Exetel is one of the rare NBN providers that includes a modem-router, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Exetel NBN plans review
Exetel NBN
Modem
ZTE Gigabit WiFi-6 MESH 1800Mbps Modem
Price
from $59.95 per month for NBN 12
Contract
no contract plans
3 min read
Exetel NBN: Value for money
Better value the faster you go, but not great value compared to the competition
Compared to other providers, Exetel isn’t exactly a provider that has competitive pricing, particularly on its slower plans. If you look at a list of the cheapest NBN plans, you’ll have to scroll a bit to find Exetel somewhere in the middle.
There are, however, often special promo prices now and then that help sweeten the deal.
For instance, the Exetel NBN 50 plan, at the time of writing, is the same price as the Exetel NBN 25 plan. For $54.95 a month, you'll get typical evening speeds of 50Mpbs. After six months, the plan will revert back to it's usual pricing of $69.95 a month.
You can see how it compares to other NBN 50 plans.
And if you're already an Exetel customer and curious about how fast your NBN is, you can always complete an NBN speed test.
There’s a reasonable price gap between Exetel’s NBN 50 and NBN 100 plans, too. For $20 more, you can get the Exetel Family nbn100 plan. It's usually price per month is $89.95, but like the NBN 50 plans, at the time of writing there's a promotional deal that'll bring the cost down to $69.95 per month for six months. And while Exetel's NBN 100 plans' typical evening speeds used to hover around 77Mbps, they now boast typical evening speeds of 100Mbps.
You can see how the Exetel NBN 100 plan compare to other NBN 100 plans below.
How we score provider speeds
NBN providers self-report the typical evening download speeds you can expect when using their service. Providers get in strife with the ACCC if they misrepresent these averages. These speeds are represented in megabits per second (Mbps) and tend to be below the maximum potential download speed of a plan (with the exception of Telstra). The closer those self-reported download speeds are to the maximum speed potential of a plan, the higher our score for speed.
Exetel NBN: Features and perks
Some key perks for those who want a modem and/or landline.
While the value of Exetel NBN plans may not be stellar in comparison to the competition, they do fare better in terms of some of the included features and perks. There’s no contract and $0 setup fees, plus there’s the flexibility to pay $10 a month for an unlimited home phone bolt-on. That $10-per-month inclusion also gives you unlimited landline calls to these countries:
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Canada
- China
- Hong Kong
- New Zealand
- Japan
- Germany
- France
- Singapore
- India
- Croatia
If you don’t pay extra, you can still take advantage of pay-as-you-go landline phone calls with the following rates:
- Untimed local calls: 10 cents per call
- Untimed national calls: 10 cents per call
- Untimed 13/1300 calls: 25 cents per call
- Calls to Australian mobiles: 20 cents per minute
- Exetel to Exetel calls: free
There are also no contracts, and you can opt to BYO a modem,
Otherwise, you can the option of paying $130 upfront for a ZTE Gigabit WiFi-6 MESH 1800Mbps Modem.
The one other premium add-on is an internet connection-level protection feature called Home Secure, which starts as a two-month trial, but that trial can extend to three months if you choose to pay $6 a month (you can cancel at any time). There aren’t any other perks, though, so Exetel isn’t the provider for you if you’re after entertainment bundles, reward perks, exclusive content offers, or Superfast/Ultrafast NBN.
Exetel NBN customer support and satisfaction
A decent range of support options but mixed customer satisfaction.
If things go wrong, there are plenty of ways to get in touch with Exetel’s customer support. While you won’t find any Exetel bricks-and-mortar stores, online chat service, or customer forums, you can reach Exetel via responsive Facebook or Twitter chat, or you can call them directly on 13 39 38. There is an account login for monitoring usage called My Exetel, but that’s less relevant on unlimited-data plans, though it can also be used to monitor costs, see past invoices, change plans or pay your bill.
In terms of customer satisfaction, user reviews on sites like Product Review and Trustpilot paint different pictures. Of the 6,000+ reviews on Trustpilot, more than half are either excellent (five stars) or great (four stars). The 1,350+ reviews on Product Review, though, have the majority of reviews at one star, with average scores for value for money, low scores for customer service and transparency, and more people than not saying the speeds are inadequate.
To put all of that into context, though, averaging these scores out still sees Exetel in the top 10 of the providers in our internal ranking system.
Exetel NBN FAQs
You’ve got a couple of straightforward options for signing up with Exetel NBN. Either hit the ‘Go’ button on the corresponding Exetel NBN plan below that tickles your fancy, or head directly to the Exetel website to select one of the three plans.
Punch in your address to confirm availability, select the NBN plan that best suits your home’s internet needs, then select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ for your preferred optional inclusions: free modem, home phone service and Home Secure subscription. You’ll see all of the fees and inclusions outlined at the bottom of the page; then click on ‘Order Now’ when you’re ready to go.
If you’ve got jack of Exetel or simply aren’t eligible for Exetel NBN/internet at your new address, cancelling is pretty straightforward. Just email one of the following email addresses from your account-nominated email address and request to cancel:
- residentialsales@exetel.com.au
- residentialsupport@exetel.com.au
Otherwise, you can give Exetel a buzz on 13 39 38 and talk to somebody over the phone. Exetel is one of the better providers when it comes to managing phone support expectations. Over on the Exetel website, you will find a live estimate of waiting time and the number of people in the queue in front of you.
Exetel was founded officially in Sydney, Australia, back in 2001, although early iterations of the company began in the 1990s. In 2021, telecommunications group Superloop acquired Exetel.
They sure do! In fact, we have a whole article on Exetel phone plans right here.
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