There are 3 main elements you need to consider when comparing broadband plans – price, data limit and speed.
How much are you willing to pay? The price of your plan will depend on several questions
What speed do you need?
This really depends on the size of your household and what you're planning to use your Internet for. According to NBN Co, nearly 70% of households are signed up to an NBN 50 or faster plan.
What are you using the internet for?
Are you just using it to browse Facebook and watch Netflix, are you a gamer or do you frequently work from home and need bandwidth for video conferencing? Based on your usage, you may need to assess what speed and data limit you need. Depending on your address and connection type, many internet service providers offer unlimited data usage, but have different pricing for plans based on your selected download speed.
Your needs will also be dependent on how many people are in your household using the Wi-Fi. For example, a family household of 5 people where 3 are streaming high definition videos, one is sending and receiving large files and the other is gaming will require a much higher bandwidth than a household where only 2 out of the 5 family members is streaming their favourite content. The number of devices connected and the type of activity will help you determine how important speed of your connection is – the higher the Mbps, the faster you’ll be able to download data.
The final thing to consider is what contract type do you want? There are several options offered by retailers – while many plans are month-to-month, some retailers might offer a 12, 24 or 36 month commitment which may affect the price.
To see whether you could save money on your broadband and energy plans, check out Beforepay's Compare & Save tool now!