This is the comparison people ask us about constantly. The honest answer is: it depends on your location and situation. The Southern Highlands has a patchwork of NBN coverage quality — excellent fibre in parts of Bowral and Mittagong, significantly worse fixed wireless and satellite NBN in rural areas. Starlink is the same everywhere, because the satellites don't care where you live.

Here's how we compare them across the factors that matter most.

Speed

NBN fibre (FTTP or FTTC): If you're lucky enough to be on fibre-to-the-premises, you can get very fast NBN — 100 to 1000 Mbps on the right plan. In parts of Bowral and Mittagong town centres, this is available.

NBN fixed wireless or FTTN: Rural and semi-rural areas of the Southern Highlands often get fixed wireless NBN. Real-world speeds are typically 15–50 Mbps, and can be lower during peak hours. FTTN (fibre to the node) can vary enormously depending on the distance from the node.

Starlink: Consistently delivers 100–300 Mbps across the Southern Highlands regardless of location. In bypass mode with a good router, it's very fast.

Verdict: In rural areas, Starlink almost always wins on speed. In well-served town areas on good NBN fibre, NBN can match or beat Starlink.

Reliability

NBN fixed wireless can suffer from congestion, especially on older tower infrastructure. Outages do occur. Starlink is generally very reliable once properly installed and positioned, though it can be affected by severe weather (heavy rain or thick cloud can cause brief slowdowns, though this is less severe than it used to be).

Verdict: Roughly comparable. Both have occasional issues. Properly installed Starlink in a good location is very reliable.

Latency

This matters most for online gaming and real-time applications. NBN fibre typically delivers 5–15ms latency. Starlink is currently around 20–50ms. For video calls, streaming, and normal web browsing: no noticeable difference. For serious competitive online gaming: NBN fibre is slightly better.

Verdict: NBN fibre wins for latency. For everyone except serious gamers, the difference is irrelevant.

Cost

NBN plans start from around $60–70/month for a basic plan. Starlink hardware costs ~$599 upfront plus $139/month for the standard residential plan. There's also the professional installation cost.

Verdict: NBN is cheaper monthly, with no upfront hardware cost. Starlink has a higher barrier to entry but delivers better value in rural areas where NBN alternatives are poor.

Coverage

This is where Starlink wins decisively. NBN coverage stops at the edge of serviced areas — many rural Southern Highlands properties simply can't get NBN, or can only get the legacy Sky Muster satellite NBN which is slow and expensive. Starlink works anywhere with a clear view of the sky. It's opened up fast internet to parts of the Southern Highlands that had no viable option before.

Verdict: Starlink wins — no contest.

The bottom line

If you're in a rural or semi-rural location and your current NBN is slow or unreliable, Starlink is almost certainly the better choice. The speed difference is dramatic, and the coverage is universal.


If you're in a well-served town area on good NBN fibre (FTTP or FTTC), your NBN is probably fine and Starlink offers marginal benefit at a higher cost. It might still make sense as a backup or for a secondary dwelling on the property.


If you have both options available, we can assess your specific situation and give you a clear recommendation — without trying to sell you something you don't need.

Not sure which is right for your property?

We'll give you a straight answer. Free site assessments across Bowral, Mittagong, Moss Vale, Robertson, Bundanoon and the Southern Highlands.

Talk to us