If you’re looking for a comprehensive Superloop review then we’ve got you covered. As a relative newcomer to the NBN landscape in Australia, having only been founded in 2014, Superloop has quickly become a household name Down Under.
This feat isn’t just the result of clever marketing, but rather a well-rated service that combines incredibly competitive pricing with consistently good speeds. It’s also a potentially good option for online gamers, with several real world customer reports of low latency — we’ll discuss this in greater detail later in this review.
So, if you’re currently with one of Australia’s big three telcos — Telstra, Optus or TPG — and feel you’re paying too much, or you’ve even given one of the smaller guys a go, but you don’t like the service, then perhaps Superloop can present itself as the best option for you.
Noteworthy Superloop deals
- NBN 50: save AU$16p/m (for 6 months, then AU$74.95p/m)
- NBN 250: save AU$20p/m (for 6 months, then AU$108.95p/m)
- NBN 1000: save AU$20p/m (for 6 months, then AU$119p/m)
Plans
- Basic II (NBN 25) to Ultrafast (NBN 1000)
- Ultrafast tier delivers some of the fastest speeds in Australia
- No plan advertises maximum theoretical download speeds during busy evening hours
Superloop offers NBN plans from the Basic II tier (NBN 25) through to the Ultrafast (NBN 1000). Up until recently, Superloop's Ultrafast tier was configured to 500/50, with theoretical maximum speeds of 500Mbps (and typical evening speeds of 500Mbps). However, things have clearly improved at Superloop, as the telco now advertises this tier as 1000/50, with typical evening speeds of 600Mbps.
As for Superloop’s other NBN plans, it isn’t exactly amazing news. We only say this because the ISP doesn’t advertise the maximum possible download speeds on any tier during the typical busy evening hours. Admittedly, not all NBN providers do, but we would expect maximum speeds on the NBN 25 and NBN 50 plans at least. For these, Superloop only quotes 22Mbps and 48Mbps typical evening speeds, respectively.
Are you going to miss a few mbps in reality? It’s unlikely. But at a time when consumers will be wanting to get the most bang for their buck, we’d feel remiss if we didn’t point out that you can get the maximum speeds from some other providers such as Tangerine and Optus. In the case of Tangerine, for example, you can get higher typical evening speeds in the NBN 25 and NBN 50 tiers for a lower price than Superloop.
Superloop’s complete lineup of NBN plans with their typical evening speeds and regular monthly pricing are as follows:
- NBN 25: AU$64.95p/m (Typical evening speed 22Mbps)
- NBN 50: AU$74.95p/m (Typical evening speed 48Mbps)
- NBN 100: AU$89.95p/m (Typical evening speed 95Mbps)
- NBN 250: AU$108.95p/m (Typical evening speed 240Mbps)
- NBN 1000: AU$119p/m (Typical evening speed 600Mbps)
Speeds
- 600Mbps typical evening speeds on Ultrafast tier
- Positive data regarding actual download speeds recorded by the ACCC
- My Speed Boost feature to boost speed to next available tier
As we mentioned earlier, Superloop has updated its advertised typical evening speed figure on its Ultrafast tier since we first published this review in early May 2023. The telco now advertises 600Mbps typical evening speeds, placing it in a much position within Australia's NBN landscape.
This is because only a small number of telcos either match it or better it, with Aussie Broadband, Optus and Origin also quoting 600Mbps, Souther Phone advertising 650Mbps and Telstra currently advertising the fastest speeds in Australia of 700Mbps. All other providers that support the Ultrafast tier either advertise speeds slower than Superloop, or have yet to collect enough customer data to formulate an average. For us, this is a positive for the Australian-owned telco.
We have read reports from customers on the NBN 1000 tier on Whirlpool saying that they do actually get close to gigabit speeds. One customer for instance ran a speed test and found they were getting 934Mbps download speeds. They add that the plan is actually uncapped and when you log into the customer account portal it says 1000/50 (download/upload). This was posted in November 2022, and another customer posted in March 2023 saying they think their plan had been capped to 500Mbps maximum download speeds, as they’d seen a significant drop. We did reach out to Superloop to find out if speeds were capped, but didn't receive a response.
