Optus now has a 500GB mobile broadband plan to replace your home internet

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 06 December 2018

Optus now has a 500GB mobile broadband plan to replace your home internet

After grandfathering its fixed home wireless plans earlier this week, Optus has introduced a new 4G mobile broadband offering designed to replace a fixed line internet connection. Customers can now get a 200GB allowance for $60 per month, or a 500GB allowance for $80 per month.

These plans are available on either a 24-month contract with a bundled 4G modem, or month-to-month. Opting for a no-contract plan will however attract a $192 upfront modem fee.

500GB is the largest mobile broadband plan we've seen yet, and should easily be enough to meet the data usage needs of most households. This could make Optus' new plans a pretty attractive proposition as an interim solution for those sick of waiting for the NBN.

While the included modem is SIM-powered, it's a traditional modem in the sense that you'll need to plug it into your wall (rather than a portable hotspot with a battery). Unlike most portable hotspots, the Optus modem has four Ethernet ports that can be used to connect wired devices.

The big benefit of these new mobile broadband plans is they run full-speed Optus 4G, which should theoretically be able to achieve download speeds of up to 100Mbps, depending on conditions like reception and network traffic. Optus' old Home Wireless Broadband plans were capped to a maximum download speed of 12Mbps.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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