative effect on copper phones lines – the same lines that carry VDSL for FTTN, FTTB and FTTC services and unfortunately, those same issues can carry over.

nbn^tm Coexistence Period

Technology types: Fibre to the Node

nbn^tm imposes a ‘coexistence’ period on FTTN services during the period that nbn^tm and existing ADSL broadband services share the same copper phone lines and infrastructure. The coexistence period can run for around 18-months (from the time an area is Ready for Service and the last legacy services are disconnected in that area). During this coexistence period, nbn^tm will only guarantee speeds of 12Mbps for fibre-to-the-node services

Note: This doesn’t mean you’ll only achieve the lowest nbn^tm speed available. Your connection may achieve higher than that speed in both line speed and throughput, however, nbnco^tm will only guarantee up that speed.

Fixed Wireless

Technology types: Fixed Wireless

Just like your mobile data, distance from the tower, electrical interference and sometimes weather can have an adverse effect on wireless connections.

Do you run back-ups? Software Updates?

Technology types: All

It’s always best to schedule these types of internet activities during the night or early mornings so as to free up the bandwidth for your general internet use during the day for the best performance overall.

Internal Cabling and Equipment

Technology types: All

The quality and speed of your internet connection can also be affected by your internal cabling. If you’ve had dropouts on an ADSL broadband connection previously, this could carry over to your nbn^tm connection.

Note: Internal cabling of a premise is the responsibility of the premise owner as the NBN demarcation/boundary point is generally the entry to the building.

Wi-Fi Networks

Technology types: All

It’s simple; Wi-Fi speeds simply don’t match those of the trusty network ethernet cable.  Sure, Wi-Fi is a convenient connection method for many devices, but it has its flaws.

Two issues come to mind with Wi-Fi;

Firstly, Wi-Fi simple can’t reliably deliver the speeds seen over cable networks. Even if a wireless router is advertised at a Wi-Fi speed of 1300Mbps, real-world performance suggests that users won’t see that kind of speed and doesn’t take into account interference from other electrical devices

Example: when running speed tests, many people choose to do this over a Wi-Fi connection rather than a wired connection and could be seeing anywhere from a 25% to 50% speed difference (if not more!) than if they were connected by network cables.

Secondly, the more devices you add a Wi-Fi network, the more of the wireless spectrum is shared across all devices. A single device connected to a Wi-Fi network might be able to achieve decent speeds; add more devices to that Wi-Fi network and they’ll begin to share the available spectrum and speed, reducing the maximum possible speed each device can achieve.

So what’s the answer? Simple; use network ethernet cable for any device that can connect via that method and limit Wi-Fi for devices like roaming laptops and smartphones.

Still have questions?

If this guide hasn’t answered your question (or it’s made you more confused!), we urge you to give us a call and talk to us about how you’ll be using your broadband service. We can walk you through the speed that best suits your situation and talk you through in plain English about nbn^tm speeds and how you might be affected.