For most people, a standard 300/100Mbps fibre connection is fast enough for most online activities. But if your household is data hungry and regularly runs multiple devices to stream HD video or play online games, you might need to take your internet speed to the max. Canstar takes a look at the fastest broadband plans in New Zealand.
Fibre or Fibre Max: What speed do I need?
The average user in NZ has a choice of two types of fibre broadband plans:
- Standard Fibre (Fibre 300)
- Fibre Max (or an alternatively named equivalent)
Standard fibre plans offer (approx) 300Mbps download and 100Mbps upload speeds, which is fine for the average family's needs: streaming, surfing the internet and playing video games online.
Here are the Mbps speeds required for some common data-intensive internet services:
- Video streaming – Netflix recommends a download speed of 3Mbps per stream for playing SD-quality TV shows and movies, 5Mbps for HD and 25Mbps for UHD
- Gaming – Microsoft advises via its Xbox website that minimum download/upload speeds of 3/0.5Mbps are recommended for Xbox One online gaming
- Video calling – Skype recommends that HD video calling download/upload speeds are 1.5/1.5Mbps
For most homes, Standard Fibre will be more than adequate, as it can handle easily handle four simultaneous Netflix 4K streams without a wobble.
However, it's worth keeping in mind the cumulative impact of multiple devices using the same broadband service, as data requirements can soon add up. So if you live in a home with data-hungry users, or you're a serious online gamer, you might need a Fibre Max plan.
Fastest broadband plans in New Zealand
Here's an overview of the major internet providers in New Zealand, along with the advertised upload/download speeds of their Fibre Max (or equivalent) plans, plus their monthly costs. All prices are for standard plans before any current discounts/offers. Modem fees/charges may apply.
Provider | Plan | Speeds (Mbps) | Cost p/m |
|---|---|---|---|
2degrees | Ultimate Unlimited | 900/500 | $114 |
Bigpipe | Elite | 900/500 | $119 |
Contact* | Max Fibre | 900/500 | $110 |
Electric Kiwi* | Sweet as Fibre | 900/500 | $99 |
Mercury | Fibremax | 900/500 | $115 |
Nova Energy | Fibre Boost | 900/500 | $115 |
Now | Ultra Unlimited | 900/500 | $114 |
One | Fibre Max | 900/500 | $111 |
Skinny | Unlimited | 900/500 | $100 |
Sky Broadband | Fibre Pro | 900/500 | $120 |
Slingshot | Unlimited Gigantic | 900/500 | $115 |
Spark | Max Fibre Unlimited | 900/500 | $116 |
*Only available as utility bundle (Prices correct as of 07/01/26)
Hyperfibre: The fastest broadband plans
While Fibre Max is super fast, it's not the fastest internet service available. That's Hyperfibre, which is available through 2degrees in certain areas of the country. 2degrees plans offer speeds of up to 4000Mbps, but Hyperfibre can go all the way up to 8000Mbps.
However, while Hyperfibre sounds great, it's complete overkill for most residential homes. Unless you're a business that is regularly transferring huge amounts of data, Hyperfibre isn't a must-have. It also requires extra installation and hardware.
To help Kiwi consumers choose the best broadband providers, Canstar surveys thousands of broadband customers and asks them to score their providers across categories including Value for Money, Network Performance and Customer Service. To read the results of our full research and to find out more about NZ's best broadband providers, just click on the button below.
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