
If you like fast internet, fast service, and puns then Tangerine might just be the NBN provider for you.
The Tangerine team have over 50 years telecommunications experience between them, and entered the game in 2013 with a clear vision to make getting connected easy.
If you've been looking at Tangerine's plans and you're wondering what the deal is, then read on.
Who is Tangerine Telecom?
Dubbed Australia’s ‘juciest’ provider of NBN, Tangerine Telecom is a smaller NBN provider with some big infrastructure behind it. Using Vocus Communications (one of Australia's largest wholesale telcos), tech who is connected to 121 NBN Points of Interconnect (POI) across Australia and a local Point of Presence (POP) in every major city, it’s no surprise that they are seen to be so reliable.
The company is built with a vision of incomparable customer service and simply providing great, cheap internet plans. Its growing customer base of over 40,000 would suggest that Tangerine is doing it pretty well.
Who owns Tangerine Telecom?
Tangerine Telecom is owned by England born, Andrew and (not Sir) Richard Branson. Andrew started in the Aussie telecommunications industry as a salesman and realised quite quickly that people would happily switch providers if they:
- Provided a better service
- Were slightly cheaper than their competitors
When Andrew returned home after backpacking his way around Australia, he and his brother went out for a few pints, and came back with the idea to start a telco provider to take on Telstra. The Branson brothers created Tangerine Telecom to do exactly what Andrew knew the customer wanted - be affordable and be better than the competition.
Tangerine Telecom NBN Plans
Tangerine Telecom offers a choice of three NBN plans. Each plan is contract-free and comes with unlimited data. The only difference is speed:
- Standard Speed aka. NBN 25 (Standard) speed - best for small households of 1-2 people
- XL Speed Boost aka. NBN 50 (Standard Plus) speed - best for medium-size households of 3-4 people
- XXL Speed Boosts aka. NBN 100 / 20 speeds - best for larger households of 5+ people as well as anyone who sporadically downloads or uploads large files
Tangerine Telecom plans are great value for money and are usually near the top of our most popular NBN plans. Due to the Branson brothers’ connections in the NBN marketplace, they are often able to offer lower costs on each NBN speed tier.
NBN 100 / 20 Plans
NBN 100 / 20 plans allow fast download speeds at a cheaper price. The trade off comes with a less generous upload speed, which means that adding large files to the cloud, or sending them online might take a bit longer.
If you don't tend to send big attachments online, but still want a speedy connection then NBN 100 / 20 plans are a great cost-saving option.
Have a look at the most popular plans from our database of providers below:
What makes Tangerine Telecom different?
You’ve probably guessed by now that Tangerine Telecom focus on two things:
- Customer service
- Quality
With the Vocus infrastructure behind them, Tangerine’s main juicy difference comes down its customer service. The provider offers a 14-day nbn® trial for the service. If you're not satisfied with your Tangerine NBN connection in the first 14 days, you’ll get a full refund of your plan fee - as long as you follow the T&Cs. You won't get a refund on your modem if you buy one through Tangerine, but it is unlocked so you can always use it with another provider. According to the latest data, only 0.5% of customers take the provider up on that offer, so Tangerine must be doing something right.
Not only can you try before you buy, but when you do buy you’re still not stuck. Tangerine’s NBN plans are all contract-free so you can feel free to move between providers and plans as you wish.
The provider has forgone a lot of extra costs that can impact your back pocket. Here are just some sneaky fees you can avoid by using Tangerine for your NBN connection:
- Speed change fees
- Cancellation fees
- Standard installation
- Set up fees
Tangerine’s technical support is also open until 10pm on weekdays and 8pm on weekends and public holidays (AEST). So if you are having issues, you won’t be forced to take a day off to get them fixed.
How to sign up to a Tangerine NBN plan?
Once your home or business is NBN ready (check our address search here if you’re not sure), then the rest of the process takes five minutes. Tangerine has one of the most user friendly, online set ups.
Just follow the steps and get connected
- Choose your NBN speed
- Choose your modem
- Tack on a home phone plan if you want
- Or a mobile phone sim
- Confirm your order
Depending on your NBN technology and NBN readiness, the process will take between one day and three weeks to be fully set up. If you are switching NBN providers you can be connected within three days, but if your property hasn’t been connected to the NBN before you will need an technician to activate your service. Appointments are quite popular so this can take up to 3 weeks.
Compare Tangerine plans to other providers using our NBN plans comparison tool.
Tangerine NBN FAQs
How fast are Tangerine Telecom NBN speeds?
Tangerine use the standard NBN speed tiers but name them slightly differently;
- NBN 25 (Standard) - Standard Speed
- NBN 50 (Standard Plus) - XL Speed Boost
- NBN 100 / 20 - XXL Speed Boost
During peak times Tangerine reports typical evening speeds of 21Mbps for its Standard Speed plan, 42 Mbps for XL Speed Boost, and 83 Mbps for XXL Speed Boost. These speeds are on par across most major providers, but you can read more in our fastest NBN provider guide.
Do you have to buy a new modem when you sign up to Tangerine Telecom?
Nope. You have the option to add on your choice, or lack there of modem during your online order. If you don’t have an NBN compatible modem or router, you can choose between two options on Tangerine’s site ranging from $129.90 - $149.90. You can also opt for a 4G backup modem ($199.90 + $15/month) powered by the Optus network in the case that your NBN connections drops out.
What if I want to cancel?
As all Tangerine NBN plans are contract-free, there are no cancellation fees. There is however a minimum term of one month, so if you miss the 14 day, free trial cut off period and end up wanting to cancel on day 15 - then you will still be charged for the whole month.
Anula Wiwatowska
Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram
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