Telstra 5G Home Internet Review: Is It Worth Ditching the NBN?

By Alex Choros

Last updated 06 December 2021

Telstra 5G Home Internet Review: The Verdict

Telstra 5G home internet manages to offer faster download speeds at a more affordable price than comparable NBN plans, making it a worthy alternative for anyone struggling with a subpar connection.

What we love

Excellent speeds
Good value
Genuinely contract-free

What could be improved

Poor modem documentation
Not available to everyone yet
Higher latency than NBN

85/100

$85 per month

When we talk about NBN, it's often divided into "good NBN" and "bad NBN". For everyone lucky enough to have a FTTP connection cable of getting NBN 1000 plans, there's someone stuck with an FTTN connection that can't even hit 100Mbps. The NBN isn't exactly equitable.

NBN Co is slowly working on allowing the majority of FTTN users to request free upgrades to FTTP, but this process won't be done until the end of 2023 at the earliest, and it doesn't help those struggling with Fixed Wireless or FTTB.

If you're looking for a solution now, 5G home internet could be it. After three weeks of using Telstra's 5G home internet as my primary internet connection, I've cancelled my old NBN plan.

5G home internet has been around for almost two years now, but availability has been limited. Telstra has flipped the script on this with its new 5G home internet, which is available to over 75% of the population thanks to the breadth of its 5G network. And at $85 per month, it's cheaper than the vast majority of NBN 100 plans while also offering faster speeds.

Living the speed dream

Provider	Telstra
Speed	Up to 300 Mbps Typical speed ranges: 30-570Mbps (download) and 5-70Mbps (upload)
Data	1000GB
Connection	4G/5G Home Internet
Type	No Contract Term
Total Price	$85 per month Min. total cost $85 for first month
	Link not supplied

Let's start with the key details. Telstra's 5G home internet plan will set you back $85 per month with a 1TB download allowance. Big T reports typical evening speeds of 378Mbps but says download speeds can range between 50Mbps and 600Mbps. When it comes to upload speeds, Telstra reports typical evening speeds of 46Mbps, but a range of between 10Mbps and 90Mbps.

You can currently get your first month entirely for free, and the plan is also contract-free. You'll just need to return your modem if you leave within your first 24 months to avoid getting slugged with a non-return fee. And you'll definitely want to return the modem in good working order, because the fee is pretty hefty. It's $29 multiplied by the number of months left in your two-year term. You have 21 days from when you cancel to get it back to Telstra, however.

On paper, that all sounds great. Thankfully the reality also lived up to expectations. My download speeds have ranged between 200Mbps and 500Mbps, and upload speeds between 40Mbps and 80Mbps. I managed to download Age of Empires IV in about ten minutes. It's a touch ridiculous. Speeds aren't quite as consistent as on a high-speed NBN plan where you'd ideally be hoping for 500Mbps all the time, but they've still been fast and reliable enough for my needs.

There are two main trade-offs you'll make by opting for 5G over NBN, however. The first is the fixed download allowance. You only get 1TB per month, and there's no option for an unlimited plan. 1TB should still be more than enough for all but the most demanding users, however. Secondly, there's latency. In my tests, I've seen an average ping of 20ms, which is around double what I was getting on my NBN connection. This hasn't all made a difference to my day-to-day experience, but 5G may not be the best pick if you're a serious online gamer and want the lowest latency possible.

There's also the question of how consistent performance will be going forward. Mobile connections are far more prone to congestion than fixed line networks like the NBN. There's every chance speeds could worsen if more people take up 5G home internet in my area, but Telstra says there's a limit as to how many services it will sell per postcode. Hopefully performance will stay as in, but if it gets drastically worse, the fact the plan's contract-free means I can always go crawling back to the NBN.

Price is naturally an important part of the equation, and $85 speeds this fast just represents great value. Most full price NBN 100 plans sell for at least $90 per month, and you'll spend around $130 per month for NBN 250 or $150 per month for NBN 1000.

I'm lucky enough to be on one of the "good" NBN technology types: HFC. My place qualifies for an NBN 1000 plan, and I would LOVE gigabit internet, but it's hard to justify spending around $150 per month on internet. $85 per month for faster internet feels perfectly reasonable, however, and was the main reason for wanting to actually test out a Telstra 5G home internet plan, well, other than to write about it.

Telstra is also surprisingly competitive when it comes to the broader 5G home internet market. TPG has the cheapest uncapped plan at $79.99 per month, and Optus will charge you $99 per month for its uncapped option. Both telcos have cheaper plans with speeds limited to 100Mbps.

Show 'em the modem

The other key element of the Telstra 5G home internet experience is the modem: the catchily named AW1000. It's a tall, chunky lad in a clean matte finish. It's ready to go out of the box, all you need to do is plug it in and connect to the WiFi.

The modem itself is pretty full-fledged; it has four LAN ports, one WAN port, a full-size USB port, dual-band WiFi, and even supports WiFi 6. It ticks the key boxes you'd expect from a modem. The only omission is that you can’t use it with a home phone.

Coverage is also reliable. I've got the AW1000 at the front of the house, in the office, and can still get signal at the other side. The connection isn't very good in the bathroom - the furthest room from the office - but it still works. Telstra sells WiFi boosters, but these don't currently work with this 5G modem.

The biggest issue with AW1000 is the lack of proper documentation. The included quick start guide doesn't provide any instructions on how to reconfigure the modem (changing your WiFi name, for example). Fortunately, there's an unofficial manual floating around that helps answer key questions, like the modem's IP address and the default username and password. (192.168.0.1, admin, and Telstra, in case you're wondering.)

This is poor form on Telstra's behalf, because you'll almost certainly want to reconfigure the modem. By default, the modem combines 2.4Ghz bands and 5Ghz bands and automatically decides which device should be on what channel. The problem with this is speeds cap out at a little over 100Mbps on 2.4Ghz. To take advantage of the 5G speeds you're getting, your device needs to connect to the 5Ghz network, and the modem isn't always smart about this. The only way I could get my Xbox onto the 5Ghz network was by splitting it into discrete 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz options.

Telstra 5G Home Internet - Final Thoughts

For the speeds I'm getting, Telstra 5G home internet is a ridiculously good deal. It may not be quite as consistent as an NBN connection, but as someone who can't really justify dropping the extra cash on an NBN 250 or NBN 1000 plan, 5G is the perfect compromise. It's very fast without breaking the bank.

Of course, I'm already quite lucky. I was already on a reliable NBN 100 plan, and I could have upgraded to faster tier if I genuinely needed the speed. Not everyone's so fortunate, and if you're struggling with a crappy NBN connection, 5G home internet could be a very welcome alternative. If you're in the 75% of the population that can get it, Telstra 5G home internet is definitely worth a shot.

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