NBN Vs Mobile Only Plans (for a Family)

dunker56 on 01/06/2019 - 07:50

Guys I need your help.

I'll ask the question first and then give a background story to those interested.

If you were going on the Optus $105/month 200gb 24 month plan for TWO phones (i.e. $210/month and 400gb data pooled), what phones would you choose. It seems to me that there's little point in thinking about it much, just go for flagships handsets right, so the Samsung S10, S10+ or S10e (that is if Android is your choice of OS)? There really is little point considering other handsets as it will cost the same and they will be worse performers?

The Back Story.

We live the in the Blue Mountains, STILL on adsl2+ (5mb/s max speed lol). My current ISP (TPG) tells me NBN will be ready by October, however my modem has just died, second one in 3 months bought. I really don't want to pay even $30 for another crap modem to tie us over till the NBN arrives…

Our TPG plan is $49.99/month + $25 line rental, so $75/month, according to TPG's new NBN plans I'm looking at $70/month for 40mbp/s speeds (+ line rental still at $25/month) so basically going to the NBN will cost us more than what we pay now, about $95/month. That's not considering the start up fees associated with NBN…

I am already with Optus, not on any phone plan, just SIM. We have;

2x $40/month for 15gb data (ie 30gb data pooled, $80)
1x $10/month for 2gb Mobile Data (a 4gx modem connected to PC)

So right now we pay about $90/month for 32gb of faster 4gx speeds that I typically use up every month with the main home computer via the 4gx modem.

So right now our phone + TPG ISP plan comes to around $165/month, which gives us 5mb/sec dl speeds (0.8mb/s ul speeds lol) and no new phones or anything (I use a crappy old iphone 5, my wife on a motorola play or something…)

My thinking is to kill the TPG plan altogether (we're not locked in on a plan), kill the line rental, save $75/month. Get 2 new handsets (and I note right now Optus also bundle in a Tab A 8.0 tablet on $85 or higher plans) @ $105/month, 2x S10's, and then data pool and share with the 4gx Modem. Kids connect to the 4gx modem, as does the PC, wife just stays always on Mobile Data with her phone. I could even make my S10 a wifi hotspot for my PC and then just leave the kids to access the 4gx modem, this would possibly be better than all of us on the NBN competing with lag/latency issues?

According to my usage history on my ADSL2+ plans I was 160gb last month, 220gb the month before.

I guess I can set the kids devices to put a cap on their wifi usage? Like… how you can with Mobile Data, hit a certain gb and then it disables mobile data, can I do the same with Wifi? or perhaps I need a better modem, whereby I can throttle speeds of devices connected to it?

Hmm… the NBN is not looking as attractive as this, basically we're looking at close to $200gb/month anyway come October whether we like it or not and still have ancient tech and all sharing one line.

Am I mad to consider this?

Cheers,

Dunker

Mobile Broadband Mobile Broadband Plan nbn

Comments

  • PepperedAngus on 01/06/2019 - 08:39

    That's the exact setup I have. I get 150mb/s DL speeds where I live so NBN would be a downgrade.
    If you don't use obscene amounts of data a month then the convenience of mobile data is a plus.
    looks like 400gb should do you fine.
    If you are happy with the speeds and reliability of your 4gx mobile internet, I'd recommend sticking with it.
    Perk is you allocate you internet funds to your phone plan and get a better phone.

    • dunker56 on 01/06/2019 - 08:43

      "Perk is you allocate you internet funds to your phone plan and get a better phone."

      That's kinda the way I see it.

      We don't get those kinda speeds. This is a test with the small 4gx modem this morning connected to PC, its pretty typical though the upload speeds can be better than that;

      https://www.speedtest.net/result/8301352764

      The TPG plan that costs around $69/month is a 40mb dl speed plan, so it will be no better, the same and possibly worse.

      • PepperedAngus on 01/06/2019 - 08:54

        That's the way I see it,
        I'm not too eager to get NBN as a comparable speed plan is $100 per month.
        while I pay $120 through Optus for 200gb plus a 4gx modem pooled together.
        As a bonus, I get the newest iPhone every two years sticking to this plan.
        Considering the outright cost, there is no other way I would get the phone.
        The biggest drain for me on my data is Netflix, which on my plan doesn't use my data allowance.
        Just be sure to monitor your data usage.
        If you go over, you will be in a world of hurt :P

    • SnoozeAndLose on 01/06/2019 - 10:15

      150mb/s = 1200mbps 12 times faster then NBN 100 plan. Where r U located and how much?

      • blonky on 01/06/2019 - 10:40

        You're thinking of MBps or MB/s (capital B)

        150mbps / mb/s = 18.75MBps / MB/s

  • Hellfire on 01/06/2019 - 10:11

    Make sure you get good reception and speed at your place.

    I had a Telstra 4G modem while waiting for my nbn connection and the speed was terrible with constant drop-outs. So bad that I couldn't even browse the net let alone stream Netflix.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join