3,882 reviews
AI reviews summary
MATE’s overall sentiment is highly polarised, characterised by a sharp divide between exceptional customer service and deteriorating network reliability. While the Australian-based support team—specifically individuals like Cameron and Laurent—receives overwhelming praise for their patience and technical assistance, a significant segment of users reports frequent dropouts, severe congestion during peak periods, and inconsistent speeds. Recent price increases and the introduction of payment surcharges have further frustrated long-term customers.
Pros
- Exceptional Support Staff: Numerous reviewers highlight specific team members for their patience, technical knowledge, and ability to guide non-tech-savvy users through complex setups.
- Aussie-Based Service: The domestic call centre is a major highlight, with users valuing the clear communication and the absence of scripted responses.
- Seamless Onboarding: For many, the initial sign-up and connection process is extremely fast, often taking only minutes to an hour to get online.
- Promotional Value: The partnership with NAB providing monthly discounts is frequently cited as a key reason for joining and a significant cost benefit.
Cons
- Network Instability: A recurring and serious complaint involves frequent daily dropouts and high latency (ping), making the service unreliable for working from home, video conferencing, and gaming.
- Peak-Hour Congestion: Users report significant speed degradation during evening hours, with some noting that while speed tests appear fine, actual streaming and browsing performance is poor.
- Billing and Fee Issues: Recent price hikes, the introduction of a 1% payment surcharge, and difficulties in cancelling services or receiving refunds have caused significant dissatisfaction.
- Hardware Limitations: Several reports indicate that MATE-provided routers may underperform on higher-tier plans, and tech support occasionally blames user hardware for what users perceive as network-side faults.
Verdict
MATE is a strong contender for those who prioritise high-quality, local customer support and are looking for competitive promotional pricing. However, it may be unsuitable for power users, gamers, or remote workers who require a perfectly stable connection, as network reliability and congestion appear to be significant recurring issues.
Laurent was very patient and helpful with getting my internet glitches fixed. He went the extra mile to go through my settings & provide me with support & knowledge. Thanks Laurent, your assistance was 5 stars. Show reply
The WORST speeds I have ever had going back to the year 2000. Fibre to Premises Service provided by Lets Be Mates has been abysmal. We aren't even big users. Terrible Technical help (switch the router off & on again). Our year contract dragged on forever. Now with TPG 10 x faster & cheaper too! Show details
Reviews with attachments
Great win-back experience! > I was hesitant to rejoin MATE after a poor experience six years ago, but their win-back offer ($70 for 500/50) was too good to pass up. The transition was completely seamless. I just reset my Xiaomi mesh router and was online instantly. I also used their online chat on Saturday to activate a free static IP for our… Read more · 2
working-from-home setup, and the process was effortless. Highly impressed so far and hoping the great service continues!
I live in Sydney, not sure if that has anything to do with the current speed. Anyway, very happy thus far. I hope it continues as my offer is locked in.
In addition I just discovered "price lock": pay for 12 months upfront and get 2 months off! I just did that and paid $720 for 1 year (works out $60 a month). Unfortunately, you can only use credit card for this offer. I thought to myself another $120 off and priced definitely locked for 1 year it's an even better offer.
Thank you Mate!
On this particular occasion I was on a call with Larry and it was awesome. Super simple and not complicated at all. Honesty, it sums up all of my experiences when having to call Mate for assistance and I've been a customer for over six years now. Over six years and customer service is still without fault. Not to mention, I have also had six years… Read more · 1
of quality internet. I upgraded recently to the 500/50 plan and they helped me every step of the way. Flawless.
