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To test your NBN connection properly, run a wired speed test from a computer connected directly to your router, record the download, upload, date and time, and repeat the test in the morning, afternoon and evening. Then compare Wi-Fi beside the router and in the rooms where performance is poor. This separates a home Wi-Fi problem from a slow NBN plan, provider network or access connection.
A single result is not proof of a fault. Your measured speed can change with the NBN access technology, retail plan, provider network, router, device, Wi-Fi signal, software and other people using the connection. A repeatable record gives your retail internet provider useful evidence if the wired service remains slow or drops out.
What an NBN speed test actually measures
A speed test estimates the rate at which your device can download and upload data at that moment. Download speed affects activities such as loading websites, downloading files and receiving video. Upload speed affects cloud backups, video calls, sending large files and live streaming. The result is a measurement of the complete path between the test service and your device, not a laboratory measurement of the NBN line alone.
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Before you test: make the result reproducible
Use Ethernet for the baseline
Where your computer or other test device has an Ethernet port, connect it to the router with an Ethernet cable. Wired testing removes most Wi-Fi variables and provides the baseline you can compare with wireless tests. The cable carries data; it does not increase the speed supplied by your plan.
Choose one test method
Use your provider’s speed-test dashboard or a reputable browser or app-based speed test. Use the same service and, if practical, the same device for every comparison. Changing the test service, device and connection at the same time makes a difference difficult to attribute.
Reduce competing traffic
Pause large downloads, cloud synchronisation, game updates and high-resolution streams while testing. Ask other household members to avoid unusually heavy use for the few minutes of a test. If you normally use a VPN, run one test with it enabled and another with it temporarily disabled; the Fixed Wireless troubleshooting guide lists VPN use as a possible influence.
Keep a test log
For every result, note:
- download speed in Mbps;
- upload speed in Mbps;
- date and exact time;
- wired or Wi-Fi connection;
- device and room;
- whether a VPN or heavy household use was active; and
- any dropouts, buffering or unusually high delay you noticed.
Save a screenshot as well as writing the figures down. A log is more useful to a provider than “the internet feels slow,” because it shows whether the problem is constant, location-specific or concentrated in the evening. Speed tests consume data, a point noted in NBN’s Fixed Wireless troubleshooting material, so avoid running large numbers of tests on a very limited allowance.
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How to test your NBN speed step by step
- Connect by Ethernet. Plug the computer into a LAN port on your router. If your computer lacks a built-in port, use a compatible Ethernet adapter.
- Stop avoidable traffic. Pause downloads, streaming and backups. Close applications that are actively transferring data. Leave ordinary background services alone if you want to measure typical household conditions, but record that fact.
- Run the test. Open the provider’s speed-test page or your chosen reputable test, start the test and wait for it to finish. Record download and upload results, and save a screenshot.
- Repeat at different times. Test in the morning, afternoon and evening. If the slowdown is mainly at night, run several tests during the 7 pm to 11 pm busy period and at least one outside that window. Keep the device, cable and test service the same wherever possible.
- Test Wi-Fi beside the router. Disconnect the Ethernet cable, join the correct home Wi-Fi network and stand close to the router. Use the same device and test service, then record the result.
- Test the problem rooms. Repeat the Wi-Fi test in each room where people experience buffering or slow loading. Record the room and approximate distance from the router.
- Change one condition at a time. If you move the router, disable a VPN or stop another device’s download, run a fresh test and write down the change. This prevents several possible causes being mixed into one result.
How to read the comparison
| Comparison | What it can show | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Ethernet versus Wi-Fi beside the router | Wi-Fi far below Ethernet suggests a wireless, router or device limitation. | Check router age, device Wi-Fi capability, placement and interference before blaming the NBN service. |
| Wi-Fi beside router versus another room | A large room-to-room drop points to coverage, walls, furniture or appliance obstructions. | Improve router placement; consider a mesh system for a large or multi-storey home. |
| Wired morning versus wired evening | A repeatable evening reduction suggests busy-period, provider or access-network conditions. | Give the provider the exact times and wired results; compare them with the plan’s typical evening claim. |
| Download versus upload | One direction can be impaired while the other remains normal. | Report both figures. Upload problems may be especially visible during calls, backups or sending files. |
| Wired result versus plan information | A wired result below the plan’s typical busy-period speed may indicate a plan, provider or network issue, but it is not conclusive from one test. | Repeat under controlled conditions and escalate a persistent pattern. |
When Wi-Fi is the likely bottleneck
If Ethernet is consistently fast but Wi-Fi beside the router is much slower, investigate the home network first. Older routers and older client devices may not support the performance available from a current service. Router placement matters: an uncluttered, central position generally gives more even coverage than a cupboard, corner or location behind dense furniture.
A large difference between the beside-router result and a distant room indicates coverage rather than an NBN line limitation. Walls, floors, furniture, appliances and distance can weaken the signal. A mesh system can extend coverage in a large or multi-storey home, but it cannot repair a low Ethernet speed caused by your plan, provider or NBN network.
When the service itself deserves investigation
If wired and Wi-Fi results are similar, and both are consistently below what your plan and conditions reasonably support, the limitation may be the plan, provider network, NBN access connection or equipment. Persistent wired underperformance, repeated dropouts or a clear wired evening pattern are reasons to contact the retail provider. The provider manages your retail service and can investigate or lodge an NBN fault when appropriate.
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For residential NBN plans, the ACCC defines the busy evening period as 7 pm to 11 pm. Providers are expected to advertise a typical speed for each plan during that period. Compare a wired test taken in that window with the plan’s stated typical evening speed, not with an isolated Wi-Fi result taken at another time.
