The ultimate guide to choosing an internet plan

Even though the NBN is the dominant form of home broadband internet these days, it’s not the only way to get online at home. Besides, even those homes that want an NBN plan still have to deal with the potentially limited speeds of different technologies, not to mention a range of NBN speed tiers.

This ultimate guide to choosing an internet plan is designed to walk you through all of the home-broadband options in Australia, from ubiquitous picks like an NBN plan through to the versatility of mobile broadband, the cable cutting of home wireless broadband, as well as less common alternatives like ADSL2+, cable internet, non-NBN fibre and Starlink satellite.

Most homes in Australia have access to the NBN via one form of NBN technology or another. Those in metro areas more than likely have access to one of five fixed-line NBN technologies. People in rural and regional areas may have access to NBN Fixed Wireless, while those in offshore and remote areas should have access to NBN satellite.

While you can’t pick which NBN technology connects your home to the NBN, there is a Technology Choice Program that offers free quotes for a full fibre upgrade. Paying to upgrade your NBN connection would take it from one of the less future-proofed and currently speed-capped technologies to Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP).

Below is a daily updating list of popular NBN plans with unlimited data across technology types.

There are six main NBN speed tiers on which most plans in Australia are sold:

• NBN 12 (max 12Mbps download, 1Mbps upload)
• NBN 25 (max 25Mbps download, 5Mbps upload)
• NBN 50 (max 50Mbps download, 20Mbps upload)
• NBN 100 (max 100Mbps download, 20Mbps or 40Mbps upload)
• NBN 250 (max 250Mbps download, 25Mbps upload)
• NBN 1000 (max 1000Mbps download, 50Mbps upload)

At the time of writing, FTTP and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) were the only two NBN technologies in Australia that support plans on all six NBN speed tiers. On the other end of the speed spectrum, NBN satellite providers offer plans built on NBN 12 and NBN 25 speed tiers, while NBN Fixed Wireless providers offer those as well as NBN 50 plans. The only exception there is that NBN Fixed Wireless Plus plans (the NBN 50 equivalent) have the potential to burst above 50Mbps download speeds and, technically, can reach speeds of up to 75Mbps.

That just leaves the other ‘FTT’ technologies: Fibre-to-the-Curb (FTTC), Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTB) and Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN). Theoretically, homes connected by any of these NBN technologies can sign up for plans up to NBN 100 speeds, but some providers may offer disclaimers that their plans may not be able to reach advertised download speeds for homes serviced by these NBN technologies. For FTTN homes, it’s a little trickier because even the NBN corporate plan for 2021 separated FTTN homes into those capable of reaching NBN 100 speeds (1.2 million), NBN 50 speeds (1.9 million) and NBN 25 speeds (1 million).

This is likely why the current NBN upgrade plan is to prioritise upgrading FTTN homes to FTTP abodes. To finalise the upgrade, though, eligible FTTN homes need to order an NBN 100 plan or faster, while eligible FTTC homes will have to order an NBN 250 or NBN 1000 plan to complete the FTTP upgrade.

At the time of writing, our database tracked NBN plans from 18 providers for fixed-line homes in metro areas. The table below lets you compare them side-by-side based on the speed tiers they offer, plan starting prices, self-reported typical evening download speeds, and whether they offer an NBN modem and/or landline phone service.

We’d advise against buying an NBN 12 plan as it’s intended as bare-bones broadband internet, but if you are curious, check out the list of NBN 12 plans from our database below.

We consider NBN 25 to be the true entry-level NBN plan because it has a great mix of speed and value. The list of NBN 25 plans below are popular picks from our comparison engine.

NBN 50 is the most popular NBN speed tier in Australia and it’s easy to see why. There’s a lot of competition, which leads to a good mix of value and download speeds. Check out the daily updating list below of popular NBN 50 plans from our comparison engine.

NBN 100 plans are the max speed that most fixed-line metro homes can sign up for. The daily updating list below represents the popular picks from the NBN 100 plans in our database.

