These Aussie Telcos Really Want You To Try Their 5G Home Internet

These Aussie Telcos Really Want You To Try Their 5G Home Internet
Contributor: Alex Choros
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NBN may still be the go-to internet connection for most, but 5G home internet has become increasingly available over the past few months. You’ll now find plans from Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, iiNet, TPG and Internode. And these telcos also really want you to try it, to the point where they’ll give you your first month free.

5G home internet plans come in two different forms: capped and uncapped.

If you get a capped plan, you’ll be limited to maximum speeds of 100Mbps, and may experience slightly slower connectivity during peak hours. That’s similar to most NBN 100 plan.

Here’s a look at the capped 5G home internet plans you can get with a free trial:

On the other hand, uncapped plans can go as fast network conditions allow. When testing Optus 5G home internet, we experienced speeds as fast as 300Mbps. On Telstra 5G home internet, we’ve seen speeds over 500Mbps. Exact speeds will depend on your coverage and congestion, but 200Mbps is a pretty safe average.

Here’s a look at the uncapped 5G home internet plans you can get with a free trial:

For the most part, these trials are all risk-free. If you decide 5G home internet isn’t for you, you can simply cancel your plan without paying your cent, provided you return your modem to your telco.

Optus is the one exception. If you pick up an Optus 5G home internet plan and you change your mind, you’ll be stung by a costly exit fee. If you cancel your Optus plan within your first 36 months, you’ll pay a modem fee equivalent to $16 for each month left in your three-year term. That’s a maximum of $576.

The only way you can get out of Optus’ rule is if you can’t get speeds of at least 50Mbps. If that’s the case and Optus can’t help you improve them, you can return your modem and get out of the plan scot-free.

Telstra, Vodafone, iiNet, Internode and TPG all let you return your modem if you decide to cancel during or after your free trial.

The big benefit of being able to get a free month of 5G home internet is it makes it easier to see if the service is right for you. You don’t need to cancel your NBN to do so, and you won’t end up paying two internet bills for that month.

While 5G home internet may naturally be quite appealing to anyone with an underperforming NBN connection, it can also be a great way to get faster speeds for less money. Most uncapped 5G home internet plans are cheaper than an NBN 100 plan, but can offer performance similar to or faster than an NBN 250 plan.

For comparison, here are the NBN 100 plans from the telcos offering 5G home internet free trials:

Alex Choros is Managing Editor at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website. 


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At Kotaku, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

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