Broadband news and advice

Regardless of how much time you spend on the internet, there’s nothing worse than a slow broadband connection. In the NBN world, this issue is often referred to as ‘congestion’, as it typically occurs during times when internet demand is at its highest, such as during the peak evening hours. And unfortunately for many Aussie households, it’s a pretty regular problem. To combat this, many NBN providers have begun offering ‘congestion-free NBN plans’ to customers. But what exactly are these types of plans and how do they differ from regular NBN products?

There are more than 100 NBN providers in Australia, according to WhistleOut, which gives you an excellent opportunity to shop around and save on monthly internet bills.But knowing where to start can be tricky. The first thing to note is that broadband NBN plans commonly come in four different speed types: NBN 25, NBN 50, NBN 100 and NBN 250. The speed/plan that’s best suited to you will depend on the number of people in your household and how you use the internet. However, when you start comparing NBN plans, it’s also important to take the estimated ‘evening speed’ into consideration. This is the speed you’re most likely to get when the internet is in high demand. To help get your search started with your research, we’ve rounded up some of the cheapest broadband NBN plans for NBN 25, NBN 50, NBN 100 and NBN 250 plans below.

With winter on the horizon, it’s time to start unpacking those comfy blankets and fluffy slippers and schedule in some serious screen time.  But no matter what type of TV watcher you are, make sure you have the best type of NBN connection to support your streaming. (There’s nothing worse than bad internet right?) So with this in mind, we’ve broken down some recent stats from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Measuring Broadband Australia Report that show which NBN speeds are best for different streamers using Netflix. To get these figures, the ACCC compared the number of Netflix videos that could be simultaneously watched on a single NBN connection at one given time. Notably, the report compared both High Definition (HD) and Ultra High Definition (UHD) (4K) videos.* 

No matter what sort of internet user you are, there are a range of broadband plan options available, and with different speeds too. Maximum speeds currently sit at 12, 25, 50, 100, 250 and 1000 Megabits per second (Mbps).  However, note the use of the word maximum … The truth is, while service providers might advertise their NBN speed as 100 when you buy a plan, it’s likely that you won’t receive that speed. This is particularly true during busy hours between 7pm and 11pm. Time to do some research.