Myths and Expert Tips
"Cheapest is best" – Not always true → Low-cost plans often come with disadvantages like slower evening speeds, or poor reliability and / or call centres across multiple countries.
No lock-in = more control → Choose month-to-month plans so you can leave if service drops or prices rise.
Keep your landline? Look for VoIP bundles → Some plans can replace your copper home phone with an internet-based one. A lot of providers have an add-on option for VoIP when you're signing up - be sure to ask.
Senior’s discounts don’t always offer value → Only a small number of providers offer a seniors discount, however these plans often have things like very slow speeds, locked-in contracts and generally don’t provide the best value.
NBN Plans for Seniors and Pensioners
Choosing an NBN speed is like picking the right size kettle for your household.
NBN 25 is a standard 4-cup kettle - enough for most senior households to browse, stream, and video call without waiting around.
NBN 50 is a large, quick-boil kettle - ideal if you’ve got more than one person online at the same time or if you regularly do things like video chats with the grandkids, stream shows, or back up photos to the cloud.
The following plans have been audited by our telco experts and are filtered by the most popular on site.
All plans are no contract, and come with unlimited data.
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SpinTel
All Fixed Line nbn®
Home Starter 25/10
$41/mth
Min. cost $41
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Dodo
All Fixed Line nbn®
nbn25 Unlimited Plan
$43.99/mth
Min. cost $43.99
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Flip
All Fixed Line nbn®
Editor's Pick
Unlimited Premium nbn25
$48/mth
Min. cost $48
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Tangerine Telecom
All Fixed Line nbn®
Value NBN 25/10
$42.90/mth
Min. cost $42.90
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Kogan Internet
All Fixed Line nbn®
Bronze Unlimited
$49.90/mth
Min. cost $49.90
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Superloop
All Fixed Line nbn®
Everyday nbn25/10
$58/mth
Min. cost $58
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Belong
All Fixed Line nbn®
NBN Starter – Unlimited
$49/mth
Min. cost $49
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amaysim
All Fixed Line nbn®
NBN25
$60/mth
Min. cost $60
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Dodo
All Fixed Line nbn®
Editor's Pick
nbn50 Unlimited Plan
$57.99/mth
Min. cost $57.99
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amaysim
All Fixed Line nbn®
NBN50
$45/mth
Min. cost $45
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Tangerine Telecom
All Fixed Line nbn®
Value Plus NBN 50/20
$64.90/mth
Min. cost $64.90
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Superloop
All Fixed Line nbn®
Extra-value nbn50/20
$69/mth
Min. cost $69
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Belong
All Fixed Line nbn®
NBN Standard Plus – Unlimited
$55/mth
Min. cost $55
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Kogan Internet
All Fixed Line nbn®
Silver Unlimited
$69.90/mth
Min. cost $69.90
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Flip
All Fixed Line nbn®
Unlimited Family nbn50
$68/mth
Min. cost $68
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Find your NBN Technology Type
Your address will be used to check against the nbn’s technology type database. It will not be stored by us.
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Dodo
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Editor's Pick
nbn100 Unlimited Plan
$62.99/mth
Min. cost $62.99
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amaysim
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
NBN100
$50/mth
Min. cost $50
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Superloop
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Family nbn100/20
$74/mth
Min. cost $74
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Tangerine Telecom
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Speedy NBN 100/20
$67.90/mth
Min. cost $67.90
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Belong
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
NBN Premium – Unlimited
$59/mth
Min. cost $59
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Kogan Internet
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Gold Unlimited
$69.90/mth
Min. cost $69.90
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Flip
FTTN, FTTB, FTTC
Unlimited Turbo Boost nbn100
$69/mth
Min. cost $69
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Find your NBN Technology Type
Your address will be used to check against the nbn’s technology type database. It will not be stored by us.
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Dodo
FTTP, HFC
Editor's Pick
nbn500 Unlimited Plan
$62.99/mth
Min. cost $62.99
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Tangerine Telecom
FTTP, HFC
Speedy Max NBN 500/50
$59.90/mth
Min. cost $59.90
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Superloop
FTTP, HFC
Family Max nbn500/50
$74/mth
Min. cost $74
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amaysim
FTTP, HFC
NBN500
$50/mth
Min. cost $50
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SpinTel
FTTP, HFC
Home Turbo 500/50
$69/mth
Min. cost $69
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Exetel
FTTP, HFC
One Plan 500/50
$80/mth
Min. cost $80
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Belong
FTTP, HFC
NBN Fast – Unlimited
$59/mth
Min. cost $59
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Kogan Internet
FTTP, HFC
Gold Plus Unlimited
$69.90/mth
Min. cost $69.90
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Flip
FTTP, HFC
Unlimited Fast Speed nbn500
$69/mth
Min. cost $69
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Find your NBN Technology Type
Your address will be used to check against the nbn’s technology type database. It will not be stored by us.
