One of the most common broadband questions in NZ is: “Do I need Fibre 500 or Fibre Max?” For most households, the answer is Fibre 500 (the plan called Fibre 500 until the June 2025 speed upgrade), which is faster than most people’s actual needs. This guide explains what different speeds mean in practice.
1–2 people: Fibre 500 is more than enough
3–5 people with streaming + gaming: Fibre 500 is comfortable
5+ people, heavy simultaneous use: Fibre Max worth considering
Content creators / large file uploaders: Fibre Max for faster upload speeds
For almost all NZ households, Fibre 500 is the right choice.
Understanding Broadband Speed
Download vs Upload Speed
Download speed is how quickly data comes to your devices — streaming video, loading web pages, downloading files. Most activities are download-heavy.
Upload speed is how quickly you send data — video calls, cloud backups, uploading files to Google Drive, live streaming. Upload matters much more for remote workers, content creators, and video callers.
NZ fibre plans:
- Fibre 100 = 100 Mbps download (called Fibre 100 until June 2025)
- Fibre 500 = 500 Mbps download (called Fibre 500 until June 2025, and still the most popular plan)
- Fibre Max = about 1 Gbps download
- Hyperfibre = 2 Gbps or 4 Gbps nationwide, and 8 Gbps in parts of Auckland and Wellington
Upload speeds are lower than download on most plans; check your provider’s plan details.
For reference, at about 25 Mbps per 4K stream, Fibre 500 can carry 20 simultaneous 4K streams.
Mbps vs MB/s
- Mbps (megabits per second) = broadband speed measurement used by ISPs
- MB/s (megabytes per second) = used for file download progress bars
To convert: divide Mbps by 8. So 500 Mbps = 62.5 MB/s.
A 1GB file download at 500 Mbps takes about 16 seconds. At 50 Mbps (old VDSL), it takes about 2.7 minutes.
How Much Speed Does Each Activity Use?
| Activity | Speed required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic web browsing | 1–5 Mbps | Almost any connection handles this |
| Video call (FaceTime, Google Meet) | 2–5 Mbps per call | Including upload |
| Video call 4K (Zoom HD) | 5–10 Mbps | Upload and download |
| Netflix / NEON HD (1080p) | 5 Mbps | Per stream |
| Netflix / NEON 4K | 15–25 Mbps | Per stream |
| Online gaming | 3–10 Mbps + low latency | Speed isn’t critical; latency (ping) is |
| Large file download (e.g., game on Steam) | As fast as connection allows | A 50GB game downloads in about 13 min on 500 Mbps |
| Cloud backup (photos/files upload) | Upload-limited | 100 Mbps upload = 45GB/hour |
| 4K content creation upload | Upload-limited | Raw video is huge; Fibre Max upload speed helps |
Speed Requirements by Household Type
1–2 People
Recommended: Fibre 500
- Two people streaming different content simultaneously = 50 Mbps peak
- Video calls, general browsing, gaming = well within 500 Mbps
- Fibre 500 provides comfortable headroom
3–4 People
Recommended: Fibre 500 (comfortable), Fibre Max if budget allows
- Three 4K streams + two gaming devices + a video call = peak ~100 Mbps
- Still well within Fibre 500
- Fibre Max is future-proofing rather than necessity
5+ People or Power Users
Recommended: Fibre Max
- 5+ simultaneous heavy users could push toward the 500 Mbps limit during peak evening hours
- Fibre Max provides significant headroom
- Also relevant if multiple household members upload large files regularly
Content Creators / Remote Workers with Heavy Upload
Recommended: Fibre Max for upload speed
- The main benefit at this level is upload speed (500 Mbps vs 100 Mbps)
- Uploading a 10GB video file: ~2.5 minutes at 500 Mbps upload vs ~13 minutes at 100 Mbps
- If you regularly upload large files to cloud storage, YouTube, or client servers, Fibre Max saves meaningful time
What Slows Down Your Broadband (It’s Usually Not the Plan)
If your internet feels slow, the bottleneck is usually not your fibre connection speed — it’s:
1. WiFi
The most common bottleneck. Standard 2.4GHz WiFi maxes out at around 50–100 Mbps in practice. Even a 500 Mbps fibre connection will feel slow on an old router or at long range from the router.
Fix:
- Use 5GHz WiFi band (more bandwidth, less interference)
- Move the router to a central location
- Consider a mesh WiFi system for large homes (TP-Link Deco, Netgear Orbi)
- Use a wired Ethernet connection for devices that don’t move (desktop computers, Smart TVs, gaming consoles)
2. Router Quality
ISP-supplied routers are often basic. A better router significantly improves WiFi coverage and throughput.
3. Device/App Limitations
Older devices may have WiFi chips that can’t receive beyond 50–100 Mbps even on fast connections.
4. Server Speed (for downloads)
When downloading from a slow server, your connection speed is irrelevant — the bottleneck is the remote server. This is why Steam downloads sometimes max out even on fast connections.
Speed Tests
Test your actual connection speed (not just what’s advertised) using:
- speedtest.net (Ookla) — most widely used
- fast.com (Netflix’s speed test)
- 2degrees or Spark speed test pages — may give more accurate NZ-to-NZ results
For a fair test: connect a device directly via Ethernet to your router (bypassing WiFi), close other applications, and run 2–3 tests. The result is your true connection speed.
If your wired speed is significantly below your plan speed (e.g., 80 Mbps on a Fibre 500 plan), contact your ISP — there may be a fault in your connection or ONT configuration.