Advertised speeds tell just half the story though. To find out what sort of speeds you can actually expect if you were to sign up, we can turn to data published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The Australian consumer watchdog has included Superloop in its Measuring Broadband report, which was most recently published in April 2023 and which gives a good indication as to how well it performs in the real world.
Superloop was found to deliver 99.2% of advertised plan speeds during all hours and 98.5% during the busy hours of 7pm–11pm. While some other providers were found to have performed better, including Optus, Launtel and even Exetel, which is owned by Superloop, the figures collected for Superloop are still incredibly positive.
They tell us that you are likely to receive a consistently reliable service, although do remember that Superloop’s advertised plan speeds during the busy evening hours are below the theoretical maximum, so you may indeed only get these marginally slower speeds, and not experience the full potential of the speed tier you’re on.
But, the ace up Superloop’s sleeve is its My Speed Boost feature. This works in the exact same way as it does on Exetel, in that you can temporarily boost the speed of your service to the next tier (as long as your connection type supports it) for free, five times a month.
For example, if you sign up for an NBN 50 plan, then you will be able to boost to an NBN 100 plan, with theoretical maximum speeds of 100Mbps (double that of the plan you’re paying for) for free.
If you don’t use all five free days in a month, they can rollover into a bank which holds up to a maximum of 30 days. You can also purchase extra days for AU$2 each.
You won’t be able to boost an NBN 100 plan to NBN 250, or NBN 250 to NBN 1000, if you don’t have a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) or a hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connection. Only these two support the high speed tiers.
Cost
- Pricing below national average across all NBN plans
- Six month introductory pricing across all plans
- Multiple optional modems available
Where we feel Superloop does redeem itself slightly is in how much it charges for its NBN plans. They’re not the cheapest NBN plans out there, but they’re far from the most expensive and we do think they are well-priced.
As is the case across much of the NBN landscape, Superloop offers six-month introductory discounts on all of its plans, and the amount you can save during this period fluctuates depending on which speed tier you’re looking at. At present, you can save anywhere from AU$96 (on NBN 25, 50, 100) over the six months up to AU$120 (on NBN 250), for example.
We believe a good indication of an NBN provider’s affordability is to compare its regular monthly price with the average, which we’ve calculated using pricing data obtained from WhistleOut. Superloop’s regular monthly pricing after introductory discounts, compared to the monthly average is as follows:
Average monthly prices correct at time of publishing.
- NBN 25: Average monthly cost — AU$66.44. Superloop monthly cost — AU$64.95
- NBN 50: Average monthly cost — AU$76.19. Superloop monthly cost — AU$74.95
- NBN 100: Average monthly cost — AU$90.15. Superloop monthly cost — AU$89.95
- NBN 250: Average monthly cost — AU$116.03. Superloop monthly cost — AU$108.95
- NBN 1000: Average monthly cost — AU$136.34. Superloop monthly cost — AU$119.
From these figures we can see that Superloop undercuts the monthly average on all occasions, and in some cases by quite a margin. The NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans represent particularly good value, for instance. Ultimately, we feel these affordable prices certainly make up for the fact Superloop doesn’t advertise the maximum speeds during the busy hours.
It is also worth noting that Superloop doesn’t advertise what speeds you can expect outside of the busy hours, and while we would expect them to reach the maximum possible based on our experience of some other telcos, we’re going to hold off saying you will definitely achieve them.
When it comes to adding a preconfigured modem to your Superloop NBN plan, you’re given a range of options depending on the connection type you have. If you have anything other than a fibre-to-the-building (FTTB), then you can choose from a ZTE H1600 Wi-Fi 6 modem for AU$140, or you could opt for an eero 6+ for free (and just pay AU$20 for shipping).
The eero 6+ is only free if you remain connected to Superloop for 18 months. If you leave before, then you’ll be asked to pay AU$8 for each unused month. Other NBN providers including Optus and Vodafone, also employ a device payment plan for their modems, but you need to stay connected for longer — 36 months and 24 months, respectively in this case — so we can’t say anything negative about Superloop’s interpretation. If anything, we like that the duration is shorter.
If you connect to the NBN via FTTB however, then you only have the option of the ZTE H1600 modem, along with the option to add a Wi-Fi extender to improve network coverage around your home.
Reliability
- Generally reliable service
- Customer support receives a mixed-reception in relation to outages
We’ve covered the download speeds that are advertised and compared them with what you can expect, but it’s also important to look into how reliable your NBN service is going to be, i.e. does it suffer from outages or is it pretty stable?
