Compare Internet Plans & Providers in Kempsey

As stated earlier, Kempsey is found in New South Wales and serves as the council seat of Kempsey Shire. It’s located almost 17 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, near where the North Coast railway and Pacific Highway cross the Macleay River. That puts it at roughly 430 kilometres north of Sydney. Despite its history of economic problems, Kempsey is seeing a growing local economy largely based on tourism, farming, and service industries. In fact, this town serves as a service centre for nearby coastal resorts like Crescent Head, Arakoon, and South West Rocks, all of which are popular with retirees and people on holiday. The Pacific Highway and railway are the main means of transportation, with the Kempsey railway station found on the North Coast line providing residents a way to travel to Sydney and Brisbane. The town is surrounded by farmland and national parks too, so holiday-makers who want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of city life will enjoy staying at Kempsey. Colonial architecture, interesting boutiques, and various restaurants serving an array of delicious dishes round out the attractions to appeal to shoppers, foodies, and history buffs as well.

At the end of the day, though, both residents and visitors would still want to be able to go online without worrying about whether or not their connection is stable enough. The good news is, the NBN rollout has been completed for some time now; therefore, it’s now available in more areas than it was at the start of the rollout. With the number of internet service providers operating in this town, plans typically range in speeds from 12Mbps to 100Mbps. 

Of all the internet service providers you can choose from in Nowra, those that stand out the most are Aussie Broadband, Belong, Dodo, Optus, Tangerine, TPG, and Uniti Wireless. While each of thse providers offer month-to-month internet plans at various speed tiers, the most notable internet plans Kempsey are those at the NBN50 and NBN100 tiers. They may also offer promotions of some kind, ranging from discounts for the first six to twelve months, a free modem, or waived setup fees. Once you’ve decided on a speed tier you want, all you need to do is choose a provider you believe will give you the most value for your money. 

It’s worth noting that Optus offers a month-to-month plan only at the NBN100 speed tier; a plan at a lower speed tier means having to sign a long-term contract, so keep that in mind.

Getting the most out of your internet plan means balancing reliability and speed with costs, so it’s a good idea to consider plans at the NBN50 or NBN100 speed tier. This is particularly true if you have more than three people in your household, there’s at least one heavy internet user - or both. Fortunately, all the ISPs mentioned above have plans at those speed tiers. As far as overall costs go, plans with speeds up to 50Mbps will cost $69.95 to $79.95 per month, while those with speeds of up to 100Mbps will cost from $79.99 to $99 per month. 

If you plan to stay with a single provider for at least a year, consider Uniti Wireless; their 24-month contract option doesn’t cost anything extra in comparison to the no-contract plan. Expect to pay $79.95 a month for an NBN50 plan and $89.95 a month for an NBN100 one. You can also go with Optus, where a plan with speeds of up to 50Mbps will cost $79 a month, while a plan with speeds of up to 100Mbps will cost $89 a month. 

As said earlier, it’s important to balance several factors besides cost in order to make the most of your internet plan, so let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of each ISP. 

If you want to bundle your internet plan with electricity and gas, Dodo is the way to go. However, your only payment option is direct debit, and if you’re hoping to reach a company representative or the technician who helped you set up your connection, you’ll have to settle for offshore-based network support. 

If you don’t want to pay any set-up costs, your best bet is Belong - especially if you want to be able to pay in installments and don’t believe you’ll be staying at your current premises for very long. That’s because Belong is renter-friendly, and it shows in their plans. However, like Dodo, you can pay only through direct debit. Also, their customer support is online only, so if you really can’t connect to the internet, it can take a long time before you can reach someone in customer support. 

Choosing Tangerine means getting access to phone support, as well as a discounted rate during your first six months. If you’re looking for a home phone as well, then look no further than Tangerine’s VoIP phone plans that you can bundle with your home internet. The downside is, signing a contract with Tangerine means paying an extra $149.95 to get a modem, unless you already have one that’s NBN-compatible. 

Speaking of NBN-compatible modems, having one means you’ll want to consider both TPG and Uniti Wireless; in fact, these two ISPs should be at the top of your list, since they allow customers to bring their own modems. They also offer phone support, so you’ll have no trouble reaching someone if the home internet doesn’t seem to be working. As far as drawbacks go, Uniti Wireless gives dicounts only to long-term customers; meanwhile, TPG involves a prepayment of $20 for a home phone, and another $10 fee to have a modem delivered to your address. 

Last but not the least, well-known provider Optus gives you access to products like Optus Sport, not to mention other services relating to security or mobile phones. You can get a VoIP phone, too, if you’re looking for one. However, Optus may not be the best choice if you’re on a budget; their plans are generally more expensive compared to those of other ISPs. Also, if you insist on a month-to-month, you’ll have no choice but to choose the one at the higher speed tier, which is more expensive. 

So what if cost is your biggest concern? In that case, TPG, Belong, and Tangerine are your best choices. TPG’s plans at the NBN50 and NBN100 speed tiers cost $69.95 and $79.99 a month. Belong, meanwhile, has an NBN50 plan that costs $70 a month and an NBN100 plan at $90 per month, though customers will get a $5 discount for the first twelve months they stay with that ISP. Finally, Tangerine’s 50Mbps and 100Mbps plans cost $69.95 and $89.90 a month, respectively. However, the ISP offers a $15 discount for the first six months.

On the other hand, if your main concern is speed, remember first to account for the type of connection your premises has. Some speed tiers, especially the higher ones, are available only on certain connection types. 

That said, Dodo is your best bet at the NBN50 speed tier, logging typical evening speeds of 50Mbps. Belong, Optus, Tangerine, and TPG come in second with evening speeds of about 48Mbps. At the NBN100 speed tier, though, Optus comes out on top with evening speeds of 100Mbps. Aussie Broadband is a close second with speeds of 99Mbps, while Uniti Wireless lands in third place thanks to the ISP network’s evening speeds of 96.9Mbps. Belong comes in fourth, logging typical speeds of 95Mbps.

As you can see from the above information, there’s a range of plans to choose from in Kempsey, especially if you don’t want to worry about data caps. Most, if not all ISPs offer plans with unlimited data as a default option. But what if you don’t need unlimited data? You’re in luck, because TPG has two plans you’ll want to consider. The first one, the NBN Basic TPG S Bundle, has 10GB of data a month. The second one, the NBN Basic TPG M Bundle, comes with 100GB of data per month. 

With how many ISPs operate in the area, the range of speeds available in Kempsey should come as no surprise. The typical speed tiers are NBN12, NBN25, NBN50, and NBN100. There are higher speed tiers, but they’re not usually available in all areas. NBN25 and NBN50 are the middle ground when it comes to internet speeds, and NBN12 is the speed tier to go for if you’re a single-person household and you know you have only light online activity. A slightly bigger household of up to three people will want to consider plans at the NBN25 tier, extending to the NBN50 speed tier if there will be multiple devices connected. If your household has more than three people, though, and at least one uses the internet extensively, NBN50 is the lowest speed tier to consider. 

If you’re uncertain about getting an NBN connection, you can always consider a 4G or 5G home wireless plan. If so, the best ISPs to choose from are Optus, Tangerine, TPG, and Uniti Wireless. Tangerine offers only 4G plans, however, and Uniti Wireless doesn’t offer month-to-month contracts for a 4G or 5G connection; if you want to choose Uniti Wireless, you’ll have to sign onto a 24-month contract. If you want to be able to compare the month-to-month and 24-month contracts for both 4G and 5G internet plans, Optus would be your  best bet, since all those options are available.