You’ve likely heard of the nbn® - Australia’s National Broadband Network - but did you know that it’s actually a collection of many different connection technologies?

When moving house or exploring your home internet options, it’s helpful to know which technology is used at your address. At Pentanet, we deliver internet connectivity over the five ’fixed line’ nbn technologies:

• Fibre to the Node (FTTN)
• Fibre to the Curb (FTTC)
• Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)
• Fibre to the Building (FTTB)
• Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC)

Let’s break them down 👇

Fibre to the Node (FTTN)?

FTTN uses fibre optic cable (the good stuff) to connect to an nbn node in your street or suburb, and from there, uses the existing copper phone lines (the not-so-good stuff) to connect to your home. Performance can vary based on the quality and length of the copper line, with longer lines limiting the achievable speeds. FTTN is being upgraded over time to FTTP through nbn’s fibre upgrade program.

How to identify: Some nbn types use extra nbn boxes, but not with FTTN. Instead, your router will connect straight into a phone socket like this.

Fibre to the Curb (FTTC)

FTTC brings fibre optic cable to a small pit near the curb outside your premises. From there, the final stretch into your home uses the existing copper telephone line. It offers faster and more stable performance than FTTN because the copper line is shorter, reducing signal degradation. FTTC is also being upgraded over time to FTTP through nbn’s fibre upgrade program.

How to identify: There’ll be a white nbn connection device like this, which connects into a phone socket. You’ll then plug your router into the connection device.

Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)

FTTP is the gold standard of nbn connections. In this setup, a fibre optic cable runs all the way to a network termination device inside your home. This full-fibre connection delivers the fastest and most reliable speeds, with very low latency, minimal performance degradation, and is considered future-proofed.

How to identify: A white nbn box like this will be fixed to into an internal wall. It may have a cover or be a different model to the one pictured.

Fibre to the Building (FTTB)

FTTB is used in multi-dwelling buildings like apartment blocks. Fibre runs to a telecommunications room or basement in the building, and then existing copper (or sometimes Ethernet) cabling is used to connect each apartment. The technology is similar to FTTC, with performance varying based on the length and quality of the internal cabling.

How to identify: There’ll be no nbn box inside. Instead, you’ll connect your router into a phone socket or Ethernet port.

Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC)

HFC uses existing coaxial cable, originally laid for TV services like Foxtel, connected from a nearby nbn node. It’s a hybrid system, with fibre running to the node, then coaxial cable the rest of the way. HFC supports high speeds and is superior to some other technologies like FTTN/C but can’t quite reach the level of FTTP.

How to identify: There should be a small black nbn box like this plugged into a coaxial wall socket, into which you’ll plug your router.

What About Fibre Upgrades?

Many homes currently on FTTN or FTTC are already eligible for a FREE upgrade to FTTP, with more becoming eligible over time as the roll-out continues. You can check your eligibility here.

If your address is ready to upgrade, or this is all a bit confusing and you’d prefer to chat through your options, get in touch and our local team will help you out.

For more information on how to set up and connect your router to nbn, please see our help centre article here.