No interruptions . No freezing Love my mate . Fair dinkum value for money Show details · 1
Fantastic speed. Changed from Dodo to Mate. Much faster than before. Show details · 1
Pretty happy with it. Peak speeds are very reasonable. I was able to download some large (100+gb) games off Steam which were done in a short space of time. General surfing is great. Can stream Netflix and game at the same time with no lag so I can't complain there. Overall it's a fairly reliable connection at this stage. Show details · 1
Terrible! Pathetic! Terribly Pathetic! Pathetically Terrible! Connection stability/speed is second only to support/service in being the most pathetic product/service EVER _ and that's a lot coming from a 54 year old who has been teaching/training IT since 1998, using internet since 1994 and computer 1983! TMATE is hands down the worst company.… Read more
Lose connection every now and then. Speed _ email attachments totalling to 6.58 MB take 10+ minutes to upload to Gmail !!! The only Fault Type you can chose from the portal is "Offline - Cannot access the Internet" _ that's it! If you want to report slow speed etc _ send them an email and good luck with that! The complaints you file with portal _ you'd be lucky to get an acknowledgement that your complaint has been received _ FORGET ABOUT someone reaching out EVER to see if issue has been resolved! Portal Automatically changes the status of the ticket to "resolved" WITHOUT the issue being fixed and/or "MATE" asking you if it was actually resolved or not! Better have a good phone data deal with someone else if you are going ahead buy their broadband offering!
Hi Haroon, we're sorry to hear about your experience. We… Read more
Internet speed is pathetic. Signed up for 100/20 deal and this is what I get - 37 mbps download speed. Show details
Hi Tahsin, we’re really sorry to hear you’re not getting the… Read more
Latest follow-ups
I called up Mate as my mobile phone as I was getting the "phone not registered on the network" error. Cameron answered the phone without too much of a delay. I had to go through a rigorous identification process that I think was way too long, and annoying. but once answered Cameron was great and we got the phone going quickly. All is well. Show reply
Follow-up · after months of waiting MATES still have not agreed to hand back my mobile number. I am very disappointed in such an unethical company.
Lack Of support – Regular internet outages. Ring for support, just a repeated message. Go to live chat, support worker leaves the chat with no further support. Horrible service. Show details · 1
Follow-up · The improvement to service has been amazing. Very little outages, better service and minimal problems since mid 2024. I have had no issues this year (2026) I am very happy with the service and intend on remaining with Mate communicate internet service.
like slow drip torture waiting for technical support – The Technical support is appalling. You will have to wait over one hour if you want to configure your router after nbn has been installed. Every time in fact that you have an enquiry I have waited over one hour to get through on the phone. Then… Read more
typically you will be hung up on mid way through the conversation. If you are lucky they will call back. But with technical questions about the wifi set up of the router I had a guy hang up on me. He couldn't be bothered to help. I feel traumatised just thinking about calling them because of the length of time and hopeless service. Avoid at all costs save yourself the torment. In addition do not expect any phone coverage once you leave the city. I have had many days without internet or phone over the time Ive been with them.
Follow-up · I ended the service which was difficult to do, they do not accept your word when you ask them directly on the phone to discontinue your service. TPG is no better if you want a landline, it simply drops out 2 to 3 days a week, you wont have a phone at all.
Hi Ross, we are sorry to hear about your recent experience.… Read more
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Positive reviews
Excellent service, very friendly and helpful agent. Connection issue fixed in just a few minutes. Great first impression of this internet service provider. A pleasure to speak to a human too! Show details · 1
Cameron was brilliant at understanding the difficulty in connecting Fibre to the premises, and that we simply wanted to go back to Fibre to the node to avoid delays and further expenses in Fibre to the premises or curb. Got us up and running within 24hrs knowing we had been without internet for a week already due to Fibre to the premises issues and delays. Show reply
I was referred by mate, haha! I wanted to be connected to NBN fibre to premises by Telstra and tried Optus as well but had was by brick wall. Techs said it cant be done, but MATE Ozzie was very persistent in his work that he said we want you to have NBN and we will get it for you. After few attempts I finally had NBN fibre to premises. Once the… Read more · 1
NBN was installed Ozzie was with me on the phone from the start to the end to get me on internet. Once on internet I was so happy to recieve the speeds that MATE promised. Few days later I recieved a phone call Ozzie who stated that he has noticed I was getting drop outs on my internet. With help of Ozzie we went through all of the settings of my router and setup it to the recommended by MATE. Now I don't get the constant drop outs any more. If it wasn't for Ozzie's persistence I would have work away! and blamed MATE for it. So thankyou MATE and Ozzie. would recommend MATE to anyone !