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#1
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SpinTel
FTTP, HFC
Home Turbofast 750/50
$69/mth
Min. cost $69
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#2
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Dodo
FTTP, HFC
nbn Home Superfast Plan
$69.99/mth
Min. cost $69.99
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#3
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Tangerine Telecom
FTTP, HFC
Ultraspeedy NBN 1000/100
$89.90/mth
Min. cost $89.90
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#4
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Superloop
FTTP, HFC
Megaspeed nbn750/50
$79/mth
Min. cost $79
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#5
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Kogan Internet
FTTP, HFC
nbn750 Platinum Unlimited
$84.90/mth
Min. cost $84.90
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#6
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amaysim
FTTP, HFC
NBN750
$90/mth
Min. cost $90
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#7
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Flip
FTTP, HFC
Unlimited Super Speed nbn750
$94.90/mth
Min. cost $78
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Frequently asked questions
Let's take a look at some frequently asked questions about internet speed, monthly data usage, and what happens to your email account if you switch providers.
How much speed do I need?
The NBN speed you need depends on how many people use your connection and what they use it for.
There are seven NBN speed tiers available, but some will be excessive for most seniors. NBN 25 and NBN 50 plans will suit most pensioner households.
NBN 25 plans have maximum downloads of 25Mbps and uploads of either 5Mbps or 10Mbps, depending on the plan. These plans are fast enough to stream Netflix in HD on four screens simultaneously or for two people to browse online, listen to music, and video call at the same time. Provided you don’t use the internet for anything intensive, NBN 25 plans can be more than ample for the needs of a two-person home. While these plans aren't suitable for a more than moderate reliance on cloud storage, they should be fine for many pensioner households.
NBN 50 plans have a download limit of 50Mbps and uploads of 20Mbps. Both these speed limits should be ample for a household with two people, even if they're both heavy internet users with multiple devices. The only reason you might want more is if you regularly download large files, or if there are more than two people in your home (even then, you still could get by with NBN 50).
How much data do I need?
Most NBN plans now come with unlimited data, but you can still come across some with capped data allowances for a small discount. Even so, it's very rare, and if you do find one, there may be a cheaper unlimited plan from a different provider.
The table below is a quick overview of what kind of internet data allowances are the best for different online activities. Note these recommendations are based on just one activity, so if you regularly engage with multiple online activities in the chart it’s best to opt up for a larger allowance.
| 100GB | 200GB | 500GB | Unlimited Data | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web Surfing | ||||
| Skype | ||||
| Music Streaming | ||||
| Online Gaming | ||||
| YouTube | ||||
| Streaming TV | ||||
| Downloading Movies & TV | ||||
| Downloading Video Games |
What about my email account?
If you adopted a free email service through your provider as your main email account (e.g. one that ends in "@telconame"), switching providers can be means you lose that email account. This is a common roadblock for many people when it comes to shopping around for NBN plans for seniors and pensioners. It's doable, but it can be a hassle and a half, to say the least.
Once you leave, your email account will eventually be erased, along with all your emails (which you can download and transfer if you do it before they're deleted). There's sometimes a set number of days' grace period, so you can set your old account to auto-forward any emails to your new one, but after a while the account gets deleted and your auto-forwarding stops.
While the advice might be too late now, you should never adopt an ISP-provided email account as your main one. There are numerous free email services (Gmail, Hotmail and Apple are popular), plus many others that are relatively cheap. These services are independent of your internet provider. Just make sure whatever service you sign up to is well established. You don't want to sign up to a company that goes bust or cancels the email side of its business because it's deemed unprofitable.
If you're planning on splitting with your provider, you might want to get the ball rolling in advance. Here are a few steps to get you started:
- Create a new email account (not with another internet provider)
- Set up an auto-forward from your old account to your new one. This will mean any emails sent to your ISP-provided address will be sent on to your new one, until the old one is deleted.
- See if you can export your old account's contact list and import it into your new account. The method for this depends on the service, but your ISP should be able to help.
- Export your email history from your old account. This is usually done by downloading all your emails as files. If you have a lot of emails, the download might take quite a while. And you'll need somewhere to store them – preferably saved in two locations, in case one of your storage drives dies. The method for exporting emails this depends on the provider or email service, but the ISP in question should be able to run you through it. Once you've exported your email history, you might be able to import it to your new account, but it's not guaranteed. At the very least, you'll have everything on file in case you need it.
- Start the slow process of switching all your online accounts and contacts over to the new email address. Many online services use your email account as an authentication method, so you'll be out of luck if said account sends a verification email to the old, deleted address. Make a list and take it one at a time. There's a good chance how-to guides exist for any of the more popular services you use.
Those are the main steps to take for switching email accounts, but there may be others that apply to your situation. Take a look around the web and see if anyone else has advice that works for you. Reddit can be a good resource for this, but a web search is also a good place to start.
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