The Best NBN Plans For Shoppers On A Budget


You may not have noticed it, the information can be hard to find, but more NBN RSPs now publish average evening speed data on their websites, so we can finally see the difference in performance between the cheap plans and the expensive ones.

The pattern that’s emerging is that both the budget and premium providers report average speeds of about 80-percent of the maximum for each speed tier. So, 80Mbps for NBN 100 services, 40Mbps for NBN 50, and so on. The performance-focused outliers, like Aussie Broadband and MATE, regularly deliver speeds of about 90-percent of the tier maximum.

So if a Telstra NBN plan is likely to offer the same speed as a cheaper provider like TPG or Dodo, then it’s time to check out the plans and save some money.

Cheapest NBN Basic Plans

The 50Mbps NBN speed tier is the fastest growing, according to NBN, as it’s arguable the best value for money. You’ll pay about $10 more compared with a comparable NBN 26 plan, and you get speeds up to four-times faster.

Spintel has the most cost effective option for $69.95 per month with 500GB, but if you need more data you can jump up to unlimited data for $78.88.

MyRepublic offers a low setup fee option, charging just $1 on a 12-month contract. You can also opt for no lock-in contract, which is handy if you frequently move houses or like to regularly shop around for a better deal.

Cheapest NBN 100 Plans

The step up to NBN 100 will add another $10 to your monthly bill, at least, but it’s still an affordable option if you choose the right provider. It can also be a costly add-on if you choose the wrong one.

Click Broadband is the cheapest option with unlimited data, but there are cheaper options if you can get by on 100GB-500GB of data a month.

The cheapest of the cheap NBN plans

If you’re looking for the bottom of the NBN bargain bin, you can find plans for as little as $29.99 per month, but as you can see, you don’t get a lot for your money. It would be a very specific type of user who could make use of an NBN Basic with just 10GB per month. In fact, we’d only recommend this plan to someone who needs a VoiP phone line and doesn’t plan to use the internet at all.

If anything, a glance at this table reinforces how you might as well step up to NBN 100 speeds, even if you are looking to save money.


Joe Hanlon is Publisher at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website. He’s been writing about phones and plans for far too long.

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