Compare Internet and broadband plans in Australia

Even though many of us rely on the internet connection on our phone for the day-to-day, there's a good chance that when you physically return home, you're relying on a broadband connection there. 

In Australia, that means a connection to the National Broadband Network, or "NBN", and a high speed internet connection for nearly anything you might want it for. 

School work, work-from-home, games, movies, music streaming, emails, apps, social media; anything you might want the internet for can be tapped into with a connection to the NBN, and it's a connection that every home in Australia can have access to. 

But how do you find an NBN plan suitable for your needs? 

Consider asking yourself some important questions:

• What NBN speed do you see yourself needing?
• How much data will you require?
• Do you need a phone line?
• Do you want a contract?

One of the most important considerations for any NBN plan is the speed at which you connect, and this is divided into two numbers: download speed and upload speed. 

The first of these – download speed – is the one most people see as important, as it determines just how quickly you'll be able to download from the internet. 

As of 2022, NBN speed tiers are rated as follows:

• NBN 12: 12Mbps down, 1Mbps up
• NBN 25: 25Mbps down, 5Mbps up
• NBN 50: 50Mbps down, 20Mbps up
• NBN 100: 100Mbps down, 40Mbps up
• NBN 250: 250Mbps down, 25Mbps up
• NBN 1000: 1000Mbps down, 50Mbps up

Each of these speed tiers differs dramatically in both download and upload speed, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the fastest is also likely to be the most expensive. However, the fastest is also going to offer the most consistently quick speed for a connection, because while these numbers indicate the speeds on offer, they are also the maximum speeds, and can change based on time of the day and network congestion. 

Working out what sort of download speed you need can be complex, but often relates to what you plan to use an NBN connection for. 

If you're catering an internet connection for between one or two people, and you don't plan to do much entertainment streaming, you may want to consider an NBN 12 or NBN 25 connection, as it offers the basics, but won't be ideal for lots of high resolution entertainment. 

If you plan to watch movies in 4K Ultra HD, play networked games, or have several people in the home, you may want to consider plans of the NBN 50 and higher. 

Arguably the biggest question for anyone looking for an NBN plan in Australia, the question of how much data you need is similar to the data question when shopping for a mobile phone plan. However, there's one obvious difference: where your phone plan's data is based on how much you expect to consume when you're out and about, your NBN plan's data is about the data you'll consume at home. 

When you're at home, there's a good chance your internet usage is very different compared to when you're out and about on your phone. There's the regular day to day email and web surfing, social media, and then all the entertainment in your life. 

Video services such as Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and catch-up TV services such as ABC iView and SBS all rely on an internet connection, and consume data based on how much you watch and the resolution you watch it at. A Netflix viewing can range between 1GB per hour in standard definition to up to 7GB per hour in 4K, and that's just on one screen. If there are more people in your household watching or streaming entertainment at the same time, the downloads can rack up. 

Music services can make a smaller dent, but over time, it can amount to serious downloads, and not just for your phone. If you stream music to a Sonos, an Amazon Echo, the Apple HomePod Mini, or a Google Nest speaker, the music being streamed to your device chews through downloads as well, ranging from between 40MB per hour to 400MB if you stream in a particularly high audio quality setting.

And if there are any gamers in your home, they could be burning their way through a download quota in serious ways. While every experience is different and individual PC and console game titles handle downloads in unique ways, you could see as much as 500MB per hour downloaded simply by gaming online, possibly more.

The moment you start looking at what you use and download, the data can seriously add up, and it gets more complex depending on how many people there are in your home. 

It's worth remembering that uploads count as well, so it's not just about what you receive, but also what you end up sending. You can receive a 1MB email, but if you send out a 20MB PDF attachment as a response, you've just taken 21MB of data out of your supply. Uploads count the same as downloads. 

Ultimately, you'll need to factor all of this into your cost, and work out how much data you need accordingly. Consider estimating over what you need, or looking for an unlimited plan if you're concerned about overage.

Data is only one part of the equation, because you might also still want to talk to people on the phone. 

Remember that thing? Before the days of the NBN, you probably had one for a standard 56K modem or an ADSL/ADSL2 connection, because those technologies required one to work, either using the phone line or working parallel to one.

However the NBN doesn't work that way and doesn't need a phone line. Instead, the NBN uses one of four types of technologies, none of which lean on that older phone line. 

And yet if you still want a phone line – if you want to call people at home – you may need some special equipment to make it happen. Consider factoring that in as an extra if you do need one, because most NBN connections won't arrive with phone line rental or a digital conversion box for your phone, if you plan to use an internet-based telephone. 

Regardless of whether you need a phone line, you will definitely need to think about a modem or router. 

Every home broadband connection comes with some form of technology to connect you to the NBN, but it will vary based on the type of connection you're able to get in your area.

For instance, if you have:

• Fibre to the Premises (FTTP): you'll have been supplied an NBN connection box and you need a router;
• Fibre to the Node (FTTN): you still rely on a form of telephone line, and need a modem router to connect to the NBN;
• Fibre to the Curb (FTTC): your NBN connection box is supplied by NBN Co, and you only need a router to connect;
• Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC): your NBN connection box is supplied and you only need a router to connect.

If you already own a recent wireless network router, it may already support a direct connection to an NBN box, and you won't need the new hardware. However, if you're not sure, you may want to consult the NBN company you're considering signing up with.

As you make that consideration, you may also want to check whether it's worth signing a contract or going month to month. 

While contracts can come with deals, such as lower costs and bundling in other services such as a mobile plan, many NBN plans will let you pay month-to-month, allowing you to try an NBN plan for a period of time before jumping somewhere else later on. 

When you have all of these questions answered, it's time to make your own broadband plan comparison. 

Set your options using the filters and decide what you need, whether it's a lot of data per month, a lot of speed, and whether the hardware is included, plus how long you want your contract to go for, if at all. 

By comparing your NBN options, you can build a broadband comparison you can be happy with, and one that suits your needs best.