Review was updated on 26 February 2021
The name iPrimus might seem relatively new, so it might come as a surprise to learn that the company recently celebrated their 24th birthday. Now one of the bigger players on the Aussie market, their move into the Vocus group stable only served to further cement their status as one of Australia’s biggest broadband providers.
iPrimus Broadband Review
For those who remember the bad old days of two – or even one – telecommunications provider, iPrimus was the first sign we saw of a new, deregulated world of customer-focused telcos who no longer took their place in the market for granted. After Telstra and Optus, iPrimus is the third-oldest telco on the Aussie market. This gives them a level of experience and understanding that few can match.
In this Review
About iPrimus Broadband
iPrimus has over 20 years experience in the broadband business, but they still operate like a new provider. They’ve also grown rapidly, largely due to ambition and an understanding of the direction in which the Aussie market is headed. As a provider, iPrimus Broadband made one crucial step early on – they got their own broadband hardware into as many local phone exchanges as possible. They could then offer dedicated Primus services, bundling broadband and home phone – this gave iPrimus a huge advantage. iPrimus has been part of the Vocus group since 2016, which gives them access to a broad international network which few other Aussie providers can match.
What Plans Does iPrimus Broadband Offer?
iPrimus Broadband’s plans are organised in a different fashion to the traditional Aussie telco. While they offer both NBN and ADSL plans, they now only offer ADSL to those without access to the NBN, and don’t advertise their ADSL plans online (you need to call iPrimus’s sales line to connect via ADSL). The sole ADSL plan is a $60/month plan available on contract that gives you 100GB of data per month.
iPrimus’s NBN plans are divided into four speed tier choices – NBN 25, NBN50, NBN 100 and NBN250; and two data limits – 250GB and unlimited. Customers have the option to go month-to-month or lock in for 12 months.
250GB Plan
iPrimus Broadband’s entry-level plan for NBN comes with a 250GB data limit. It’s only really suitable for light internet users though if you don’t do much video streaming it should be more than fine, and is well priced. If you’re game on gaming or keen to stream, then go unlimited.
Choosing one of the NBN plans on a 12-month contract keeps things nice and simple. You won’t need to shell out for an upfront fee for the plans, and iPrimus includes a free wi-fi modem/router so you can get up and running without having to own or buy additional hardware (there is, though, a $15 shipping charge for the modem/router – still a lot cheaper than buying your own!) The no lock-in contract option, meanwhile, comes in very handy if it’s flexibility you’re after, but that’ll mean $99 in upfront costs for setup and modem.
250GB Plans
- Standard
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 25Mbps Standard Evening
- 250GB Data
- NBN 25™ Fixed Line
- Landline w/ pay as you go calls
- 25Mbps typical evening speed (7pm-11pm) sampled 1-14 March 2021. Speed may vary due to various factors and confirmed once connected.
- $65/mth
Last audited 15 April 2021
Unlimited Plans
If you love a good download or just don’t want to come to the end of the month worrying about every megabyte, iPrimus’ NBN unlimited deals are the perfect fit for you. The NBN25 plan delivers 20Mbps typical evening speed, the NBN50 plan is quoted as having a 41Mbps average evening speed while the NBN100 plan (not available on FTTN connections) quotes 82 Mbps typical evening speed. The deal includes a phone line with pay-as-you-go calls.
Again, these plans are available on a 12-month or a month-to-month contract, but only the former can be connected with no setup fee, and a free wi-fi modem/router is provided. There’s a $15 postage and handling fee for the modem, but it’s yours to keep.
Unlimited Plans
- Premium
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 100Mbps Premium Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 100™ Fixed Line
- Multiple players gaming online
- 4K video streaming
- $90/mth
- Standard Plus
- No Lock-in Contract
- Up to 50Mbps Standard Plus Evening
- Unlimited Data
- NBN 50™ Fixed Line
- Online gameplay
- HD video streaming
- $75/mth
Last audited 15 April 2021
Entertainment plans (Unlimited NBN only)
Are you not entertained? If not, then iPrimus has something for you. iPrimus offers entertainment options on the two NBN unlimited plans from above, with both optionally able to include Fetch TV. Starting at $10 a month, the Fetch add-on includes a Fetch Mini set-top box and your choice of one premium channel pack. As it uses a steady stream of broadband data, the option to add Fetch TV is not available on the 250GB plan.
iPrimus Features
Getting an internet plan from iPrimus ensures that you have some of the best options. You can build the plan that’s perfect for your needs, allowing you to choose between capped and uncapped data, speed tiers, and your preferred contract term. Whatever you need from a broadband service, iPrimus has got you covered.
What are iPrimus’ Best Features?
iPrimus Service and Customer Satisfaction
To get in touch and know more about what iPrimus offers, call 13 17 89. iPrimus customer service can be reached between 9 am and 6 pm Monday to Friday, while technical support is available 9 am to 9 pm weekdays and 9am to 6pm on weekends. If you’re not keen to call, their Live Chat option also operates during these hours, while emailing customerservice@iprimus.com.au will get you a response quick smart. If you’d like something a bit more casual, the company also keeps a strong presence on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube — just head to the social media platform of your choice and search for ‘iPrimus’. Before you do, though, a fair warning — it’s mainly memes and videos.
Although the company is Australian owned and headquartered in Melbourne – and international parent company Vocus is headquartered in Sydney – the iPrimus call centre is split between Australia and offshore. As with plenty of the other providers who have based their call centres overseas, this does usually mean savings for the customer – although it can also be inconvenient in some instances.
The iPrimus customer service and technical support team can solve anything from connection issues to billing questions without hassle. Give them a call about:
Awards and recognition
Aside from being a ‘middle-aged’ Aussie internet provider in a time of tweens, iPrimus is also recognised as being family-friendly. Their ‘internet pause’ option allows you to temporarily cut your broadband while you enjoy a family meal or listen to mum’s birthday speech – which is a welcome addition for plenty of families and their device addicted kids. They’ve also got the ‘bill pause’ option, which lets you pause your bill for up to a month – i.e. for a family holiday – which is perfect as you won’t need to pay for what you don’t use. This means they are the ideal family broadband provider.
The Pros and Cons
The Good
The Gotchas
Summary: Is iPrimus Right for You?
Compared with their stable-mate Dodo, iPrimus is more expensive – but only by a few dollars, and you get more for your buck. iPrimus has established an extensive network, which has only increased since its acquisition by Vocus. Their bundles are where it’s at, where the addition of Fetch TV means that you’ll be getting plenty of entertainment in the one deal. While we still think the 250GB limit is a tad too low, if you’re a light internet user it might be the ideal one for you.
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 and the ultra-fast NBN250 are available only on some connection types, 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, along with $15 for postage and handling – 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.
Compare Broadband | Bundles, Plans + Prices
Compare now
