When something goes wrong with your internet, support is the whole game. A drop-out is annoying. A drop-out plus 40 minutes on hold and three transfers is the reason people switch providers. So it’s worth knowing which providers actually look after their customers before you sign up, not after.
We’ve been collecting reviews from real Australian customers since 2004. Reviewers rate two things separately: tech support, which is help with technical problems, and customer service, which is billing, plan changes and the rest. This ranking combines the two into a single support score so you can see who does it well.
As with all our rankings, this is the NBN era only (reviews from November 2018), and a provider needs at least 10 reviews to appear. The full method is on our how we rank Australia’s broadband providers page.
The best NBN providers for support right now
Here are the providers ranked by their combined support score out of 5, best first. The table also breaks out customer service and tech support separately. “Partner” means the provider runs an affiliate program with us.
| Rank | Provider | Support (/5) | Customer service | Tech support | Reviews | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aussie Broadband | 4.79 | 4.78 | 4.79 | 114 | Yes |
| 2 | Superloop | 4.36 | 4.33 | 4.38 | 42 | Yes |
| 3 | Tangerine | 4.03 | 3.94 | 4.12 | 16 | Yes |
| 4 | Vodafone | 4.00 | 4.10 | 3.90 | 10 | No |
| 5 | Internode | 3.92 | 3.92 | 3.91 | 20 | No |
| 6 | Mate | 3.88 | 3.76 | 4.00 | 17 | No |
| 7 | Telstra | 3.73 | 3.73 | 3.72 | 64 | No |
| 8 | iiNet | 3.73 | 3.77 | 3.70 | 46 | No |
| 9 | Optus | 3.61 | 3.64 | 3.57 | 42 | No |
| 10 | Exetel | 3.41 | 3.59 | 3.24 | 23 | Yes |
| 11 | Belong | 3.40 | 3.38 | 3.41 | 34 | No |
| 12 | TPG | 3.38 | 3.38 | 3.38 | 68 | No |
| 13 | SpinTel | 3.12 | 2.98 | 3.25 | 14 | No |
| 14 | Dodo | 3.06 | 2.99 | 3.12 | 22 | No |
Aussie Broadband is in a league of its own
Aussie Broadband doesn’t just win this one, it wins it by a mile. A 4.79 support score from 114 reviews, with customer service and tech support both sitting at 4.78 and 4.79, is the highest score in any of our rankings. The Australian based support team comes up again and again. One Victorian reviewer this year wrote: “amazing customer service and tech support when required, great communication when having issues and quick to send out people to fix issues.”
Superloop is second on 4.36, and “friendly and helpful online chat support” is a common theme in its reviews. Tangerine is third on 4.03, with reviewers mentioning “quick and good support.” The interesting name just behind them is Vodafone, which isn’t a partner of ours but still landed a 4.00 support score across its 10 NBN reviews.
The middle and the bottom
Telstra and iiNet both sit on 3.73, which is middling. Optus is a little behind on 3.61. These are large providers with big review bases, so the scores are dependable. The honest takeaway is that the big retail names are average on support, not bad, not great.
At the bottom, Dodo (3.06) and SpinTel (3.12) score worst on support, and that matches their reliability results too. If support matters to you, read the individual reviews on the Dodo and SpinTel pages before you commit.
About the partners
The top three here all run affiliate programs with us, so it’s only fair to say so. It doesn’t change the scores. Reviewers have no idea who we earn commission from, and we partner with providers that already review well rather than the other way around. Vodafone, a non-partner, sits fourth on support, and a partner (Exetel) sits down in 10th. The full explanation is on the methodology page.
How this connects to reliability
Support and reliability tend to move together. The providers that top this list also top our most reliable NBN providers ranking, which makes sense: a provider that runs a good network usually runs a good support desk too. If you’re weighing up a switch, look at both. And if you’re already with a provider near the bottom, switching is straightforward and you keep the same NBN connection.
Frequently asked questions
Which NBN provider has the best customer support?
Based on real user reviews in the NBN era, Aussie Broadband has the best support by a clear margin, with a 4.79 out of 5 support score across 114 reviews. Superloop (4.36) and Tangerine (4.03) follow.
What’s the difference between customer service and tech support here?
Tech support covers help with technical problems like drop-outs, slow speeds and setup. Customer service covers everything else: billing, plan changes, moving house and cancellations. Reviewers rate both separately, and the support score here is the average of the two. The table shows each one.
Are the rankings affected by affiliate partnerships?
No. Reviewers don’t know which providers we earn commission from, and we don’t adjust the scores. We partner with providers that already review well. Full detail is on our methodology page.
Why isn’t my provider listed?
We only rank providers with at least 10 reviews in the NBN era. Smaller providers don’t have enough reviews yet for a fair score.
How often is this updated?
The scores update as new reviews come in, and we refresh the published ranking periodically.
