Best NBN 250 plans: our top picks for superfast 250Mbps internet

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The best NBN 250 plans are ideal for large households of four people or more, who all want to be online at the same time – gaming, streaming, or working.

NBN Co refers to this speed tier as Superfast, and it can offer unlimited downloads at speeds of up to 250Mbps. However, most providers which offer NBN 250 plans don’t claim to achieve this speed during the peak busy period between 7-11pm, although we're seeing a steady increase in the number of providers that do.

Remember that your NBN service could achieve faster speeds (and closer to the theoretical maximum) outside of the busy peak hours. 

NBN 250 plans are also becoming a little more affordable following changes at NBN Co – it officially reduced the wholesale price of the fastest NBN plans back in December 2023, and we’ve seen some providers such as TPG, Vodafone, Origin and others pass on those savings to consumers. You can also get excellent NBN discounts at the moment, such as the crazy-cheap offering from Spintel highlighted below.

Noteworthy NBN 250 deals

We’ve hand-picked our top NBN 250 plan recommendations below, but we also want to point out some excellent discounts that are now available on the 250Mbps tier:

Best NBN 250 plans

Best overall NBN 250 plan

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Spintel211Mbps |AU$79p/m (first 6 months, then AU$89.95p/m)

Spintel | 211Mbps | AU$79p/m (first 6 months, then AU$89.95p/m)

If you're looking for the most bang for your buck from an NBN 250 plan, we reckon this deal from Spintel hits the nail firmly on the head. It does fall a bit short of the maximum 250Mbps download speeds achievable on this tier (at least, during the busy evening hours anyway) but it's incredibly cheap to make up for it. Even at its regular cost of AU$89.95p/m, it's more affordable than a lot of NBN 100 plans – and only AU$8 more each month than Spintel's own 100Mbps plan. 

If you're looking for something faster, be sure to check out the plans below, but if you're looking for the most affordable, you won't find better. 

• AU$79 minimum cost
• AU$1,013.70 first year cost
• AU$1,079.40 ongoing yearly cost

Best fast NBN 250 plan

Superloop250Mbps AU$85p/m (first 6 months, then AU$99p/m)

Superloop | 250Mbps | AU$85p/m (first 6 months, then AU$99p/m)

Superloop is now resolutely our pick for the best fast NBN 250 plan, now that it has boosted its typical evening speed figure to the maximum 250Mbps. 

This is an increase from the previous claim of 230Mbps, which is great news, but the better news is that the telco includes five free Speed Boost days each month. This feature lets you boost the speed of your service to the next tier up – NBN 1000 – for free, for 24 hours. 

• AU$85 minimum cost
• AU$1,104 first year cost
• AU$1,188 ongoing yearly cost

Cheapest NBN 250 plan

Spintel211Mbps | NBN 250AU$79p/m (first 6 months, then AU$89.95p/m)

Spintel | 211Mbps | NBN 250 | AU$79p/m (first 6 months, then AU$89.95p/m)

Not only is Spintel our pick for the best overall NBN 250 plan, but it's also by far and away the cheapest. You’ll pay AU$79 a month for your first six months, which is a bit less than what you’d pay for a much slower 50Mbps plan at full price. That alone makes this plan incredibly appealing. The discounted price holds for your first half-year, after which your monthly bill will increase to AU$89.95 ongoing. The typical evening speed is quoted at 211Mbps, which is a little below average for this tier, but it’s hard to argue with the price.

• AU$79 minimum cost
• AU$1,013.70 first year cost
• AU$1,079.40 ongoing yearly cost

Also consider

Dodo | 245Mbps | AU$78.90p/m (first 6 months, then AU$98.90p/m)

Dodo | 245Mbps | AU$78.90p/m (first 6 months, then AU$98.90p/m)

Dodo also deserves a mention here as it's recently dropped the cost of its NBN 250 plan and is now the second-cheapest in the country. It also claims typical evening speeds of 245Mbps, just 5Mbps shy of the theoretical maximum. This plan is just under AU$40 cheaper than Superloop's in the first year, and less than AU$2 cheaper in each ongoing year. 

• AU$78.90 minimum cost
• AU$1,066.80 first year cost
• AU$1,186.80 ongoing yearly cost

NBN 250 FAQ

How fast is NBN 250?

NBN 250 plans offer a maximum download speed of 250Mbps, though the majority of the NBN providers which offer this tier aren’t promising this as typical evening speed. Instead, the average typical speed during the evening hours is 228Mbps among telcos monitored by us.

There’s some considerable variation in speed between the providers in the NBN 250 tier. For example, only Telstra, AGL, Southern Phone and Swoop advertise a maxed-out speed of 250Mbps during the evening hours. Other providers such as Optus are not too far behind, with Optus offering 245Mbps.

Compare that to Kogan and Mate, which report typical evening speeds of 200Mbps and 202Mbps, respectively, and you can immediately see how much of a variance there can be on this tier. The gap between the high-performing telcos and their slower competitors is quite stark. Across this tier, you can generally expect an upload speed of 25Mbps.

How much does NBN 250 cost?

Cost may be the deciding factor for many, and prices for NBN 250 plans start at AU$89.95 from Spintel, and stretch as high as AU$130 a month for Telstra’s offering. As with all other NBN speed tiers, most telcos will offer you a six-month discount on your plan when you first sign up, and we’ve seen these introductory prices drop as low as AU$79 a month.

For a 250/25 plan with one of the major telcos, you’ll generally be paying around AU$100 a month on average. If you were hoping for more affordable high-speed broadband, you might be better served by our fastest NBN plans page which takes a look at some of the best NBN 100 plans as well.

Can I get NBN 250?

Not all connection types will have access to this super-fast broadband. It’s available to those with a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connection, and in some cases, also those with hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) cable, but be sure to check with the provider.

What providers have NBN 250?

The providers who are offering NBN 250 plans include the major telcos including Telstra, Optus and TPG, as well as Aussie Broadband, Exetel, iiNet, Internode, Mate, Superloop and Tangerine just to name a few. We fully expect more to get onboard in the near future.

Jasmine Gearie
Ecommerce Editor

Jasmine Gearie was previously an Ecommerce Editor at TechRadar Australia, with a primary focus on helping readers find the best mobile and NBN plans. During her time with TechRadar, she also reported on important telco news in Australia, and helped track down tech deals to help readers save money.