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Belong NBN review

Telstra's Belong brings broadband back to basics but for customer service, it's a chip off the old block.

Belong
3 out of 5 stars
3
  • pro
    Great prices
  • pro
    Simple plan structure with no gotchas
  • con
    Low customer satisfaction
Brodie Fogg
Jun 16, 2022
Icon Time To Read3 min read

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Our verdict: What's Belong NBN like?

Belong's NBN plans are in need of a refresh. It still offers the same straightforward NBN plans that it always did and at a good price but with the country steaming ahead with Ultrafast NBN 250 (and NBN 1000) plans, Belong is starting to feel a little dusty. Belong simply doesn't offer many of the perks and features touted by its competitors and for the same affordable price, you could get slightly better speeds elsewhere. Customer satisfaction is also a low point for Belong.

pro
Pros
pro Great prices
pro Simple plan structure with no gotchas
con
Cons
con Very low customer satisfaction
con Premium speeds are only available to FTTP, HFC and FTTC
con No option to BYO modem

Belong NBN: Value for money

Cheaper than Telstra, but there are still more affordable alternatives.

Generally speaking, Belong's NBN plans are par for the course. Its Starter (NBN 25) Standard Plus (NBN 50) and Premium (NBN 100) plans offer average value for money - they're not the cheapest plans on the market, but they're also far from being the most expensive.

To put those prices into context, here's how Belong's $70 per month NBN 50 plan stacks up against the cheapest plans on the market.

Additionally, it's important to note that customers are unable to bring their own modem for use with a Belong plan. Instead, you'll have to pay $60 upfront (or $5 per month over 12 months) for Belong's provided modem, though are frequent promotions offering the modem for free.

The one major setback in Belong's suite of plans is the restrictions placed at the premium end. Belong only offers its Fast NBN 100 plan to FTTP (Fibre-to-the-Premises), FTTC (Fibre-to-the-Curb) and HFC (Hybrid-Fibre Coaxial) customers, meaning a large number Australians can only sign up to the Standard NBN 50 at most. That's not a huge loss, as Belong's Fast plan isn't the most competitive anyway, and you'd be better served going with another provider at the premium end. In addition to that, Belong's self-reports typical evening speeds of 95Mbps for Fast users, which lags slightly behind most of the competition.

Here's a short list of Fast NBN 100 plans, ordered by expected evening speeds.

Illustration of Laptop and Modem

Want to know which NBN providers scored top marks in our analysis? Follow the link below to find the best providers for value, speed and support in Australia. 

Speeds: How fast is Belong NBN?

Good, but there's still room for improvement.

After a shakeup in 2021, Belong's NBN plan speeds are now much closer to the maximum theoretical speeds offered by each NBN tier. Those who opt for the Starter Plan can expect max speeds of 25Mbps, while those on Belong's Standard Plus and Premium plans are a few Mbps behind top speed. For most people, those few Mbps won't be a dealbreaker, but there is still room for improvement.

Belong NBN speeds

Plan
NBN speed tier
Self-reported typical evening speed
Plan price (monthly)

Belong NBN Starter

Basic II (NBN 25)

25Mbps

$60

Belong NBN Standard Plus

Standard (NBN 50)

48Mbps

$70

Belong NBN Premium

Fast (NBN 100)

95Mbps

$90

In fact, when we look at NBN 50 plans, just about every other cheaper provider offers the full 50Mbps for a smaller monthly fee.

Belong NBN speed test

If you're already a Belong NBN customer and you came here wondering why your connection is slow, try testing your internet speed with the tool below. If your speeds aren't meeting expectations, consider switching to a faster NBN plan.

Bullhorn
Who owns Belong NBN?

Unlike Boost Mobile, which is a privately owned MVNO with full access to the Telstra network, Belong is an actual subsidiary brand of Telstra and thus entirely owned and operated by the Telstra Corporation.

Belong NBN: Perks and features

Bare minimum broadband.

As Telstra's budget alternative, Belong doesn't have a lot of premium features. It's got the basics, like no-contract options and some benefits for bundling a Belong SIM plan ($80 free mobile credit at the time of writing) but that's about it. It doesn't offer mobile internet plans, home phone bundles, pay-TV bundles, or any other perks and rewards (discounts, exclusive content offers etc.). Belong also doesn't offer any Superfast or Ultrafast plans, losing a couple more points in the perks and features analysis.

If you're after a provider that offers all the perks and features, you'll pay a good deal more. Telstra offers all that and more, but its Ultrafast plan starts at $180 per month.

If you're interested in NBN 250 (Superfast), take a look at the most popular options available to select FTTP and HFC customers.

Belong NBN alternatives

While some providers also offer home wireless internet plans (ie, plans that use the same 4G and 5G networks as your mobile phone as an alternative to NBN) Belong currently just offers NBN plans.

If you're interested in a home wireless internet connection, you can compare some popular plans from other providers below.

Belong NBN: Support and satisfaction

Phone support, responsive social accounts but poor customer satisfaction.

If you need to get in touch with Belong, you can get in touch with their customer support team via Facebook, phone, live chat or email, or by clicking the link above to their support page. There just isn't any brick-and-mortar stores you can reach out to if you run into trouble. For the number of support channels available, Belong's score is typical amongst internet providers but where it takes a dive is in its customer satisfaction metrics. With a Trustpilot rating of 2.7 stars and a Product Review score of just 1.6 out of 5, Belong is firmly at the low end of the spectrum.

Providers that scored highly for customer satisfaction included Mate Broadband, Tangerine, Aussie Broadband and Internode. Here are a few popular plans from those providers.

How we choose the best NBN plans

We scour the NBN plans in our system to compare to find the best. We take into consideration things like cost, connection, customer service, features and benefits and internet speeds.

Belong NBN FAQ

We've got plenty of reviews on alternative providers, such as Aussie Broadband, Optus and Exetel. Alternatively, find out what we had to say about the very best NBN plans on the market, or consider switching to a top-notch Home Wireless Broadband plan.

Belong is a division of Telstra, and as such is owned by The Big T.

Belong's NBN coverage is dependant on the NBN rollout around the country, which when completed should reach around 93% of the population.

Brodie Fogg
Written by
Brodie Fogg
Brodie Fogg is the Australian editorial lead at Reviews.org. He has covered consumer tech, telecommunications, video games, streaming and entertainment for over five years at websites like WhistleOut and Finder and can be found sharing streaming recommendations at 7NEWS every month.

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