I typically spend my week searching for the best NBN plans to give you the most value for money. It's often worth shopping around for a better deal, as some NBN plans may be low-cost but offer subpar quality. Sometimes, higher-priced plans from the best NBN providers may just as easily compete with more affordable options for a similar service.
The 1,000Mbps speed tier is the fastest option available in Australia for home internet plans. Up to 8.4 million homes can now access theoretical speeds between 500Mbps and 1000Mbps, and the only criteria for achieving such speeds is having a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connection.
Currently, no NBN provider advertises the maximum speeds, but a few get relatively close. One of these providers is Superloop, and its Lightspeed NBN 1000 plan is now hands down the best value in Australia, in my opinion, especially for heavy internet users. Costing AU$99 p/m for the first six months, before the price increases to AU$109 p/m, this 1,000Mbps plan is hard to beat — especially when it comes to speed.
Superloop has recently updated its advertised speeds for the plan, with ultrafast speeds now clocking in at a whopping 700Mbps during the typical evening hours between 7-11pm. We’ve previously seen Superloop advertising 600Mbps typical evening speeds, which is still pretty fast, but this recent update makes it all the more attractive.
Reaching these new ultrafast heights means the telco is on par with the speeds achieved by Telstra's AU$170 p/m NBN 1000 offering — and only the second NBN provider to hit such speeds — but you'll save you a mammoth AU$792 over the first year of service when joining Superloop as opposed to Telstra.
According to the ACCC's quarterly report, Superloop achieves 98.2% of advertised plan speeds during all hours of the day. While that's only 1.8% off hitting 100%, only four providers reach 100% or higher, and the difference is likely to be pretty trivial in the real world. Plus, only Telstra and Superloop claim maximum peak hour speeds of 700Mbps, so saving those extra pennies is all the more worth it.
The Lightspeed plan does come with the Amazon eero6+ router, which could offer a gateway to creating one of the best mesh Wi-Fi systems if that's up your alley. It's worth noting that Telstra's plan does come with its latest modem that claims to offer coverage for large homes and has 4G backup; however, the supplied tech will not allow you to create a mesh network with it.
Do note, though, that to qualify for the free router with Superloop, you'll need to remain connected for at least 18 months. If you cancel your service before then, you'll need to pay AU$8 per month on any time remaining on the plan. For example, the maximum you could pay is AU$136 if you cancel after the first month of service.
If you're not in need of ultrafast speeds, you can check out Superloop's other affordable NBN options in the widget below.
