Every year, we judge the WhistleOut Awards, an initiative designed to find the best telcos on a national level. When judging the categories for the best NBN providers, we consider factors including cost over a full year, typical evening speeds, perks and bonus features, and support channels.
We judged the 2026 WhistleOut Awards in August – covering FY25/26 – and you can check out the winners and runners-up below. We'll also touch on some other providers who are popular with WhistleOut readers for some alternate picks.
Dodo
Best NBN provider overall
Dodo took home a stunning four WhistleOut Awards for its NBN services: Best Everyday NBN Provider, Best Fast NBN Provider, Best Superfast NBN Provider, and Best Fixed Wireless NBN Provider.
For the Everyday NBN Provider category, we look at NBN 50 plans with unlimited data (which pretty much all plans have these days). Best Fast NBN Provider covers NBN 100 plans, and Best Superfast Provider is for NBN 500. The Best Fixed Wireless Provider category is hopefully self-explanatory. In all four instances, Dodo took the top spot thanks to its simple and affordable offerings.
Dodo's NBN plans typically have a honeymoon discount, where new customers will pay a cheaper rate for their first six months – though on rare occasions, it's one of the few telcos to increase it to 12 months as part of a special deal. The discount varies depending on the month and what speed tier you choose, but you can typically save at least $20 per month during the deal period.
Like most telcos, Dodo's NBN plans are contract-free. For fixed-line plans, you can bring your own modem, but if you need a new one, Dodo offers its own WiFi 6 "Family Modem" option for $169.90 upfront, or you can pay it off at $7.50 per month over 24 months.
If you're in New South Wales or Victoria, you can save an extra $10 per month on your NBN plan by also getting your gas and electricity through Dodo. A $5 per month discount is available for Queenslanders who bundle their electricity.
Here's a look at Dodo's internet plans:
If you're interested, you can read up on how we pick the best provider overall, as well as the sub-categories for judging the Best Everyday NBN Provider, Best Fast NBN Provider, Best Superfast NBN Provider, and Best Fixed-Wireless NBN Provider.
Activ8me
Best Satellite NBN Provider
This is the second time Activ8me won the award for Best Satellite NBN Provider, following five years as the runner-up to Skymesh. This well-deserved second win is due to this telco's quality internet services for regional, rural, and remote Australia.
Activ8me's satellite NBN plans have no-contract and six-month contract options. If you need a new modem, Activ8me sells three options, starting at $99.95. Here's a look at Activ8me's plans:
Read more about our methodology for choosing the Best Satellite NBN Provider.
Runners-up
Dodo and Activ8me weren't the only NBN providers with decent scores. It's worth taking a look at the runners-up for each category and what they also have to offer.
Tangerine
Tangerine was the runner up for the Best Everyday NBN Provider award and the Best Fixed Wireless award. Its high score was largely awarded for low standard pricing, but was also boosted by regular introductory offers for new customers.
On top of that, it's one of the few NBN providers to offer Fixed Wireless plans in the NBN 400 speed tier. That said, Tangerine also doesn't provide Typical Evening Speeds for its Fixed Wireless plans, so it's tough to tell how close to the max speed this plan typically operates during busy hours. But if you sign up and find the performance lacking, Tangerine's plans are contract-free, so you can always leave if you're not happy with the speeds.
Here's a look at Tangerine's NBN plans:
Kogan Internet
Kogan was the runner up in two categories: Best Fast NBN Provider and Best Superfast NBN Provider. These categories are for the NBN 100 and NBN 500 speed tiers, respectively.
For both plans, Kogan consistently offered some of the lowest pricing across the judging period. On top of that, this telco generally reports the full 500Mbps downloads for its typical evening speeds, meaning you get what you pay for. This is also true for NBN 100 plans, but that's pretty standard across the market.
Here's a look at Kogan's fixed-line NBN plans:
Skymesh
Skymesh used to be the name to beat for satellite NBN plans, but has taken second place behind Activ8me two years running. This is due partly due to variety, but Activ8me's plans are often a bit cheaper, to boot.
Where Activ8me offers a huge range of satellite plans, Skymesh offers just three: NBN 25, NBN 50, and NBN 100. If one of these options suits you, it's worth comparing Skymesh to an equivalent plan from Activ8me. And this should apply to most households because, while Skymesh's range of plans is limited, it covers most of the basics.
Here are Skymesh's satellite NBN plans:
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Skymesh
$64.95/mth
Min. cost $64.95
Link not supplied
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Skymesh
$79.95/mth
Min. cost $79.95
Link not supplied
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Skymesh
$104.95/mth
Min. cost $104.95
Link not supplied
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Most popular NBN plans
If the above picks aren't what you're looking for, here's a look at the most popular NBN plans with WhistleOut users in the last seven days:
Tips for choosing an NBN provider
All NBN providers are technically reselling access to the same service. No matter which provider you go with, they all use the same infrastructure to connect you to the wider National Broadband Network. This makes it easier to compare NBN providers on a level playing field.
The key factors to focus on are price, speed, and data. Some providers may also have other perks that make them more appealing. When weighing up whether an NBN plan is right for you, consider the following:
Typical evening speeds
NBN providers must disclose the average speeds experienced by their customers for each NBN plan during busy hours, also called "typical evening speeds".
Typical evening speeds have become less important on NBN 100 plans and slower. Even NBN 500 plans tend to perform at or close to their maximum downloads. It's only with faster plans - NBN 750 and above – that typical evening speeds regularly make a meaningful difference.
Contract length and hardware fees
NBN plans with a contract are very rare these days, unless you accepted a "free" modem with your plan. If you leave within a certain timeframe – 24 or 36 months – you might need to return your modem or pay a hardware fee. Though sometimes this isn't an option and the fee is mandatory. Make sure you read the fine print so you don't get caught by unexpected charges.
Data allowance (for satellite plans)
Almost all fixed-line NBN plans have unlimited data, so data allowance isn't the key consideration it once was. Satellite NBN plans can sometimes be an exception, with a few providers still selling plans with a limited allowance. But unlimited satellite NBN plans are becoming more common and, in most cases, we'd recommend this option - especially because they're priced similarly to limited options.
How we pick the best NBN providers
We pick the best NBN providers through the annual WhistleOut Awards. We review a wide selection of telcos, including the top 10 service providers in each category and many smaller brands. The top ten service providers typically cover 80% or more of Australia’s phone and internet plans.
The WhistleOut Award categories for internet plans are judged by awarding 3, 2 and 1 points to the providers of the three best plans in each category every month between July 2025 and June 2026. When judging plans, we consider 12-month costs, features and perks, typical evening speeds, and support channels.
In terms of support, we consider the breadth of support options available to customers, coupled with feedback from customer review aggregators. Due to the scope of telcos we track, we have not personally tested support services for each provider.
The award winners are the providers with the most points at the end of the 12-month period. In case of a tie, winners are chosen based on the number of 1st positions, then 2nd positions, then 3rd positions they achieved in that category over the year. A provider can receive points for multiple plans in a category if their plans best match the award criteria.
WhistleOut is Australia's telco comparison website, founded to help everyday Aussies find a phone and internet plan that's right for them. As part of our service promise, we're committed to listing plans from at least the top ten providers of internet plans in the market, but we're currently tracking 33. When we have a commercial relationship with a provider, you'll see a "Go To Site" button that takes you straight to that plan.
We still compare plans from providers we don't have a commercial relationship with, but these don't have a button. To keep our listings up to date, we have a dedicated product team that makes around 400 changes to our database each month. You can read more about how we work here.
Alex Choros
Thousands of internet plans unpacked. All the facts. No surprises.
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