Broadband in plain language: the types, the plans and what you actually need
If you've ever looked at an internet provider's website and wondered what any of it means, this is for you. First, what broadband is and the different ways it gets to your home. Then plans, what the numbers mean and how to pay for only what you'll actually use.
What is broadband?
Broadband means a high-speed internet connection. At home it's usually called home broadband or home internet.
It can get to your house in different ways. No way is "the best". The best one is the one that fits your home, your street and your budget.
The four (main) ways internet gets to your home:
-
Fibre delivers broadband through a cable from the street into your house. It's yours alone, so it stays steady even when lots of people are online at once. The Commerce Commission's independent testing shows fibre plans mostly deliver the speed on the label, all day. An installer puts a small box on your wall and your modem plugs into that. Fibre has to be available on your street, and if the house has never had it, the install can take a few weeks. Ask your provider what the install involves before you sign up.
-
Wireless broadband delivers internet through the air from a cell tower to a box in your home, the same way a mobile phone gets its signal. Nobody has to come and install anything. The box arrives in the post, you plug it into a power socket and it works. The trade-off is that you share the cell tower with your neighbours, so the internet can slow down in the evening when everyone is home. That's not a trick, it's just how the technology works. If your home is quiet online, you may never notice. The way to know your wireless speed is to test it at your place in the evening, not to read it off a label.
-
Satellite delivers broadband from satellites in the sky to a dish on your roof or in your garden, which plugs into a power socket inside. It reaches places no other broadband type can, and for people way out of town it can be the only choice. It usually costs more, and bad weather can mess with it.
-
Copper is the old phone line network. It uses the phone jack in your wall and delivers ADSL and VDSL internet along with traditional landline calls. It has been the backbone of home internet for a long time, and it's being switched off gradually, area by area, over the next few years. If you're being moved off copper, you're entitled to at least six months notice before anything changes at your address. When that notice arrives, you get to choose what comes next. You don't have to take the first thing you're offered. Compare your options like anyone choosing a new connection.
How do I know what's available at my house?
Every provider's website has an address checker, and you can put your address into more than one. If you'd rather work through it with someone, your local library, Citizens Advice Bureau or a community hub can help. Friends and whānau who've recently switched are worth asking too. They'll tell you what the process was actually like.
What is a plan?
A plan is an agreement with a provider to give you internet access for a set price each month. It covers how fast your internet is, how much you can use, and how long you're locked in for.
Some plans have no lock-in. Some lock you in for 12 or 24 months and charge you to leave early. Before you sign up, know what you're agreeing to.
Every plan has a fact sheet. Ask for it.
Providers have to publish a plain summary of every broadband plan, in a standard format, so plans can be compared side by side. It's sometimes called an offer summary or product description, and it's usually a link near the plan on their website. If you're choosing between plans, get the fact sheet for each one and put them next to each other. They're required to exist. Use them.
| What to check | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The monthly cost, and the date the price was last updated | Fact sheet prices can lag behind what is advertised on the website. Check both. |
| Contract term | No lock-in, or 12 or 24 months | A lock-in isn't necessarily bad but you should know you're in one and the cost to get out. |
| Exit fees | "Early Termination Charge" | This is what leaving early costs. It often drops month by month, and it can apply to the modem and add-ons too, not just the plan. |
| Speed | The numbers, or a link to independent testing | Some plans, especially wireless, show no number. The fact sheet will point to Measuring Broadband NZ instead. That's your guide. |
| Data | Unlimited, capped, or "fair use" | "Unlimited" usually comes with a fair use policy. It's aimed at extreme or commercial-scale use, not busy households. If you're curious where the line is, ask your provider. The policy is theirs, so the answer is too. |
| Modem | Included, rented, or bring your own | Some plans only work with the provider's modem. If the modem is "free", check whether returning it early costs anything. |
| Add-ons | Home phone, mesh WiFi units, anything at $0 per month | $0 per month can still carry its own exit fee if you cancel inside the term. Each add-on may have one. |
| Notice period | How much warning you must give to cancel | Usually a month. Good to know before you switch. |
| Power cuts | Whether your connection and home phone work in an outage | Broadband phone lines need power. In an outage, calls won't work, including 111. Keep a charged mobile as backup, and check medical or security alarms will work over broadband. |
| Complaints | The provider's process, and TDR | If the provider can't resolve it, TDR is free and independent (www.tdr.org.nz). |
Plan names and numbers
Plan names are just marketing. Look at the numbers, not the name.
