Is paying more for NBN from a big legacy telco worth it, or can you get better value from challenger brands like Superloop?

Today’s thriving NBN marketplace ensures there are plenty of competitive NBN plans for those people prepared to shop around. It’s somewhat surprising, then, that according to the latest ACCC NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report, more than half of Australian homes have chosen to get their internet from one of the big three legacy providers, rather than spending a little bit of time and effort to find a more affordable (and often, still first-rate) alternative.

The nationwide NBN rollout has done wonders to finally break the stranglehold that Australia’s legacy telcos had on the broadband market, helping create a far more level playing field for a new generation of smaller, more agile and more competitive providers to shake things up.

Australia’s major telcos rely on the fact that many of their rusted-on customers don’t bother to shop around, perhaps on the mistaken assumption that bigger is always better. Common myths about NBN performance, pricing and reliability are what prevent many people from switching to a more competitive challenger provider, but providers like Superloop demonstrate that it’s absolutely possible to both save money and still enjoy a first-rate NBN service.

TL;DR

• Competitive boutique NBN providers often punch above their weight on speed and performance
• Major telcos take existing NBN customers for granted, while up-and-coming challengers offer better value for money and comparative performance
• The new generation of telcos can even provide future‑ready NBN modem-routers to ensure you’re getting the most from your NBN connection
• Challenger providers are often capable of providing better customer service than the big legacy telcos, and can respond quickly to customer’s needs

Myth 1: Only big legacy telcos are capable of offering fast and reliable NBN services

Boutique NBN providers like Superloop are a perfect example of why bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to NBN speed and performance.

The smaller telco outgunned the industry heavyweights to be awarded Fastest Fixed Network in Australia in the 2025 Speedtest Awards, and so far in 2026 Superloop has won the same award for Fastest Fixed Network in Q1 and Q2*. To win that honour, it delivered higher median download and upload speeds than competitors (274.98Mbps download and 47.01Mbps upload for the 2025 period, and an even better 304.01Mbps download and 50.82 upload for the Q1 and Q2 2026 period).

It’s not just about raw speed, with the Speedtest Awards also measuring each provider’s throughput and responsiveness. Download and upload speeds are combined with latency metrics to give an overall view of speed and performance.

Superloop also ranks amongst Australia’s top NBN providers when it comes to average download and upload performance according to the ACCC’s independent Measuring Broadband reports, even in the busiest hours of the day.

As such, it’s no surprise that Superloop also took home the trophy for both Best High-speed NBN Provider and Best Gaming NBN Provider in the 2026 TechRadar Australian PC Awards. When it comes to gaming, Superloop also consistently ranks in the top three in Steam’s Australian download statistics.

Superloop both built and manages its own high‑performance fibre optic network, engineering it for low latency and reliability so your internet feels instant and stays stable when it matters most — whether you’re a demanding power user who needs top speeds 24/7 or an everyday Australian household just aiming to ensure there’s enough bandwidth to go around for the whole family.

Myth 2: Major telcos offer better NBN value than boutique providers

NBN value isn’t necessarily about dirt cheap pricing — perhaps more importantly, it’s about ensuring you get the quality and performance that you’re paying for. And it’s another area where smaller providers can come out ahead of the NBN behemoths — especially if your household has a need for speed.

Does Superloop match the performance of more expensive providers? Well, it’s Tom’s Guides number one pick for the best NBN 1000 plan thanks to its combination of price and proven performance. It might not be the absolute cheapest in town, it still costs substantially less than Telstra or Optus’ 1Gbps plans (AU$109 vs AU$129 at the time of writing) and offers faster typical evening download speeds (815Mbps vs Superloop’s 860Mbps**).

Is Superloop’s NBN service as reliable as those of more expensive legacy telcos? The ACCC Measuring Broadband reports have consistently found that Superloop is comparable to the industry heavyweights when it comes to both reliability and outages, and overdelivers when it comes to its speed promises. When measured against its own claims, on average Superloop’s plans delivered download speeds of 104.6% versus the provider’s advertised speeds (excluding underperforming services).

Myth 3: You have to sign up with a big telco to get a quality NBN modem-router

A fast and reliable NBN experience isn’t just about the quality of the connection running to your home, it’s also about the quality of your in-home hardware. One consequence of the big speed boosts the NBN Co rolled out in late 2025 is that old modem-routers often can’t keep up with new broadband speeds, meaning many Australians are missing out on the performance they’re paying for.

If you haven’t upgraded your router in three or more years, now’s the time to consider doing so.

But will choosing to go with a challenger NBN provider like Superloop mean you’ll only get a basic modem-router, rather than the flashy models advertised by big legacy telco for NBN? It doesn’t have to; Superloop can optionally provide you with a fast and up-to-date Wi-Fi 7 modem-router when you sign up for a new NBN plan.

Rather than take a one-size-fits-all approach, Superloop lets customers choose from a range of hardware options to suit different households. Superloop’s next-gen Wi-Fi 7, mesh-capable options include the Amazon eero 7, eero Pro 7 and TP-Link VB433v.

Along with handling multi-gigabit broadband speeds, all three also support mesh Wi-Fi, so you can even expand your network with additional routers to help ensure your fast NBN plan is accessible everywhere you need it. Rather than relying on a single wireless device, mesh Wi-Fi lets multiple routers work together to provide blanket coverage across your home. You can add additional Amazon eero & or eero 7 Pro devices when you start your new Superloop plan, or buy more later as your needs grow. Superloop offers eero 7 / Pro packs with 1, 2, or 3 units included, so you can ensure great Wi-Fi coverage no matter how large your home is.

Myth 4: Major telcos offer better NBN customer support than smaller providers

The measure of a great NBN provider is not just about speed and pricing, but also how they respond when something goes wrong. And while some companies do undeniably cut corners in this department — and that can even include big legacy telcos — opting to go with a smaller internet provider doesn’t mean you have to accept substandard support as an inevitable consequence.

As a case in point, Superloop offers smart, proactive and agile support with friendly experts on hand when you actually need a human, alongside a powerful app packing unique troubleshooting tools such as Refreshify that can quickly diagnose and fix many internet connection issues without the need to call support or lodge a ticket.

For a more objective look at how the big brands rate, the numbers from ACMA’s telco complaints-handling performance report speak for themselves. The report sets a level playing field by tracking the total number of complaints per 10,000 services for each company. Industry giant TPG ranks 28th – that’s second-last in the country – when it comes to the number of NBN customer complaints, with 305 complaints per 10,000 services. Optus is just one spot ahead, with 109 complaints. Moving up the table, Telstra comes in at 44 complaints, while Superloop outshines all three industry heavyweights at only 35 complaints.

In sum, these hard facts and figures prove that paying the premium for a big legacy telco doesn't guarantee your NBN connection will offer top speeds, or even be hassle-free when it comes to reliability and support. When the data speaks this clearly, the lesson is relatively simple: with highly competitive providers like Superloop delivering a compelling mix of speed, reliability and value, settling for an NBN plan from a legacy giant out of habit may well be a waste of both your money and your time.