Is an NBN 100 plan worth it in a single-person household?

Dylan Crismale - Digital Content Editor

Last updated 18 September 2023

NBN 100 plans are the fastest plan you can get on the majority of connection types. It's generally the speed tier we recommend for those in larger households. But after months of headaches with an NBN 50 plan, I thought it would be interesting to see if an NBN 100 plan was worth it for a single person.

After testing an NBN 100 plan (courtesy of More) over the last couple of months, I've got to tell you I can't imagine going back.

First, here's the plan I tested.

FTTN, FTTB, FTTC

Fast NBN

FTTN, FTTB, FTTC

nbn® 100/17 Mbps
Unlimited Data
Deal: $80/mth for 36 months, then $95/mth ongoing for CommBank customers who sign up using a CommBank credit or debit card

$105/mth

Min. cost $105

Link not supplied

$105/mth

Min. cost $105

Link not supplied

Life before NBN 100

When I first moved out of home on my own and became responsible for my own bills I naturally gravitated towards an NBN 50 plan - it's the most popular speed tier in Australia and it had served my household of two retirees and two working adults well enough. Yes, there were occasional dropouts but they weren’t unexpected, if anything they were predictable and able to be managed.

I largely worked from home and if my sibling was home gaming during work hours I sometimes had trouble getting enough bandwidth to host a clear Zoom call. If it was especially bad or I was hosting the meeting it was stressful enough that I would politely ask (read: demand) that they use their data hotspot until I was done.

Venturing out into the world on my own I figured the same plan would suffice. Plus, with six-month introductory pricing in some cases, it works out cheaper to get an NBN 50 plan over NBN 25 anyway. Despite having all the bandwidth to myself my intermittent internet issues persisted.

I was still getting that delightful message "Your internet connection is unstable" on my Zoom calls way more often than I'd like. I aim to switch my NBN plan every six months or so to take advantage of the aforementioned deals and the issues persisted across two different providers.

Life with NBN 100

The difference between NBN 50 and NBN 100 has been night and day. My connection feels supercharged. Since the upgrade, to date I’ve not had a single noticeable connection dropout or any problem on work calls, the speed is just that much zippier. I'm sure I'm gaining minutes back in my day with the difference.

During peak times (7pm to 11pm at night) I've seen download speeds that range between 90-95Mbps and during the day while I’m at work I've seen speed actually tick over the 100Mbps mark and up to 108Mbps.

Before I’d head out for an afternoon walk after work I used to dawdle around the house so my podcasts and audiobooks had time to download. Now, my three-hour long-form podcasts take less than two minutes to finish downloading. My cozy comfort game of choice is Sims 4 but I hadn't been bothered to download it to my new laptop with all the various expansions because I knew it would take ages. Now, on the faster speed tier, I was brave. It took me less than 30 minutes to download all 22GB of the base game which I happily booted up while the 39 various expansions and item packs continued to download in the background (yes, it's expensive being a Sims fan).

So what was the issue with NBN 50?

My slow NBN speeds were an irritation at best and only occasionally really inconveniencing which is why I put up with them for so long. Slow speeds can be caused by a range of issues each of which I'd accounted for:

Connection type. Some are just not as good as others. At both of my addresses I was on an HFC connection which is one of the better ones thanks to upgrades. It isn't as bad as FTTN (thankfully NBN is upgrading people from that for free).
Congestion and interference. Unless someone is squatting in my one-bedroom apartment congestion shouldn't have been the issue. My modem was positioned well out of the way of objects that could interfere with the signal.
Hardware issues. My modem on my NBN 50 plan was a fairly stock standard one supplied by my first telco. A decent modem typically costs at least $100 or more and those provided by most ISPs aren't known for being the best. But as it turns out my modem wasn't the issue either. I tested it to see what effect it had on speed and there was no noticeable difference. The new eero 6+ modem does have a slightly better range. It allows me to stay connected to the WiFi even at the clothesline which is some distance away. More is one of a few telcos that will sell you one of these fancier eero 6+ or Netcomm modems when you're signing up for your plans.

