Getting your NBN connection for a new house sorted is one of those moving tasks you can't afford to leave until the last minute. I always tell people to get the ball rolling at least four weeks before moving day. Seriously. This gives you enough breathing room to check your address, pick an internet provider, and book an installation without facing a frustrating internet-free first few weeks in your new place.
Your First Steps for a New Home NBN Connection
Moving into a brand-new home is exciting, but that excitement can fade pretty quickly if you're stuck without Wi-Fi. A bit of planning upfront makes all the difference. While you're juggling movers and telling everyone your new address, make organising the NBN a top priority. It's just as important as setting up your electricity and water.
Speaking of updating details, our guide on how to change your address when moving can be a real lifesaver for making sure you don't miss any important notifications.
Check Your Address and NBN Technology
First things first: you need to find out what kind of NBN technology is available at your new address. The easiest way to do this is to jump on the official NBN Co website and use their address checker. Just pop in your new street address, and it'll tell you what you're working with.
You'll likely see one of these common connection types:
- Fibre to the Premises (FTTP): This is the best-case scenario. It means you have a fibre optic line running directly into your home, giving you access to the fastest and most reliable speeds out there.
- Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC): This technology uses the existing cable network (the same one used for pay TV) to deliver the NBN to your home. It’s still very fast and reliable.
- Fibre to the Curb (FTTC): With FTTC, the fibre runs to a small box in the street near your home, and the last little bit of the connection is completed over the old copper phone line.
Knowing your connection type is crucial. It directly impacts the internet speeds you can get and what the installation process will look like. A house with FTTP, for example, is ready for seriously fast, gigabit-level plans, while other technologies might have different speed caps.
This simple chart breaks down the main stages of getting your new home online.
As you can see, checking your address is the very first step. You can't even start comparing internet plans until you know what technology you have.
Key Takeaway: Never assume a new build will automatically have the best NBN connection. Checking your specific NBN technology early sets realistic expectations for speed and helps you choose an internet plan that actually suits your connection.
With a little bit of organisation, you can ensure your internet is ready to go from day one. Here's a handy checklist to keep you on track.
NBN Pre-Move Checklist
| Action Item | Recommended Timeline | Why It's Important |
|---|---|---|
| Check NBN Availability | 4-6 weeks before move | Confirms the technology type at your new address, which dictates your plan options. |
| Compare Internet Providers & Plans | 3-4 weeks before move | Gives you time to find the best value for your speed needs without rushing. |
| Place Your Order & Book Installation | At least 3 weeks before move | Secures a technician appointment close to your move-in date, as slots can fill up. |
| Confirm Access for Technician | 1 week before move | Ensures someone can be at the property to let the NBN technician in if required. |
Tackling these steps early is the best way to avoid any last-minute panic. A smooth internet setup makes the entire moving process feel a whole lot easier.
Choosing the Right NBN Provider and Plan
So, you’ve figured out what kind of NBN technology your new place has. Great! Now for the fun part: picking an internet provider (ISP) and a plan that actually works for you. It’s tempting to just grab the cheapest deal you see, but trust me, that can be a real headache down the track.
To get the best NBN connection for your new house, you need to look past the flashy headline price. What really counts is how it performs when your whole family is online. We're talking about things like typical evening speeds, data caps, contract flexibility, and what the customer support is like when things go wrong. The speed they advertise isn't always what you'll get between 7 pm and 11 pm, which is exactly when you need it most.
Decoding NBN Speed Tiers
Providers package their plans into different speed tiers. The right one for you comes down to one simple thing: how you actually use the internet. A solo user who just browses the news has completely different needs to a family of four with multiple streamers, a gamer, and a home office.
Let's break it down with some real-world scenarios:
- The Streamer & Gamer Household: Picture this—two people are streaming different 4K movies, another is deep in an online game, and someone else is on a video call. This house is a data powerhouse and needs a beefy plan, probably an NBN 100 or higher, to keep everything running smoothly without that dreaded buffering wheel.
- The Work-From-Home Couple: If you and your partner both work from home, with constant video meetings and large file uploads, an NBN 50 plan usually hits the sweet spot. It's got enough oomph for your professional needs and handles your evening Netflix binge with ease.
- The Light User: For someone living alone who mainly checks emails, scrolls social media, and watches a bit of YouTube, a basic NBN 25 plan is often plenty. It gets the job done and is much kinder to your wallet.
