ACCC Measuring Broadband

Measuring Broadband Australia Program

This program is a federal government-funded program that was launched on 7 April 2017. Using a small whitebox attached to your router to capture the speed of your connection (not your data!). This program helps to provide Australian consumers with accurate and independent information about broadband speeds.

Using an independent testing provider – SamKnows – the first round of testing commenced in 2018, with the first report published in March 2018. The program’s effectiveness was reviewed, and the review of the effectiveness of the Measuring Broadband Australia program report was published by the ACCC on 18 February 2021.

Participation from RSPs continues to grow and has made a significant contribution to competition and consumer outcomes in the broadband market. Find out more about this program via the ACCC website.

Who can participate in the program?

The ACCC wants a range of participants. See below the current plan speeds we’re hoping will join the program.

75-100/8-20Mbps
Fixed Wireless

Ready to put your Leaptel service to the test?

Start participating in the ACCC’s Measuring Broadband Australia program.

What does the Whitebox measure?

The SamKnows Whitebox measures your internet performance by running a series of scheduled tests only when you’re not using the internet. Best of all, it’s really easy to connect the device to your modem! It’s important to note that the data collected is only on internet performance, not what you’re doing while online.

See the table below for details of the key indicators of performance that are measured.

Metric	Value
Download	The speed data travels from our test server to your device, measured in bits per second.
Upload	The speed data travels from your device to our test server, measured in bits per second.
Latency	How long it takes a data packet to go from your device to our test server and back to your device.
Jitter	Measures the amount of difference between packet delays, or the stability of your latency.
Packet Loss	When a packet of data becomes lost (does not arrive for two seconds) measured as a percentage of packets lost out of packets sent.
YouTube	Measures the highest bitrate you can reliably stream for the most popular video in your country.
Netflix	An application-specific test, supporting the streaming of binary data from Netflix’s servers using the same CDN selection logic as their real client uses. The test has been developed in direct cooperation with Netflix.
Web browsing	Measures how long it takes to fetch the HTML and referenced resources of a popular website.
CDN measurements	Measures download performance for the same (or very similar) object from a variety of popular Content Delivery Networks over HTTP.
Voice over IP	Measures the suitability of a broadband connection for VoIP calls.

Why participate?

Your participation in this program helps fellow Aussies! By testing your internet connection using a SamKnows Whitebox, internet speeds can be recorded and reported based on what internet performance you are actually getting from your provider – the more participants, the better the information reported on.

There’s also the added bonus of access to the SamKnows One analytics. This software allows you to:

View your online data in one place.
Create customised charts and save the results that you’re interested in.
Track changes in your connection over time.

Signing up is quick and easy

You can join this valuable program in less than 5 minutes! Follow the steps below and you’ll be on your way to helping improve Australia’s internet.

Click one of the plans listed above and follow the steps to sign up online – it should take less than 5 minutes!

Once you’ve signed up, the ACCC will send you a Whitebox that will need to be plugged into your router to test your speeds.

Once your Whitebox has arrived, simply follow the instructions contained in the box. The device will already be set up, so all you have to do is plug it in!

FAQ

What is a Whitebox?

A small device that measures the performance of your home internet. The latest version of the Whitebox is capable of measuring fixed-line broadband connection of up to 1Gbps. It measures a wide range of network and application-specific properties, including download and upload speeds, video streaming, online gaming stability, latency, packet loss and more.

You can find out more information about this device via the SamKnows Help Centre.

Does the Whitebox capture my data?

No. This device is only used to measure speed through a series of speed tests that run when you’re not using the internet.

Can I withdraw from the program?

Yes. Participation is entirely voluntary, so you can withdraw anytime.

Do I need to pay for anything?

No. The Whitebox that is sent to you is free.

When are the reports published?

Quarterly reports are published every 3 months on the ACCC website.

How do they test?

Using a purpose-built testing agent that connect to your router. This device measures every aspect of your internet service and runs at regular intervals when you’re not using the internet.

The daily averages are calculated by aggregating raw test results captured by the Whitebox, tier and day and then averaging across all Whiteboxes for each tier.