If you want to go faster than NBN 100 plans, you need to be in a home that’s connected via FTTP or HFC. For homes with those NBN technologies, have a gander at the daily updating list of cheap NBN 250 plans below.

Finally, FTTP and HFC homes that want no compromises when it comes to speed can check out the daily updating list of cheap NBN 1000 plans from our comparison engine below.

Our comparison engine has NBN Fixed Wireless plans from more than 10 providers. Note that NBN Fixed Wireless providers aren’t required to self-report typical evening download speeds, which means you can expect speeds to drop as low as 6Mbps during busy times. The table below offers a side-by-side comparison of Fixed Wireless NBN providers from our comparison engine in terms of NBN speed tiers, starting price, and whether plans offer the option to include an NBN modem as well as a landline phone service.

Those in NBN Fixed Wireless areas who only have very basic internet needs can check out the daily updating list of popular NBN 12 plans from our database below.

For a bit more speed breathing space, the list below shows cheap NBN 25 plans from our database.

Finally, below is a daily updating list of popular Fixed Wireless Plus plans (NBN 50) from our comparison engine.

There aren’t as many NBN Sky Muster satellite providers as there are for NBN fixed-line or NBN Fixed Wireless areas. Still, we track close to 50 plans in our database from a handful of NBN satellite providers. NBN satellite users should note that latency is high (around 600ms), which will impact the responsiveness of real-time tasks like online gaming and videoconferencing. None of the NBN satellite providers in our database offer the option to bundle a landline phone. The table below gives you a side-by-side look at the NBN satellite providers in our comparison engine, broken down in terms of offered speed tiers, starting monthly cost, included data (separated into peak and off-peak allowances) as well as whether they let you purchase an NBN modem.

NBN satellite homes should note that there aren’t plans with unlimited data. Instead, data allowances are offered in terms of peak (7:00am to 1:00am) and off-peak times (1:00am to 7:00am). There are only a few providers in our database that offer NBN 12 plans for Sky Muster satellite homes, but you can see their popular plans below.

There’s more choice when it comes to the NBN 25 plans in our comparison engine, and you can see a daily updating list of the popular ones below.

NBN may be the most ubiquitous form of fibre internet in Australia today, but it’s not the only one. Providers like TPG, Aussie Broadband and Exetel offer their own fibre networks in select areas. We track a handful of fibre providers in our comparison engine. Across plans in our database, download speeds are mostly comparable to NBN speed tiers, which stretch from 12Mbps plans to 1000Mbps alternatives.

Check out the daily updating list of cheap fibre plans from our comparison engine below.

Before the rollout of the NBN, ADSL2+ and cable broadband were the dominant forms of internet in Australia. Nowadays, finding plans for these older broadband technologies is a lot less common, particularly for ADSL2+, which is increasingly difficult to get now that the traditional copper networks are being switched off in NBN-activated areas.

ADSL2+ plans are only capable of reaching speeds of up to 24Mbps download and 1Mbps upload, but slower speeds are much more likely. There are only two ADSL2+ plans in our database: Mate’s ADSL2+ #citymates ($49 per month) plan and Telstra’s Unlimited Data offering ($80 per month). You can see these ADSL2+ plans below.

Cable internet, on the other hand, can reach download speeds of up to 350Mbps and upload speeds of up to 2.5Mbps. While it is a faster form of broadband internet compared to ADSL2+, it’s likewise only available in select areas. Like ADSL2+, we only have two cable internet plans in our comparison engine: iiNet’s Ultra Cable Limitless ($79.99 per month) and Telstra’s Unlimited Data (Cable) for $80 a month.

For those seeking a more ubiquitous alternative to the NBN, home wireless broadband is worth considering. Home wireless broadband is a technology that’s effectively a halfway point between traditional home broadband (NBN, cable, ADSL2+) and mobile broadband. At the time of writing, we had more than a handful of home wireless providers in our comparison engine. Most plans are built on Australia’s 4G mobile networks, which means download speeds can technically reach up to 100Mbps and upload speeds of up to 50Mbps, though anticipating download speeds around 40Mbps is more practical.

