Internet Speed in Australia 2010

The website www.speedtest.net shows the average Internet speeds for most counties in the world, and a recent check of my own speed showed me how Australia and the UK compare.

This chart shows the two countries, with their respective average speeds. These averages are based on users excluding education facilities and large corporations, to enable a realistic normal user average.

April 2010

ADSL2 is available in many areas of Australia, allowing speeds up to about 24Mb/s, although due to Telstra restrictions, there are exchanges that do not yet permit ADSL2, or they restrict to only Telstra services.

This restriction can cause severe price differences, with one suburb getting ADSL2 for $35pm, and the next one, restricted to Telstra only, having to pay nearer to $90 for the same service.

Many normal households will probably still be using the standard ADSL at a speed of 1.5Mb/s or 8Mb/s. Hence causing the average to be about 5.4Mb/s.

You can enter your phone number, to check ADSL2 availability in Australia, here: http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au


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In my area, in a Telstra restricted exchange, the best option seems to be:

Internode Easy Broadband 50GB $49.95 pm, however, on further checking, it isn’t actually available on my exchange!

So, for one that IS actually available, I am looking at:
Beagle Internet ADSL2+ Capped 50GB $85.95 pm.

One thing to be aware of with the high speed ADSL2, is how far from the exchange you are:

If you live less than 1 kilometre from your local telephone exchange you may get an actual speed of about 20Mb/s.
But, if you are more like 4 kilometres from the exchange, you may only get an actual speed of less than 4Mb/s

Estimated ADSL2+ speeds, based on your distance from the Telephone Exchange, with a theoretical 24Mb/s maximum:

  • 0 – 2km = 12-20Mb/s
  • 2 – 3km = 8-14Mb/s
  • 3 – 4km = 4-8Mb/s
  • 4 + km = 1.5-4Mb/s

My own current service is an 8Mb/s Fast ADSL1 connection and my actual speed is 6.52Mb/s:

I appear to lose about 20% of the speed due to my distance from the exchange being 1.2km, following the road, and the assumed cable path.

Update November 2011

I upgraded a while ago and my results from a 24Mb/s ADSL2+ service is now:

This one is for an ADSL2+, also in Victoria Point, about 1.4km from the exchange, by road, but with another ISP, and an actual speed of 8.66Mb/s speed or about one third of the rated maximum 24Mb/s.

Updated speedtest.net results as at August 2010

www.speedtest.net August 2010
August 2010 World Internet Speeds

The changing face of Internet Connection Speeds in Australia

    Internet Speed and Number of Users Jun-08 Jun-09 Jun-10 change since June 2008
    speed of 24Mbps or greater 262,000 443,000 635,000 up 142.4%
    speed between 8Mbps and 24Mbps 1,390,000 1,800,000 2,600,000 up 87.1%
    speed between 1.5Mbps and 8Mbps 1,440,000 2,529,000 3,553,000 up 146.7%
    speed between 256kbps and 1.5Mbps 2,551,000 2,546,000 1,979,000 down -22.4%
    speed of less than 256kbps 1,581,000 1,103,000 803,000 down -49.2%
    Total 7,224,000 8,421,000 9,570,000 up 32.5%
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