You upgraded the plan. The bill went up. The internet feels exactly the same.
This is one of the most common frustrations we hear, and the explanation is fairly simple once you know where the number on your plan is actually measured.
Where the number comes from
Your plan speed describes what arrives at your modem. It is not a promise about what arrives at your laptop on the back deck.
Between those two points sits your WiFi, every other device in the house, and the equipment you are using. Speed gets lost at each stage. Upgrading the plan raises the ceiling. It does nothing about the things underneath it.
If the room you use is already the bottleneck, a faster plan changes nothing you can feel.
Loss point one: the WiFi itself
Even in ideal conditions you will not see full plan speed over WiFi. Distance, walls and interference all take a cut, and the further you are from the router the more your device slows its connection down to stay stable.
A device sitting next to the router might see most of the plan speed. The same device three rooms away might see a fraction of it. Nothing is broken. That is just how radio works, and it is why the cable test is the only honest measure of what your connection is delivering.
Loss point two: everything else in the house
Your connection is shared. Every phone, tablet, TV, laptop, console, camera, speaker and smart device is drawing from the same pipe.
In a typical family home that is somewhere north of thirty connected devices, most of them doing something quietly in the background. Cameras uploading. Phones backing up. TVs updating. Streaming in three rooms at once.
None of that is a problem on its own. Together, at 7pm, it adds up, and older routers in particular struggle to manage that many conversations at once.
Loss point three: your devices
An older laptop or phone may not support the faster WiFi standards your router does. It will connect happily, just at a lower speed, and there is nothing the network can do about that.
Worth checking before you blame the connection: if one device is slow and everything else is fine, the device is the problem.
Loss point four: the connection type at your address
Not all NBN connections behave the same way. The technology at your address, whether that is a full fibre connection, a mix of fibre and copper, cable, fixed wireless or satellite, sets a practical limit on what is achievable regardless of the plan you buy.
Some addresses are eligible for an upgrade to a better connection type. Many are not. This is worth confirming before paying for a higher tier, because a plan can only deliver what the infrastructure supports.
So what should you actually do
Start with the cable test. Plug a laptop into the modem, run a speed test and compare it to your plan. If you are not sure whether the issue is the NBN connection or your WiFi, this test is the quickest way to separate the two.
If the cabled result matches the plan, your connection is doing its job and the loss is inside the house. That is a coverage and equipment conversation, and depending on the home it might mean additional access points and cabling or a better positioned setup.
For homes where coverage is the issue rather than the internet connection itself, a whole-home WiFi setup can provide better coverage by placing additional access points where they are actually needed.
If the cabled result is well below the plan, take it to your provider before spending money on anything internal. Our NBN setup and troubleshooting service can also help identify whether the issue is with the connection, modem setup or the network inside the home.
We are an internet plan reseller as well as an installer, so if the connection type or plan genuinely is the limitation, we can set you up with an NBN or internet plan directly. But we would rather tell you the plan is fine and fix the actual problem than sell you a bigger number that changes nothing.
Prices and availability of internet plans are set by the provider and vary by address.
Written by Yariv, Owner and Lead Installer at AVsion. 14 years installing AV, WiFi and security systems across Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Frequently asked questions
Why am I not getting the internet speed I pay for?
Your plan speed describes what arrives at the modem, not what arrives at your device. Speed is lost across the WiFi signal, shared between every connected device in the house, and limited by the age of the device you are using. Run a speed test with a laptop plugged directly into the modem. If that result matches your plan, the connection is fine and the loss is happening inside your home.
Will upgrading my internet plan make my WiFi faster?
Only if your current plan is genuinely the bottleneck. If the room you use already cannot receive a strong signal, raising the plan speed will not change what you experience, because the limitation sits between the modem and your device rather than at the connection. Test the cabled speed first. If it already matches your plan, upgrading will not help and the coverage needs attention instead.
How many devices can a home network handle?
There is no fixed number, but a typical family home now runs thirty or more connected devices including phones, TVs, cameras, speakers and appliances, many of them active in the background. Older routers manage large numbers of simultaneous connections poorly, which is often why performance falls apart in the evening even though the connection itself is fine.
Does the NBN connection type at my address affect my speed?
Yes. The infrastructure at your address, whether that is full fibre, a mix of fibre and copper, cable, fixed wireless or satellite, sets a practical ceiling on what any plan can deliver. Some addresses are eligible for an upgrade to a better connection type and many are not. It is worth confirming what is available at your address before paying for a higher speed tier.
Should I use WiFi or a cable for my TV and computer?
Where a cable is practical, use it. A wired connection is faster, more stable and unaffected by walls, distance or other devices competing for signal. TVs, desktop computers, consoles and home office setups all benefit noticeably. Running data cabling to those fixed positions also takes load off the WiFi, which improves performance for everything still connecting wirelessly.
Can AVsion arrange an internet plan as well as fix my network?
Yes. We are an internet plan reseller as well as an installer, so we can set you up with an NBN or internet plan directly. That said, we will tell you if your existing plan is already sufficient. In most homes the connection is doing its job and the real issue is coverage or equipment, and changing plans in that situation makes no difference to what you experience.