We’d advise anticipating average download speeds around 40Mbps because, like NBN Fixed Wireless, home wireless broadband speeds tend to be more impacted by congestion than NBN fixed-line NBN. There are some 5G options emerging, though, which have the potential to reach speeds above NBN 100 plans.

The table below offers a side-by-side comparison between the providers in our database, covering key areas across mobile network, download speeds, starting monthly price and data, post-data cap costs or speed throttling, as well as included home wireless broadband networking equipment.

It’s worth using the address look-up at the top of this article and then confirming your address can receive a home wireless broadband service before signing up for a plan. If your address can be serviced by a provider, remember that you can’t necessarily take your home wireless broadband connection to a new home without first confirming that this new address is within a provider’s service area. Check out the daily updating list below for a snapshot of cheap home wireless broadband plans from the providers in our database.

Mobile broadband is a versatile internet solution that can be used at home or while out and about, so long as you have adequate signal strength from the mobile network your plan uses. That said, while mobile broadband can be used at home, it really shouldn’t be seen as a viable replacement for home broadband unless you have a plan with plenty of data and a reliable connection. Like home wireless broadband and Fixed Wireless NBN, mobile broadband is prone to varying connection speeds (including latency) when an area is congested, though mobile broadband can reach 5G speeds on the right plan.

Check out the table below for a side-by-side comparison of the mobile broadband providers in our comparison engine, broken down into mobile network, starting monthly price and data, how the provider handles things post-data cap, as well as what mobile broadband modem options they have. (Note that at the time of writing Southern Phone was temporarily not offering new sign-ups for its mobile broadband plans.)

Below is a list of popular mobile broadband plans from our comparison engine.

The most obvious answer to this question is the NBN. Whether you’re in a metro area or smaller place serviced by NBN Fixed Wireless or NBN satellite, the chances are really good that you’re eligible to sign up for an NBN plan. Because it’s the most available form of broadband in Australia, it also tends to have the most providers offering plans and, therefore, the best value on plans. There tends to be great competition across contracts (no contracts is the norm), data (unlimited data is standard for everything but NBN satellite) and self-reported typical download speeds (parity up to NBN 100 plans is the trend).

While you can’t choose the NBN technology that services your home, you can request a free quote for costs to upgrade your home to FTTP. This will cost many thousands of dollars and take weeks or months to complete, though.

It used to be that those in regional, rural, offshore and remote areas were restricted to whatever broadband was available. Of late, that’s either NBN Fixed Wireless or NBN Sky Muster satellite, but that’s changed in recent times with the advent of Starlink satellite as a viable competitor. The initial upfront cost is steep—$709 for the hardware and $100 to cover shipping and handling—and the single plan cost of $139 per month is comparatively expensive next to cheaper and mid-range options from NBN satellite. Still, Starlink boasts minimum download speeds that are double that of the fastest NBN 25 speed tier for NBN satellite, plus the hundreds-of-times lower latency makes real-time online activities like gaming and videoconferencing feel more seamless.

The other main forms of home broadband are dependent on availability, restricted to very specific areas, which means NBN plans compare better when stacked next to them. We’d never recommend choosing an ADSL2+ plan these days unless it’s a last resort. Why? It’s an ageing form of broadband that doesn’t compare well to its contemporary peers. It’s a different story for VDSL2, cable and non-NBN fibre plans—these latter two can hit speeds above NBN 100 plans, too—all of which are worth considering as viable NBN alternatives. That said, their limited availability makes them tricky to recommend for most homes. If you can access any of these broadband technologies, it’s absolutely worth weighing them up in comparison to NBN to see which one comes out on top for your needs.

Alternatively, home wireless broadband is the other internet technology worth considering. It’s a great choice if your home has a strong mobile signal from the network you hope to use: Telstra, Optus or Vodafone. While busy times can impact overall speed and reliability, home wireless broadband providers at least offer larger starting data caps and the option for unlimited data.

