The price of data feels has been getting cheaper all year, which is great news for your phone plan. I mean, who doesn’t like saving money? It’s also great news if you’re after a data-only SIM to use in a tablet or a portable Wi-Fi hotspot (or if you’re unfortunate enough to be in the black hole between ADSL and the NBN roll-out).
At the lower end of the price spectrum, you can now get a 5GB data-only for reasonable $15 per month, and we’re now seeing plans with as much 200GB on the other end of the spectrum. With allowances this large, we’re getting to the point where mobile broadband can be considered a viable NBN alternative for some.
Whether you want a small or large plan, we’ve picked out some of the best mobile broadband deals around.
At least 50GB of data
50GB might not quite replace your internet connection if you’re a heavy downloader, but it can make a good stop gap if you’re moving to a new house or going on holidays and won’t have reliable Wi-Fi access. Especially because you’re only looking at around $1 per gigabyte.
Dodo has the cheapest plan, offering 50GB for $40 per month, but you need to sign a 12-month contract. OVO, Spintel, and Jeenee Mobile are all good choices if you’d prefer prepaid or month-to-month.
In most cases, these plans require you to bring your own 4G modem. If you don’t have one, you can always throw the data-only SIM in an old phone and tether to it instead.
At least 80GB of data
Want to replace your home internet connection with a mobile powered solution? Data-only plans with 80GB or becoming increasingly common. It is however important to make the distinction between 4G data-only SIMs and fixed home wireless broadband plans. 4G data-only SIMs give you full 4G data speeds, which can easily reach 50Mbps or higher. Most fixed home wireless plans are limited to 12Mbps.
Optus is currently doing a massive 200GB for $60 a month on full 4G speeds. This does require your own modem solution and a 12-month contract. Jeenee Mobile and OVO will do full speed 4G mobile broadband on a month-to-month basis.
The Exetel and Spintel plans in the above table are fixed home wireless plans, and come with a dedicated plug-in modem, rather than just a SIM-card.
At least 5GB of data
And if you just want a SIM to throw in a tablet or a secondary device, a cheap data-only SIM is perfect. 5GB can now be had for as little as $15 per month, which is pretty good for a bit of extra data. In most cases, these plans are all available contract free. The Optus-network powered plans from Jeenee and Spintel are your cheapest options here, but you will get charged an upfront setup fee.
If 5GB isn’t enough, just $5 more per month will take you to a 25GB allowance on Dodo. This will however require you to sign a 12-month contract.
OVO has a 250GB prepaid mobile broadband plan for $99.95 – it’s the biggest in the market at the moment and makes the NBN look a little ‘how’s your father’, especially if you are stuck on a contract that slows down to dial up speed every night!
I have an overwhelming sense of duty to forward this article to the office of the Assistant Treasurer…
Optus has a 200GB data only plan, 12 month commitment for only $60 per month (Data SIM only plan), it states that the offer ends today 29/10, but they often extend it. This would be ideal for anyone that lives in a poor ADSL area such as rural areas, or people living alone, person in a share house, or traveling around Australia. Also Optus has a $10 discount when you combine this plan with any post paid mobile plan. Oh i promise I’m not from Optus, i actually got that you beaut jb hifi deal on a Google pixel with… Read more »