Best Home Wireless Plans February 2020
- Best Plan Optus, 4G Wireless Broadband - 500GB, no contract
- Also Consider SpinTel, $75.95 High Speed Wireless Broadband 500GB, no contract
- Best Optus Plan 4G Wireless Broadband 200GB, no contract
- Best Telstra Plan $75 Large MBB Plan 100GB, no contract
- Best SpinTel Plan $59.95 High Speed Wireless Broadband 500GB, no contract
- Best Exetel Plan $69 Home Wireless Broadband Plan 250GB, 12-month contract
- Best Yomojo Plan $59.90 Home Wireless Broadband Plan 200GB, no contract
If you're looking for an NBN alternative, and would prefer something portable, home wireless broadband is a great option. There are no technicians, no annoying set-up delays, and you can take it anywhere you can get a signal.
Check out our picks for the best home wireless plans available now. Or scroll down to read about how we chose the best plans this month.
Best Home Wireless Broadband Plan: Optus, 4G Wireless Broadband - 500GB
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What we love: Offering full 4G speeds, Optus stands head and shoulders above the competition, most of which are shackled to much slower speeds on the Optus network. If you are looking for an alternative to the NBN, we recommend choosing the Optus plan with 500GB of data each month. Plus, with the current promotion, you get 20% off plan free for the 24 months which is an exceptionally good deal, usually $85/mth discounted to $68/mth.
Also consider: SpinTel High Speed Wireless Broadband 500GB
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What we love: While other Home Wireless Broadband providers offer download speeds of up to 12 Mbps, SpinTel's High Speed plan can deliver 4G speed using the Optus network. This could be a potential replacement for an nbn50 service. Plus, you will get $100 credit back if you choose the 6 month contract option. Note that SpinTel's wireless plans also come with 14 days risk-free guarantee.
What other options are available?
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How we choose the best plans for February
The WhistleOut team read over 1,400 plan documents each week and spot about 400 plan changes for our database every month. It takes a dedicated team of experts to monitor the phone and internet markets, and each month we select our Editor's Picks together.
Plans considered are all currently part of the WhistleOut database, which currently includes 34 internet service providers.
When it comes to Home Wireless Broadband services, the market is pretty clearly defined by speed. Optus can offer its customers full 4G speeds on its 4G Plus network and should be one of your best options by far. In theory, the Optus 4G Plus network can reach speeds of up to 600Mbps, though you should expect somewhere between 30 and 100Mbps, based on our experience.
Of course, Optus is only best because it puts the brakes on its major competitors by limiting the speed of these connections. Currently, all providers offering a Home Wireless Broadband product operate on the Optus network.
Of these smaller providers, Spintel offers the next best option, with a 'High Speed' plan tier with 4G Speeds on the Optus network. All other Home Wireless services work at speeds of 12Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps for uploads.
If you're looking for a mobile internet plan as an alternative for a fixed line service, you need enough data for your whole house. We recommend considering plans with at least 200GB each month.
Prices for home wireless broadband vary depending on the provider you choose, but generally, you should expect to pay between $40 and $80 per month for a plan.
Most home wireless broadband plans come with at least 200GB per month (sometimes even more), so it works out to be a little under 30c per GB, which is a good price when compared to similar mobile broadband services.
Your mileage will vary, but 200GB is enough to browse the web and watch a bit of Netflix each day. For more details, check out our guide to broadband data usage.
Home wireless broadband used to be the domain of major providers like Optus and Telstra, but we're now seeing a number of the smaller companies starting to offer these products. This is good news, as the smaller companies are great for competition and tend to drive the price of services down over time.
At the time of writing, the following providers offer a home wireless broadband service, including the special modem/routers.
Optus Home Wireless Broadband
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Optus home wireless broadband plans come with:
- Full-speed 4G connectivity
- Between 200GB and 500GB of data
- Home wireless modem
Optus is the real trailblazer in this area offering plans with up to 500GB of data, for the reasonable price of $85 per month. Unlike most other home wireless broadband plans, these plans don't have a speed cap and let you tap into the full 4G speeds in your area.
