While in Australia, we are not exactly spoiled for choice of technology, and speeds available to us compared to the rest of the world. We do have a lot of service providers and while some seem cheap on the outside, they are not there with the quality and reliability you’d come to expect.

I’ve had a fair few service providers in my time and different technology to deliver my internet. I thought it was time to write a piece on what I consider to be some of the better providers in Australia. Note that to some degree, the service you require will be impacted by both your personal and business needs.

Speed In Streaming Video/Audio

The top 5 on streaming data speed which is a key factor in efficiency, especially when it comes to handling large data volumes which some businesses do regularly are:

  1. TPG
  2. Optus
  3. iiNet
  4. Primus
  5. Exetel

According to the US company Netflix the above ISP’s topped the streaming speed for its streaming service in Australia. A notable absentee from this list would be Telstra. Their speed ranking came in at #7 which is a bit of a concern for the #1 Telco in Australia (Telstra also tend to be the most expensive).

Value For Money

Canstar Blue conducted some research in 2015 around speeds and value for money. I’m proud to see my home ISP iiNet up here as I highly recommend them for ADSL2 services.

  1. Westnet
  2. iiNet
  3. Internode
  4. Dodo
  5. Optus

Once again we see Telstra missing out on a place in the top 5. I suspect the service to cost ratio for Telstra is keeping the value for money low as the cost doesn’t match the speed.

Overall Satisfaction

Consumer group Choice conducted a survey of over 3,625 people in 2015 about the overall satisfaction with their ISP, this is a mix of connection speed, value for money and the stability of the connection as a whole. Top 5 were:

  1. Westnet
  2. Internode
  3. iiNet
  4. TPG
  5. Optus

What you see here is the same ISP continuously appearing in the top 5, Overall the winners in most online lists and tests seem to be iiNet and Westnet (WA only).

If you’d like to talk to tech gurus in a forum, head over to  Whirlpool (Not the Appliance company), register a free account and ask away, the community is friendly and ready to talk to you, and help you with your broadband related queries.

This guest post has been written by Andrew James of Andrew James Enterprises, Tech Expert.

What are your thoughts on Internet service providers; are you happy with who you are with? Please leave a comment in the comment section below.