The ACCC once again comes to the rescue here, as it publishes data relating to exactly that. In its latest report published in April 2023, Superloop was found to suffer 0.38 outages each day on average. Whilst it is still less than one, we do think this figure is quite high. However, other providers including Telstra, TPG, Launtel and Dodo were all found to experience more (Launtel scored the highest with 0.53).
Of these outages, the majority lasted between three and ten minutes. Very few lasted over 10 minutes, which is a good sign, as it indicates Superloop does make sure any customers who do suffer an unfortunate outage are reconnected as quickly as possible.
We’ve also taken a look at some online customer reviews to help determine how reliable of a service you can expect with Superloop, and it’s a mixed bag. Superloop acquired MyRepublic’s customer base towards the tail end of 2022, after the latter confirmed its exit from the Australian market.
Customers connected with MyRepublic were automatically moved over to an equivalent plan on Superloop, but some customers have found their service worsened after the switch. Most notably, customers claim that download and/or upload speeds decreased. But as always, online reviews should be taken with a pinch of salt, as some customers who were also ported over from MyRepublic say their service works as expected.
Data caps
As with the majority of NBN providers, all Superloop NBN plans come with unlimited data included as standard. So far, the only NBN provider we’ve found that may place a data cap on its plans is Aussie Broadband, as part of its ‘Build Your Own Plan’ service.
Gaming
- Positive online reviews for its gaming credentials
- Lowest recorded latency by the ACCC
Superloop doesn’t explicitly advertise itself as an NBN provider well-suited to gaming, but throughout our time researching the various telcos in Australia, it often gets brought up in the conversation of best internet gaming plans.
Much of the positive chatter online, on forums such as Whirlpool (see here and here), refers to Superloop’s low latency times, and routing to international gaming servers, particularly those in Asia. Some users do also state that if the gaming servers you intend to connect to are in Oceania, then Aussie Broadband can be a safer bet.
With regards to the latency you can expect to experience when connected to Superloop, we can use data published by the ACCC from its latest Measuring Broadband Australia report, published in April 2023. Data relating to latency was collected in December 2022.
Of the 11 telcos tested during the monitoring period, Superloop returned the lowest numbers of 8.5ms during all hours and 8.8ms during the busy hours of 7pm–11pm. Exetel — which is now owned by Superloop — came in second with 8.9ms across all hours and 9.4ms during the busy hours.
These figures are just a guideline however, because as many online forum users correctly point out, where you live in Australia can have an effect on your online gaming experience. So what might be a good NBN provider for someone on the west coast, won’t be the same for someone in the east.
Ultimately, it’s hard to categorically determine the “best” internet service provider for gaming, because there are a number of influential factors at play. However, considering Superloop does tend to get recommended by online gaming enthusiasts in forums, we feel we can at least suggest you give it a go. Like most other ISPs, Superloop works on a no lock-in contract basis, so if you find it doesn’t quite work for you, you will be free to leave and switch to another NBN provider.
Extra features
Superloop doesn’t just provide a range of well-priced NBN plans, it also has a few other extra features up its sleeve to entice you to join its service.
My Speed Boost
Along with Exetel (which Superloop now owns) Superloop has a feature called My Speed Boost. This allows customers on NBN plans to temporarily boost the speed of their service to the next available tier, for 24 hours. For example, if you’re on an NBN 50 plan, with theoretical maximum download speeds of 50Mbps, you will be able to boost to an NBN 100 plan, with maximum speeds of 100Mbps.
Customers get five free My Speed Boost days each month, and these can be banked up to a total of 30 days. So you could technically end up with an entire month’s worth of boosted speeds. If you want or need any more than five My Speed Boost days during a month, you can purchase extras for AU$2 each.
Customers on NBN 25 plans can use My Speed Boost days, but this speed tier doesn’t come with any for free. If you want to boost the speed to the 50Mbps tier, each day will need to be purchased at AU$2 each.
Only customers with fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and select customers with hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) connections can boost their download speed if they’re on an NBN 100 or NBN 250 plan (to NBN 250 and NBN 1000). This is because only these two connection types can support the Superfast (250Mbps) and Ultrafast (1,000Mbps) speeds.
