Fibre Speeds in NZ: What Fibre 100, 500, Max and Hyperfibre Really Deliver

Fibre plans in New Zealand are sold as Fibre 100, Fibre 500, Fibre Max and Hyperfibre, and the names are honest: measured speeds sit at or slightly above the number on the box. What the marketing does not tell you is how much upload you get, which tier most people are actually on, and where the real bottleneck sits once fibre reaches the house.

Measured fibre speeds in 2026

The Commerce Commission tests real household connections through its Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme. Report 28, published in July 2026 from tests in April 2026, gives these averages.

Fibre Max is sold as “up to a gigabit”; 877 Mbps is what the average household sees on a wired test once modem overheads and the household’s own equipment are counted. The peak-hour figures barely move, which is the practical difference between fibre and every shared-medium alternative.

The Big Fibre Boost

Chorus reshaped the tiers in June 2025. The basic 50/10 wholesale plan became 100/20, and the popular 300/100 plan became 500/100, with no change to the wholesale price. Roughly 700,000 households were moved up automatically. From 1 July 2025 the wholesale names became Home Fibre Starter, Home Fibre 100, Home Fibre 500, Home Fibre 920 and Home Hyperfibre 2000, 4000 and 8000; retailers still mostly sell them as Fibre 100, Fibre 500 and Fibre Max.

If your plan predates the boost and a wired speed test still shows about 300 Mbps, ask your provider — the upgrade should have been applied, and a modem that cannot pass 500 Mbps is the usual reason it looks as though it was not.

Which tier New Zealand is actually on

Chorus reported 1,147,000 fibre connections at 30 June 2026, a 75.9 per cent uptake where fibre is available, with 86 per cent of connections on 500 Mbps or faster. The average household moved 731 GB a month and one in five used more than a terabyte. Fibre 100 is now the minority plan, and it is priced accordingly — the gap to Fibre 500 is usually a few dollars.

Choosing between the tiers

Our guide to what speed you need includes a calculator that sizes the plan from what your household does at the same time. Streaming quality does not improve above about 25 Mbps per screen, so for many homes the reason to go above Fibre 100 is upload, not download.

Where the speed goes

Fibre delivers to the ONT — the white Chorus box on the wall. Everything after it is yours, and that is where most “slow fibre” complaints originate.

• Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi 5 gear rarely passes 300 Mbps in practice. Spark’s Smart Modem 3 and Futura run Wi-Fi 6; One NZ’s Deco BE28 and Spark’s 5G Gateway 7 run Wi-Fi 7, which can use the 6 GHz band New Zealand opened in 2022. Our extender and mesh guide covers coverage.
• Ports and cables. A 100 Mbps switch, an old powerline adapter or a damaged cable caps a Fibre 500 connection at 94 Mbps. Gigabit everywhere, Cat 5e or better.
• The device. Phones and older laptops cannot reach 800 Mbps over Wi-Fi at all.
• The ONT. A flashing PON light or a red LOS light is a network-side problem, not a speed setting — our ONT guide explains each light.

To see which of these applies, run a speed test over a cable and then over Wi-Fi from the far end of the house. If the wired number matches the table above, the plan is fine and the house is the project; our guide to slow internet works through the rest.

Who runs the fibre where you live

Chorus covers most of the country, but Christchurch and Canterbury run on Enable, Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth and the Whanganui region on Tuatahi First Fibre, and Whangārei and Kaipara on Northpower Fibre. Plan tiers are similar across all four, and in every case faults go through your provider rather than the network company. Our guide to New Zealand internet providers explains how the layers fit together, and the outage guide lists every status page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest fibre speed in NZ?

Hyperfibre 8000, at up to 8 Gbps symmetrical, where the local fibre company offers it. For ordinary households Fibre Max is the top tier, measuring about 877 Mbps down and 502 Mbps up.

Is Fibre 500 fast enough?

For nearly every household, yes. It is the plan 86 per cent of Chorus fibre connections are on, and its 109 Mbps upload covers video calls, backups and cameras with room to spare.

Why does my fibre never reach 1,000 Mbps?

Fibre Max is sold as up to a gigabit; the measured average is 877 Mbps on a wired test. Over Wi-Fi, or through a 100 Mbps port anywhere in the chain, you will see far less. Test with a cable first.

What upload speed does fibre give in NZ?

About 25 Mbps on Fibre 100, 109 Mbps on Fibre 500 and 502 Mbps on Fibre Max. Copper VDSL manages around 21 Mbps.

Did my plan get faster in 2025?

If you were on 50/10 or 300/100, yes: Chorus upgraded those to 100/20 and 500/100 in June 2025 at no extra wholesale cost. Run a wired test to confirm your provider applied it.

Do I need a new modem for Fibre Max?

Usually a Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7 modem with gigabit ports to notice the difference. Wi-Fi 5 hardware tops out around 300 Mbps in real rooms.