Something big is about to happen to Australia’s internet. As technology marches ever onward, with advances in artificial intelligence, 8K video streaming and a growing list of smart devices around our homes, Australians are about to see their internet services rise to meet the challenge. It will put us up there with global net leaders such as Singapore and Hong Kong, paving the way for an exciting digital future.
But as we look forward to superior speeds and brag-worthy bandwidth, it’s worth noting that there are still some questions to answer, such as who will have access to this next generation of internet? And which providers are best placed to take us there? With the help of James Di Trapani, a network engineer with the internet provider Aussie Broadband, let’s explore.
Australian internet is getting an upgrade
From 14 September 2025, the National Broadband Network (NBN) is giving some internet plans a serious boost. Up to 9 million Aussies on fibre to the premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connections will find plans such as the 100/20 (which provides up to 100Mbps download speeds and 20Mbps upload speeds) automatically upgraded to 500/50. The NBN’s 250/25 plan will be upgraded to 750/50, while users on the NBN’s gigabit plan, the 1000/50, will have their maximum upload doubled to 100Mbps.
New Home Hyperfast plans will take things further, offering the first multi-gigabit download speeds for home internet in Australia, with speeds of up to 2000/200 for some users.
These new speeds should meet the growing and changing demands of modern internet users.
“Ten years ago, the average Australian household used around 40 gigabytes of data per month, with around seven internet-enabled devices,” Di Trapani says. “Today, the average Australian household uses around 443 gigabytes of data per month, and owns an average of 22 internet-connected devices. By the end of the decade, the average Australian household is expected to use more than one terabyte of data every month, with 44 connected devices.”
As Australians are about to see, NBN service is just the first step; internet providers need to rise to the challenge, too.
Equipped for the change
Not all internet providers are the same. Only some will be able to offer the benefits of the new NBN high-data capabilities, such as 8K video streaming, cloud gaming and high-definition video conferencing. This is because the NBN flows through physical cables from its 121 points of interconnect (POI) across the country, and each internet provider links its network to one or more of these POIs. Some, such as Aussie Broadband, will be better equipped to meet the challenges of the NBN’s next phase.
“We maintain and operate our own network to provide the best possible performance, reliability and connectivity,” Di Trapani says. “By owning that network, we can control, manage and upgrade it as necessary. If another company is reliant on someone else’s network to provide connectivity, they are then reliant on their provider for upgrades, troubleshooting and maintenance, which they may or may not do.”
Aussie Broadband’s network has also been created with redundancy in mind; it has built multiple paths of connection for internet traffic, so that even if one goes down, the internet keeps flowing.
These pathways have also been created to improve capacity (or bandwidth), meaning Aussie Broadband speeds should stay consistent, even when demand grows.
“These links are a little like lanes on a freeway – the more lanes you have, the more a network is capable of handling traffic without all the cars slowing down to a halt,” Di Trapani says. “Without enough capacity, users will run into slower speeds and congestion issues.”
Ready for the future
If you can currently get FTTP or HFC connections, you’ll be ready for the NBN upgrade. If not, you might be eligible for a free full-fibre upgrade to FTTP. You’ll also need to make sure you’re supported by an internet provider with a network capable of managing the new speeds.
It’s important to find a service that offers not just download speeds, but bandwidth, which is how much data the service can move at one time. As we keep adding more internet-enabled devices to our homes, bandwidth will only become more important. “It helps having more and more connected devices to your wifi simultaneously without service degradation,” Di Trapani says.
With the right service, the last piece of the puzzle is hardware – that is, the wifi router. Older routers might use wifi 4 (an early generation of wifi), but those won’t be able to reach the supersonic speeds of the new plans. Instead, wifi 7-enabled routers (Di Trapani recommends the eero 7 or eero Pro 7) will be the gold standard for speed, bandwidth and more.
“These newer routers will also have greater range than older versions, as well as support for newer technologies like mesh networks, which can create a blanket of wifi coverage across your household, or the ability to automatically manage devices across wifi channels for better reliability and speeds,” Di Trapani says.
With the right service provider and NBN-ready hardware, Australians should be ready to take advantage of world-class internet speeds, now and into the future.
Check your eligibility for Aussie Broadband’s new high-speed plans on their purpose-built network.