When the NBN speed upgrades arrived in September, one of the biggest talking points was undoubtedly the arrival of the brand new NBN 2000 speed tier. For years, the fastest internet plan available to Australians has been 1Gbps, so for the theoretical maximum speed to be doubled overnight was cause for celebration.
As expected because of its infancy, however, there wasn’t enough real-world data at launch to allow internet service providers (ISPs) to advertise a typical evening speed. For reference, that’s the download and upload speed you can realistically expect to achieve during the hours of 7pm to 11pm when most people are using the net.
That’s all changed for one of our often-recommended providers, as Superloop is now quoting a staggering 1.7Gbps typical evening download speed on its Hyperspeed plan. What’s more, you can experience these lightning-quick speeds for yourself from a very reasonable AU$145 a month.
That speed is basically in line with the evening speeds Superloop promises for its NBN 1000 plan, which is 860Mbps – multiply that by two and you get 1,720Mbps.
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As with all plans faster than 100Mbps, , you will need a specific connection type – either fibre to the premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) – in order to sign up for this plan. Upload speeds also vary for each, with up to 200Mbps possible on an FTTP connection and up to 100Mbps on HFC (Superloop’s upload TES for HFC connections is 85Mbps).
Secondly, regardless of connection type, you will also need one of NBN Co’s new Network Termination Device (NTD) boxes installed at your premises. Superloop will take care of this for you by booking an appointment for a technician to visit your address to perform the necessary upgrade.
While you wait for the visit, you can select either an NBN 500 or NBN 1000 plan to connect to temporarily, paying only the relevant amount for either. Once the new NTD has been installed, Superloop says you’ll be up and running on your new blazing-fast NBN plan within 4 hours.
To make the most of your wonderfully fast new internet service, you’ll likely need a new modem-router that can confidently handle the quicker speeds. Fortunately, Superloop will optionally supply you with an Amazon eero 7 for free provided you remain connected for 36 months.
You also have the option to add on extender nodes to create a bigger mesh Wi-Fi system around your home. One additional extender costs AU$199 outright, or for even bigger homes you can get two for $359 – both options can also be paid off in instalments from AU$10p/m for 24 months.
All in all, its combination of high evening speeds and super competitive pricing makes Superloop’s Hyperspeed plan seriously attractive. If the prospect of multi-gigabit speeds sounds ideal to you, then it’s unequivocally the best offering in our opinion.
Having said that, if your household’s download needs are a bit more modest, we’d still recommend checking out the best NBN 500 plans for their unrivalled combination of speed and value. The Superloop-powered Exetel One plan happens to be our top pick there, and costs just $80 per month ongoing.
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