Telstra Smart Modem 3 review: Mid tick for Big T

Last year, I decided to get my hands on as many popular routers, modem-routers and mesh WiFi systems to see if they were any good. Of those categories, modem-routers have by far been the most disappointing, with mishits from the ZTE H1600, NetComm NF20MESH and the TP-Link VX230v. They're all sub-$200 modem-routers with varying degrees of popularity among the NBN providers in our database, and they were all subpar in my tests.

More recently, the TP-Link VX420-G2v inspired modem-router hope, but I was still nervous when it came to buying and testing the Telstra Smart Modem 3. Would it turn out to be more like the trio of subpar modem-routers or the par VX420? As it turns out, the Telstra Smart Modem 3 is above par, and that's from someone who isn't a Telstra customer.

As is the trend from Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, if you buy an NBN plan with any of those big three providers, they throw in a modem-router. The catch is there may be different pro rata costs if you switch providers ahead of a certain time limit. For Telstra, that's within 24 months. You can, though, return the Telstra Smart Modem 3 and dodge the $200 non-return fee.

If, like me, you want to purchase the Telstra Smart Modem 3 outright, you can avoid thinking about any of that. I paid $288 for my Telstra Smart Modem 3 with free delivery, and it only took a couple of days to arrive. For modem-router alternatives, there's the Optus Ultra Wi-Fi Gen 2 ($252 RRP), the TP-Link VX420-G2h ($192 RRP), the NetComm NF20MESH ($199.99 RRP), TP-Link VX230v ($165 RRP) or the ZTE H1600 ($151 RRP). For the record, I don't advise any of those last three picks if my tests are any indication of their reliability. The jury is out on the Optus modem-router, but that's next on my list of networking gear to test.

If you’re in the market for a new NBN plan, check out the popular picks below.

The trend for modern routers and mesh WiFi systems is guided installation via a companion app. While that option is possibly available to Telstra customers via the My Telstra app, I'm an Exetel customer, so that's not of any use to me. Instead, I had to do my initial configuration via web browser. Admittedly, the bonus of being with a credentials-less IPoE internet provider is the Telstra Smart Modem 3 was effectively plug and play after I power cycled the NBN connection box. Effectively, that means zero setup for IPoE homes, assuming you're working with a new Telstra Smart Modem 3 that doesn't have preconfigured settings.

It's worth flagging here that while the Telstra Smart Modem 3 can work well with other internet providers, it won't have full functionality (unless you're comfortable tinkering with custom firmware): forget about 4G backup for starters, and you likely won't have access to a home phone line.

Because firmware updates are typically automatically handled with provider-championed networking gear, you shouldn't expect those either. That said, my Telstra Smart Modem 3 setup did include three unexplained system reboots, which makes me suspect it was installing updates and rebooting to apply them.

Even though I technically didn't have to use the Telstra Smart Modem 3's web portal, I had a stickybeak anyway. If you're with a PPPoE internet provider – one that requires a username and password to get online – you'll want to use the Telstra modem-router login (aka, the web portal) to add your credentials. Connect to the Telstra Smart Modem 3 via Ethernet cable (not included in the box) or use the WiFi details on the included magnet to connect to the modem-router. After that, punch http://mymodem into a web browser (instead of a typical Telstra modem IP address) and input the password from the bottom of your Telstra Smart Modem 3.

I've experienced worse web portals than the Telstra Smart Modem 3, but there are a lot better examples out there. In fairness, this device is built for Telstra customers, so it's supposed to arrive preconfigured and intended for you to never touch. If that's not you, click on the 'Internet Access' button, then scroll down to 'PPP Credential Setting' to input your username and password (if required). For ex-Telstra customers, use a SIM tool or paperclip to hold in the 'Reset' button on the back of the modem-router (reportedly, for 30 seconds) to wipe the existing settings.

I do internet speed tests right after initial configuration to gauge speed potential, not just overall but also relative to wired and wireless performance in different parts of my apartment. While the front part of my apartment typically never has WiFi issues, the back part has issues with any networking equipment that can’t penetrate thick walls. Given the lacklustre performance of other modem-routers I've tested, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the Telstra Smart Modem 3, particularly when it comes to tackling interference.

