Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking When it comes to NBN, though, while there are provider networks that connect to the NBN, their importance isn’t necessarily as significant to the overall performance of NBN plans. Before we dive into this misconception, let’s take a look at the three big popular NBN providers in Australia: Telstra, Optus and TPG. The included phone service does neatly bundle unlimited standard calls to local, national and Australian mobile numbers. Meanwhile, the second-generation Telstra Smart Modem includes 4G backup (restricted to 25/2Mbps speeds), but you do have to stay connected for 24 months before you’re free of a hardware exit fee (alternatively, pay $216 outright or $9 a month over two years). In terms of perks, Telstra customers can tap into the Telstra Air network in Australia or Fon hotspots when overseas, but speeds weren’t particularly flash in my tests. Other perks include the Telstra Plus membership program for entertainment perks, Telstra Broadband Protect antivirus security at no additional cost, and a 30-day NBN satisfaction guarantee if you want to cancel and get your money back for faults that can’t be fixed. According to the ACCC, average daily outages for Telstra NBN connections had risen slightly between Q3 and Q4 2021, though were still a respectable 0.25 overall.
NBN 25 (NBN Basic II) NBN 50 (NBN Standard) NBN 100 (NBN Fast) NBN 250 (NBN Superfast) NBN 1000 (NBN Ultrafast)
In terms of typical evening download speeds, Telstra self-reported 25Mbps for its NBN 25 plans, 50Mbps for NBN 50, 100Mbps for NBN 100, 250Mbps for NBN 250 and 700Mbps for NBN 1000 plans. Note that only Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) homes and some Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) homes can sign up to NBN 250 plans with Telstra, while all FTTP addresses and a small number of HFC abodes can sign up to Telstra NBN 1000 plans. Similarly, Telstra’s NBN 100 plans are only available to FTTP, HFC and FTTC homes. Disclaimers aside, Telstra’s NBN plans rank among the fastest in the country up to NBN 100, and they are the fastest for NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans. You can see all of Telstra’s NBN plans below, including any Telstra NBN deals that may be running: Like Telstra, Optus plans come with a landline phone service, but this is a PAYG phone service that costs $10 a month extra to add unlimited calls to standard Australian numbers (including mobile). Additionally, you can pay an extra $10 to add unlimited standard landline calls to 25 selected dialling destinations with mobile calls to seven countries. The Optus Ultra WiFi Modem has 4G backup, capped at 25/2Mbps, and it’s yours to keep without paying a hardware exit fee if you stick with Optus for 36 months. According to ACCC data, average daily outages for Optus NBN connections had lowered slightly between Q3 and Q4 2021 (from 0.19 to 0.16).
NBN 50 (NBN Standard) NBN 100 (NBN Fast) NBN 250 (NBN Superfast) NBN 1000 (NBN Ultrafast)
For the first three speed tiers, Optus is a fast provider, self-reporting 50Mbps for its NBN 50 plans, 100Mbps for NBN 100 and 215Mbps for its NBN 250 plans. Things slow down noticeably for its NBN 1000 plans, though, with play-it-safe 250Mbps self-reported typical evening download speeds. It’s worth noting that even the Optus NBN 50 plans have an “available in selected areas” disclaimer, while NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans are additionally restricted to selected FTTP and HFC homes only. Check out all of the Optus NBN plans from our database below: TPG takes a no-perks approach to its NBN plans to keep costs down. While you do have to bring your own NBN-compatible modem with most TPG NBN plans, you can also buy a modem-router outright from the provider: either a TP-Link Archer VR1600v, Huawei HG658 or Huawei HG659. None of these modem-routers has 4G backup. Alternatively, commit to a six-month plan and TPG will throw in the modem-router for no extra cost. According to ACCC data, average daily outages for TPG NBN connections had risen by quite a bit between Q3 and Q4 2021: from 0.15 to 0.44.
NBN 12 (NBN Basic I) NBN 25 (NBN Basic II) NBN 50 (NBN Standard) NBN 100 (NBN Fast) NBN 250 (NBN Superfast) NBN 1000 (NBN Ultrafast)
Self-reported download speeds start off in a great place with parity between max potential speed and self-reported speeds: 12Mbps for NBN 12, 25Mbps for NBN 25 and 50Mbps for NBN 50. That’s where the parity party ends, though, with decent 90Mbps for NBN 100 plans, okay 200Mbps for NBN 250 and conservative 250Mbps for NBN 1000. Familiar disclaimers return, too, with NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans only available to FTTP homes and selected HFC areas (which is, admittedly, a technology restriction). The list below has a daily updating round-up of all TPG NBN plans, sorted by price: For a cheaper alternative that also comes with a preconfigured NBN-compatible modem and 4G backup as well as a lower chance of NBN outages, check out Optus. TPG continues the trend it started from its ADSL days of offering competitively priced plans, albeit light on perks and not the fastest overall. There are viable reasons to consider all three, depending on whether you’re interested in low costs, fastest speeds or a mix of speed and value. Check out the table below for a comparison between the big three in terms of key considerations. To prove the point, have a look at the daily updating list of plans from our comparison engine, which starts with bare-bolts NBN 12 plans:
