How Your Internet Can Make Or Break Your Study Experience

Become mates with your internet provider.

This post is presented in partnership with MATE.

Stuck using the uni internet or chewing up all your phone’s data by trying to study? The last thing you want to deal with when trying to smash out those assignments is a slow and unreliable internet connection.

That’s why having a connection and a provider that you can trust to give you ace internet is worth the investment. Life—especially student life—is way too short to worry about bad internet, lock-in contracts, poor customer service, difficult set ups and small data allowances.

Our mates at MATE (see what we did there?) have helped us figure out exactly how your internet can make or break your uni experience, and how you can find the best internet for your studies.

Quality

When looking for an internet provider, quality and reliability should be at the top of your list. That way you won’t have to worry about losing your connection or paying heaps of money for a slow service.

They're 100 per cent Australian-owned, with a customer service team based down under. MATE have kicked goals by winning 2020’s Customer Service Team of the year in the Australian Service excellence awards and its international equivalent.

Their customer service is world class, so why wouldn’t you want a service provider that is as awesome as your mate?

They also have heaps of plans to suit your needs and budgets, with fast and reliable speeds that can cover your emails, browsing, social media, music, HD video streaming, and on some plans, even online gaming and 4K streaming.

Data

Just because you’re a student doesn’t mean you’ll only be using your internet to get your studies done. Let’s be honest, we all need a bit of Netflix, music and even gaming to pass the time.

Unfortunately, the reality is that all of those things chew up your data allowance, which is why you’ll want to make sure you’ve got enough (and put a stop to using your phone’s data).

What’s great is that all MATE internet plans offer unlimited data, so you don’t need to worry about running out ever again.

If you’re looking for a phone plan, you’ll also be covered, ‘cos all MATE mobile plans come with great data allowances based on your needs. Also, with all MATE mobile plans you can bank up to 100GB of data. I dare you to try and use all that up.

Contracts

If you’ve ever set up an internet service for yourself before, you’d know that one of the worst things to deal with is annoying, long-term or fixed-term contracts that often leave you stuck—even if you have a poor experience with the provider.

MATE takes that stress away by eliminating contracts altogether. They don’t want a friendship based around rules or regulations, so there’s no need to sign your life away for your internet; they put your experience above anything else.

They also guarantee the first month of your service risk-free. This means that if you are not happy with your MATE service, for whatever reason, you can grab a refund within your first month of service.

Avoiding contracts is also great if you need to change your plan suddenly. If you’ve decided to end your studies or you’re looking to upgrade to binge more movies, having no contract to deal with will give you that flexibility, and more money in your pocket.

Set up

Now, the hard bit: setting up your modem and getting quick access to your connection. For most people this is a tricky and confusing task, and it can often take a few days for you to even get any connection.

MATE totally understands this, so they’ve got a bunch of helpful connection guides so that you can get started without a hitch. Whether you’re using your own modem or have purchased one from MATE, these guides can help you out.

You’ll also get the benefit of not having to worry about a set-up fee with MATE. As a student, saving all the dollars you can is super important. That’s why MATE won’t charge you anything to set up your modem or change your plan if you need to.

Perks

Most internet and mobile service providers only offer their customers their connection and their customer service. While that’s great, if you’re a young student trying to save money and get the best experience while you’re at uni, you’ll want to keep an eye out for any perks or deals that businesses can offer.

That’s why MATE has partnered with Student Edge to give all members a bonus TIDAL music streaming subscription when you connect to selected  MATE mobile plans.

If you’re someone that just needs music to help you cram for your exams, snagging a TIDAL deal with MATE could be a game changer. TIDAL’s library has over 70 million tracks and 250,000 videos, so you know you’ll get the ultimate music experience, ad-free.

Whether you’re looking to set up a phone plan just to cover your studying internet needs, or you want to set up a modem for all of your housemates, MATE has got Aussie students backs.

Happy zero-buffering studying (or streaming, lol).

Header Image: insta_photos via Getty Images