To make it even clearer, here’s a quick guide to help you match a speed tier to your lifestyle.
NBN Speed Tier Guide for New Homes
| Speed Tier | Ideal For | Example Household |
|---|---|---|
| NBN 25 | Basic browsing, email, social media, and standard-definition (SD) streaming. | A single person or a couple who are light internet users. |
| NBN 50 | HD/4K streaming on multiple devices, online gaming, and working from home. | A family of 2-4 or a share house with multiple users online at once. |
| NBN 100 | Heavy-duty 4K streaming, competitive online gaming, and large file downloads. | A large family, serious gamers, or a household with multiple people working from home. |
| NBN 250+ | Simultaneous 4K streaming on many screens, professional-level gaming, and huge files. | Tech-savvy households with a need for ultimate speed and performance. |
Choosing the right speed is just one piece of the puzzle. A great plan can be completely let down by a poor-quality modem.
A crucial part of your NBN setup, often overlooked, is choosing the right WiFi router to complement your chosen plan and provide optimal connectivity for your new home. A great plan is only as good as the hardware distributing the signal.
As you line up your internet, don't forget it's just one of several utilities you'll need to sort out. For more on this, check out our handy guide on organising your moving house utilities.
Beyond Speed: What Else to Consider
While speed gets all the attention, a few other details can make or break your internet experience. The NBN rollout has been a game-changer for Australia. As of December 2023, a massive 8.64 million premises were connected, and the gold-standard Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connections shot up to 2.99 million. This means new homes are in a fantastic position to get seriously fast and reliable internet.
When you’re comparing providers, ask yourself these questions:
- Contract Length: Do you prefer the freedom of a month-to-month plan, or are you happy to lock into a 12 or 24-month contract to score a discount or a free modem?
- Customer Support: What are people saying online? When your connection drops, you'll want an ISP with responsive, helpful, and ideally local support.
- Included Hardware: Does the plan come with a modem/router? Is it a decent one, or would you be better off buying your own high-performance model?
Taking a few extra minutes to think through these points will help you land a plan that not only fits the budget but also keeps your household happily connected from the day you move in.
Getting Your Property Ready for Installation
You’ve picked your provider and plan—great! Now, the focus shifts from paperwork to your property itself. Getting your new house physically ready for the NBN hardware is a critical part of a smooth, hassle-free installation. It’s about more than just waiting for a technician; a bit of forward-thinking can prevent annoying delays and make sure your internet setup is top-notch from day one.
The process really hinges on what kind of NBN technology your home is getting. Some connections are as simple as getting a self-install kit in the mail. But if you're in a new build, it's far more likely you'll need a professional technician to come out and install the equipment, especially for FTTP connections.
Technician Install vs. Self-Install
For most new homes needing a brand-new nbn connection, a visit from a technician is pretty much standard. They're the ones who handle the tricky stuff—running the external wiring from the street to your house and installing the main hardware inside. A self-install is usually reserved for places that have already had an active NBN service, where it's just a matter of plugging in a new modem.
Don't worry about figuring this out yourself. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will tell you exactly which installation you need when you sign up and will help you book a specific appointment if a technician is required.
Be prepared for a potential $300 New Development Fee. This is a one-off charge from NBN Co to cover the cost of connecting a brand-new property to the network. Your ISP will let you know if it applies to your address and will typically add it to your first bill.
Positioning Your NBN Equipment
The most important bit of gear the technician will install is the Network Termination Device (NTD), or what most people call the NBN connection box. This is where the NBN network officially ends and your home network begins—it's what you'll plug your Wi-Fi router into.
Technicians often have a default spot for this, like a garage or utility room, close to where the cable comes in from the outside. But you absolutely have a say in this. Think about where you want your Wi-Fi router to live. A router placed in a central location is going to give you much better signal throughout the entire house. Have a chat with the technician when they arrive; they’re usually happy to accommodate reasonable requests if it's technically possible.
For a complete rundown of all the things you should be thinking about before moving day, our moving into a new house checklist is an invaluable resource.
Ensuring Clear Access and Internal Cabling
On the day of the installation, the technician is going to need clear and safe access to a few key spots. Make sure you’ve planned for this.
- The exterior wall where the outside NBN utility box will be mounted.
- The path from the street pit to your house.
- The internal wall where you've decided the NTD should go.
