Find the right internet speed for your Melbourne business with our comprehensive guide to NBN, Fibre, and high-speed connectivity options.
Choosing the right internet connection for your Melbourne business involves navigating a range of technologies, speeds, and price points — all with different reliability and performance characteristics. This guide gives you a clear framework for matching the right connection to your team’s needs.
Step 1: Understand the Technology at Your Premises
The single most important factor in business internet performance is the connection technology at your specific address. This is determined by the nbn co infrastructure in your area — you cannot choose the technology, only the speed tier offered over it.
Check your address: nbn.com.au → Check your address → Shows the connection technology available.
FTTP (Fibre to the Premises)
The best technology for business. Pure fibre from the exchange directly to your building. Supports symmetrical speeds up to 1000 Mbps and beyond on newer builds. Consistent performance, high reliability, and available in many Melbourne CBD and inner suburban locations.
Business suitability: Excellent. If your address is FTTP, this is the technology to use.
HFC (Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial)
Fibre to a node, then coaxial cable to your premises. Common in Melbourne suburbs that previously had cable TV infrastructure (Foxtel cable). Supports higher download speeds (up to 1000 Mbps) but upload is limited (typically 20-50 Mbps). Performance can vary depending on congestion on the shared coaxial segment.
Business suitability: Good for download-heavy use; limited for businesses with high upload requirements. Check peak-time performance before committing.
FTTN (Fibre to the Node)
Fibre to a neighbourhood node, then copper telephone line to your premises. The copper segment limits speed (typically 50-100 Mbps download, 10-20 Mbps upload) and degrades in wet weather. The further your premises from the node, the worse the performance.
Business suitability: Adequate for small teams with light cloud use; problematic for 20+ staff with heavy Microsoft 365, Teams, and video conferencing use. Upgrade to fibre (if available) is strongly recommended.
FTTB (Fibre to the Building)
Fibre to the building basement, then existing in-building copper wiring to each tenancy. Common in multi-storey commercial buildings in Melbourne CBD. Performance is better than FTTN (shorter copper run) but still limited by the in-building wiring quality.
Business suitability: Variable. Get actual speed test data before committing — in-building copper quality varies significantly.
Step 2: Determine Required Speed
The right speed depends on two variables: team size and usage intensity.
Download Speed Requirements
| Team Size | Light Cloud Use | Heavy M365 + Video | Upload-Heavy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5 staff | 25 Mbps | 50 Mbps | 50 Mbps sym |
| 6-15 staff | 50 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps sym |
| 16-30 staff | 100 Mbps | 250 Mbps | 250 Mbps sym |
| 30-60 staff | 250 Mbps | 500 Mbps | 500 Mbps sym |
| 60+ staff | 500 Mbps+ | 1000 Mbps | Enterprise fibre |
Light cloud use: Web browsing, email, basic document editing, occasional Teams calls.
Heavy M365 + video: Continuous Teams meetings, SharePoint file sync, cloud backup, VoIP, video production.
Upload-heavy: Cloud backup of large datasets, video uploading, serving files to external users.
Upload Speed: The Hidden Bottleneck
Most NBN plans are asymmetric — download speed is much higher than upload. For cloud-first businesses, upload is often the real bottleneck:
- Microsoft Teams video call: 1.5-4 Mbps upload per participant
- 20 staff on simultaneous Teams calls: 30-80 Mbps upload
- Cloud backup uploading overnight: 10-100 Mbps upload depending on data volume
- VoIP calls: 100 Kbps per call (modest, but adds up)
On a standard 100/20 Mbps NBN plan, the 20 Mbps upload is saturated by approximately 5-10 concurrent video calls. For larger teams, upload speed is often more important than download speed.
Step 3: Choose Your Internet Service Provider
Once you know the technology and speed you need, compare Business NBN providers. Key differentiators:
For Business NBN:
- Aussie Broadband Business: Strong reputation for network performance and customer service. Recommended by many Melbourne IT providers.
- Superloop: Good performance, competitive pricing.
- Telstra Business: Premium pricing, nationwide coverage, strong SLA commitments.
- Optus Business: Mid-tier pricing with bundled mobile options.
For Enterprise Ethernet (dedicated fibre):
- Vocus: Strong in Melbourne metro, competitive on mid-range speeds
- Telstra: Premium pricing, extensive footprint
- Aussie Broadband / Superloop: Growing enterprise fibre portfolios in Melbourne
Step 4: Evaluate Failover Requirements
A single internet connection is a single point of failure. For businesses where internet downtime is directly costly:
Option A: 4G/5G backup router ($200-500 hardware, $50-80/month SIM)
A secondary 4G/5G connection that activates automatically when the primary connection fails. Most modern business routers support dual-WAN with automatic failover. For most Melbourne SMBs, this is the most cost-effective reliability improvement available.
Option B: Dual NBN connections from different providers
Two NBN connections from different providers provide redundancy, though note they often share the same nbn co infrastructure to the premises — a fault in that infrastructure affects both.
Option C: NBN + Enterprise Ethernet
For businesses with high uptime requirements, a primary enterprise fibre connection with business NBN as backup provides near-carrier-grade reliability.
Speed Testing and Baseline Measurement
Before making any changes to your connectivity, establish a baseline. During business hours (9am-5pm), run speed tests from multiple devices:
- Fast.com (Netflix’s speed test — measures real download throughput)
- Speedtest.net by Ookla (measures peak download and upload)
- Cloudflare Speed Test (speed.cloudflare.com) (includes latency and jitter measurement — relevant for VoIP quality)
If measured speeds are significantly below your plan’s rated speed, contact your ISP — you may have a fault, be experiencing congestion, or have equipment issues that warrant investigation.
CX IT Services assesses connectivity options and manages internet infrastructure for Melbourne businesses. Contact us to discuss your business connectivity situation.
