Broadband Bundles

Best broadband, phone and entertainment bundles

ADSL2+

Find and compare the best value home broadband deals

NBN

Get connected to the fastest broadband available with our top providers

Broadband in Australia – The Ultimate Guide

What you need to know, how to choose – and where to save money. The word constantly shows up in the news and in conversation – broadband. That’s almost come to be shorthand for “the Internet” to a lot of people – but there’s actually a lot more to it than you’d think. It wasn’t all that long ago that most Australians hadn’t even heard of broadband, let alone connected to it – and yet now it’s not only part of our day to day lives, it’s a key part of national communications thanks to the NBN.

People will often talk about the NBN and broadband in general in a negative way – Australia, they’ll say, has under-performing broadband capabilities and that most of the modern-world is leaving us in their dust. But believe it or not, that’s actually a bit misleading. Sure, it’s taken us longer than many other countries to get started at building a modern broadband network, and as you probably know, political interference has meant that network’s taking longer to get completed than it should have.

But Australia is at a different stage of its mainstream Internet evolution – because up until the arrival of Netflix and other streaming services here, many people were perfectly happy with the broadband they had gotten used to – slow-to-middling (and mostly reliable) ADSL, through the ageing copper phone network. It did the job because the jobs that needed doing weren’t really all that demanding.

Impact of Internet Streaming

The emergence of the streaming TV era has changed all that, and coming along for the ride are things like constantly-updated computers, phones and tablets, video games that have grown to tens of gigabytes in size, and real-time voice and video calling as an everyday thing. Suddenly, broadband got really important – not just for gamers, but for everyone.

That’s where the NBN came in – and that’s where things soon got a little more complicated! But don’t worry – if you’re new to the whole broadband thing, there’s not actually a lot you need to know. You just need to be able to sort through all the jargon and get the broadband service you need.

And with so many options out there, it’s easy to get confused. Obviously, the easiest thing would be to find a great bundle deal – wrapping up your broadband internet, home phone, and even entertainment or mobile phone into the one best package with the one monthly payment. The good news is that with so many internet providers operating in Australia, there’s not only plenty of choice, but also plenty of well-priced deals to be found to suit your needs.

Choosing a Broadband Plan

When you’re shopping around for a plan – regardless of what bundle that broadband plan comes with – there are some things you should be looking for as a priority to make sure you have a great internet experience with as few hassles as possible.

For example, if you’re a single person working full time and spending most of your waking hours away from home, you probably won’t ever use a substantial amount of monthly data – even with regular Netflix streaming. But if you’re a family with multiple kids who all have their own entertainment needs in addition to yours and your partner’s, you’ll find yourself chewing through a huge amount of data in no time. You probably would be fine with a contract plan, but you’ll want a connection that’s as fast as possible so multiple family members can use it at the same time without slowdown.

Students meanwhile, will spend an enormous amount of time online, both for study and for entertainment. If you’re into PC or console games there’s going to be some huge downloads in your future – go for unlimited data as a must-have, just for the peace of mind. But try and avoid that contract – you want the freedom to move around.

Seniors, on the other hand, will more likely use their broadband connection for low-data-usage things – email, web browsing, reading, even voice chats with family. A modest data allowance can combine with one of the lower connection speeds to give you a great experience for not very much money at all.

And if you’re running your own small business, look for an internet provider that offers business connections – you get priority support, some special perks useful for businesses like a fixed IP address, and in some cases, a guarantee of service reliability.

How to Bundle your Broadband and Save

Chances are that broadband internet isn’t the only way you’ll be keeping in touch with friends, family and the rest of your world. Now more than ever, communication services of all kinds are tied together – mobile phones can use broadband to make better quality calls, streaming services let you take your TV shows with you when you’re out and about, and the lines between phone calls, texts and internet messaging are becoming blurry.

The idea of bundling is nothing new – indeed, for many years you’ve been able to get bundles offering a home phone and mobile together, sometimes even with pay TV thrown into the mix. Internet provider Dodo famously used to bundle their internet with desirable items like laptops and tablet computers. But the NBN and the competitive mobile market has really opened up the floodgates when it comes to the potential for bundling – and you can save a lot of money by doing so!

That’s where our handy interactive broadband bundle comparison page comes into play. Instead of wading through the confusion of the many and varied internet provider web sites – where the actual details of available plans and bundles can often be hard to find – you can get an overview that exactly matches your needs, all in one place.

To get started, just choose the type of bundle you’re looking for – broadband with a phone service, or broadband plus phone plus TV entertainment. Then pick the connection type that you have available to you – NBN, ADSL or cable – as well as the amount of data you want per month (again, we recommend unlimited, but your needs may vary!) Pick a monthly price that sounds like the highest you’d want to pay for your bundle and hit the search button.

You’ll have an instant list of providers, bundle plans and details on what’s included, as well as details on the minimum costs and handy links to provider web sites to get more information.

Popular Broadband Bundles

As we said earlier, there are so many options available to you today – thanks largely to the NBN – that the best judge of what makes for a great value broadband bundle is you yourself. There’s a bundle for almost every monthly budget – whether you’re trying to get online without breaking the bank, or even if the sky’s the limit as you look for the fastest broadband money can buy.

With that in mind, here’s a sample of the sorts of great-value bundles that are out there right now – one-stop solutions to your communication and entertainment needs. All you need to do is pick the right fit for you!

Looking for Something Different?

Everyone’s needs are different – not everyone needs unlimited data, for example, and some will already have a mobile phone sorted and just want to keep a home phone active, while some will be looking to bundle and save as much money as possible. That’s where our comparison tool comes in, doing the legwork for you so you can zero in on exactly the right bundle for you – and save money in the process!

ADSL FAQs

How Long Does It Take to Get Connected?

ADSL requires a technician to physically visit the phone exchange you’re connected to, in order to plug your phone line into the special hardware used to connect to your ADSL provider. Because this involves both booking a technician and booking a time that the tech can access the phone exchange (don’t worry, your internet provider takes care of this for you) it can be anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks before your ADSL broadband is up and running. Be sure to make alternate plans if you need internet for the duration (such as a prepaid 4G USB modem).

What Is the Difference Between ADSL and ADSL2?

They’re the same basic technology, but as the number suggests, ADSL2 improves on the original in many ways, making the top possible speed up to three times as fast. In urban areas, ADSL1 is almost a thing of the past now – and most providers won’t refer to ADSL1 at all. ADSL1 is still used in some more remote areas, as it is slightly better at dealing with long phone line distances between you and the phone exchange.

I Hear Weird Static Noise On My Phone When People Call Me!

If you’re hearing a harsh digital noise on your phone line when you make or receive a voice call once you have ADSL running, you’ve forgotten to install the line filters that your internet provider will have sent you. These are little devices that plug into every phone socket in your home not used by the ADSL modem, and you then plug your phone into the other end of the filter. If you don’t use them, not only do your phone calls sound terrible, but every time you pick up the phone your ADSL broadband will slow down or even disconnect. Make sure every phone in the house has one attached!

NBN Rollout Checker

Connect with Belong NBN Plans
Just enter a suburb, postcode or address and receive a status immediately. 

NBN Rollout search »

Disclaimers:

*Min cost on direct debit based on Unlimited Broadband + Entertainment Bundle. 12 month plan min cost incl. $125 iQ4 equipment, $100 standard install, $99 bundle activation and $140 WiFi modem fee. 24 month plan min cost incl. $125 iQ4 equipment fee and $100 standard install fee. Cancel fees apply. Minimum costs include projected changes to Foxtel’s pricing which takes effect on 1 October 2018. Charges incurred before 1 October 2018 will be based on current prices. See price guide here. Residential bundled subscribers and standard install only.

1. Compatible handset required. Standard local and national calls only

2. Your actual speeds for FTTN/B services will need to be confirmed. Typical busy period speeds are measured between 7pm and 11pm. Actual speeds experienced by users will vary due to a range of factors that affect broadband/WiFi performance, not limited to the condition and performance of interconnecting infrastructure not operated by Foxtel, network congestion, number of active devices, software/hardware used, content accessed, local conditions/physical objects, the settings and positioning of your modem and the wiring at your location. nbn™ wholesale access speeds may also vary based on nbn™ technology type and these speeds are an off-peak measure only. Learn more about speeds https://www.foxtel.com.au/support/broadband/nbn/manage-your-package/understanding-speed-tiers.html.

^Just connect your iQ4 or compatible device to the internet. Data charges may apply. Shows only available if they’re in your pack, some shows/channels not available. Sorry, Australia only.

Standard terms: nbn™ from Foxtel serviceability excludes Satellite and Fixed Wireless networks. Check serviceability at foxtel.com.au/nbn. If you are not yet nbn™ ready, we’ll check your ADSL serviceability.

Foxtel TV, Home Phone and Broadband service must be connected at same physical address. Australian use only. Foxtel Broadband bundles not available to all homes. Fair Use policy applies. Foxtel marks used under license by Foxtel Management Pty Ltd.

Foxtel Now Offer: Must be redeemed before 30/01/2019. If you’ve previously redeemed an offer with a Starter Pack you can’t redeem the same Starter Pack again. Excludes Premium Packs. For use in Australia.

BigPond Movies Offer: Must register before 30/01/2019 and for use within 1 month of registration. Not compatible with any other BigPond Movies offer. For use in Australia.

Foxtel From Telstra – Sports: A 1c per channel per year charge applies for Chelsea TV, MUTV and LFCTV’. This charge will be donated to grass roots football to help our next generation of Australian footballers. If you’re not interested in keeping these channels, they can be easily removed. Call us anytime on 132200 and say ‘Foxtel change package’ when prompted.

Speeds: An nbn™ service can never go faster than the maximum line speed available at your premises. Speeds can vary due to the access type, maximum speed of your broadband plan tier and your service provider’s network capacity. Find out more about speeds on the nbn network telstra.com/nbn-speeds.