So it wasn't my connection, congestion within my household is unlikely and my old modem performed just as well as the new one when it came to speed. I guess NBN 50 itself or my two previous telcos were the ones letting me down.

NBN 100: The verdict

So, is NBN 100 worth it for someone living on their own? I think so, especially if you’re working from home, have tried everything else and still don't feel like you're getting the speeds you want. It's just that much better.

We usually focus on ways to spend less money but for a second let’s look at the numbers the other way. The difference between most of these plans during their offer period is $10 per month. That's half as much as the avo on toast I munched down on this morning, so I'll be making the change permanently. You can compare a range of NBN plans yourself below to help make that decision.

#1	Tangerine Telecom	Tangerine Telecom All Fixed Line nbn® Value NBN 25/10 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/8.5 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $30/mth off for the first 6 mths, $42.90/month for first 6 months, then $72.90/month. Ends 30.10.26 $42.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $72.90/mth Min. cost $42.90 Go to Site	$42.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $72.90/mth Min. cost $42.90	Go to Site
#2	Moose NBN	Moose NBN All Fixed Line nbn® nbn 25/10 Value All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/9 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $20/mth off for first 6 months - $44.80/mth for 6mths, then $64.80/mth + Get eero 7 modem for only $175 (RRP $249). $44.80/mth for first 6 mths, then $64.80/mth Min. cost $44.80 Link not supplied	$44.80/mth for first 6 mths, then $64.80/mth Min. cost $44.80	Link not supplied
#3	Belong	Belong All Fixed Line nbn® NBN Starter – Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/8 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $26 off for 6 months - $49/mth for first 6 mths, then $75/mth (Offer ends 04.11.26) + Free $80 Mobile SIM $49/mth for first 6 mths, then $75/mth Min. cost $49 Go to Site	$49/mth for first 6 mths, then $75/mth Min. cost $49	Go to Site
#4	Kogan Internet	Kogan Internet All Fixed Line nbn® Bronze Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/8 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $21/mth off for 12mths. $49.90/mth for first 12 months then revert back to $70.90/mth. Offer available until withdrawn. $49.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $70.90/mth Min. cost $49.90 Go to Site	$49.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $70.90/mth Min. cost $49.90	Go to Site
#5	Swoop	Swoop All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® Home Casual All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/8 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $15/mth off for 6 months, $54/mth for first 6 months then $69/mth + Get the eero 7 for only $175 (normally $249) $54/mth for first 6 mths, then $69/mth Min. cost $54 Link not supplied	$54/mth for first 6 mths, then $69/mth Min. cost $54	Link not supplied
#6	MATE	MATE All Fixed Line nbn® Crikey nbn 25/10 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/10 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25/mth off for first 6 mths, $55/mth for first 6 mths, then reverts to $80/mth (code MATE25) + Bundle & Save + more! $55/mth for first 6 months, then $80/mth Min. cost $55 Link not supplied	$55/mth for first 6 months, then $80/mth Min. cost $55	Link not supplied
#7	Superloop	Superloop All Fixed Line nbn® Everyday nbn25/10 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/8.5 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $20/mth off for 6 months! $58/mth for 6 months, then $78/mth + Bundle & Save $58/mth for first 6 mths, then $78/mth Min. cost $58 Go to Site	$58/mth for first 6 mths, then $78/mth Min. cost $58	Go to Site
#8	Aussie Broadband	Aussie Broadband All Fixed Line nbn® Basic Plus nbn - Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 23/9 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25 off for the first 6 months. Promo code SPRING25. $83/mth after promo ends 15.11.26 $58/mth for first 6 months, then $83/mth Min. cost $58 Link not supplied	$58/mth for first 6 months, then $83/mth Min. cost $58	Link not supplied
#9	TPG	TPG All Fixed Line nbn® nbn25 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/8 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: $59.99/mth for first 6 months, then $79.99/mth. T&Cs apply. $59.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $79.99/mth Min. cost $59.99 Link not supplied	$59.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $79.99/mth Min. cost $59.99	Link not supplied
#10	iiNet	iiNet All Fixed Line nbn® nbn25 Liimitless All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 25/8 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $20/mth off for 6 mths – $59.99/mth for first 6 months, then $79.99/mth. Use code SAVE20FOR6 $59.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $79.99/mth Min. cost $69.99 Link not supplied	$59.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $79.99/mth Min. cost $69.99	Link not supplied