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| ACCC consumer label | Busy-period guidance |
|---|---|
| Basic Evening Speed | Less than 15 Mbps |
| Standard Evening Speed | At least 15 Mbps |
| Standard Plus Evening Speed | At least 30 Mbps |
| Premium Evening Speed | At least 60 Mbps |
These labels describe plan context, not a promise that every device will record the threshold. Wi-Fi conditions, household traffic, customer-premises equipment and the test device can produce a lower result. The ACCC’s July 2025 guidance update specifically highlighted customer-premises equipment and home setup as factors affecting received speed.
The ACCC Measuring Broadband Australia release of 2 April 2026 reported that, during December 2025, average download speeds across NBN fixed-line services reached 98.5 per cent of plan speeds during weekday busy hours. That is a population-level average for fixed-line services; it does not establish that an individual connection is performing correctly, and it does not cover every NBN access technology or household setup. ACCC Commissioner Ian Oppermann said, “While slightly lower than previous reports, it’s still encouraging to see Australians on NBN fixed-line connections typically receive the speeds they have paid for.”
Home checks to complete before calling your provider
Check the physical setup
- Confirm the Ethernet cable is firmly inserted into the router and the correct LAN port.
- Check that the NBN connection box and router have power and show their normal status lights.
- Place the router in an uncluttered, central location rather than inside furniture or behind large objects.
- Check that your device is connected to your own Wi-Fi network, not a neighbour’s similarly named network or a guest network.
- Restart the router and, where relevant, the NBN connection box, then allow them to complete startup before retesting.
Check devices and software
- Compare a second computer or phone. If only one device is slow, its Wi-Fi hardware, software or background activity may be responsible.
- Temporarily turn off a VPN and repeat the test if you use one.
- Look for malware or unwanted software generating traffic.
- Check how many devices are connected and pause unusually heavy use during a diagnostic test.
- Use Ethernet for high-data activities when a stable link matters, such as large downloads or important video calls.
Check for environmental or access-specific factors
NBN’s published Fixed Wireless troubleshooting path also asks customers to consider router distance, severe weather, connected devices, malware, incorrect Wi-Fi network selection and equipment or installation faults. Those examples come from a Fixed Wireless guide and should not be treated as equally likely on every NBN technology. Weather and signal-reception checks are particularly relevant to Fixed Wireless; they are not a general explanation for all fixed-line services.
Fixed Wireless, fibre and other NBN technologies
Your access technology affects what a sensible diagnosis looks like. The procedural advice to record results, repeat tests and compare Ethernet with Wi-Fi is broadly useful, but the NBN guide that discusses weather, signal reception and some device checks is specifically for Fixed Wireless customers. A fibre-based service may show a different fault pattern, while a wireless service can be more sensitive to radio conditions and reception.
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Do not infer that a speed test from one access technology predicts the result for another. When contacting support, state the technology if you know it, the plan name or advertised evening speed, the wired and Wi-Fi results, and the times at which they were recorded.
Check outages and planned maintenance
Check NBN network-status or planned-outage information when your service suddenly becomes unavailable or substantially degraded. NBN’s customer guidance says the retail provider is the first contact for troubleshooting, including dropouts and poor speeds. The provider can determine whether the issue is inside your home, on its network, or on the NBN network and can lodge a fault with NBN when required.
Some satellite and enterprise services are not covered by the NBN network-status page. Customers on those services should contact their provider directly rather than assuming that an empty status page rules out a service problem.
How to report a slow NBN connection effectively
Give support a concise record instead of a single disappointing screenshot. Include:
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- your NBN plan and advertised typical busy-period speed;
- access technology, if known;
- the date and exact times of the slow tests;
- wired download and upload results;
- Wi-Fi results beside the router and in affected rooms;
- whether the problem is limited to 7 pm–11 pm or occurs all day;
- any dropouts, modem light changes or outage notices; and
- the checks already completed, such as pausing traffic, disabling a VPN and testing another device.
A useful description is: “On 16 October at 8:30 pm, a computer connected by Ethernet recorded X Mbps down and Y Mbps up. At 10:00 am the same setup recorded A/B. Wi-Fi beside the router recorded C/D, and the back bedroom recorded E/F. The issue has occurred on four evenings.” Replace the letters with your actual figures. This gives the provider enough context to decide whether to examine your equipment, plan, network capacity or NBN connection.
Common mistakes that produce misleading results
- Testing only once: one result cannot reveal a time-of-day pattern or distinguish a temporary burst of household traffic.
- Testing over Wi-Fi and blaming the NBN: wireless conditions can dominate the result, especially in a distant room.
- Changing several variables at once: moving the router, replacing the device and stopping downloads together makes the improvement impossible to attribute.
- Comparing unlike measurements: a morning Wi-Fi result should not be compared directly with an evening Ethernet result.
- Treating a plan label as a guarantee: ACCC evening-speed categories provide context; they do not guarantee an identical number on every device.
- Buying equipment before measuring: a newer router or mesh system may improve coverage, but it cannot fix a low wired speed caused by the plan or provider network.
- Ignoring upload speed: a connection can download adequately while uploads remain poor enough to disrupt backups and video calls.
When replacing or adding equipment makes sense
Consider a newer router or mesh arrangement only when your measurements show a home-network limitation: Ethernet is substantially better than Wi-Fi, or Wi-Fi falls sharply between the router and affected rooms. Position the equipment centrally and retest after each change. Keep the original wired baseline so you can verify that coverage improved without mistaking a stronger Wi-Fi signal for a faster NBN service.
If Ethernet remains slow after controlled repeats, equipment intended to improve coverage is the wrong first remedy. Escalate the evidence to your retail provider and ask it to assess the plan, service configuration, provider network and NBN connection.
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