Finder’s NBN plans methodology

What are the Finder NBN Awards?

Finder's NBN Awards are determined by a methodology that ranks plans and providers based on price, speed, reliability, the option to BYO modem or the price to buy one and customer support. To determine our winners, we reviewed 270 NBN plans across 39 providers.

Finder's NBN Awards and ranking criteria

The criteria for Finder's NBN Awards were determined by our insights team and internet experts. To be eligible:

• Providers must offer fixed-line NBN plans including, but not limited to, FTTP, HFC, FTTN, FTTC and FTTB connection types.
• Plans must be paid on a month-to-month basis with no lock-in contract.
• Plans must still be available to purchase at the time of the awards being published (March 2024).

Our categories were selected to help Australians looking for affordable internet plans that still offer reliable and fast speeds. The 5 categories we looked at are:

• Provider of the Year
• Best NBN Provider for Everyday Use
• Best NBN Provider for Fast Speeds
• Best NBN Provider for Superfast Speeds
• Best Budget NBN Provider

We gave each plan in every category a value score score based on 8 factors:

Data allowance

Plan length

Option to BYO modem

Actual cost of modem

Availability of live chat support

Phone support

Performance in the ACCC's quarterly broadband performance report (if applicable)

24-month cost per Mbps, taken from the advertised typical evening speed

Our winners were the providers that topped the ranking score, with runners-up given honourable mentions so users have a wider selection in each category.

Finder's NBN Awards methodology by category

Provider of the Year

We looked at 255 NBN plans across 39 providers. We weighted the following factors to determine an overall value score for each plan:

• Data allowance: 12%
• Plan length: 10%
• Option to BYO modem: 8%
• Actual cost of modem: 4%
• Availability of live chat support: 2%
• Phone support: 3%
• Performance in the ACCC's quarterly broadband performance report (if applicable): 5%
• 24-month cost per Mbps, taken from the advertised typical evening speed: 56%

Best NBN Provider for Everyday Use

We looked at 67 NBN 50 plans across 37 providers. We weighted the following factors to determine an overall value score for each plan:

• Data allowance: 12%
• Plan length: 10%
• Option to BYO modem: 8%
• Actual cost of modem: 4%
• Availability of live chat support: 2%
• Phone support: 3%
• Performance in the ACCC's quarterly broadband performance report (if applicable): 5%
• 24-month cost per Mbps, taken from the advertised typical evening speed: 56%

Best NBN Provider for Fast Speeds

We compared 74 NBN 100 plans from 38 providers. Here's how much we weighted each factor in our ranking methodology:

• Data allowance: 12%
• Plan length: 10%
• Option to BYO modem: 8%
• Actual cost of modem: 4%
• Availability of live chat support: 2%
• Phone support: 3%
• Performance in the ACCC's quarterly broadband performance report (if applicable): 5%
• 24-month cost per Mbps, taken from the advertised typical evening speed: 56%

Best NBN Provider for Superfast Speeds

We compared 37 NBN 250 and NBN 500 plans from 27 providers. Here's how much we weighted each factor in our ranking methodology:

• Data allowance: 12%
• Plan length: 10%
• Option to BYO modem: 8%
• Actual cost of modem: 4%
• Availability of live chat support: 2%
• Phone support: 3%
• Performance in the ACCC's quarterly broadband performance report (if applicable): 5%
• 24-month cost per Mbps, taken from the advertised typical evening speed: 56%

Best Budget NBN Provider

For this category, we analysed 25 cheap NBN plans from 20 providers that cost $65 per month or under. Our weighting system was:

• Data allowance: 12%
• Plan length: 10%
• Option to BYO modem: 8%
• Actual cost of modem: 18%
• 24-month cost per Mbps, taken from the advertised typical evening speed: 52%

How we used the ACCC's broadband performance report

The ACCC's broadband performance report comes out each quarter and highlights the speed reliability of the top 11 NBN providers in Australia.

While the report is able to give us an overview of the reliability of advertised NBN speeds by selected providers, smaller internet providers aren't included in the list. These smaller providers shouldn't be disregarded as they could offer fast speeds at better price points, but the reliability of their advertised speeds just cannot be officially verified by an independent body.

We gave the ACCC report a 10% weighting in our awards methodology so as to not penalise smaller providers by too much.

What are the Finder customer satisfaction awards?

The Finder customer satisfaction awards recognise Australia's favourite brands across a huge number of categories. We survey thousands of real Australians to understand how they feel about their recent product purchases to help you make a decision about what product to get. It's an independent awards program calculated by our data and insights team. Commercial partnerships do not influence the results in any way.

We gave out 1 overall award to the best rated NBN provider for customer satisfaction, with 2 brands recognised as being highly commended.

Finder NBN customer satisfaction awards methodology

• The recency period varied between 3 months and 3 years.
• We got a minimum of 45 responses for each NBN provider.
• Respondents were asked whether they would recommend the NBN provider to a friend. This result was scored out of 5 as a percentage. For example, if 80% of respondents said they would recommend a product, it received a score of 4 out of 5.
• Customers were asked how they would rate each NBN provider overall on a scale between 1 and 5 and in terms of:
  • Customer service
  • Features and benefits
  • Speed
  • Reliability
  • Value for money
• The overall ranking for each NBN provider was calculated as an average of the 5 metrics outlined above and the percentage of customers who were likely to recommend the provider.

Our research in numbers

Total number of responses for NBN providers: 765
Total number of brands surveyed: 10

Frequently asked questions

• How often are internet plans reviewed for the Finder Awards?

  We currently run our Finder NBN Awards once a year. The 2024 awards are based on plans that were available to purchase as of March 2024.

• Do you review all NBN plans available in the market?

  We try our best to assess the majority of products in the market but this isn't always possible and it may be that not every product or brand in the market was included for judging.

Written by

Mariam Gabaji

Editor I Tech and utilities expert

Mariam Gabaji is an editor and tech and utilities expert at Finder with 12+ years of experience as a journalist. She's committed to helping households cut through the industry jargon and save money on their bills. Her expertise is often featured in media including the ABC, Yahoo Finance, 9News, 7News, A Current Affair, The Guardian, SBS and Money Magazine. See full bio

Mariam's expertise

Mariam has written 305 Finder guides across topics including:

• Energy
• Mobile
• Broadband
• Consumer tech