A massive free NBN speed boost is coming this September, but one provider has already rolled out a ginormous increase

NBN Co is rolling out a bunch of changes to its once-fraught but rapidly stabilizing broadband infrastructure. Come September, a whole new wired speed tier in the form of NBN 2000 will be available, and as the name implies, that tier will offer up to 2,000 Mbps downloads—a 100% increase over the old highest tier. If you feel like you need the internet that fast, NBN 2000 connections will come bearing a wholesale cost of AU$115, so expect ISPs to charge a bit more than that, probably in the range of AU$150 to AU$200.

Having an ultra high speed option is welcome, of course, but perhaps the best NBN change coming this September is the automatic update of NBN 100 services to NBN 500 services. In other words, expect connections currently capping out at 100 Mbps to cap out at 500 Mbps. Similarly, 20 Mbps uploads will become 50 Mbps uploads.

But one ISP has decided: eff that, let's change now. Exetel, who ranks among our favourite NBN plans for gaming, has not only started offering NBN 500 a full two months ahead of the competition, but it has scrapped all of its other plans. In summary, Exetel currently has a single speed tier (NBN 500) for AU$80 a month.That's not an introductory offer either – that’s the ongoing price.

The price corresponds with what I'm expecting to see in September: AU$80 is the ballpark figure for what you currently pay for NBN 100 from competitive providers, so while we’ll obviously have to wait for September for pricing confirmation, Exetel’s NBN 500 price looks about right to me.

So, if you're paying more than AU$80 for NBN 100 at present, it's hard to argue against swapping to Exetel right now, because why pay the same or more for a fraction of the speed? (Unless Exetel's move triggers an avalanche of copycats—let's hope it does.) It's pretty easy to swap internet providers, so if you're not in a contract, the option is sitting right there on the table.

Exetel One | NBN 500 | AU$80p/m

While most providers will wait until September to roll out NBN 500 tiers, Exetel has jumped the gun. Not only that, but it's ditched every other tier, meaning signing up with this telco is pretty straightforward. You'll need a FTTP or HFC connection to take advantage of any speeds above 100 Mpbs.

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While the NBN 500 upgrade is hugely welcome, there is a caveat: your physical connection will need to be either fibre to the premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coax to get that new top speed. If you're still on fibre to the node (FTTN) then you simply can't get speeds higher than 100 Mbps at this point. NBN has dramatically scaled up its FTTP roll-out this year though, and chances are you're either eligible for a free upgrade, or will be soon. You can check on the NBN website. Exetel’s NBN 500 plan isn’t (yet) eligible for the free fibre upgrade program, though this will likely change at some point in future.