One of the arguments for fast broadband has always been that it would allow more people to work from home at least some of the time, reducing stress, traffic congestion and pollution.

A new report prepared for NBN Co by Evolve Research found that 74% of workers say the internet is important or vital to their jobs, and that one third of workers have worked from home accessing online content.

Of that third, 82% had a household income of more than $75,000, and 76% were full-time workers.

But 50% of those work-at-homers expressed dissatisfaction with their internet connection, especially regarding upload/download speeds and overall reliability.

Other frustrations include slowdowns or outages for no apparent reason, speed hits when several people use the internet at the same time, and poor performance for video calls.

While most of the report's analysis around demographics wasn't statistically significant, a key finding was that 29% of those who have worked from home accessing online content would do so more often if they had a faster and better quality internet connection.

But only 6% of those who haven't done so said the same, suggesting that any improvement in internet performance that results from the NBN rollout will see people who already work from home doing so more often, rather than tempting more people to work at home.

University of Sydney Business School national transport expert Stephen Greaves said "Frustrated commuters who live in the suburbs and city outskirts stand to benefit most [from the NBN] as they have the potential to significantly reduce the hours spent travelling to 'knowledge based' jobs traditionally located in CBDs.

"This type of work typically deals in the trade of information rather than physical products or labour, and can be more easily done online from the convenience of our home offices or smart working hubs."

The benefits of working from home mentioned by respondents include increased flexibility (especially for parents), reduced or eliminated commuting time and expenses, and access to new jobs or business opportunities.

"We're already seeing evidence that people living in NBN-connected areas are replacing their unpredictable commute by using fast and reliable broadband services to work from home," said NBN Co spokesperson Andrew Sholl.

"For example, there are a number of small businesses and office workers making significant savings on travel and toll costs as they can connect with colleagues and clients around the world from the comfort of their own work space."

More than 4,000 internet users were surveyed, but to keep the questionnaire reasonably short different sections were presented to different respondents. The effective sample size is said to be approximately 2,000.