Most plans show two numbers, like 100/20. They're speeds, measured in megabits per second, written as Mbps.
The first number is download. That's how fast things arrive at your place: a movie, a webpage, a photo from your moko.
The second number is upload. That's how fast things leave: your face on a video call, photos you're sending to whānau.
If a plan shows no numbers at all, that's what the fact sheet is for. Ask for it.
Bigger numbers cost more and some houses genuinely need that speed. If yours doesn't, that's money back in your pocket every month. Your bill tells you what plan you're on and what it costs. The next two sections tell you whether it fits.
-
Streaming a movie uses about 5 Mbps. A video call uses about 4 Mbps. Email, banking and reading the news barely use any.
So an entry level connection can run a movie, a video call and three scrolling phones at the same time, with room to spare. That's true however the internet gets to your house.
What strains a plan is lots of things happening at once, not how flash any one of them is. If your internet feels slow for other reasons, and there are a few, the "Why is my internet slow?" section is for you.
-
One or two people doing email, news and streaming: an entry level plan is plenty. Check what you're on. You might be paying more than you need to.
A busy house with kids streaming and doing schoolwork: start at the entry level plan. Move up only if it drags at busy times. Moving up takes minutes.
Teens gaming, movies playing in different rooms, someone sending big files for work, all at once: that's the house the bigger plans were made for. If that's your house, the bigger plan earns its keep.
If your internet is mostly email, banking and streaming, you don't need a big plan, whatever the name sounds like. Paying for more than you use has a name: getting speedwashed.
Speed is not data
Think of your connection like a tap. Speed is how hard the water flows. Data is how much water you're allowed for the month.
Speed is the Mbps numbers we covered above. Bigger numbers mean things load faster.
Data is the total you can use across the month. Some plans have a limit, some are unlimited. Many home plans now have no data limit at all, though some still do, especially wireless and mobile ones. Your fact sheet will say which.
Knowing the difference helps you spot the right fix. Things loading slowly is a speed issue. Internet slowing down or stopping near the end of the month is a data issue.
-
If your internet feels slow even though you're on a plan that should fit your household, the problem may not be the plan. Your plan is the pipe to your house. Your WiFi spreads it around inside, and that's often the slow part. A big plan won't feel fast through a tired old modem.
Before you pay for a bigger plan, try these first. If your modem is more than five years old, ask your provider about a replacement. Some will swap it at no cost.
Move the modem somewhere open, away from walls, cupboards and corners. And connect your TV or game console directly to the modem with a cable if you can. A wired connection is more reliable than WiFi.Still slow? Search "speed test" on your phone at home and run one. It's free, and it tells you how fast your internet is right then. If the number (speed) is nothing like your plan promised, ring your provider and ask why. That's a fair question and they're used to it.
-
If your internet isn't doing what was advertised and your provider won't sort it, there's a free complaints service called Telecommunications Dispute Resolution, or TDR. Most major providers are members and have to work with them. Most people have never heard of it. That's exactly why we're telling you. Find them at tdr.org.nz.
And if a price rise email arrives, remember it usually comes with a window: a chance to change or cancel without exit fees, with the cut-off date in the email. That window is yours. Use it to ask what you're on, what it costs, and whether it still fits.
Start small. Moving up is easy.
Try the smaller plan first. If it drags, ring up and move up. It takes minutes.
It's your money. Pay for what you actually use.
Broadband performance findings in this piece come from the Commerce Commission's Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme, which independently tests real home connections across the country. Find the latest report at comcom.govt.nz.
