Here’s what changes after your FTTP upgrade and what each piece of equipment does.

nbn FTTP Equipment: What Gets Installed

When your FTTP upgrade is complete, you’ll have two new pieces of nbn equipment at your property. Both are supplied, owned, and maintained by nbn Co. Not by you, and not by your internet provider.

The nbn Utility Box (External)

A small box mounted on the outside wall of your home, near your existing telecommunications box at the front of the property. It’s where the fibre optic cable from the street connects to your premises.

You don’t need to interact with it. It has no lights, no buttons, and no power supply. It’s the entry point: fibre comes from the street and terminates here before continuing inside.

The nbn Connection Box (Internal)

Inside your home, the technician installs an nbn connection box, also called a Network Termination Device (NTD). It converts the fibre signal into something your router can use.

A fibre cable runs through your wall from the external utility box to the connection box. From the connection box, you plug in your router with a standard Ethernet cable. Both the connection box and your router need their own power outlet.

The technician will walk through placement options with you during the installation. The box is best located somewhere dry, cool, and easy to get to: a garage, hallway, or living area. Think about where your router will sit before the technician arrives, since the two should ideally be close together.

Who owns what?

The utility box brings fibre into the property. The connection box converts it into a data connection. Everything from the connection box outward toward the street belongs to nbn. Everything from the connection box inward, your router, cables, and devices, belongs to you.

What Happens to Your Old Equipment

If you were on an FTTN (fibre to the node) connection before the upgrade, there’s no nbn-supplied equipment to deal with. FTTN uses your existing phone socket and a modem/router, so there’s nothing to return or remove.
If you were on FTTC (fibre to the curb), you’ll have an NCD (Network Connection Device) that’s no longer needed after the switch. Your internet provider can tell you whether it needs to be returned.
Either way, your old modem/router may not be the right fit for your new connection. More on that below.

FTTP Setup Checklist: What to Check After Installation

Most speed issues after upgrading come down to your router or Wi-Fi setup, not the nbn connection itself.

Once the technician has finished and your provider has activated the service, run through a few checks before assuming everything is working at full speed.

Check Your Router Can Support FTTP Speeds

The most common reason people don’t see the speeds they’re paying for: the router. Your FTTP connection might support 100Mbps, 250Mbps, or 1000Mbps, but if your router can’t match that, it holds everything back.

Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) routers deliver real-world wireless speeds of around 300 to 500Mbps on the 5GHz band, depending on the device connecting. That works for an NBN 100 plan. On faster tiers, it starts to fall short. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) routers handle higher speeds better and cope with more connected devices at once. If you’re on anything above NBN 100, Wi-Fi 6 is the way to go.

A router that’s four or five years old is likely Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) or an early Wi-Fi 5 model. Either one will cap your speeds well below what FTTP can deliver.

Check Your Router Placement for Strong Wi-Fi

Where the router sits in the house has a bigger effect than most people expect. Walls, floors, metal appliances, and even fish tanks weaken Wi-Fi signals. The ideal position is central and open: not inside a cupboard, not behind furniture on the floor, and not next to a microwave or cordless phone base.

If the nbn connection box ends up in the garage but your household mostly uses Wi-Fi in the living room and bedrooms, running an Ethernet cable from the connection box to a better router location is worth considering. A registered cabler can set that up.

Run a Wired Speed Test to Isolate the Issue

Before blaming the Wi-Fi, plug a laptop directly into the router with an Ethernet cable and run a speed test. The result tells you whether the issue sits with the nbn connection or with the wireless side of things.

Wired speeds close to your plan? The nbn connection is doing its job. The problem is between the router and your devices. Wired speeds also slow? Contact your internet provider. The issue might be on their network, or with the nbn connection itself.

Check Your Devices Can Support FTTP Speeds

Even a good router can’t fix old devices. A laptop from 2015 with a Wi-Fi 4 adapter won’t get faster than about 50 to 70Mbps over Wi-Fi, no matter the plan or the router. Every phone, tablet, and smart TV connects at its own maximum speed based on its own hardware.

Check the Wi-Fi standard in the specs of your device. Anything marked 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) or 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) will handle FTTP speeds without issue. Anything marked 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) or older won’t.

Common FTTP Problems and How to Fix Them

Why Your FTTP Speeds Are Below Your Plan

Connect a device to the router with an Ethernet cable and run a speed test. If the wired result is close to your plan, the nbn connection is fine and the problem is your Wi-Fi.

Most likely causes: a router that doesn’t support your plan’s speeds, or a device connecting on the 2.4GHz band instead of the faster 5GHz band. If your router broadcasts separate network names for each band, connect to the 5GHz one when testing.

Wired speeds also disappointing? Get in touch with your internet provider. They can check for congestion on their network or raise a fault with nbn Co on your behalf.

Fix Wi-Fi Dead Zones 

FTTP improves the connection coming into the house. It doesn’t change how Wi-Fi behaves inside it. If certain rooms had weak signal before the upgrade, they probably still will.

For larger homes or thick-walled properties, a mesh Wi-Fi system is the most practical fix. Mesh systems place multiple units around the house to create a single wireless network with even coverage. Options range from budget to high-end. Avoid Wi-Fi extenders as these will degrade your internet speeds, not improve them. 

Why One Device Is Slower Than Others

When a single device lags behind the rest, the device is almost always the limiting factor. Check its Wi-Fi standard. Wi-Fi 4 or older hardware just can’t use higher speeds.

Worth checking too: which band the device is using. The 2.4GHz band reaches further but tops out around 50 to 70Mbps under good conditions. The 5GHz band is where the speed lives.

What to Do If Speeds Are Still Not Right

Contact your internet provider, in this case, Skymesh. Your provider is the first point of contact for any connection problem. They can run remote diagnostics and, if the issue is on nbn’s side, escalate directly to nbn Co. You don’t need to contact nbn Co yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions