The Cheapest NBN Alternative Is Wireless Broadband

Let’s be honest, the NBN stinks sometimes and it seems to always happen when we least need it to. In the middle of paying for something online? Ooft. Writing a lengthy email, unsaved, only for it to conk out before you hit send? Yikes. Buffering during an important scene on your favourite series? We feel that.

But what if there was another way? Mobile broadband is a handy alternative and with plans as cheap and fast as these, it’s a pretty legitimate solution.

But before we take a look at the best plans on offer, let’s dive into what mobile broadband is. There are two main types of ‘portable’ broadband; namely mobile broadband and home wireless.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/06/mobile-broadband-vs-home-wireless-broadband-whats-the-difference/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/01/Netflix-410×231.jpg” title=”Mobile Broadband Vs Home Wireless: What’s The Difference?” excerpt=”There are two main NBN alternatives worth considering: mobile broadband and home wireless broadband. Both are powered by 4G mobile networks, but there are major differences between the two.
However, in both cases, you can now snag affordable plans with over 200GB.”]

Mobile broadband is basically what you get on your smartphone. It’s fairly reliable, if you’ve got good coverage, and it’s probably faster than some of the speeds you’re clocking at home. The most notable difference here is the price. You might be paying $50 to $100, similar to your home broadband or NBN plan, but you’re only getting a fraction of the data.

Home wireless, on the other hand, is incredibly cheap when compared to mobile broadband. It’s portable too but you’ll have to plug in the modem and face a serious cut in speeds.

The cheapest wireless broadband plan in Australia, according to WhistleOut, is Spintel’s 250GB offering. It’s $39.95 per month and you’ll need to fork out the initial $99 for a modem but there’s no contract so you can opt out any time.

In metropolitan areas, speeds of 12/1 Mbps can be expected while areas without 2300 MHz coverage can expect 5/1 Mbps. While this obviously won’t suit prolific downloaders and online gamers, it should be more than enough for most of your browsing and streaming needs, including Netflix which requires a broadband connection speed of 0.5 megabits per second.

Check out the full table below.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/07/expert-warns-australians-will-move-to-5g-if-nbn-brings-netflix-tax/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/07/NBN-coffin-410×231.jpg” title=”Why NBN’s ‘Netflix Tax’ Could Be The Final Nail In Its Coffin” excerpt=”Earlier this month, it was revealed NBN Co had started initial talks with ISPs about how they could chuck an extra fee on video streaming, according to Commsday and iTNews. Naturally, all of Australia simultaneously freaked out. But with the 5G rollout picking up speed, it’s likely Australians would just move to this and other alternatives for their streaming needs.”]