Mobile broadband, on the other hand, is internet that can travel with you, but it costs more to get hundreds of gigabytes of data. Because most mobile broadband plans are currently built on 4G technologies, you shouldn’t expect download speeds to be as reliably fast as NBN 50 and NBN 100 plans. This should start to change once 5G mobile broadband plans become more ubiquitous and when Telstra, Optus and Vodafone finish rolling out their respective 5G networks.

The respective tables above for each broadband service available in Australia are a great place to start for basic comparisons between providers to help find the right one for your home internet needs. But let’s also take a closer look at some of the names in our comparison engine.

Whether you’re appraising Telstra NBN plans or other Telstra internet plans, expect to pay for the privilege. While the cost is high for Telstra broadband plans—whether it’s NBN, ADSL2+, cable, home wireless broadband or mobile broadband—these plans tend to offer top-tier speeds and excellent support.

On the other end of the price spectrum are providers like Kogan, which lack the bells and whistles of more premium priced NBN plans but do offer decent speeds and competitive pricing. The big competitor for Telstra, though—in terms of broadband plans for NBN, home wireless broadband and mobile broadband—is the same as in the mobile space. Optus internet plans tend to have more competitive pricing, particularly for Optus NBN plans, and they still offer great support as well as some decent perks.

Vodafone NBN plans (and other Vodafone internet plans) compete closely with Optus and Telstra, offering a compatible NBN modem that’s free upfront and doesn’t cost anything if you stay with Vodafone for long enough (also true of Optus and Telstra). Having 4G backup on the NBN modem is a nice touch, plus Vodafone NBN plans have great speeds, too.

TPG NBN plans may have upfront fees on no-contract plans, but this provider does tend to score well in the ACCC’s broadband tests, plus the provider’s great value plans also have flexibility to include phone bundles. Other TPG internet plans include impressive speeds on non-NBN fibre options, but 20Mbps capped download speeds for its home wireless broadband plans isn’t ideal for most homes ’net needs.

iiNet NBN plans are worth considering if you want to compare competitive pricing and decent speeds or, alternatively, if you fancy bundling entertainment options via Fetch TV packages. Aussie Broadband plans are available for NBN and select non-NBN fibre homes as well as those seeking a mobile broadband provider. For Aussie Broadband’s NBN plans, this is a provider that prides itself on offering fast download speeds and enjoys high reported customer satisfaction.

Providers like Aldi Mobile and Amaysim are likely more familiar to those seeking a mobile plan, but they do offer competitive pricing on mobile broadband plans. Aldi Mobile, in particular, has competitively priced plans on the Telstra wholesale network that come with great inclusions. Amaysim is light on perks but does have a tendency towards generous data promotions.

Belong is an NBN provider that offers simplified plan structures and decent prices, but premium NBN speeds on Belong NBN plans are restricted to FTTP, HFC and FTTC homes only. Belong’s NBN speeds weren’t that great initially but they have been improving in recent times. Dodo NBN plans fare better overall, with a great mix of value and self-reported typical evening speeds, plus there are some great optional extras if you want a phone or entertainment options.

Internode NBN plans offer a similar level of versatility, even if the prices aren’t particularly competitive. Admittedly, Internode NBN plan speeds are great up to NBN 100 but, while there are faster plans available, their speeds aren’t as fast as competitors.

Tangerine is a consistent contender for its NBN plans, and it’s great to see identical pricing and flexibility across metro and NBN Fixed Wireless offerings. There’s also great flexibility in terms of optional extras, too, ranging from landline or SIM Only phone plans to networking equipment.

Superloop is an NBN provider that may not be a household name but does offer competitive pricing, recurring first-year discounts and fantastic speeds via investments into its own fibre network. Aussie Broadband and Superloop are a couple of rare providers that offer transparency on CVC, so you can have a better idea of NBN speed expectations in your area.

