Around 14.7 million Australian use internet connection in businesses and homes. It helps them communicate with the world and provides access to learning. It also supports business productivity, leisure, and online transactions. As such, it’s important to compare the NBN starter speed of different networks. It’s to help Australians choose an internet plan or service that suits their needs.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian government data network project. It aims to provide faster internet connections throughout the whole country. In 2009, the Rudd government established NBN, Co. It came together with a proposal to bypass the existing copper network to achieve faster internet access. NBN, Co. was tasked to build, design, and operate Australia’s access to a new fibre-optic broadband network. The first NBN internet service was launched in 2011 comprising around 14,000 premises. Today, with the completion of the data network project, NBN offered seven broadband speed tiers.
NBN Broadband Speed Tiers
Here’s a list of the NBN broadband speed tiers:
- NBN 12. This is the cheapest and lowest NBN broadband speed tier. Customers under this plan will have a 12 Mbps highest download speed and 1 Mbps highest upload speed. NBN 12 plan prices start at $30.00 per month.
- NBN 25. The 2nd NBN broadband speed tier has a 25 Mbps highest download speed and 5 Mbps highest upload speed. NBN 25 plan prices start at $49.00 per month.
- NBN 50. The 2nd NBN broadband speed tier has a 50 Mbps highest download speed and 20 Mbps highest upload speed. NBN 50 plan prices start at $60.00 per month.
- NBN 100/20. The 2nd NBN broadband speed tier has a 100 Mbps highest download speed and a 20 Mbps highest upload speed. NBN 100/20 plan prices start at $75.00 per month.
- NBN 100/40. The 2nd NBN broadband speed tier has a 100 Mbps highest download speed and a 40 Mbps highest upload speed. NBN 100/20 plan prices start at $75.00 per month.
- NBN 250. The 2nd NBN broadband speed tier has a 250 Mbps highest download speed and 100 Mbps highest upload speed. NBN 250 plan prices start at $110.00 per month.
- NBN 1000. The 2nd NBN broadband speed tier has a 1000 Mbps highest download speed and 100 Mbps highest upload speed. NBN 1000 plan prices start at $135.00 per month.
Most ISP providers offer NBN starter plans under the NBN 25 and NBN 50 broadband speed tiers. It’s because NBN 12 is very slow and is not ideal for a typical Australian household.
Belong NBN Starter Speed
Belong offers one of the cheapest and fastest NBN starter speed plans. It’s under an NBN 50 broadband speed tier. It guarantees a download speed of 330 Mbps and an upload speed of 20 Mbps. This is ideal for an Australian household with 1 or 2 people who use the internet at the same time. A 30 Mbps download speed allows simultaneous browsing, emailing, online gaming, and social media use. It can only allow one device at a time for SD/HD video streaming.
Belong NBN Starter Speed Plan costs $55.00 monthly under a 12-month contract and $60.00 monthly under a no lock-in contract. The plan offers unlimited data usage, so there’s no need to worry about data overages. The modem has an outright cost of $60.00 on a month-to-month contract. This fee is waived in a 12-month contract. Standard activation is free and billing starts on the first day of the next month. This means that a new subscriber can use the internet for free during the first month. Belong also gives its new NBN subscribers a free mobile SIM with an $80.00 credit which they could use for calling, mobile data, and text messaging.
Compare Belong NBN Starter Speed Plan with Other Networks
Let us now compare Belong NBN Starter Speed Plan with Finder Australia’s best NBN plan for September 2020. Please note that all the plans offer unlimited data usage but differ on the NBN broadband speed tiers.
| NBN Starter Plan | Broadband Speed Tier | Starter Speed |
Price/Month |
| Aussie Broadband Basic | NBN 25 | 12 Mbps | $59.00 |
| Flip Value | NBN 12 | 10 Mbps | $49.90 |
| Future Broadband Performance | NBN 25 | 24 Mbps | $69.00 |
| Internode Standard | NBN 25 | 23 Mbps | $69.99 |
| Kogan Bronze | NBN 25 | 25 Mbps | $57.90 |
| MyRepublic Standard | NBN 25 | 15 Mbps | $59.00 |
| Spintel Plus | NBN 50 | 21 Mbps | $59.95 |
| Tangerine Standard | NBN 25 | 21 Mbps |
$59.90 |
| TPG Basic | NBN 12 | 11 Mbps | $59.99 |
| Vodafone Bronze | NBN 25 | 23 Mbps |
$59.00 |
As you can see in the table above, the Belong NBN Starter plan price of $55.00 per month is much cheaper than all the listed starter plans. Most of them are under the NBN broadband speed tier of NBN 25 which has the highest download speed of 25 Mbps and the highest upload speed of 5 Mbps only. This means that the Belong NBN starter speed is much better. It’s under the NBN 50 broadband speed tier like Spintel. But it can offer the highest download speed of 30 Mbps. As such, the Belong NBN Starter plan is the cheapest and fastest plan for Australian homes.