NBN 50 plans are the most popular choice of internet for Australians. The best NBN 50 plans offer enough speed for a household of two to four people to use the internet comfortably, and all for a relatively affordable price.
However, it’s possible that the NBN 50 tier is in danger of losing its most popular crown, as NBN Co is pushing for you to get faster internet. Earlier this year, NBN Co cut the wholesale price of the fastest NBN plans including NBN 100, NBN 250 and NBN 1000, and increased the wholesale cost of NBN 50 plans by AU$5. Plenty of providers passed that increase onto consumers, and the average cost of the NBN 50 plans we monitor surged to around AU$80 a month.
At the turn of the new financial year in Australia, wholesale costs increased once again and NBN 50 plans have increased further in price. The average cost is now just over AU$80 a month, and only AU$10 less on average than a faster NBN 100 plan.
Following the first increase, we actually saw a surge in the number of active NBN 50 connections in March 2024. But the number has since decreased by approximately 100,000, going off the most recent data published by the Australia Competition & Consumer Commission in May 2024 – now sitting at just over 4.3 million.
With recent price changes, it means our previous picks for the best NBN 50 plans have now been replaced. Read on for our latest choices.
Noteworthy NBN 50 deals
Further down, we’ve hand-picked the best NBN 50 plans on the market right now, but some providers are offering deals (often for fresh sign-ups over the first six months) so we’ve listed them below incase any of their offers entice you:
- Flip: save AU$9.90p/m for 6 months (from AU$64p/m)
- Exetel: save AU$19p/m for 6 months (from AU$60.99p/m)
Best NBN 50 plans
Please note that all plans listed below offer unlimited data and run on a no lock-in contract basis. This means you're free to switch to another provider whenever you want if the service you receive doesn't meet your expectations.
Best overall NBN 50 plan
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Best fast NBN 50 plan
Cheapest NBN 50 plan
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NBN 50 FAQ
How fast is NBN 50?
NBN 50 as a speed tier offers up to 50Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speeds, and while this doesn’t mean you’ll be hitting that rate at all times, it’s becoming more likely.
With many providers now advertising a typical evening speed of 50Mbps, you’re more likely to be getting that max speed during the busy peak periods (that’s between 7pm–11pm). We’ve compared the typical evening speed among NBN providers monitored by TechRadar, and found the average to be 49Mbps.
The speed you experience could vary with multiple factors, however, including your specific NBN connection type.
How much does NBN 50 cost?
NBN 50 plans are the most popular choice for Australians signed up to the internet, and because of this, most providers offering NBN 50 plans have some very competitive offers and discounts, particularly for your first six months on the service.
Standard prices on the NBN 50 tier range between AU$69 to AU$105 a month, but when welcome discounts are available, you can sign up for as little as AU$55 a month for your first six months. Among the telcos we monitor, the average monthly price for an NBN 50 plan currently sits at just over AU$83.
Telstra’s NBN 50 plan is the most expensive in the market, with an ongoing rate of AU$105 a month. While that’s significantly above the average cost, Telstra offers other incentives to get you to sign up with its service, such as a modem with 4G back up, allowing you to prioritise online traffic and providing free subscriptions to streaming service for a set amount of time.
Can I get NBN 50?
If you’re not in a rural or remote area of Australia, or one of the few other locations that haven’t had a fixed line NBN service set up, then you’ll be able to get an NBN 50 connection.
All connection types, such as fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) and hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC), are able to support NBN 50, but some of them are likely to perform more reliably.
Which providers have NBN 50?
There are very few (if any) providers at this stage which are not offering NBN 50 plans, given its immense popularity and ability to be connected to, and supported by, a vast majority of Aussies homes.
This means that Telstra, Optus, TPG, Aussie Broadband, Belong, Dodo, Exetel, iiNet, Spintel, Tangerine and plenty of others all have compelling NBN 50 plans to choose from.
NBN 50 vs NBN 100?
As with any purchasing decision, the 'better' option won’t be better for everyone. For light internet users, such as households with two to four users that stream in high definition and don’t plan to use it for anything more intensive, NBN 50 is likely to be more than enough.
But for anyone experiencing congestion issues, or anyone that wants their download time drastically cut down, an NBN 100 plan may be a better option. And, because of price fluctuations, going faster no longer costs that much more. In fact, some of the cheapest NBN 100 plans are more affordable than the more expensive 50Mbps plans.
