Complete NBN Glossary

By Alex Choros

Last updated 13 July 2021

By Anula Wiwatowska & Alex Choros

The NBN has come, and with it has come a bunch of jargon. We're not expecting you to know everything about our National Broadband Network, actually we're not expecting you to know anything.

That's why we're here.

In this glossary we define all of the common terms you'll hear when talking about the NBN, and link you to relevant articles from our database that we think will help.

NBN: NBN stands for National Broadband Network, the new way in which most Australians will connect to the internet.

NBN Co.: NBN Co.is the organisation responsible for building and maintaining the National Broadband Network.

See also: NBN

FTTB: FTTB stands for Fibre to the Building. It is one of the seven technology types used to connect Australians to the National Broadband Network. With a FTTB connection, fibre is laid directly to an apartment block, and copper is used to connect individual apartments.

Related content: FTTB guide

See also: Fibre | Copper

FTTC: FTTC stands for Fibre to the Curb. It is one of the seven technology types used to connect Australians to the National Broadband Network. With a FTTC connection, fibre is laid directly to a house’s kerb. Copper is then used to complete the connection.

Related content: FTTC guide | FTTP upgrades

See also: Fibre | Copper

FTTN: FTTN stands for the Fibre to the Node. It is one of the seven technology types used to connect Australians to the National Broadband Network. With a FTTN connection, fibre is laid to a central node in a neighbourhood. Copper is then used to connect individual premises.

Related content: FTTN guide | FTTP upgrades | FTTN modems

See also: Fibre | Copper | Node

FTTP: FTTP stands for Fibre to the Premise. It is one of the seven technology types used to connect Australians to the National Broadband Network. With a FTTP connection, fibre is laid directly to an individual premise.

Related content: FTTP guide | FTTP modems

See also: Fibre

HFC: HFC stands for Hybrid Fibre Coaxial. It is one of the seven technology types used to connect Australians to the National Broadband network. With a HFC connection, fibre is laid to a central node in a neighbourhood and coaxial cable then connects individual premises.

Related content: HFC guide

See also: Fibre | Coaxial

Sky Muster: Sky Muster is the name of the two satellites used to deliver NBN to Australians living in remote areas. Ground stations across the country beam internet up to the satellites, which then beam it down again to a dish attached to a home.

Fixed Wireless: Fixed Wireless is one of the seven technology types used to connect Australians to the National Broadband Network. With a fixed wireless connection, a 4G signal (similar to that used for mobile networks) is used to get houses online.

Node: A Node is a central cabinet, typically painted green, which sits on the street, and houses NBN technology. Fibre optic cable is run from a POI to this Node, and from here copper cable is used to connect households to the NBN.

See also: FTTN | Copper | NBN

Typical evening speeds: Typical evening speeds are the download speeds you can expect on your NBN plan during the busiest part of the day - between 7pm and 11pm. These may be lower than the speed tier your plan is configured on. For example, an NBN 100 plan may have typical evening speeds of 90Mbps during peak hours, which is 10Mbps lower than the plan’s maximum.

Related content: NBN evening speeds | What speed do you need?

See also: Congestion | Mbps | Download speeds | Upload speeds

Speed tier: Speed tiers are the set, standardised connection speeds available on the NBN. Each speed tier has a maximum upload, and a maximum download speed - the faster these speeds are, the more expensive the plan will be.

Related content: What is a good internet speed?

See also: Download Speeds | Upload Speeds | Typical Evening Speeds | Mbps

Download speeds: Download speeds refer to how fast your internet connection is downloading data from the internet. You use downloads when you are extracting existing information from the internet for use of your device, such as; streaming video or audio, loading a webpage, or installing games. Measured in Kbps, Mbps, or Gbps - these speeds are generally much faster than upload speeds.

See also: Upload Speeds | Typical Evening Speeds | Mbps

Upload speeds: Upload speeds refer to how fast your internet connection is uploading data to the internet. You use uploads when you are taking data from your device and using the internet to move it elsewhere, such as; sending email attachments, playing an online game, or adding files to the cloud.