All of my modem-router internet speed tests are conducted with an ExetelNBN 100/20FTTC apartment connection, using Ethernet for the first test then a Google Pixel 7 Pro for the WiFi tests (via WiFi 6). The Telstra Smart Modem 3 tests below were done in the afternoon. Lower numbers are best for latency (measured in milliseconds), while larger numbers are better for download and upload speeds (both measured in megabits-per-second). Use the top line of results in the tables as an idea of best-case speeds at that time of day, then every line below as comparative. Signal strength according to Google is ranked from best to worst as excellent, good, fair and poor.

For a baseline, here's how the TP-Link VX420-G2v performed in earlier speed tests at the same locations.

And below are the results for the Telstra Smart Modem 3.

The Telstra Smart Modem 3 performed admirably in my speed tests, with a couple of disclaimers. Tests in the study are typically where older, or otherwise less-performant, networking gear falls short. Here, you can see a 53.9Mbps drop in download speeds which, while not ideal, still offers usable 32.7Mbps speeds in the study. That 18ms latency spike isn't ideal, but it's not going to be noticeable, either.

Outside my apartment building, the garage speed test is typically a spot where speed tests failed. Just look at the VX420-G2v tests above for proof of that. And while you're there, those 32.7Mbps study speeds for the Telstra Smart Modem 3 look a lot better than the 4.3Mbps with the VX420-G2v. Back to the Telstra Smart Modem 3, it's clear that the 2.4GHz wireless band sheds speed, which you'll notice in larger homes or outside (as with my tests).

While not ideal, they're still workable WiFi speeds and, more importantly, the latency maxed out at 10ms for my outside tests, which is very impressive given the 8ms median inside. Even with up to a 65% download speed hit outside the apartment, the Telstra Smart Modem 3 results are comfortably better and more consistent than what I measured with the TP-Link VX420-G2v. More impressively, the all-important inside-apartment speeds were, outside of the study result, mostly within 1Mbps of the baseline Ethernet download speeds.

As I've learnt the hard way with other modem-router reviews, decent initial speed tests and straightforward setup don't tell the full story. One of the inherent challenges of a modem-router is it's built to do multiple networking tasks simultaneously. Typically, this means modem-routers don't do things as well as a dedicated router. And by that I mainly mean the other modem-routers I've tested had reliability issues, so you basically had to restart every week or so to keep things operating smoothly.

That's not what you want from modern networking equipment and, mercifully, I haven't had any of those reliability issues with the Telstra Smart Modem 3 during my testing. No weird latency spikes that made gaming and voice/video chatting impossible. No dropouts for WiFi devices. Everything just worked. I did my usual thing of updating the wireless network details without incident and, as a bonus, there was no need to wait a minute or so for everything to restart. It just did it.

Streaming to multiple devices, downloading, uploading, transferring data locally, and every other of the dozens of internet tasks I do every day all worked without a hitch. I did have some WiFi connectivity issues with my Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus initially, but it eventually sorted itself out. The first main wrinkle I encountered was when I changed the modem-router's IP address and the DHCP server. I did this so my network devices on fixed IP addresses work without having to manually tweak them whenever I test new networking gear.

The WiFi worked fine, but the Ethernet devices stopped working. I restarted my networking switch, but that didn't help, nor did a Telstra NBN modem-router soft reboot. After additional troubleshooting, I discovered that LAN1 – the Ethernet port I had connected to my networking switch – was dead. Either it's a coincidence, or changing the IP address and DHCP server settings somehow fried the switch-connected LAN port. I've never encountered that before. My workaround was to shift LAN ports, then the Ethernet devices were back online.

Admittedly, that's a very specific use case that most homes shouldn't need to mess with. If you do have issues with range – in a larger home or one prone to wireless interference – the Telstra Smart Modem 3 is also compatible with the Telstra Smart Wi-Fi Booster via a relatively straightforward setup process. It's a shame that it has the same $288 price tag as the Telstra Smart Modem 3. And if you're in an FTTN or FTTB home with a Telstra WiFi modem-router, consider putting it in 'bridge mode', so it acts exclusively as a router, then connect a dedicated router to one of the LAN ports.