#1	amaysim	amaysim All Fixed Line nbn® NBN50 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $40/mth off for the first 6 months ($30 NBN Sale + $10 Standard Intro offer), then $85/mth. Ends 04.10.26 $45/mth for first 6 months, then $85/mth Min. cost $45 Go to Site	$45/mth for first 6 months, then $85/mth Min. cost $45	Go to Site
#2	Belong	Belong All Fixed Line nbn® NBN Standard Plus – Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $36 off for 6 months - $55/mth for first 6 mths, then $91/mth (Offer ends 04.11.26) + Free $80 Mobile SIM $55/mth for first 6 mths, then $91/mth Min. cost $55 Go to Site	$55/mth for first 6 mths, then $91/mth Min. cost $55	Go to Site
#3	Dodo Editor's Pick	Dodo All Fixed Line nbn® Editor's Pick nbn50 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $30/mth discount for 6 months based on the standard price $87.99/mth. Ends 08.12.26. T&Cs apply. $57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99 Go to Site*	$57.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $87.99/mth Min. cost $57.99	Go to Site
#4	Moose NBN	Moose NBN All Fixed Line nbn® nbn 50/20 Premium All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/18 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $24/mth off for first 6 months - $59.80/mth for 6mths, then $83.80/mth + Get eero 7 modem for only $175 (RRP $249). $59.80/mth for first 6 mths, then $83.80/mth Min. cost $59.80 Link not supplied	$59.80/mth for first 6 mths, then $83.80/mth Min. cost $59.80	Link not supplied
#5	Tangerine Telecom	Tangerine Telecom All Fixed Line nbn® Value Plus NBN 50/20 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25/mth off for the first 6 mths, $64.90/month for first 6 months, then $89.90/month. $64.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.90/mth Min. cost $64.90 Go to Site	$64.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.90/mth Min. cost $64.90	Go to Site
#6	Swoop	Swoop All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® Home Everyday All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $15/mth off for 6 months, $69/mth for first 6 months then $84/mth + Get the eero 7 for only $175 (normally $249) $69/mth for first 6 mths, then $84/mth Min. cost $69 Link not supplied	$69/mth for first 6 mths, then $84/mth Min. cost $69	Link not supplied
#7	Superloop	Superloop All Fixed Line nbn® Extra-value nbn50/20 All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $20/mth off for 6 months! $69/mth for 6 mths, then $89/mth + Bundle & Save $69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89/mth Min. cost $69 Go to Site	$69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89/mth Min. cost $69	Go to Site
#8	Kogan Internet	Kogan Internet All Fixed Line nbn® Silver Unlimited All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $11/mth off for 12mths. $69.90/mth for first 12 months then revert back to $80.90/mth. Offer available until withdrawn. $69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $80.90/mth Min. cost $69.90 Go to Site	$69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $80.90/mth Min. cost $69.90	Go to Site
#9	TPG	TPG All Fixed Line nbn® nbn50 Unlimited Plan All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. T&Cs apply. $69.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $69.99 Link not supplied	$69.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $69.99	Link not supplied
#10	iiNet	iiNet All Fixed Line nbn® nbn50 Liimitless All Fixed Line nbn® nbn® 50/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $20/mth off for 6 mths – $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. Use code SAVE20FOR6 $69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $79.99 Link not supplied	$69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $89.99/mth Min. cost $79.99	Link not supplied

