Skinny Broadband Review
Here’s the skinny on Skinny’s broadband options to see whether you could trim the fat with a new plan.
Skinny Mobile offers both mobile phone plans and broadband plans. In fact, Skinny is Canstar’s latest award winner for Most Satisfied Customers | Mobile Prepaid Plans. While Skinny’s perhaps best known for its no-frills prepaid plans, it offers a great range of broadband plans across wireless and unlimited fibre:
Wireless Plans:
60GB Plan
$45/month
120GB Plan
$50/month
Unlimited Plan
$55/month
All of Skinny’s plans require the use of a Skinny modem, which is provided free if you sign up for a 12-month plan. Otherwise you’ll need to purchase one for $150. $10 shipping fee also applies. BYO modem discount available.
Skinny Wireless 4G Broadband plans use Spark’s 4G network. So you can expect a solid broadband connection with a download speed of 33mbps, which is enough for HD video streaming.
VDSL/ADSL Plans:
Unlimited Plans:
VDSL Plan
35/5Mbps: $75/month
ADSL Plan
9/5Mbps: $75/month
Skinny’s plans require the use of a modem, you can BYO or use a Skinny one. A Skinny modem is provided free if you sign up for a 12-month plan. If you’re on an open term plan, a Skinny modem will cost you $150. $10 shipping fee also applies. BYO modem discount available.
Fibre Plans:
Unlimited Plans:
$75/month – 319/100Mbps
$90/month – 914/500Mbps
All the above plans offer a Skinny Smart Modem for free on a 12-month contract. If you’re on an open term plan, a Skinny modem will cost you $150. A $10 shipping fee applies.
Or, you can save $5/month for 12 months if you BYO modem.
Current deals:
Wireless plans come with two months free, all others offer one month free when you sign up for a 12-month plan.
You can also save $10 per month on all Skinny’s plans while you have an active eligible Skinny $27-plus four-weekly Skinny mobile plan.
How does Skinny broadband compare?
Below is an overview of 300/100Mbps fibre broadband deals from major providers in New Zealand. Plans do not include any current offers:
| Broadband Provider | Unlimited Broadband Deal $ Per Month |
| Contact* Only offers broadband + power bundles |
$75/m: broadband + power + gas $80/m: broadband + power Modem $99 or $4/m rental |
| Skinny | $80/m ($70/m with $27 or above 4-weekly Skinny mobile plan) Free modem on 12-month plan, $150 on open term (+$10 shipping). Save further $5/m for 12 months for BYO modem. $49 install on open term |
| Bigpipe | $84/m. Free modem on 12-month plan or BYO. $49 install on open term. |
| Electric Kiwi Only offers broadband + power bundles |
$2.65/day (equivalent to $80.60/m) BYO modem or buy/rent-to-buy one for $150 |
| Sky Broadband | Non-Sky TV subscriber: $95/m | Subscriber: $85/m (Sky Starter Package, $25.99/m) |
| One NZ* | $96/m BYO modem or rent one for $5/m on 12-month plan No fixed term with BYO modem |
| 2degrees* | $95/m: broadband $85/m: broadband + mobile $65/m: broadband + mobile + power BYO modem or rent one for $5/m |
| Nova Energy* | $95/m broadband only (no fixed term) $75/m: broadband + power |
| Now* | $95/m BYO modem or buy one for $120 |
| Spark* | $96/m Standard $105/m with Benefits (includes Standard Netflix, $20.99/m, and McAfee Security Standard, $4.95/m) Modem extra $150, or BYO |
| Slingshot* | $97/m BYO modem or rent one for $5/m |
*$15 one-off modem delivery fee (Prices correct as of 06/12/24)
What’s the deal with Skinny broadband?
Skinny has a couple of extra tidbits that are noteworthy:
- 30-day money back guarantee for network performance
- The flexibility of not having to opt for a fixed 12-month contract
To help Kiwi consumers choose the best broadband providers, Canstar surveys thousands of broadband customers and asks them to score their providers across categories including Value for Money, Network Performance and Customer Service. To read the results of our full research and to find out more about NZ’s best broadband providers, just click on the big button below: