As one of Australia’s pioneering independent phone and internet providers, iPrimus has a long history of quality service. Dodo, meanwhile, has a long history of deep discounting and crazy bundle deals. Both companies have come of age — and both offer Fetch TV with their plans.
The thing you might not know about iPrimus and Dodo is that, as of a few years ago, they’re effectively almost the same company. Not only are both owned these days by giant networking provider Vocus, but they even operate their customer support and sales out of the same place.
What Makes iPrimus and Dodo Different?
That’s really the big question, isn’t it? If you’re dealing with the same company at the end of the day, does it make a difference which one you choose? As it turns out, yes it does — each provider is targeting a different type of internet user with their offerings, with iPrimus aiming more for the high-speed customer who probably wants entertainment options, while Dodo aims for the people who are looking for something more keenly priced that offers a better bang for the buck, but has the option for entertainment if needed.
In practice, the pricing between both is very similar – at times it has effectively been the same, while sometimes Dodo comes in a little cheaper; iPrimus offers a little more flexibility to customise a plan to suit your needs.
iPrimus Plans
- Unlimited Data nbn100 Month to Month
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 80Mbps Premium Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 100™ Fixed Line
- Landline w/ pay as you go calls
- Add Fetch from $10/mth with 1 free channel pack
- $90/mth
- Unlimited Data nbn100 12 Months
- 12 Month Contract
- Up to 80Mbps Premium Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 100™ Fixed Line
- Landline w/ pay as you go calls
- Add Fetch from $10/mth with 1 free channel pack
- $90/mth
- Unlimited Data nbn50 Month to Month
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 40Mbps Standard Plus Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 50™ Fixed Line
- Landline w/ pay as you go calls
- Add Fetch from $10/mth with 1 free channel pack
- $75/mth
- 250GB nbn100 Month to Month
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 80Mbps Premium Evening
- 250GB Data
- NBN 100™ Fixed Line
- Landline w/ pay as you go calls
- 82Mbps average sampled evening speed
- $85/mth
- Unlimited Data nbn50 12 Months
- 12 Month Contract
- Up to 40Mbps Standard Plus Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 50™ Fixed Line
- Landline w/ pay as you go calls
- Add Fetch from $10/mth with 1 free channel pack
- $75/mth
Last audited 15 September 2020
What Do iPrimus and Dodo Deliver?
The thing the two providers have in common that separates them from most of their competitors is access to Fetch TV. While it’s been a bit of a “young upstart” provider in the subscription TV market since it launched in Australia several years ago, Fetch has found itself a legion of fans. It now has a customer base that’s grown exponentially with the launch of their Mighty and Mini boxes — the former of which is probably the best value DVR (Digital Video Recorder) on the market.
It’s the combination of access to all the key on-demand streaming platforms — Netflix, Stan, YouTube and the rest — alongside a robust and really affordable pay TV offering (delivered via broadband) that’s proven to be a winner. And with Foxtel’s price changes for their Foxtel Now streaming service making packs like Docos and Kids unavailable to all but the rich, it’s likely that many people will be starting to look again at Fetch TV and think that is might be something worth switching internet providers for.
Fetch TV’s channel packs cost $6 each per month, or you can get all of them for $20 — still $5 cheaper than Foxtel Now’s entry-level pack. You get one pack of your choice included with your Fetch TV subscription with either iPrimus or Dodo. The choices include:
| Pack / Channel / Bundle | Number of Channels | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Kids | 7 | Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Boomerang |
| Knowledge | 20 | National Geographic, BBC Earth, Discovery Channel |
| Vibe | 11 | MTV, ESPN, Comedy Central |
| Variety | 9 | BBC First, Universal Channel, TLC |
So all up, that’s 47 channels for 20 bucks — and as far as general-purpose channel-surfing entertainment goes, that’s hard to beat!
If you opt for the Mighty box, you can also record up to six channels at once from free-to-air TV, and the huge hard disk in the Mighty stores up to 585 hours of shows. If you opt to buy the Mighty, it’s a very reasonable $449 — but you might not have to. More on this in a moment!
How Does Dodo and iPrimus Bundle Fetch TV?
The biggest difference between Dodo and iPrimus when it comes to Fetch TV is the way you go about obtaining it with your plan — and there’s quite a difference between the two price-wise, reflecting the difference of the base internet service that delivers it. Let’s look at two typical examples — both NBN plans, at the NBN50 speed (50 Mbps) with unlimited data on a one-year contract.
With iPrimus, you’d choose their NBN50 Speed Unlimited plan ($75/month), which gets you your broadband connection along with a home phone line with pay-as-you-go calls (or unlimited calls for an extra $10/month). You get a NBN-ready modem thrown in on the contract, and for an extra $20/month you also get the Fetch TV Mighty box along with one channel pack of your choice. Basically, you get everything you need to get connected and start streaming online, watching and recording. Total price: $95/month.
Over at Dodo, you go about it in a similar way. You choose Unlimited data ($70/month) at the 50 Mbps speed tier and then, if you want a phone line, that’s free — but unlimited local and national calls will set you back an extra $10/month. Then you need to pay for the rental of a Fetch box — the Mini (non-recording) for $25/month or the Mighty for $35/month — we say go the Mighty, no question. You get your choice of channel pack free, then others cost $6/month. Total price after all that’s included? $105/month.
If $95 sounds right for super-fast NBN broadband, all your phone calls covered, and all the entertainment you can stream, then you’ll save a bit more with iPrimus. Still, Dodo’s NBN plans are still worth checking out.
