Compare Australia's Best Mobile Broadband Plans

Cheap Mobile Broadband

Mobile broadband doesn't have to be expensive. If you need a cheap mobile broadband plan so that you can access the Internet from time to time when out and about, there are some great budget plans available.

We’ve selected the best cheap mobile broadband plans for you to browse. Some have low monthly fees, some have no upfront fee, so just to decide what suits you best and away you go.

Cheap Mobile Broadband

The best thing about mobile broadband is the flexibility it gives you when you’re out and about. At the beach, at the cricket or football it doesn’t matter, as long as you have the right equipment you can surf and message to your heart’s content.

As long as your carrier provides you with the coverage then there’s no stopping you. And with most providers in improving the service all the time, and coverage getting wider and wider, there’s really nothing to stop you.

Here are a few tips on finding a cheap Mobile broadband plan and some other mobile Internet offers to get you started.

Overview

To begin with, you will always be paying a monthly fee for a fixed download limit. But probably the most important thing you need to look at is the area coverage provided by your chosen service. Although this is becoming less of a problem as new providers enter the market, there’s nothing worse than finding out your in a flat spot at your new holiday destination. It is easy to check and most providers will give you a coverage map so you can plan the whether your requirements will be met.

Things To Look For

Speed. The thing everyone looks for! The cheapest plans will give you about 128 kB per second, although most of them will quote you 512 kB per second. There are many other things which can affect speed too so that these slow speeds you may be waiting a long time for downloads. The quality of your equipment and software can also affect speed.

Download limits. As you would probably expect, the cheaper your plan the lower the download limit will be. The cheapest plans start at around 200 MB, which is pretty minuscule if you are a big surfer. One way you can check your needs is to look at your home Internet plan now and see how much you use in a couple of days. You might be surprised to find how quickly data racks up.

Length of contract. Whilst a lot of providers will want to tie you up for at least 24 months, you can still get some cheap plans with no fixed contract. The longer your contract agreement the more likely you are to have the flexibility in terms of speed and cost. But the cheap Mobile broadband plans with no fixed length I usually coupled with slow speeds of around 512 kB per second.

Coverage. Some of the cheaper mobile broadband providers do not have as broad a coverage as some of the major providers. This could be a reason why they offer cheaper plans, so it pays to check.

There are other ways you can maximise your usage and lower your costs and that is by bundling. Some service providers will give you discounted rates if you take up a package deal with them. For example bundling up your home phone, your ADSL broadband at home, with a mobile broadband plan, can get you substantial discounts. It’s a bit like buying insurance, the more policies you have the, the cheaper it gets.