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Compare cheap broadband plans

High speeds and data are still possible on a budget with a cheap internet plan.

Matt Sayer
Matt Sayer

Updated

Fact checked

With high-speed Internet a necessity these days, shopping around for broadband deals is more important than ever. If you're after a low-cost broadband plan, we've gathered up a wide range of plans that will cost you less than $50 a month, with some even lower than $30 a month. Check out our comparison table below.

Tangerine NBN Standard

Tangerine may not be a well known provider, but their plans are definitely great value. They're running a promotion on their 1 month Basic II speed plan - the first 6 months are $49.90, then it goes up to $59.90 - but you'll have the freedom to switch if needed.

At a much faster speed than other plans under $50 and unlimited data, this one's an easy recommendation if you're looking to save some cash.

  • 21 Mbps
    Typical evening speed
  • Unlimited data
  • $49.9 per month
    Min. total cost of $49.9
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Of course, cheap broadband plans don't come without a few caveats you'll want to be aware of, such as:

Speed

When it comes to the NBN. many cheaper broadband plans sacrifice Internet speed in order to cut costs, which might be fine if you're only interested in some light web browsing and watching the odd YouTube video. However, should you want to stream Netflix in HD, that cheap nbn 12 connection probably won't cut it. Instead, you should aim for nbn 25 or higher to ensure you won't be stuck waiting for the latest episode of Rick and Morty to load.

The ADSL cut-off

You'll see a lot of ADSL plans among the offerings above, and while they're some of the cheapest broadband plans available, they also have the shortest lifespan. This is because as part of the NBN rollout, all ADSL services across Australia are being permanently disconnected. 18 months after the NBN reaches your area, you'll no longer be able to access the ADSL network, regardless of whether you have an ADSL plan or not.

For this reason, you'll want to check to see if an ADSL provider has a plan in place to automatically swap all its ADSL customers over to the NBN when the rollout reaches them. If not, you might want to look elsewhere to avoid losing your Internet service down the line.

Data caps

In cutting costs, many broadband providers also cut monthly download limits quite significantly. Limits of 50GB a month are common, and though this can be sufficient for general web browsing, it's a little less suitable if you plan on streaming video or downloading movies or games. Streaming two hours of HD Netflix a day would blow through 50GB in just over a week, and that's not counting all the videos you watch on Facebook or the image galleries you flip through on news sites.

That said, in this price range you won't see too many plans offering both a roomy data cap and a speedy connection, so you'll need to weigh up which of the two is more important to you.

Additional costs

Beyond the monthly bill, you'll want to check that any prospective broadband plan isn't hiding a bunch of additional costs in its contract. Activation fees, installation charges and mandatory equipment purchases can quickly turn a $50 plan into a $300 buy-in, so be sure to read the fine print in a plan's Critical Information Summary (CIS) before signing up.

For more information on what to expect from different broadband pricing tiers, check out our NBN plan pricing guide.

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