Compare the best NBN 250 plans in Australia

Fact Checked

With the nationwide NBN rollout complete, attention is turning to upgrading many homes to fibre NBN connections so more Aussies can access faster speed tiers, including the Home Superfast speed, also known as NBN 250.

Initially, NBN 50 and NBN 100 were the maximum speeds on offer, but in more recent years, NBN Co has rolled out even faster speed tiers. As the next step up in speed from NBN 100, NBN 250 offers plenty of speed to meet your household needs. Depending on your address and NBN connection type, you could be eligible for these super-fast NBN 250 speeds. Read on to find out more about this speed tier and compare the best NBN 250 plans.

Compare the best NBN 250 plans and providers

NBN 250 is now widely available from a range of providers to residential customers, provided you’re on an eligible connection type, with plan inclusions and upload speeds vary between each provider. It’s always a good idea to compare NBN 250 plans from a wide range of providers to ensure you’re getting the best NBN 250 plan for your household’s needs.

Popular providers offering NBN 250 plans include:

The following table shows a selection of published NBN 250 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.

How fast are NBN 250 plans?

The NBN 250 speed tier — also known as the Home Superfast speed tier —is the second-fastest NBN speed in Australia. It should be able to provide maximum download speeds up to 250Mbps and with upload speeds of up to 25Mbps.

NBN 250 plans offer faster typical evening download speeds than what was originally offered by NBN Co when the network first rolled out, when NBN 100 was the fastest speed tier.

NBN Co recommends the Home Superfast speed for a smooth 4K video streaming experience (even when up to seven devices are online) along with smooth cloud-based and online gaming and seamless video calls even when others are online. You should be able to download a 10GB file within eight minutes, while uploading a 1GB file will take around seven minutes.

At its maximum theoretical speed, NBN250 should be able to perform downloads in lightning-fast time for certain file sizes:

• A full-length music album in less than a minute
• A 1080p TV show episode in less than a minute
• A 30GB 4K movie download in 16 minutes
• A 90GB video game in 49 minutes

Keep in mind that these speeds are calculated from the maximum potential speed, which is faster than the speed you’ll actually experience. Most providers now list a ‘typical evening speed’ for each speed tier, which reflects the average speed recorded by customers during peak traffic hours of between 7pm and 11pm.

Typical evening speeds for the NBN 250 speed tier usually reach around the 200-250Mbps mark, however, there are factors that can impact your internet speed including:

• Your distance from your modem on a WiFi connection
• Your home’s distance from your neighbourhood or street’s node
• Potential damage to your modem or fixed line

NBN offers you might like

• NBN Sponsored Plans
• NBN50 Plans
• NBN100 Plans

The following table shows a selection of sponsored unlimited data Standard Plus Evening Speed (NBN 50), and Premium Evening Speed (NBN 100) plans on Canstar Blue’s database with links to referral partners..

Sponsored Products

Home Fast Plus nbn100 1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $65.00) Typical evening speed of 100Mbps Home Fast plan now $65 a month for 6 months when you BYO modem and have AGL energy. T&C’s apply, offer ends 08/04/2025.

Unlimited Data/month

$65.00 Cost/month

Go to Site

nbn50 1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $68.90) Typical evening speed of 50Mbps Save $15/month for 12 months, plus save an extra $10/month When you bundle with Dodo Energy plans. T&Cs Apply T&C’s Apply, offer ends 29/04/25.

Unlimited Data/month

$68.90 Cost/month

Go to Site

NBN 100 Unlimited Data 1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $79.99) Typical evening speed of 100Mbps Save $15 a month off for the first 6 months! Offer available until withdrawn, new connections and select plans only. *T&Cs apply

Unlimited Data/month

$79.99 Cost/month

Go to Site

View all nbn plans listed on Canstar Blue

*^View important information

Unlimited Home Standard (NBN 50) Plans

The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 50 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost (excluding discounts), from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.

Unlimited Home Fast (NBN 100) Plans

The table below shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 100 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.

How much does NBN 250 cost?

Thanks to wholesale price changes introduced by NBN Co, NBN 250 plans have become much more affordable — but they still aren’t cheap. If cost is your biggest concern, you could be better off on an NBN 100 plan for the price point alone, as upgrading to an NBN 250 plan can typically add an extra $20 to $40 or more to your monthly bill compared to cheaper speed tiers.

NBN 250 costs vary between the providers, with the cheapest NBN 250 plans costing between $90 to $100 per month. On the pricier end, you can pay around $120 per month for your NBN 250 plan. Compared to the next speed tier down, unlimited data NBN 100 plans start at about $75 per month, but can get up to about $100 per month or more.

If you’re interested in an NBN 250 plan, you’re probably investing money in your home internet for a good reason. These plans aren’t for the budget-conscious — so if monthly price isn’t a deterrent, spending a bit extra on an NBN 250 plan may be worthwhile, especially if you’re getting more than twice the download speed of NBN 100.

Can I get NBN 250?

In order to sign up to NBN 250 plans, your home will need to be connected to one of the fast NBN connection types. Your home will need to be connected with either a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connection and, in some cases, a Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) connection. Some providers, such as Telstra, Aussie Broadband, Superloop and Optus will restrict NBN 250 plans services to FTTP and eligible HFC connections only.

Some Aussie homes may now be eligible for a free NBN fibre upgrade which will allow you to sign up to an NBN 250 plan once your home is upgraded to an FTTP connection.

This is because other NBN technology types – including Fibre to the Node (FTTN) and Fibre to the Building (FTTB) – simply aren’t capable of delivering the fast speeds promised with an NBN 250 plan. FTTP and HFC connections are more efficient with bandwidth.

Read more: What to do when your internet is down

Is an NBN 250 plan right for me?

Ultimately it depends on what your internet usage needs are. For larger households, fast-speed NBN 250 plans offer plenty of speed and at a cheaper price than the NBN 1000 speed tier. NBN 250 plans are also a good option if you’re big on high-definition streaming, intense online gaming, big file downloads and working from home.

If it’s in your price range and your address is able to connect via FTTP or HTC, it may be worth considering upgrading to an NBN 250 plan if you’re a really heavy-duty user, or you’re after faster speeds than NBN 100. With a typical evening speed of over 200Mbps, NBN 250 is a great way to congestion-proof your plan during busy periods, and cut back on download time and buffering for games and video.

Keep in mind that if you use your broadband plan for live streaming on platforms such as Twitch, or YouTube — or for any kind of file sharing or frequent content uploading — you may want to consider upload speeds as well as download speeds when picking the right plan. While NBN 100/40 offers slower downloads, you will get faster maximum uploads compared to a NBN 250/25 plan.

If you don’t fall into one of these heavy-use categories, signing up to an NBN 250 plan can be, for many households, unnecessary and expensive. Typically, an NBN 50 or NBN 100 plan serves as a good general speed tier for medium to large households with moderate usage needs as these speeds can typically keep up with activities like streaming and gaming.

However, if you’re still unsure, start out at a slower speed, then upgrade if you need more speed. If you’re on a month-to-month NBN plan, switching to a faster speed tier is usually a quick and easy process if you’re sticking with the same provider. Alternatively, you can compare a range of NBN plans and providers to find an NBN 250 plan to suit your needs and budget.