That means depending on factors such as signal and network congestion, you could achieve download speeds of up to 100Mbps on these plans. That's equivalent to the fastest speed tier on the NBN and a damn sight better than the max 12Mbps offered by other providers. In our testing, we've typically seen regular speeds between 20Mbps and 50Mbps. These can be further improved with an external antenna.
If you're looking at an Optus plan, you can choose between 200GB and 500GB of data, and a 24-month contract or a no-contract option.
Telstra Home Wireless Broadband
If you're looking for home wireless broadband with speed, you could also consider a Telstra service. Plans come with:
- Super-fast 5G and 4GX coverage
- Portable WiFi hotspots included
- No contract
Telstra has become the first Australian telco to offer 5G mobile broadband on a plan with the HTC 5G Hub. The HTC 5G Hub can connect up to 20 devices simultaneously and can connect to mains power, and also operate on battery power, with a 24-hour battery life. As well as serving as a modem it can also work as an entertainment device. It has a touch-screen and support for Android apps like Netflix, and a USB Type-C port for connecting it to external displays.
While Telstra does not intend its 5G mobile broadband plans to replace your home fixed connection, with up to 100GB of data available, they could do it in a pinch. Just be aware before you buy that Telstra 5G coverage is still very limited. Telstra is rolling out its 5G mobile network across the country with pockets of coverage expected in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Launceston, Toowoomba, and the Gold Coast by June 30. But 5G coverage is primarily available in CBDs at this stage. See our Telstra 5G coverage map for details.
These are Telstra's 5G mobile broadband plans 5G modem included:
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If you don't have access to 5G yet, you still have options with Telstra. Big T offers a number of plans on its super-fast 4GX network.
Plans come with a Netgear Nightmawk M2 portable hotspot that can reach speeds up to 2Gbps - or 20x faster than the fastest NBN plan. Though you should know that it is unlikely you'll actually see 2Gbps in your home, and various factors make it hard to accurately estimate speed, but it will still be much, much faster than you'll get from much of the competition.
Note that the Nighthawk M2 is a portable modem, but it's much more than just a dongle. It is battery powered, which is great for portability, and it comes with an AC charger so you can still keep it plugged into the wall. It also has a single Ethernet port if you've still got a device without Wi-Fi.
Telstra's allowances do tend to be a little smaller than what the competition offers - they're much more in-line with mobile broadband, rather than home wireless. But the nice thing about Telstra plans is that they're contract-free on the basis that you can cancel anytime without penalty. You'll just need to pay out the remaining value of your modem.
These are Telstra's 4G mobile broadband plans, with the Netgear Nighthawk M2 included:
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SpinTel Home Wireless Broadband
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SpinTel
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With SpinTel home wireless broadband plans you get:
- Optus 4G network coverage
- Between 200GB and 500GB of data
- Home wireless modem
- Option to bundle a home phone
Spintel is an Optus network partner and a well known name in home broadband generally. What makes Spintel unique is the option to bundle in a home phone service as well as your home wireless. Many Australians still love having a home phone, so this is a great idea.
For home wireless broadband, SpinTel delivers its service over the Optus 4G network and comes with a home wireless modem.
However, it's worth noting that with some of SpinTel's plans the max download speeds you will be able to achieve is 12Mbps, and may be as low as 5Mbps, depending on coverage. That's still fast enough for Netflix, but you won't be able to do much else on your connection at the same time.
Exetel Home Wireless Broadband
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With Exetel home wireless broadband plans you get:
- Optus 4G network coverage
- 250GB of data
- Home wireless modem
You've probably heard of Exetel's broadband plans, or at least seen advertisements for them on the back of a bus somewhere. Exetel has been around for years, but is a new player in the home wireless broadband space.
Like Spintel, with Exetel you get access to the Optus 4G network and a home wireless modem/router. And just like SpinTel your max download speeds will be between 5-12Mbps, depending on your coverage.
Yomojo Home Wireless Broadband
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With Yomojo home wireless broadband plans you get:
- Optus 4G network coverage
- 200GB of data
- Home wireless modem
Yomojo is a well-known, award winner provider in the mobile space, with a focus on plans suitable for the whole family. Now Yomojo has moved into home wireless and its plan offering is great value.
Just like SpinTel high speed plans, you'll get a home wireless modem with your plan, and access to the Optus 4G Plus network.
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