Related content: What upload speed do you need?

See also: Download Speeds | Typical Evening Speeds | Mbps

Congestion: Congestion or otherwise referred to as Network Congestion, occurs when too many users are accessing the network at the same time causing connection speeds to slow down. Congestion is to internet connections, what traffic is on the roads. The more people using the same road, at the same time, the less road there is to go around for everyone.

Related content: Why your NBN is slow

See also: Download speeds | Upload speeds | Typical Evening Speeds | Speed Tier

Copper: Copper cable previously formed the backbone of Australia’s ADSL network. It is however now being repurposed for several NBN technology types. There are issues surrounding copper, however. The longer the length of copper needed to connect a home to NBN, the slower speeds a user can expect. A house needs to be connected with under 400m of copper to have a chance of achieving NBN 100 speeds.

See also: FTTN

Fibre: Fibre is a type of cable capable of high speed data transmission over long distances. It doesn’t suffer from speed degradation, and is a core technology at the heart of the National Broadband Network, even though it is paired with another technology in most circumstances.

Coaxial: Coaxial is a type of cable that was previously used to deliver Pay TV services like Foxtel. It has now been repurposed for the NBN rollout as part of the HFC technology type.

Related content: HFC guide

See also: HFC

VDSL: VDSL stands for very high-speed digital subscriber line. If you have a FTTN or FTTB NBN connection, you’ll need a VDSL port on your modem or modem/router to get online.

See also: FTTN | FTTB | Modem / Router | Modem

LAN: LAN stands for Local Area Network. A Local Area Network is the network in your house powered by your router. It can include both wireless and wired devices.

See also: Router | Modem / Router | Mesh Network

Modem: A modem is a piece of hardware used to facilitate a connection to the internet. It does not emit WiFi and is unable to connect your devices to the internet.

Related content: Modem vs. Router | Do I need a new modem?

See also: Router | Modem / Router | Mesh Network

Router: A router is a hardware device used to distribute your internet connection to different devices. Routers give off WiFi signals, and can allow you to connect your devices to your internet network.

Related content: Modem vs. Router | Mesh networking guide

See also: Modem | Modem / Router | WiFi | Mesh Network

Modem/Router: A modem / router is a singular device that combines a modem and a router together. This piece of equipment will create a connection to your internet, and will emit WiFi to allow your devices to connect to your network.

Related content: Modem vs. Router

See also: Modem | Router | WiFi | Mesh Network

Mesh network: A mesh network is a range of devices that together act as a single WiFi network. Rather than having one modem that emits your precious WiFi signal you’ll have multiple points positioned around the house.

Related content: Mesh networking guide

See also: Modem | Router | WiFi

ISP: ISP stands for Internet Service Provider, and is used as a blanket term for an organisation that provides and sells different services for accessing and using the internet.

Related content: Best internet providers in Australia

See also: NBN | POI

WiFi: WiFi is wireless technology that connects devices to the internet. WiFi requires a wireless router with which your devices will connect, and interface with the internet.

Related content: Home WiFi plans

See also: Modem | Router | Modem/Router | Mesh Network

Data: Data is a unit of information, but in context to the internet, data is a unit of information stored or used by a computer or device. Data may also refer to the amount of storage available for use, for example; data allowances, mobile and tablet RAM and ROM size.

See also: GB

GB: GB stands for gigabyte which is a unit of data storage. One GB is around 1 billion bytes.

See also: Data

Mbps: Mbps stands for Megabits per second which is a universal method used to measure how fast data travels along the network. More Mbps means a faster connection, less means a slower one.

See also: Speed Tier | Download Speeds | Upload Speeds | Typical Evening Speeds

VOIP: VOIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol, which is a service that allows you to make phone calls from a landline using the internet, rather than the original copper network.

Related content: Home phone and NBN bundles | VOIP guide

See also: Copper | NBN

POI: POI stands for Points of Interconnect. A POI connects the NBN to the wider internet, but each ISP requires its own hardware at each POI if it wants to service customers in that area.

See also: Node | NBN | ISP