The NBN can be a confusing beast at the best of times – it uses a wide mix of different technologies that means where you live will determine what you can get… and even once you’ve got your head around that, actually finding and choosing right the internet plan that’s right for you can be a minefield.
Firstly, it’s important to realise that not every service that’s offered will work as advertised. Not only will some speeds you choose not be what you expected, but they will often fluctuate depending on the time of day. To make matters worse, many plans now encourage you to pay more to ensure that your internet works at optimum performance in the busy evening times. If you don’t it can literally grind to a halt under the weight of network traffic. Unfortunately, if you’d like to ignore these realities and keep going as you already are, think again: everyone will need to switch their internet and landline to the NBN network in the coming months and years.
Quick & easy plan comparisons
The good news is that help is at hand. iSelect has made choosing the most suitable plan for your home or office as simple as possible, and the service is completely free! By asking simple questions about what you want and what you need from your internet connection, iSelect can direct you towards the most-suitable plans from their recommended providers.
First up is submitting your address: iSelect will then know everything about which types of services are available in your area. Then you’ll be asked what the most important internet-related feature is for you: price, speed, data, reliability, mobile broadband or something else. Next you add what type of household your live in: single, couple, family or shared. Finally, you’re asked what type of internet user you are: basic or heavy.
There are other options, like choosing a no lock-in monthly contract or a reduced-cost annual plan. You can state whether you own or rent and whether you’re moving into a new property or reside in an existing one.
Once you’ve made your choices, you’ll be presented with an easily-navigable list of plans from a variety of providers – one that’s easy to decipher, easy to see where cost-savings reside, plus which features are worth paying more for.
It’s worth remembering that a broadband bundle with a landline is often cheaper than a ‘naked’ broadband-only plan as the service providers offset the cost of your phone calls with that of the installation.
Detail oriented
One of the features that is particularly worth paying attention to is “Speed Information.” If you choose a “Basic” plan, it’s likely that your speed will significantly reduce in the evening busy times and it’s only suitable for basic web browsing, email and social media. This is somewhat mitigated if you choose “Standard” or “Standard Plus” speed plans which add more reliability if you have, say, a family wanting to stream video to multiple devices. To guarantee performance, you’ll need to choose a “Premium Speed” package, but you’ll be paying more for it. Fortunately, iSelect provides some easy-to-understand descriptions for each performance tier.
iSelect also gives you at-a-glance information regarding which types of phone calls are included in a plan. Most offer free local and national calls so you’ll only need to pay for mobile. Meanwhile, if you want to adjust your search criteria further, just click on “Customise you search” and you’ll be able to filter results according to provider, price, options and much more.
So whether you’re a novice user who just needs to switch or a clued-up web guru who needs a dedicated static IP address, iSelect – NBN has you covered and will quickly and easily help you find the best plans to choose from.
- To find an NBN plan that's right for you, visit iSelect's Compare Internet tool today!
