People who are experiencing slow NBN are being encouraged by the consumer watchdog to ask their service providers for refunds.

In 2017, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found about half of NBN customers connected with fibre-to-the-node could not get the fastest two speeds.

Customers who experienced slower than advertised NBN speeds may be eligible for a refund. Credit:James Alcock

Eight service providers - including Telstra, Optus and TPG - admitted they most likely made false or misleading representations about connection speeds that certain NBN customers could experience. The retailers had been selling plans with maximum speeds when in reality, due to technological limitations, consumers simply could not get those speeds.

The ACCC accepted undertakings from those retailers that they would contact the more than 142,000 affected customers - 42,000 from Telstra alone - to offer them solutions, including moving to a lower speed, a cheaper plan, or leaving their contracts altogether.