The National Broadband Network (NBN) is designed to provide fast and reliable internet service among Australian homes and businesses. The copper network can no longer fulfill the demands of today’s internet needs. Ecommerce, internet banking, live streaming, social media, and video calling require higher data usage and internet speed. Luckily, most Australian service providers offer NBN unlimited internet plans.
What Does NBN Unlimited Internet Means?
An NBN unlimited internet means that a plan has no data allowance cap. Subscribers aren’t billed by the byte but by month. The cost depends on the NBN tier speed of the plan. If you have a limited NBN internet plan – say 100 GB or 500 GB – the service will be disconnected once you reach the data cap. If you need to access the internet until the billing cycle refreshes, you may need to buy extra data packs, or you may be charged an overage. This depends on the provisions of your internet plan.
An NBN unlimited internet is ideal for:
- Large businesses and households;
- Those who frequently download and upload large files;
- Those who love online games;
- Those who stream movies and TV shows
How Much Data is Consumed by Streaming Services?
According to NBN Co., streaming services make up most of the data usage among Australian homes. Here’s a breakdown of how much data streaming services consume.
An Amazon Prime Video with SD playback consumes around 900 MB an hour, HD playback uses roughly 2 GB an hour, and UHD content consumes 5.8 GB an hour.
Foxtel uses 1.4 GB per hour on SD streaming and 3.2 GB per hour on HD playback.
The lowest quality video of Netflix consumes 300 MB per hour; whereas, an SD video uses 700 MB per hour. An HD video uses 3 GB per hour while the UHD video with 4K quality consumes 7 GB per hour.
Like Netflix, Stan also supports UHD videos. Their low-quality video consumes 570 MB an hour. An SD video uses 1.13 GB an hour. An HD video consumes 2.89 GB an hour. And their UHD video uses 7 GB an hour.
YouTube data consumption depends on the playback-quality of the video. An SD video uses around 264 MB an hour. An HD video consumes approximately 870 MB an hour. A full HD uses up to 1.65 GB an hour.
The Best NBN Unlimited Internet Plans
Here are the best NBN unlimited internet plans according to Compare Broadband:
Aussie Broadband Everyday NBN 50 costs $79.00 monthly with a typical evening speed of 43 Mbps. The setup fee is free. You can BYO the modem or buy one for $149.00. You can opt to buy a mesh WiFi router for $279.00 or $499.00.
Belong Standard Plus NBN 50 costs $70.00 monthly with a typical evening speed of 40 Mbps. Those who sign up for a 12-month contract get a $5 discount from the monthly price. The setup fee is free and the modem price is $60.00.
dodo Standard Plus NBN 50 costs $70.00 monthly with a typical evening speed of 41 Mbps. The setup fee with a modem is $120.00. It will be waived if you sign up for a 12-month contract.
My Republic Essential NBN 50 costs $69.00 monthly with a typical evening speed of 43 Mbps. The setup fee is free and the modem price is $60.00. You get the modem for free if you sign up for a 12-month contract.
Tangerine XL Speed Boost NBN 50 costs $69.99 monthly with a typical evening speed of 42 Mbps. Those who sign up for a 6-month contract get a $10 discount from the monthly price. The setup fee is free and the modem price ranges from $119.90 to $199.90. You can also BYO the modem.
