I decided to see if it would come up with the plan I have, I pay $49.95 a month for iiNet broadband 2+ light. Up to 24Mbps, I get about 12-16Mbps for reasons like distance from my local phone exchange and rather cheap and rushed phone cabling at my house. That's a grandfathered plan (not offered anymore but people who have it can keep it). There are obviously many others out there that are similar, so I expected maybe this would be as good as the one at Whirlpool.
I bashed in my features; $50 a month, 20Gb usage, 24Mbps (it calls anything over 1Mbps high speed!) and got the following list of available plans:
1 | TPG InternetMedium ADSL 2+ 20Mbps / 25GB | $49.99 | 20 Mbps | 25 GB | |
Er.... thanks?
1 lousy result.
Let's see what the same thing gets over at Whirlpool Broadband Choice
| Connection | ISP | Plan Name | Metro monthly | Down/Up speed | Prepaid data | Excess rate | Upstream | Lowest setup |
| DSL | AuNix | Glacier 20 | $44.95 /mo | 24576/820 | 20 GB (+10 GB) | Shaped | Counted | $70 |
| DSL | EscapeNet | Express24 Basic | $49.90 /mo | 24576/1024 | 15 GB | Shaped | Free | $0 |
| DSL | Exetel | NonPhone A* | $50 /mo | 24576/1024 | 12 GB (+48 GB) | $3 /GB | Free | $70 |
| DSL | Rabbit Net | ADSL 2+ 15GB | $49.95 /mo | 24576/1024 | 15 GB | $10 /GB | Free | $55 |
| DSL | OzISP | ADSL2+ 15GB | $49.95 /mo | 24576/820 | 15 GB | Shaped | Free | $165 |
| DSL | CyberOne | ADSL2+ 20+10G | $49.95 /mo | 24576/1024 | 20 GB (+10 GB) | Shaped | Free | $213 |
| DSL | Information Service Providers (I.S.P) | ADSL2+ 16GB | $36.30 /mo | 24576/820 | 16 GB | $11 /GB | Free | $0 |
| DSL | Chariot | Explorer* | $49.99 /mo | 24576/1024 | 18 GB (+7 GB) | Shaped | Free | $79.95 |
| DSL | aaNet | DSL2-M3 | $44.90 /mo | 24576/1024 | 20 GB (+No limit) | $4 /GB (N/A) | Free | $228.90 |
| DSL | SuperNerd | ADSL2+ SuperNerd - 25GB | $50 /mo | 24576/1024 | 25 GB | Shaped | Free | $75 |
| DSL | aaNet | DSL2-M3 | $49.90 /mo | 24576/1024 | 20 GB (+No limit) | $4 /GB (N/A) | Free | $228.90 |
| DSL | Dodo | SUPER FAST ADSL2 30GB | $49.99 /mo | 24576/1024 | 15 GB (+15 GB) | $180 /GB | Counted | $59.95 |
| DSL | iSage Internet | Glacier 20 | $44.95 /mo | 24576/820 | 20 GB (+10 GB) | Shaped | Free | $70 |
| DSL | SuperNerd | ADSL2+ SuperNerd - 15GB | $40 /mo | 24576/1024 | 15 GB | Shaped | Free | $75 |
| DSL | TPG Internet | ADSL2+ Medium/25GB* | $49.99 /mo | 24576/1024 | 18 GB (+7 GB) | Shaped | Free | $79.95 |
| DSL | TPG Internet | ADSL2+ with VoIP/30GB* | $49.99 /mo | 24576/1024 | 20 GB (+10 GB) | Shaped | Free | $179.95 |
| 16 plans found. | ||||||||
Erm. Have the rest of the plans listed here not paid enough to be on the SMH broadband finder (hider)? I also love the lack of transparency with the radio button on SMH's website that says "only show me results from the big providers".
This is questionable, already so many people don't realise how much choice there is out there on Internet providers, Telstra and Optus act like they are the only options when predominantly the best deals are available from smaller providers. I think SMH's site is clearly rigged (or very poorly designed, but I am more cynical than that) and doesn't show the smaller providers for the purpose of not upsetting the status quo. I note with even more cynicism that Telstra Business are a sponsor of the online tool.
This is like an online directory of restaurants sponsored by McDonalds, results in my area in North Sydney would probably show the two McDonalds on upper George St. and the McDonalds drive through in North Ryde.
