Wireless internet customers should be able to enjoy faster speeds with SpinTel, as the telco announced it’s offering a new 5G modem as part of a partnership with Optus.
The modem in question is the Optus Ultra WiFi 5G device that doubles as a router. It’s made by ZTE, the Chinese company that’s also associated with the Nubia brand of phones and tablets.
A dual-band Wi-Fi 6 device, the modem router has a 6,000Mbps total bandwidth across its wireless channels and wired ports. On the rear are two 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, a USB-C storage port, and a Nano SIM slot.
As long as you’re connected to a SpinTel 5G internet plan, which uses the Optus network, a $25 delivery fee is the only cost for the modem. SpinTel’s 5G internet plans start at $59 per month for 50Mbps download speeds, through to $89 a month for up to 240Mbps speeds.
That’s fairly consistent with other 5G internet providers; most base-level 5G plans start around $60 once any promotional discounts expire, as you can see in the following table:
While wireless internet plans aren’t subject to the speed boosts coming to FTTP and HFC NBN plans in September, the upgraded modem should still provide an improved experience to customers with older hardware. Recent guidance from the ACCC warned that existing modems might not be fast enough to support faster speeds in the future.
As for the new bundled SpinTel 5G modem, it supports up to 128 devices at the same time. Because it’s also a router, it doesn’t require any additional hardware to connect devices to the internet — just plug in the SIM card and off you go.
It’s a busy time in the telco space in light of recent NBN price increases, so people are eyeing off cheaper internet alternatives. Browsing the current cheapest NBN plans might be a good start.
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