#1	amaysim	amaysim FTTN, FTTB, FTTC NBN100 FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 100/18 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $40/mth off for the first 6 months ($30 NBN Sale + $10 Standard Intro Offer), then $90/mth. Ends 20.10.26 $50/mth for first 6 months, then $90/mth Min. cost $50 Go to Site	$50/mth for first 6 months, then $90/mth Min. cost $50	Go to Site
#2	Belong	Belong FTTN, FTTB, FTTC NBN Premium – Unlimited FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 100/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $36 off for 6 months - $59/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth (Offer ends 04.11.26) + Free $80 Mobile SIM $59/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $59 Go to Site	$59/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $59	Go to Site
#3	Dodo Editor's Pick	Dodo FTTN, FTTB, FTTC Editor's Pick nbn100 Unlimited Plan FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 100/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $30/mth discount for 6 months based on the standard price $92.99/mth. Ends 08.12.26. T&Cs apply. $62.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.99/mth Min. cost $62.99 Go to Site*	$62.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.99/mth Min. cost $62.99	Go to Site
#4	Moose NBN	Moose NBN FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn 100/20 Elite FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 100/18 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $23/mth off for first 6 months - $63.80/mth for 6mths, then $86.80/mth + Get eero 7 modem for only $175 (RRP $249). $63.80/mth for first 6 mths, then $86.80/mth Min. cost $63.80 Link not supplied	$63.80/mth for first 6 mths, then $86.80/mth Min. cost $63.80	Link not supplied
#5	Tangerine Telecom	Tangerine Telecom FTTN, FTTB, FTTC Speedy NBN 100/20 FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 100/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25/mth off for the first 6 mths, $67.90/mth for first 6 months, then $92.90/mth. $67.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.90/mth Min. cost $67.90 Go to Site	$67.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.90/mth Min. cost $67.90	Go to Site
#6	Flip	Flip FTTN, FTTB, FTTC Unlimited Turbo Boost nbn100 FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 100/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $19.90/mth off for 6 months - $69/mth for first 6mths then $88.90/mth. New customers only. Ends 31.10.26. T&Cs apply. $69/mth for first 6 mths then $88.90/mth Min. cost $69 Go to Site	$69/mth for first 6 mths then $88.90/mth Min. cost $69	Go to Site
#7	Kogan Internet	Kogan Internet FTTN, FTTB, FTTC Gold Unlimited FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 98/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $16/mth off for 12mths. $69.90/mth for first 12 months then revert back to $85.90/mth. Offer available until withdrawn. $69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $85.90/mth Min. cost $69.90 Go to Site	$69.90/mth for first 12 mths, then $85.90/mth Min. cost $69.90	Go to Site
#8	iiNet	iiNet FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn Home Fast Liimitless FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 99/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $25/mth off for 6 mths - $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $94.99/mth. Use code SAVE25FOR6 $69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $94.99/mth Min. cost $79.99 Link not supplied	$69.99/mth + $10 Upfront for first 6 mths, then $94.99/mth Min. cost $79.99	Link not supplied
#9	Swoop	Swoop FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® Home Fast FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 100/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $22/mth off for 6 months, $72/mth for first 6 mths then $94/mth + Get the eero 7 for only $175 (normally $249) $72/mth for first 6 mths, then $94/mth Min. cost $72 Link not supplied	$72/mth for first 6 mths, then $94/mth Min. cost $72	Link not supplied
#10	Superloop	Superloop FTTN, FTTB, FTTC Family nbn100/20 FTTN, FTTB, FTTC nbn® 95/17 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $21/mth off 6 months! $74/mth for 6 mths, then $95/mth + Bundle & Save $74/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $74 Go to Site	$74/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $74	Go to Site

Editor's note: The author was supplied with an NBN 100 plan and eero 6+ WiFi system by internet provider More.

Dylan Crismale

Digital Content Editor

Dylan Crismale is a Digital Content Editor at WhistleOut, has been writing for almost a decade across a variety of Australian publications. He previously worked as a writer at Finder covering energy, internet and mobile plans. Dylan is passionate about finding the best deals to save people money and educating people about tech. When he's not sat at his desk Dylan loves working out, bingeing TV and hanging out with friends.

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