The best NBN 250 Superfast internet plans

Most homes in Australia can comfortably sign up to an NBN 100 plan as the fastest speed tier. But for anyone who lives in a home connected to the NBN via Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) or Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) technologies, there are NBN 250 Superfast and NBN 1000 Ultrafast plans (and, in the future, NBN 2000 plans) available to them. If you’re not an FTTP or HFC home, a lot of Aussie homes can still able to upgrade to FTTP.

At its top speed, NBN 250 Superfast plans can offer up to 2.5 times faster downloads than the max speed for NBN 100 plans, which is a great choice for homes that download big files or like no-compromise streaming across a variety of screens, including 4K TVs.

NBN 250 Superfast plans are a popular offering from big name providers, like Telstra and Optus, and we track more than 20 of them in our comparison engine. All of the NBN 250 plans we track offer unlimited data, with promotional pricing starting at around $80 per month and typical pricing reaching up to roughly $140 per month.

Scroll on for the best NBN 250 plans in Australia.

The best NBN 250 Superfast plan from the options in our comparison engine is one with a mix of key inclusions. It should have competitive typical pricing, a reputation for promotional pricing as well as good typical evening download and upload speeds. Note that NBN 250 plans have max 250Mbps download speeds and 25Mbps upload speeds.

Dodo takes out the top spot in this category with its NBN Home Superfast Plan. This Dodo NBN 250 plan normally costs $98.80 a month, and the sub-$100 pricing is among the cheapest in our database. At the time of writing, new sign-ups were paying a $78.90 monthly fee for the first six months, which means better first-year value. Anyone who signs up for this Dodo plan can expect great 250Mbps download speeds and solid 21Mbps upload speeds during the busy evening period. Alternatively, consider any of the other NBN 250 plans on this page, alongside the Tangerine SuperSpeedy NBN plan and the Superloop Superfast NBN 250/25 plan.

For comparison, below is a daily updating list of our most popular NBN 250 plans.

NBN 250 plans are typically more expensive than slower speed tiers, like NBN 50 and NBN 25. But while you should expect to pay more overall, it doesn’t mean you need to pay more than $100 per month for those faster speeds. This NBN 250 category is dedicated to cheap NBN 250 plans in our comparison engine.

And if you’re looking for the cheapest NBN 250 plan, start comparisons with the Spintel NBN Unlimited 250 plan. At the time of writing, Spintel was offering an ongoing deal where new customers pay a $78 monthly fee. But even the typical $89.95 monthly cost is cheaper than any of the other NBN 250 plans in our database. Either price comes with respectable 235Mbps download speeds and 22Mbps upload speeds. For cheap alternatives, consider the TPG NBN Home Superfast Unlimited Plan or the Southern Phone NBN Superfast plan.

For other cheap NBN 250 plans, the ones below are the cheapest options in our comparison engine today (at least in terms of first-year pricing).

If you’re going to pay for a faster NBN speed tier, you may as well tap into as much of the full-speed potential as possible. While NBN 250 plans can be up to 2.5 times faster than an NBN 100 plan for downloads, uploads are only up to 5Mbps faster than NBN 100/20 plans and up to 15Mbps slower than NBN 100/40 plans. This NBN 250 category is designed to offer a good mix of download and upload speeds.

And if you have the need for NBN 250 speed, we recommend starting comparisons with the Aussie Broadband Super-Fast Pro NBN – Unlimited plan. The main disclaimer is the pricey $139 monthly fee, plus Aussie Broadband isn’t as renowned for promotional periods as other NBN providers. That said, the speeds are impressive: 246Mbps download speeds and 83Mbps upload speeds, the latter of which is up to four times faster than other NBN 250 plans we track. For speedy alternatives, consider the Southern Phone NBN Superfast plan or the AGL Home Superfast NBN plan, both of which have 250Mbps downloads and 23Mbps uploads.

Alternatively, here’s a list of the fastest NBN 250 plans in our database (based on download speed).

We track a handful of NBN providers that offer ongoing or regularly extended promotional pricing periods, typically the first six months for new customers. While it’s a great idea to save money by switching NBN providers every six months, the data suggests that most Aussies are reluctant to switch internet providers. If that sounds like you, it’s worth considering an NBN 250 plan with cheaper typical pricing.

If you want the cheapest NBN 250 plan we track for typical pricing, scroll back up and read all about the Spintel NBN Unlimited 250 plan. For the next cheapest alternative, consider the TPG NBN Home Superfast Unlimited Plan. At the time of writing, it didn’t have any promotional pricing, but the regular $94.99 monthly fee is competitive typical pricing. That monthly fee comes with excellent download speeds (250Mbps) and decent upload speeds (21Mbps). For other cheap alternatives, consider the Southern Phone NBN Superfast plan or the Dodo NBN Home Superfast Plan.

If you want to save money, this list of NBN 250 plans is sorted by the cheapest first-year pricing.

NBN 25 and NBN 50 plans are technically fast enough for online gaming, you’ll just have to wait a lot longer for increasingly larger digital games and their subsequent multi-gigabyte updates to download. NBN 250 already has great download speeds, so the next critical consideration for online gamers is latency.

According to the latest data available at the time of writing from the ACCC’s Measuring Broadband Australia program, the lowest latency during busy and off-peak hours is from Exetel. That’s why we’re recommending the Exetel Superfast NBN 250 plan as the best pick for this category. It normally costs $98.99 per month but Exetel has a reputation for ongoing promotional pricing for the first six months ($80.99 per month at the time of writing). While the speeds could be faster—220Mbps downloads and 21Mbps uploads—the latency hangs around 8ms, which is very fast. Alternatively, consider the Superloop Superfast NBN 250/25 plan or TPG NBN Home Superfast Unlimited Plan for slightly slower latency but faster download speeds.

Below is a daily updating list of popular NBN plans from the lowest-latency providers in our database.

Head to the NBN Co website and enter your address to see which technology type is connecting your home. It’ll either be FTTP, HFC, Fibre-to-the-Curb (FTTC), Fibre-to-the-Building (FTTB), Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN), Fixed Wireless NBN or NBN Sky Muster satellite on the results page (look under the ‘Technology used in your connection’ section). FTTP and HFC homes can sign up for an NBN 250 plan from a participating provider, but none of those other NBN technologies can at this stage.

That said, there are upgrade pathways for those technologies. Sky Muster satellite, Fixed Wireless and FTTB homes can upgrade via the NBN Technology Choice Program, but that can cost thousands. Requesting a quote for most homes is free, though.

The better news for FTTC and FTTN homes is NBN Co is currently in the process of upgrading those addresses without the exorbitant cost. But there is a catch. To nab the free upgrade to FTTP, eligible FTTN homes need to at least order an NBN 100 plan, while FTTC homes must order at least an NBN 250 plan. Note that strata-managed buildings are more complicated for the FTTP upgrade than individual premises.

If none of the above helps you out, there are other options to get internet that’s the equivalent (or faster) of NBN 250 plans. Eligible homes may be able to opt for Opticomm internet, which is an NBN competitor that effectively offers fibre to the home and similarly priced NBN 250-type plans from participating providers. Alternatively, those who live in areas with coverage can consider a home wireless broadband plan, which have best-case speeds up to 600Mbps download and 85Mbps upload.