Negative reviews
I was a client for about 8 years and used to be so impressed by them. Their technical guys used to be really knowledgeable and helpful and I recommended them to many of my mates. Over the last few years, they have gone down dramatically. Recently I am had a few challenges with bad connection speeds and an NBN power supply that was faulty. Their… Read more
service was pitiful - always blaming my router (despite me getting a new one at their request), taking zero responsibility, zero effort. I moved to a new provider and suddenly my connection is fast and stable and they are sorting out a power connector issue on the nbn box too. Same router, no problems. Dont waste your time with Mate, they are not your mates
Hi Warwick, we’re sorry to hear you’ve been left feeling… Read more
Took nearly 1 month to port our existing number to our home phone service. When it finally started connecting calls it prefixed the australian country code to the calling number 61nnnnnnnn. This prefix made it impossible for our hardware to match… Read more
the number in its contacts list even whenwe added the 61 prefix to the contact's number. When we complained and asked for them to remove the prfix from incoming calls we were told it was IMPOSSIBLE. in other words "STIFF CHEDDAR". So we reverted to our original ISP and it al works perfectly again! Lasted 6 weeks all up and about 20 hours on the waiting queue to register a complaint and ask for progress reports!!!!
Follow-up · Internet speed seemed to be as advertised. It was a very short period and I had no problems with the little streaming I normally do. Service and customer support are rolled all into one because being told that it was impossible to achieve the service level of my previous provider when I know that it is a simple software switch that removes the country code prefix (+61) from all locally sourced incoming calls is really Galling!!!
Hi there, we’re sorry to hear this was your experience. We… Read more
Internet very unstable. I can not even watch the Facebook reels, it would not load. Many times I called them and they take me through some process and it would initially be slightly better then would go back to the slow pace. I changed a modem a few months ago, bought a new one for 350 dollars, and it made no difference. I had to use wire to… Read more
conect my computer which I use for work. I have fibreoptic wiring to my home but it is worse then copper wiring in my frends house- my phone works there just fine. So it is not my phone which is a problem. I would not recomend it.
Hi Elena, we’re really sorry to hear this has been your… Read more (+2 replies)
Recent reviews
Justine was very helpful in sorting out our problem and clarifying any confusion. I enjoy this provider and find their customer service & product to be excellent Show reply
Cameron was very helpful. he talked me through all the steps and now the internet works fine for me. I would also like to say that the worker I spoke to before was also very good and gave a lot of good advise. The staff at Mate are excellent. Show reply
Just wanted to shout out Laurents pleasant, patient and friendly customer service manners. He was careful about his accuracy while processing my request for Voip. He was also timely and friendly. Thanks mate! Show reply
Find out how MATE compares to other Internet Service Providers
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Cameron was a great service representative. Great attention to detail and picked up on the fact that I forgot to apply the promo code for the sign up rates and got it applied. Great start to signing up with Mate Show details · 1
I had a billing query and needed a NAB promotion applied to my existing service. Got connected to Cameron and he was extremely helpful and made the necessary adjustments. Overall had a great experience. Show details · 1
Spoke with Lachlan on the phone today, who was very knowledgeable and helpful, fixed my problem and treated me with respect. With more services like this, with good communication, the world is a better place. Show reply
Zel has been incredibly helpful and patient. She made the process of relocation extremely easy and seamless and fixed any issues I had in the past with internet. Show details · 1
Chose mate because of NAB goodies offer, get $30 discount for first 6 months, then $20 off after. Very easy sign up and Laurent had me all hooked up and running in 10 minutes. Very good service! Show details · 1
Follow-up · So far after a month speed has been good, no dropouts and havent had to contact customer support yet, very happy!
I rang Mates to change the settings on my router after having NBN fibre to the home installed. When i spoke to Cameron he was very patient and didn't give up until my internet was all set up properly. He was very knowledgeable and a great asset for Mates to have. Show reply
I rang Mate with a query about charges. Cameron was extremely patient and helpful. He was also very kind as I asked him to repeat the information. He is a very good operator at Mate and does a wonderful job of relating to customers. Show details · 1
LAURENT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING AGENT! Literally helpful, and approachable. I felt this was the best service experience I’ve had and our call ended with satisfaction! Thank you for helping me Laurent, I truly hope Laurent gets promoted because I can truthfully say this is the best service I’ve ever experienced. Show reply
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Hi Bruce, we're sorry to hear your experience didn't meet… Read more