Speaking of rarities, iPrimus is an NBN provider that still offers data-limited NBN plans to metro areas as well as upfront fees. While plan prices aren’t the most competitive out there, we do appreciate the plan versatility and great support options.

Exetel may not be overly competitive on the pricing front but its NBN plans have been improving in speed, plus they’re worth considering if you want an included modem-router and/or landline phone. For those in non-metro areas, NBN providers like Activ8me, SkyMesh and IPStar are worth considering alongside providers that operate in metro areas for a mix of decent pricing and included data.

Speaking of providers that service metro and non-metro areas, Southern Phone is one that crops up across NBN technology types. While its plans aren’t overly competitive in terms of price, there’s a good range of support options, decent download speeds and a reasonably priced WiFi modem worth considering.

Spintel may not offer NBN satellite services like Southern Phone does, but it offers competitive pricing (with regular ongoing discounts for new sign-ups) and great speeds for NBN metro plans, plus it’s also worth considering for those in Fixed Wireless NBN areas.

Moose Mobile is another provider with great pricing (not to mention high reported customer satisfaction) if you’re after a mobile broadband or home wireless broadband plan. As for other providers in our comparison engine, that leaves MyRepublic and Mate Communicate. MyRepublic has competitively priced plans for NBN homes in metro areas, with some great gamer-centric add-ons. Mate, on the other hand, offers great value NBN plans with competitively priced bundles for those in metro and NBN Fixed Wireless areas.

The first step to picking the right broadband plan for your home is to determine the options available to you based on your address. Use the widget below to tailor the internet plans available to your home address.

If you live in a metro location, expect to have more options than homes in rural areas. Once you can see which internet plans are available to your home, it’s really about matching your home’s usage needs to your budget. It’s easy to switch providers, so you can viably shift between every six months to take advantage of the six-month discount trend that providers tend to offer to new sign-ups (at least for fixed-line NBN plans).

That’s one way to save money, but it’s worth checking in with our best NBN plans page to see which plans might be best for your needs if you’re in the market for a new provider. Generally speaking, the slower the internet plan, the cheaper it will be. 4G mobile broadband plans are an exception to this rule but they’re also not viable replacements for home internet. Still, there’s money to be saved based on your home internet usage.

This tends to be based on how many people are in your home and the type of online activities those people perform. Before we dive into specifics, check out the table below to get an idea of the available broadband technologies ranked in terms of max download speed but also compared in terms of max upload speeds, number of people using it simultaneously and online activities.

NBN 12 plans, for instance, are recommended for the most basic of internet usage, while NBN 25 should be treated as the true entry-level NBN speed tier, intended for one or two people with basic internet needs. ADSL2+ is technically a close competitor to NBN 25, but it has limited availability these days and speeds suffer the farther your home is away from the telephone exchange.

NBN 50, which is the most common speed tier, offers a great mix of pricing and performance. It’s recommended for homes with three or four people, all of whom may want to stream HD videos, download files and play games online. If that’s not fast enough for you, double the max potential download speeds with an NBN 100 plan that’s meant for five or more people and makes multi-screen 4K streaming accessible.

Technically, home wireless broadband and mobile broadband plans that operate on 4G networks can reach these speeds, too, but they’re more likely to hit speeds around the NBN 50 speed tier. If you’re dealing with a data cap, remember that activities like downloading large files and streaming video tend to chew through multiple gigabytes of data each hour. That’s why we tend to recommend unlimited plans (and the technologies where that’s common).

Cable internet can reach download speeds of up to 350Mbps but it’s also only available in select areas and its upload speed is a lot slower than NBN 25 plans and above at around 2.5Mbps. Really, though, NBN plans and other technologies like 5G that offer speeds above 100Mbps download are meant for larger homes looking for no-compromise internet usage when it comes to handling concurrent video streams (in up to 8K quality), simultaneous 4K videoconferences and minimal downtime when downloading or uploading files.