Compare what you pay for against the typical evening speed your plan actually delivers, benchmarked to ACCC data.
Compare two numbers: the busy-hour speed your provider advertises for your tier, and the typical evening speed you actually get between 7pm and 11pm. Under the ACCC Broadband Speed Claims guidance, retailers must advertise a typical busy-hour speed rather than the theoretical maximum, so the gap between what they promise and what you measure is the honest test of underperformance. If your measured evening download sits well below that advertised busy-hour figure across several nights, your plan is likely underdelivering. A single slow reading is not proof — congestion, a background download, or Wi-Fi can distort one test. Run the test wired to the modem, at several different evenings, and average the results before you conclude anything. The ACCC Measuring Broadband Australia program (verify current report date, 2026) publishes how far real evening speeds fall below advertised across the market, which is the neutral benchmark you measure yourself against rather than a marketing number.
Each NBN speed tier carries a theoretical maximum and a separate advertised typical evening speed — the number that actually matters for the delivery question. Verify the current advertised evening figures and tier list live at the ACCC Measuring Broadband Australia report (2026) before trusting any table, because tiers and typical-speed figures are revised and NBN 12 is being phased out. Use the tiers below as the framework for the comparison, then check your own measured evening speed against the advertised evening figure your provider quoted you.
Entry tier. Check your provider's advertised typical evening speed against your measured evening download; a large shortfall is the underperformance signal.
The most common household tier. The ACCC tracks how far evening speeds fall below the 50 Mbps advertised figure — verify the current gap at generation.
Higher tier where technology type (FTTP/HFC vs FTTN) most affects whether the advertised evening speed is achievable.
Top tiers only fully available on some technologies. Advertised evening speed is where the delivery test bites hardest.
A gap between advertised and delivered speed comes from a short list of causes, and only some of them are your provider's responsibility. Peak-hour congestion on the network, an under-provisioned plan from your retailer, or a connection technology that physically cannot reach your tier are the provider's or the network's problem. Wi-Fi interference, an old modem, or a device connected wirelessly instead of by cable are yours to fix first. The order matters: rule out the in-home causes with a wired test before you raise underperformance with your retailer, or your complaint gets dismissed on the first question. If the wired evening speed still falls well short of the advertised busy-hour figure across several nights, the shortfall points to the network or the plan — the ground for a genuine complaint under the ACCC's speed-claims framework.
Confirm the shortfall, then act in order.
Connect a device by cable to your modem and run the test on multiple nights between 7pm and 11pm; average the results.
Find the typical busy-hour figure your retailer quoted for your tier and measure the gap.
Check Wi-Fi vs wired, modem age, and connection technology before blaming the plan.
Present your averaged evening figures against the advertised speed — this is the evidence a complaint needs.
The rules on this page follow the official requirements published by ACCC Measuring Broadband Australia; NBN Co. Always confirm current rules and fees with the authority before you book.