Refer a friend
Superloop also incentivises current customers to encourage friends and family to join the service too, by providing a referral bonus for each person they successfully manage to sign up.
For each person a current Superloop customer gets to sign up to an NBN plan, they will receive a 10% discount (worth up to AU$10p/m) on their own plan, which is applied to the following month’s bill.
The person being referred to Superloop will need to sign up and pay their first month’s plan fee in order for you to receive the 10% discount. If you manage to get 10 people to sign up, that’s 100% off your next bill.
Bundle and save
Alongside its NBN plans, Superloop also provides mobile phone plans, which use the Telstra mobile network. If you already have a Superloop NBN plan and you take out a mobile plan too, you will receive a monthly discount on the NBN plan.
You can add up to a total of five additional services — across mobile, broadband and monthly home phone call packs — to your NBN plan, allowing you to save up to AU$15p/m on your initial NBN plan.
Cancellation and hidden costs
- 30 day notice period required
- Must call to cancel
Throughout our time researching different NBN providers in Australia, one area that regularly generates some controversy is what to do if you want to cancel your plan. To be frank, no telco appears to make it an easy process. Superloop can certainly be included in this conversation, based on customer feedback we’ve seen online, both in forums and online review websites.
Superloop’s official cancellation policy states you “may cancel your service at any time by giving Superloop thirty days’ notice (including if you do not wish to continue to use your service during the notice period).”
Many users online aren’t fans of the 30 days notice period, although Superloop isn’t alone in asking for this. A good majority of customers have found that they believe they have cancelled their service (albeit eventually after finally being connected to a representative) but continue to be billed. This then segues into more generalised issues with customer support, which we’ll discuss more in the section below.
We have found online from customer reviews that you need to call Superloop if you want to cancel your service. It can’t be done via email, live chat or your online account. We’ve also seen that there is a direct cancellation line, which isn’t listed on the Superloop website. Other customers have found that they will call the generic customer support line and then have to wait for long periods of time to be transferred from agent to agent.
As we said, Superloop isn’t alone in this regard (Exetel, perhaps unsurprisingly, also receives a bad rep when it comes to leaving a plan) so it’s hard to single it out as being poor. Ultimately, virtually all telcos need to do better and make it easier for customers to leave a plan if they wish.
Reputation
The NBN service itself from Superloop appears to be a good one on paper. Speeds are good and reliable and it’s well-regarded with the online community when it comes to gaming. But what about if you ever need technical or customer support? Well, this is where things appear to turn a little more sour.
Looking at review sites Product Review and Trustpilot, it’s a real mixed bag as to what customers think of their service. On Product Review, there are currently just 617 reviews for Superloop at the time of writing. 272 are five stars, 273 are one star, and the remaining 72 are shared between two to four stars. Opinion is just as mixed on Trustpilot, too.
A good handful of one star reviews are from customers who were previously connected with MyRepublic. MyRepublic exited the Australian market at the end of 2022, and Superloop migrated them over to its service. Some of these customers have taken to Product Review to say that they used to experience outstanding service with MyRepublic, but after moving to Superloop onto an equivalent plan, their speeds slowed dramatically.
But of course, there are also accounts from customers who have experienced the exact opposite. Many customers also say the speeds they get are as advertised or even in some cases, exceed their expectations.
It’s for these reasons that, as we tend to say with any online customer review, to take it with a pinch of salt, as your personal experience with an ISP could be entirely different to someone else’s.
Verdict
Based on our research, we feel we can recommend Superloop as an NBN provider, whether you’re looking to switch your current one or you’re moving into a new property and wish to get connected.
Monthly prices are either on par or below the monthly average at the time of writing, and on the whole, it appears that you will indeed achieve the speeds of whichever plan you choose. It even comes well-recommended as an option for online gamers, which isn’t something that can be said of all ISPs.
There do appear to be some issues relating to customer support and in particular, cancelling your service, but the hope would be that you wouldn’t need to cancel in the first place. If you’re tempted to sign up to Superloop to be your next NBN provider, then we’d recommend taking a deeper dive into the cancellation process, just in case you want to.
As it works on a no contract basis and has six-month introductory pricing, we’d suggest signing up for those first six months, and being prepared to know what to do to switch providers.
On the whole, however, it's super stuff from Superloop.
