Which types of internet are available at my address?

Broadband internet used to be a lot simpler. It doesn’t feel like so long ago that the choices for home internet were ADSL or cable. Nowadays, those two forms of broadband are a lot rarer but they’re still around. Meanwhile, there are a handful of other home internet options to consider when weighing up the best ’net for your abode.

Let’s take a look at all of your options.

The broadband you can access in your home today is determined by which technologies are available in your area. For most homes in Australia, this will be NBN, whether that’s fixed-line NBN technologies in metro areas or the NBN Fixed Wireless or NBN satellite technologies used in less-populous places.

Other homes may still have access to internet technologies like ADSL2+, VDSL2 or cable, all of which are increasingly rare in this NBN age. Outside of this, Home Wireless is the most widespread of what’s left, followed by non-NBN fibre and Starlink satellite.

Here’s an at-a-glance look at all of the internet options:

• NBN fixed-line
• NBN Fixed Wireless
• NBN satellite
• ADSL2+
• VDSL2
• Cable
• Non-NBN fibre
• Home Wireless
• Starlink satellite

Input your address in the search form below to find out which broadband technologies are available at your home. This will take you to a page that outlines the options available (after “Great News!” near the top of the page). You can also click on the ‘i’ button to the right of these options to see more information on the particulars of the technology connecting your home.

Most Australian homes can connect to the NBN via five fixed-line technology types:

• Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP)
• Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC)
• Fibre-to-the-Curb (FTTC)
• Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTB)
• Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN)

The NBN fixed-line technologies above are ranked in terms of their versatility when it comes to the plans they can choose from. FTTP, for instance, is no-compromise NBN that can connect to all plans from NBN 12 through to NBN 1000. HFC is the next best and technically able to do the same, albeit only select homes can connect to plans above NBN 100.

All other NBN fixed-line technologies are technically capable of signing up to any speed tier up to NBN 100, although certain FTTN homes may only be able to go as high as NBN 25 or NBN 50. FTTC and FTTB homes shouldn’t have any issues signing up to NBN 100 plans or below.

Here’s how the NBN speed tiers look and how they match up with the different technologies (the table also includes NBN Fixed Wireless and NBN satellite):

Pick an NBN speed tier that’s best for your home’s internet needs. The daily updating list below has popular plans from our comparison engine.

If you’re not in a metro area, your home may be serviced by NBN Fixed Wireless. This NBN technology offers plans on the NBN 12, NBN 25 and NBN 50 speed tiers (technically, Fixed Wireless Plus can hit speeds of up to 75Mbps). Check out the daily updating list below of popular NBN Fixed Wireless picks from our database.

NBN satellite was built for remote and offshore areas of Australia. The nature of the technology means that plans are restricted to NBN 12 and NBN 25 speed tiers, plus there are on-peak and off-peak data caps to factor in. The daily updating list below has a breakdown of the popular NBN satellite plans in our comparison engine.

Because HFC is basically contemporary cable internet and FTTN and FTTB are speedier modern-day upgrades to ADSL2+, cable and ADSL2+ plans are increasingly trickier to find these days. We’d advise against signing up for an ADSL2+ plan because most copper networks, which ADSL2+ is reliant on, are being turned off around Australia now that the NBN has finished rolling out. You can also find a VDSL2 plan to sign up for if you’re in the right area, which is the same technology that FTTN and FTTB use. If you can get cable, it has the potential to offer great download speeds. Check out the list below of the handful of ADSL2+, VDSL and cable plans from our database.

The reason NBN is able to achieve up to gigabit speeds is because of the vastness of the NBN’s fibre networks. Ultimately, the closer a home is to a full fibre connection, the faster its max speed potential. While only available to select homes, there are non-NBN fibre providers from familiar names like TPG, Aussie Broadband and iiNet. Check out the list below for an idea of popular private fibre plans that may be available in your area.

If you’ve ever used mobile data at home, you’ve used the same technology as Home Wireless internet. The difference is that Home Wireless uses a dedicated modem-router, which means more dependable speeds and it’s easier to share the internet with the devices in your home. Check out the daily updating list of popular Home Wireless plans from our comparison engine.

Initially, Starlink satellite was only available to homes in regional and remote areas. On paper, Starlink is a viable NBN satellite competitor with download speeds up to 150Mbps, plus latency that’s a lot lower (and therefore more responsive) than NBN satellite. In more recent times, Starlink has announced its plan to expand coverage to more of Australia, including metro areas throughout 2022 and early 2023. Head to the Starlink website and input your address to see an ETA on its availability.

For speed comparisons between all home internet technologies listed on this page, check out the table below.