Australia's fastest internet speeds just doubled with new NBN 2000 plans, but it’s probably not worth it right now

Everyone's been talking about the recent NBN 500 upgrades—which are automatic if you're on an NBN 100 plan with a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coax (HFC) connection—but few are talking about the fact that, as of now, internet speeds via NBN in Australia can now theoretically max out at 2,000 Mbps, which is double the previous limit.

NBN is calling this new plan tier 'Hyperfast' and I guess, by the low standards Aussie internet users have grown used to, that isn't hyperbole. And as you can probably expect, 2,000 Mbps plans don't come cheap: the most affordable I've seen is AU$149 a month via Southern Phone.

Oh, and you'll need to make sure your NTD box (network termination device)—ie, that wall-mounted or router-like device found somewhere in your home that bridges the connection between the NBN and your wireless router—is compatible with this new NBN 2000 tier. I only had mine installed about two months ago and it is compatible, but you'd best be checking if yours is too on the NBN website (scroll to the bottom until you get to the address form). If it's not, you'll need to contact your provider to talk about an upgrade.

But that's not all! You're also going to need a Wi-Fi 7 router, or at least a WiFi 6E one, if you want to actually reach those 2,000 Mbps speeds via a wireless connection. Most of the routers in our best gaming routers feature are good candidates.

Here's the lay of the land at the moment:

*Superloop's NBN 2000 plan won't be available until Friday, September 19.

I guess the most pertinent question at the moment is: does a household that uses the internet predominantly to game, browse and stream 4K content (such as the cult 1980s rock 'n' roll sitcom Sweet and Sour) need an NBN 2000 connection?

I've pointed out as much in my guide to the best NBN plans for gaming, but higher download speeds generally aren't going to improve latency and thus, have no impact on the most important aspect of competitive online gaming. For example, ping times using Aussie Broadband are going to be the same whether you're on NBN 2000 or NBN 500.

What an NBN 2000 connection will help with, obviously, is download speeds. Borderlands 4 is 100 GB, so at theoretical full speeds it should download in around 7 minutes. Double that if you're dropping down to NBN 1000, and so forth. Let's take Aussie Broadband for example: their NBN 1000 plan is AU$140, while their new NBN 2000 plan is AU$189. Is the extra speed worth an extra AU$39 a month? That's the question you'll need to consider.

Note also that you may not always be able to reach your connection's maximum download speeds either. Achieving them also requires the server you're downloading from to be configured to (and have the bandwidth to) send data at the top speed your connection is capable of.

For my money, the new NBN 500 tiers offer the best all-round value, and assuming you've been on an NBN 100 or NBN 250 (heck, maybe even an NBN 50) until now, I reckon you're better off dabbling in 500 Mbps speeds before forking out for quadruple that. We've become so accustomed to waiting for big files to download that a climb to 500 Mbps actually feels incredible. And, it's dramatically more affordable.

Here are the best NBN 500 plans available in Australia at the moment: