People we speak with tend to think about NBN plans in one of two ways. Either they’d like to know about the fastest plans, and focus on 100Mbps, or they want to know the cheapest. Sometimes it’s a combination of both.
This overlooks a part of the market that may be a better fit for a number of people. NBN 50 plans are the forgotten middle-children of the NBN world, and as an earlier article we mentioned in, only smaller, lesser known ISPs tend to offer them.
The thing is, if your home (or business) is plugged into the NBN with a Fibre to the Node (FttN) connection, an NBN 50 plan might be your best bet. Here’s an overview of the type of uses NBN plans are good for, courtesy of NBN Co:
As you know, FttN connection speeds degrade depending on the distance your home is from the node, and many people are finding that they can’t achieve a full 100Mbps despite paying for it. As much as we’d love this to change, there’s no point paying for something that you can’t get.
So, let’s take a second to sing the praises of the NBN’s redheaded stepchildren. Neither the cheapest or the fastest and often from ISPs you’ve never heard of (and a couple you probably have). This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a closer look, though.
Cheapest NBN 50 plans with at least 100GB (and wireless modem included)
Obligatory caveat: Several of the ISPs in this list are so new that it can be hard to tell what sort of service you will get. Before diving in, you’ll want to do a bit of extra research – checking out the conversations on Whirlpool is a good place to start.
Also, it’s a good idea to consider a no-contract plan. Most of the smaller ISPs offer no-commitment options, and while the setup costs tend to be higher, it might be worth paying a little bit extra for the peace of mind.
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.
Comments
28 responses to “The Best NBN 50 Plans (From ISPs You’ve Never Heard Of)”
TPG.com.au
Unlimited, up to 100mbps, all for $99.99.
Use them personally, great customer service, get about 85-90mbps, but it does drop to low 60’s in the late afternoon (i suspect i have a lot of netflix owners in my area)
I have literally never heard the the two words: “TPG” & “great service” in the same sentence before LOL.
I’m glad to hear they have changed from your review.
You owe me dry cleaning.
Need to know pings.
I’ve only heard tell of higher-than-adsl and regularly-fluctuating pings from NBN users so far.
I’ll keep my lower download speed and ping, until I see a low-ping NBN service with my own eyes.
Usually locking yourself into a 12/24 month contract is no big deal at all, but everyone should be very careful with NBN if ping is important to you.
MyRepublic still have the best deal I’ve seen, 100mbps, Unlimited for $59.99
Got it for my Ma, no complaints so far. We are still on iiNet (now owned by TPG) $99 for unlimited 100/40… 4 months to go on the contract.
Has anyone used Myrepublic? they seem to offer a gamercentric package of unlimited data, 100/40 for $69 a month. Seems like a great deal,I am considering it when the nbn arrives at my place in June some time.
I’m on MyRepublic and it’s been going pretty well. Not sure the extra $10 a month is worth it for the “gamer” plan though. My only trouble is that lately my 100mbps line has taken huge drops to 30 and sometimes even 3Mbps. Not sure if it’s them over subscribing or the technology behind HFC just not up to the task.
It’s most likely them over subscribing because at 69 a month theres no way in hell they can afford the cvc to have low contention
Spent the better half of a week finding out from them why my 100/40 account went to lower than ADSL speeds. I used all forms of communication to reach them (bar fax and carrier pigeon). Eventually found out the main fibre link was over loaded and a fix wouldn’t be coming for a month… They would “upgrade me” a month later. Keep in mind, I had to chase them to find this out and the only compensation i was offered was a month free. I cancelled my contract (albeit with more calls and hassles) without paying termination fees. I do not recommend them at all and my heart breaks for their staff who are doing their best in a horrid situation.
I called IINET the day i cancelled and was back up and running at 100/40 (well 92/36) within a few hours. I’m paying more but it’s worth it!
Hmmm, this is the kind of thing I was worried about, if I decided to go with them…
Just sign up month to month and at worst it’s a hassle of changing providers. Worth saving 30 bucks a month I reckon. Plus these are isolated incidences, I’ve heard great things from other people
Agreed. A mate joined them recently and has minimal issues. I must have had a bad tube.
Just signed up with them this week. I haven’t signed up for the gamer package, since I don’t play online much.
Speed has fluctuated a lot since switching from internode(anywhere from 5Mb/s – 94Mb/s). But I did have the same issues with internode for the first few months.
I was with them since launch, network back-haul is provided by Optus and they have over subscribed their own network and it has effected My Republic hard. I used to get 100/40 with 15 ping to Sydney from Tasmania but since January it all changed, 100 ping to Sydney on weekends and after 7pm each night. If you game forget about it if you stream and download then no problems cheap and fast.
I am now back with iinet and ping is back to 15 and steady all night and day.
So “best” in this instance just means cheapest, with no indication of actual speeds during peek hours, customer service, etc. Not particularly useful.
yus James, peak periods are a big problem….
Seems like it.
I’m on Optus – 50/20 and unlimited download for $75 a month. That’s not on the list
This list is pretty lackluster.
Like it doesn’t have Internode even though their prices are cheaper than many of those listed for the same data limits, and it doesn’t include MyRepublic whose price knocks everyone else out of the water.
MyRepublic – 100Mbps Unlimited Data – $59
Internode – 50Mbps Unlimited Data – $89, 100Mbps – $99
Like, why is “NBN Fibre Unlimited” even listed? At $125 that price is by no means a “best plan”
Maybe the list only includes ISPs offering referral bonuses?
MyRepublic +1 here – $60 month 100mb unlimited. I haven’t had any crazy bandwidth drops just the very occasional down time which they flag on their site.
Do MyRepublic allow BYO routers?
They supply one and it’s pretty good. Better than what I had. Can’t see why you can’t just configure your own assuming it’s compatible
I just wanted to see what their policies were. Some ISP give a discount if it’s BYO, but I couldn’t find anything on the website. It seems they provide a router regardless.
They charge $2 for the router for some reason
the NBN is in shambles …. even the best can only give 300KBytes/s at peak times
I use exetel. 100mbps, unlimited data. I have ftth and i have never had a problem. $89 a month might be a little pricey, but very worst it. I download more than 700gb a month and it’s always super fast.
Iinet offered me a same price upgrade to NBN. When I looked at the package, the speed was 12Mbit. 12! My current ADSL2+ is 24, which I regularly get around 14Mbit syncs.
Then they blamed the other carrier services…
Umm, MyRepublic
Unlimited 100mb\sec for 60 per month
I pay for the gamer package that has dedicated VLAN routing to game servers around the world for an extra 10 bucks
I benched their router to use my nighthawk
I also have fiber to the house, so no speed drops (Just stick to blaming Malcolm Turnbull for your copper to node)
And they have an Australian Service Desk …mate
Depends on the game, but I can game on 4ms ping or less
Giggity
Any speed drops? I’m with them on HFC and had solid 100/40 connection until the end of last year. Now I get frequent speeds drops to 30 or even 3. Still trying to work out if it’s them or the HFC.
That sucks, would love to know what the issue is once you find out. Could be so many things