Tangerine just delivered an NBN 500 sucker punch – its new early-bird plan costs just AU$69p/m

We'll forgive you if you’ve not yet heard that there are major NBN speed upgrades just around the corner – in fact, we're only a month away from NBN Co officially flicking the switch on what are set to be the biggest speed increases to consumer plans we've ever seen. The best of these upgrades, in my opinion, is the official arrival of NBN 500 plans that will usher in a 5x speed boost to the best NBN 100 plans.

However, despite the upgrades not having officially launched, you can already sign up for an NBN 500 plan early through a couple of our NBN favourite providers. If you’re looking for the very cheapest NBN 500 plan (at least for the first year), Tangerine Telecom has landed with the standout option.

Coming in at under AU$70 a month for the first six months, followed by a highly competitive ongoing rate, Tangerine is a great provider if you’re seeking faster speeds.

Tangerine | Speedy Max NBN plan (500/50) | AU$68.90p/m (first 6 months, then AU$88.90p/m)

The Tangerine Speedy Max plan costs less than many NBN 25 plans in the first six months, and even the ongoing rate undercuts the price of Telstra’s 25Mbps plan. This fact alone represents sensational value. Just note that only those with an FTTP or HFC connection at home can sign up.

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Now there are a couple of things to be aware of before you sign up for this plan. The first is that Tangerine is giving early sign-ups a free speed boost to 700Mbps typical evening download speeds until the new NBN 500 tier officially rolls out. Because 500Mbps plans don't officially exist, Tangerine is temporarily putting new sign ups on its NBN 1000 tier until September 14th, 2025 – that's the date NBN Co has set for its upgrades to become available. Following this, the Speedy Max plan will become a normal NBN 500 plan (with theoretical download speeds of 500Mbps and uploads of 50Mbps) and anyone who has signed up early will be migrated over.

All that means is that until that date, you can effectively access Tangerine's gigabit NBN tier and its associated speeds at a much more affordable rate.

As mentioned above however, note that you will need to have either a fibre to the premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connection at your premises to sign up for this plan. If you don’t have one of these technologies, you can check if you’re eligible for NBN Co's free fibre upgrade program.

You’ll also want to make sure you have a modem-router that can support the faster speeds. Tangerine will sell you an Amazon Eero 6+ dual-band router for a very competitive AU$169.90 for a single unit. You can also opt for a two- or three-pack to create a mesh Wi-Fi network around your home.

I should also point out that Tangerine’s ongoing NBN 500 rate isn’t quite as competitive as what you’ll find from either Spintel or Exetel. The latter, especially, has a truly outstanding 500Mbps plan at just AU$80 a month; complete with some extra perks that make it very attractive.

But, if spending the least amount of money possible (initially at least) is most important to you, then Tangerine’s Speedy Max plan is the current best pick.

Alternatively, you can check out the most popular NBN plans with at least 500Mbps download speeds in the price comparison below.

You might also like

• View my latest picks for the best NBN plans overall
• Want to go faster? View the best NBN 1000 plans
• Read more on the incoming NBN 2000 plans