Dodo Plans
- NBN50 Unlimited - Month to Month
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 40Mbps Standard Plus Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 50™ Fixed Line
- Add Fetch from $25/mth for 12 mths + your choice of channel pack
- Pay as you go calls or add calling packs from $10/mth
- $70/mth
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$10 off w/ electricity & gas on certain areas- NBN25 Unlimited - 12 Months
- 12 Month Contract
- Up to 20Mbps Standard Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 25™ Fixed Line
- No setup & modem fees
- Includes landline service w/ pay as you go calls
- $65/mth
$10 off w/ electricity & gas on certain areas- NBN100 Unlimited - Month to Month
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 80Mbps Premium Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 100™ Fixed Line
- Add Fetch from $25/mth for 12 mths + your choice of channel pack
- Pay as you go calls or add calling packs from $10/mth
- $85/mth
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$10 off w/ electricity & gas on selected areas- NBN25 Unlimited - Month to Month
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 20Mbps Standard Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 25™ Fixed Line
- Includes landline service w/ pay as you go calls
- Pay as you go calls or add calling packs from $10/mth
- $65/mth
User Experience
One thing that Fetch TV does really well is the overall user experience, and their partnerships with specific internet providers makes sure everything runs smoothly and hassle-free. If you’d like a full rundown on the features of Fetch TV and its two terrific set-top boxes, be sure to head over to our review of the Mini and Mighty and get all the details!
Is This Something You Want to Fetch?
The easy answer is a resounding YES — the Fetch TV platform has matured and grown over the years, and you rarely hear anyone who uses it having even one negative thing to say about it. They use it for free-to-air, for Netflix, 10 All Access, and Stan, for premium channels and for movie rentals, and it all just works.
iPrimus and Dodo may take different approaches on how they offer the Fetch TV service to you, but the end result will — more or less — cost you about the same. iPrimus’s offering is more straightforward and simple — you know what you’re getting up front — and it also saves you a bit more per month. Still, we think it’s great that customers have a choice. No matter which one you pick, you’ll get blazingly fast reliable broadband, and a new way to watch TV. It’s very much worth investigating.
What people are asking about iPrimus
Yes, but not directly. Both iPrimus and Dodo were owned by a company called M2 Group until 2016, when that company was merged into the giant Vocus Group, which now operates both providers. Each is run as a separate company with different plans and pricing, but sharing much of the same network.
No – and in fact, iPrimus was the first internet provider in Australia to reduce their reliance on Telstra during the ADSL days, by putting their own equipment into phone exchanges to connect customers directly to iPrimus.
While iPrimus’s internet services don’t use either company, iPrimus does sell mobile phone plans as well, and those are powered by the Optus 4G network.
All you need to do is pick up your handset and dial your VoIP number (your home phone number) including the area code, then enter your PIN and press the # key. If accessing voicemail from another phone, dial your VoIP number and press the * key when it answers, then enter your PIN and press the # key.
The easiest way to get in touch with iPrimus for everything from customer enquiries to technical support is to call them on 13 17 89. Customer service is available from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday; sales enquiries from 8am to 10pm weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends, and technical support is available from 8am to 11pm, seven days a week.
If you’ve decided to switch to another provider and need to cancel your account, call 1300 85 85 85 and a iPrimus customer service person will get the cancellation sorted out for you. Keep in mind that if you’re still under contract, an early termination fee may apply.
There’s actually several different models of modem used by iPrimus, with a couple of NetComm models most common today, but Huawei models having been used in the past. If you’re not familiar with changing the settings on a modem, it’s recommended you give tech support a call on 13 17 89, and they’ll be able to walk you through the right steps based on the type of iPrimus modem you have.
With the NBN providing the connectivity for all ISPs, it’s rare for there to be any sort of outage that affects just one particular ISP – but it can and does happen. If your iPrimus connection isn’t working, the first thing to try is to turn off your modem, turn it back on again and wait 60 seconds or so. If you’re still not able to connect, get in touch with tech support on 13 17 89 and they’ll be able to check to see if there’s a fault.
One of the first communications companies to arrive in Australia and set up as an alternative to the incumbent Telstra for broadband services, iPrimus has been providing broadband internet in Australia since 1999. They’re now a part of the Vocus Group, a key provider of fast network connections in Australia and around the world, and make extensive use of their network via the NBN.
If you’re only planning on using your iPrimus broadband for light tasks like browsing the web, doing online banking, catching up with friends’ videos and photos and so on, then you should find iPrimus’ 250GB plan more than enough. However if you’re someone that watches a lot of Netflix, Stan, BINGE or other streaming services, we’d highly recommend you go for one of the unlimited plans – the peace of mind is worth the small extra cost.
The “NBN numbers” you see in connection to plans reflect the download speed that you can expect in perfect conditions. NBN25 is about the speed of the best ADSL connection, but if you’re streaming video or in a household with multiple people, NBN50 will help make sure everyone is able to use the internet without buffering. NBN100 is available only on some connections and is for those who want the fastest downloads possible (such as for video game updates).
If you sign up to a 12-month contract plan, iPrimus will supply you the right modem for your NBN connection type. You can use your own if you have one (as long as it’s not locked to another internet provider) but for the best results, there’s every reason to use the one supplied by iPrimus.
Yes, you can sign up without a contract – but you’ll have to pay $99 up front for the connection and your modem – still a very reasonable price compared to buying a modem yourself.
No – you’ll need to return it if and when you cancel either your Fetch TV service or your iPrimus connection. You can optionally buy a Fetch TV box outright from major electronics retailers, and then use it with your iPrimus unlimited-data service.
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