Clear away any moving boxes, furniture, or other clutter from these areas beforehand. It's also a good time to think about internal cabling. If you're setting up a home office and want a super-reliable wired internet connection, you'll probably need a licensed electrician to run an Ethernet cable from the NTD's location to a new wall socket in that office. The NBN technician's job ends at the connection box; any extra data cabling inside your home is up to you. Sorting this out in advance means you'll have a rock-solid connection right where you need it most.
What Really Happens on NBN Installation Day
So, the big day has arrived. Knowing what the technician will actually do when they show up to connect your new home to the NBN can make the whole experience feel a lot less mysterious and a lot more straightforward. This isn't just a simple plug-and-play visit; it's a proper installation, and your input is crucial.
You’ll want to block out a decent chunk of your day. Most standard installations take anywhere from two to four hours, but don't be surprised if a more complicated job runs longer. The technician needs to work both outside and inside your house, which means someone over 18 has to be home the entire time to give them access and sign off on key decisions.
The Technician's Checklist
When the technician arrives, the first thing they’ll likely do is a walk-through of the property with you. This is their chance to map out the best route for the fibre optic cable from the street to your house and figure out where to place the small NBN utility box on an outside wall.
Inside, you'll need to make a really important decision together: where to install the internal NBN connection box, also known as the Network Termination Device (NTD). The technician will recommend a spot based on what’s technically easiest, but you get the final say. Think carefully about this. A central spot, like a living room or home office, is usually the best bet for blanketing your home in strong Wi-Fi.
Pro Tip: Don't be afraid to speak up about where you want the connection box. Technicians often suggest the garage because it's an easy install for them, but that's often a terrible spot for Wi-Fi signal. Moving it later is a massive, and expensive, headache.
Once you’ve both agreed on the plan, the real work begins. The tech will typically:
- Run the main fibre line from the pit on your street to the external box.
- Drill a small, neat hole through an external wall to feed the cable inside.
- Mount the internal NBN connection box and get it all wired up.
- Test everything to make sure a solid, stable signal is coming through.
For a deeper dive into the nitty-gritty of what happens with the cables and equipment, checking out a detailed fiber internet installation process guide can be really helpful.
Your Post-Installation Steps
After the technician gives you the thumbs up that the line is active and working, they’ll pack up and leave. Their part is done. Now, it's your turn to get all your gadgets online.
Your first move is to connect your Wi-Fi router to the newly installed NBN box with an Ethernet cable. Then, just plug the router into a power outlet and give it a few minutes to boot up.
Follow the quick-start guide your internet provider sent you to set up your Wi-Fi network name and password. Once that’s sorted, you can start connecting everything—your laptop, phone, smart TV, you name it. I always recommend running a quick speed test as your final step to make sure you're getting the speeds you signed up for.
Solving Common New Connection Problems
Even with the best planning in the world, your brand-new NBN connection might not be picture-perfect the moment you flick the switch. It's easy to feel frustrated, but don't panic. Most day-one issues are surprisingly common and can often be sorted out with a few simple checks, saving you a long and painful call to tech support.
Think of this as your connection first-aid kit. It'll walk you through the most frequent hiccups, from speeds that feel more dial-up than broadband to connection dropouts that happen at the worst possible moment. Knowing these basic troubleshooting steps will help you fix the small stuff on your own and arm you with the right information if you do need to call your provider.
Diagnosing Slow Speeds and Dropouts
"Why is my internet so slow?" It's the number one complaint we hear. Before you jump to conclusions about the NBN itself, it’s worth running through a few quick checks.
First things first, check for a network outage. It sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how often the problem isn't inside your four walls. A quick look at your provider's website or the main NBN Co outages page will tell you if there’s maintenance or a fault affecting your whole area.
Next, get hands-on with your physical setup. Are all the cables pushed in firmly? Check the connection to your NBN connection box and your Wi-Fi router. I've lost count of how many times a dodgy connection has been caused by nothing more than a loose Ethernet cable that got knocked during the move.
If everything looks good, it's time for the oldest trick in the IT book: the classic reboot.
- Switch off both your Wi-Fi router and your NBN connection box at the power outlet.
- Leave them off for at least a full minute. Don’t rush this part; it gives the hardware time to clear its memory and fully reset.
- Turn the NBN box on first. Let it do its thing – wait until all the lights go solid and stop flashing, which can take a few minutes.
