FTTP, FTTN, FTTC, FTTB, HFC, Fixed Wireless or satellite — what you have decides what speeds you can buy. Here's each one in plain English.
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Why your connection type matters
nbn isn't one technology — it's seven, and your address gets whichever one was rolled out in your street. The type decides which speed plans you can actually buy: fibre and cable homes can order 500/50 and faster, while copper-based homes top out at 100/40 no matter which provider they pick. Not sure what you have? Tell us your address and we'll check — it takes a minute.
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FTTP — Fibre to the Premises
Fibre optic cable runs all the way into your home, ending at an nbn connection box on your wall. No copper anywhere, so it's the fastest and most reliable type — it supports every speed tier, right up to 2000/200. If your home has FTTP, you can order any plan on our list. Many copper-connected homes can now get a free upgrade to FTTP when ordering a fast plan — ask us.
Fibre runs to a cabinet (the 'node') somewhere in your neighbourhood, and the old copper phone line covers the last stretch — sometimes several hundred metres. Copper loses signal fast over distance, so real speeds depend on how far you are from the node and the state of the line. FTTN tops out at 100/40, and homes far from the node may see less. The good news: most FTTN addresses can get a free fibre upgrade when ordering a higher-speed plan.
The apartment version of FTTN: fibre reaches your building's communications room, then the building's existing copper runs up to each unit. Because the copper run is short, speeds are usually more consistent than FTTN, but the cap is the same 100/40.
Fibre reaches a small pit at the kerb just outside, and only the last few metres into your home are copper. You'll have a small nbn connection device inside that powers the link. Same 100/40 cap as FTTN, but with so little copper in play it's noticeably more consistent. FTTC addresses are also broadly eligible for free fibre upgrades on fast plans.
Uses the coaxial cable originally laid for pay TV. Fibre runs to a local node, coax covers the rest, and an nbn connection box sits inside your home. HFC supports the fast tiers — 500/50, 750/50, even 2000/100 — so it's a genuinely quick connection, though the older cable network can occasionally need maintenance.
An antenna on your roof talks to an nbn tower up to about 14 km away — no cable to your home at all. Speeds depend on distance to the tower, congestion and even weather, and the network has recently been upgraded with faster tiers. If you're on Fixed Wireless and it's not keeping up, ask us about 4G/5G home internet or Starlink — we'll recommend whichever genuinely works better at your address.
For remote addresses beyond the fixed and wireless networks, nbn beams the internet via satellite to a dish on your roof. It works almost anywhere, but the signal's round trip adds noticeable lag, and plans carry data allowances. For many rural customers Starlink now outperforms it — that's a conversation worth having with your account manager before you commit to either.
Look at where the internet enters your home: a white nbn box on the wall usually means FTTP or HFC, a phone socket with a modem plugged straight in points to FTTN/FTTB, and a powered nbn device near a phone socket suggests FTTC. Or skip the detective work — send us your address and we'll tell you exactly what you have, what speeds it supports, and whether a free fibre upgrade is on the table.
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