NBN 100: HOW DOES IT STACK UP?

“Fine most of the time” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. You’ve already made the decision that fast internet matters. The question is whether you’re one step short of where that decision pays off. nbn 100 handles today’s household reasonably well. The problem is that the household keeps growing. The average household now has 25 devices and will hit 44 by 2030³, most of which are doing background activity. Most people add new devices to their Wi-Fi network without any thought to the ceiling nbn 100 provides. nbn 100 is good at the quiet moments, however nbn 500 is what would stop your internet connection becoming your household’s daily point of friction. The upgrade isn’t about peak performance on a speed test. It’s about removing trade-offs from your connection.  

Let's count them. A couple of phones. Work laptops. Personal computer. A tablet. A Smart TV. An apple TV. A gaming console. Smart speakers. Robot vacuum. Security cameras. Video doorbells. Smart lights. A Wi-Fi printer. Smart plug and switches. Temperature & Humidity sensor. Smart fans. None of these feel heavy on their own but each of them are doing something at all times. Syncing, updating, backups. On nbn 100, that background hum starts to compete with what you may be actively trying to do. On nbn 500, it genuinely stays in the background.  

When you first got nbn 100, it was genuinely the best mid-tier plan available which was perfectly positioned for most households. Streaming was still ramping up. Smart home devices were niche. Cloud storage was something people used occasionally, not constantly. Work from home was not a baseline. All this meant that the ceiling for your broadband connection felt distant.  

Now? Every phone backs up photo libraries automatically. Every laptop syncs files to the cloud. Security cameras upload footage 24/7. Smart speakers listen and respond. Firmware and security updates for devices download in the background on everything from your TV to your fridge. Work calls compete with kid’s online classes or multiplayer gaming lobbies. 4K streams that used to be occasional are now default. nbn 100 hasn’t gotten slower but the demands on it have quietly grown device by device, app by app, until the margin your connection once had is gone. The connection that felt spacious a couple of years ago is now running near capacity on an average evening not because you’re doing anything differently, but because everything you own is doing more, all the time.  

nbn 500 isn’t about chasing speed, but about rebuilding the margin you used to have. The buffer that made the internet something you didn’t have to think about. That’s what has changed.   

That’s an older way of thinking about internet plans that doesn’t hold true anymore. The “household size” heuristic assumes people are the main users of bandwidth. They’re not. Devices are.  

A two-person household in 2026 in still running smart home systems, multiple streaming subscriptions, cloud storage syncs across devices, work from home setups with default settings of background updates on everything. The internet load isn’t about how many people live there. It’s about how many things are connected and what these devices are doing simultaneously. If anything, smaller households often have more discretionary spend for connected devices per person. On nbn 100, the ceiling is close enough that a busy evening pushes against it. With nbn 500, you’re unlikely to find it.  

A two-people modern home is exactly the profile that benefits from the higher ceiling that nbn 500 provides. The question is not about household size anymore. It’s whether you want the connection to keep up with how you actually live and stay connected.  

A lot of people on FTTN/FTTC connections have settled to accept the idea that 100 Mbps is as good as it gets, not because they don’t want better, but because the perceived hassle of upgrading the infrastructure feels insurmountable. Here’s what has changed: nbn’s Fibre Upgrade program is now significantly streamlined. In many cases, the install is non-invasive and doesn’t require major building work. For rentals, landlords are increasingly seeing fibre as a value add that makes properties easier to rent and worth more. Strata approvals have also become more routine as fibre becomes standard infrastructure for the building rather than a special request. 

It’s also important to be clear about the process. While tenants can absolutely request and initiate an upgrade, you do need written permission from your landlord or property manager before proceeding. The installation can involve drilling and, in some cases, minor digging to install new equipment, so you cannot move forward without their approval. The good news is that you can approach this as a benefit rather than a burden — fibre typically adds value to the property, improves its rental appeal, and standard installation under the upgrade program is generally free*.

Unlocking access to fibre allows you to move to higher-speed internet that is more reliable and often costs the same or less than what you’re likely paying now. The downside of not advocating for the upgrade is staying stuck on a connection that was always meant to be temporary. 

_{*Free standard fibre upgrade only. See T&Cs for more information.} 

Fast is good. Fast and reliable is better. Upgrading to FTTP isn’t just about going faster. It’s about getting more consistent performance and upgrading the foundation of your connection.  

Besides access to faster speeds, FTTP is much more predictable and stable day to day as compared to older copper-based access technologies (FTTN / FTTC) which tend to experience small, repeated interruptions. This is because copper connections are more sensitive to weather, line interference over distance and line degradation over time. By replacing the copper last mile with fibre, FTTP connections are designed to reduce repeated daily interruptions, provide more predictable performance and support higher capacity without line quality degrading over time.  

ACCC Measuring Broadband performance report⁴ highlights measurable difference between fibre and copper-based technologies for outage frequency and outage duration. ACCC data shows FTTP connections have reduced levels of frequent, recurring dropouts compared to copper-based services. This translates to a more stable experience particularly in busy, smart households where every dropout is felt.