- Only then should you power up your Wi-Fi router.
This simple power cycle forces the equipment to re-establish a fresh connection and, honestly, it fixes a huge number of initial glitches.
Here's a pro tip for diagnosing speed issues: take Wi-Fi out of the equation. Find an Ethernet cable and plug a laptop directly into your router (or NBN box). Run a speed test. If your speeds are great with a wired connection, then the problem isn't the NBN service – it's your Wi-Fi signal.
Conquering Wi-Fi Dead Zones
It’s a classic new-home story: you’ve got lightning-fast internet in the living room, but the signal barely reaches the home office upstairs. This is a Wi-Fi coverage issue, not an NBN fault. The layout of your house, the number of walls, and even the building materials can wreak havoc on a Wi-Fi signal.
Sometimes, just moving your router to a more central, open spot in the house can make a world of difference. But if that doesn't cut it, the modern answer is a mesh Wi-Fi system.
Instead of relying on a single router to cover the whole home, mesh systems use a main router plus one or more satellite "nodes" that you place in different areas.
- How it works: All the nodes work together, creating a single, powerful Wi-Fi network that blankets your entire property.
- The benefit: As you move through the house, your phone or laptop seamlessly hands off to the node with the strongest signal. No more dropouts when you walk from the kitchen to the back deck.
For a new build, investing in a decent mesh system is often the smartest long-term solution for getting reliable, fast internet in every single room.
Got Questions About Your New Home's NBN? We've Got Answers
Sorting out an NBN connection for a new build can feel like you're learning a new language. There are fees, timelines, and technical terms to get your head around. It's easy to feel a bit lost in it all.
Let's break down some of the most common questions people have when they're trying to get their new place online.
What's This $300 "New Development Fee" I've Heard About?
Yep, this one's a big surprise for many. If your property has never been connected to the NBN network before—which is the case for almost all new builds—you'll likely face a $300 New Development Fee.
This is a one-off charge from NBN Co, not your internet provider. It covers the cost of physically extending the network to your home's boundary. Your internet provider simply collects it on NBN Co's behalf and usually tacks it onto your first bill. It's a standard, unavoidable part of the process for new homes.
How Long Does It Actually Take to Get Connected?
This is the million-dollar question. From the moment you sign up with an internet provider to flicking the switch on your Wi-Fi, you're looking at a window of anywhere from one to four weeks. In some cases, it can stretch out even longer.
The biggest variable here is technician availability. Getting an appointment can be tough, especially if you're moving during a busy period. This is exactly why you need to get the ball rolling at least a month before you plan to move in. Don't put it off.
My best piece of advice? Sign up with an internet provider the second you have a confirmed settlement or move-in date. It gets you in the queue and gives you the best shot at having internet from day one.
Can I Pick the NBN Technology I Want?
In short, no. The type of NBN technology—whether it’s Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), HFC, or something else—is determined by NBN Co based on the infrastructure they've rolled out in your area. You don't get to choose.
The good news, however, is that NBN Co is currently running a massive upgrade program. Many homes on older tech like Fibre to the Node (FTTN) are becoming eligible for a free or subsidised upgrade to full fibre. It's always worth popping your new address into the NBN Co website to see if you're in an upgrade zone.
What if My New Address Doesn't Even Show Up on the NBN Map?
Don't panic—this is quite common in brand-new housing estates where the developer is still working with NBN Co to install the network infrastructure. If the address checker comes up empty, it’s time to be proactive.
- Chat with your developer. This should be your first call. They'll have the most up-to-date timeline for when the NBN is expected to be available in your estate.
- Register your address with NBN Co. Head to their website and formally register your new property. This puts you on their radar, and they’ll notify you as soon as service becomes available.
- Have a backup plan. This is crucial. You'll need something to keep you online in the meantime. Start looking into 4G or 5G home internet plans as a temporary fix.
It can be frustrating waiting for the network to arrive, but keeping the lines of communication open with your developer is the best way to stay informed.
Getting your NBN connected is just one piece of the moving puzzle. When it comes to the physical move, you want a team you can trust to get your belongings there safely and without the stress. Emmanuel Transport offers professional and reliable removalist services across Perth, ensuring every box and piece of furniture is handled with care. Head over to https://emmanueltransport.net.au for a free quote and make your move a smooth one.
