Internet advice for the clueless

[angieh]

Hi learned forum folk,
My partner has leased a condo and has organised Singtel for pay tv installation next week. I will be relocating permanently to join him in a month. When I have visited him previously I have just used prepaid sim in my iPad but I would like a permanent Internet connection when I move.

I don't download movies but I love my iPad and I surf the Internet a lot. As I am realistic enough to know it will be very hard for me to get a job, I expect my Internet use to be high. I would like to pay for the cost separate to my partner because he won't use Internet much at home and he shouldn't have to pay for my hobby. A woman must maintain some independence.

I am at a complete loss to know where to begin re Internet provider. Any and all suggestions most welcome.
Cheers
Angela

[the lynx]

Does your partner's condo has fibre connection? That's the best by far compared to regular broadband. Here is the lowdown: http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/feature-overview-fastest-fiber-broadband-plans-singapore

In general,

[angieh]

It's a new condo construction (D'leedon) but no idea what fibre even is. I wasn't being modest about the clueless part.
How would I find out about fibre?

[Strong Eagle]

Ask your building management about fibre... it if is new, it will probably be wired.

Here's the deal. There are 3 ways to carry internet into your home. The first is copper wire like a telephone line. This is the slowest speed, old technology, and getting harder to find, particularly in Singapore.

Then, I am sure you are familiar with the coax cable used to bring cable TV into your house. This is currently the most common transport method for the internet. It will work fine with what you want to do, including streaming movies.

And then, there is fiber optics, the fastest internet connection of all. Depending upon the decisions made at your condo, there will either be a central connection point for fiber, like in the utility closet, and you will have to pay to have the fiber pulled to your condo, or because the condo is new, you may already have at least one connection in the condo itself.

Here's the deal. You can see from the lynx posts that fiber speed is 1 Gigabit per second... that's 1000 times as fast as 1 Megabit per second. For most people, and unless you have multiple people gaming or streaming videos or copying bit torrents, this is complete overkill. A full 1080P movie can be streamed at 6 Megabits per second, and even if you allow for loss, etc, double that will still work fine.

And even if you download movies, 25 to 50 Megabits per second is still more than enough to download a complete movie in a short period of time.

Having said all that, if you can get the fiber, go for it. It's the wave of the future, its cost is reasonable, and it is dependable. But, don't worry if you can't... a cable connection will still work just fine for you.

[x9200]

Hi learned forum folk,
My partner has leased a condo and has organised Singtel for pay tv installation next week. I will be relocating permanently to join him in a month. When I have visited him previously I have just used prepaid sim in my iPad but I would like a permanent Internet connection when I move.

I don't download movies but I love my iPad and I surf the Internet a lot. As I am realistic enough to know it will be very hard for me to get a job, I expect my Internet use to be high. I would like to pay for the cost separate to my partner because he won't use Internet much at home and he shouldn't have to pay for my hobby. A woman must maintain some independence.

I am at a complete loss to know where to begin re Internet provider. Any and all suggestions most welcome.
Cheers
Angela

There is a bit of the problem with such approach because it is not optimal cost-wise. Many of the local providers have bundled deals and you can get a permanent Internet connection and a tv and a mobile broadband (mobile Internet) connection all together at some reduced price.
If your iPad is mobile broadband capable you probably would like to have such a package.

Frankly, it would be very strange if your partner organising the tv did it only for the tv alone. Are you sure the Internet connection will not be included?

[donderrickng]

Hi learned forum folk,
My partner has leased a condo and has organised Singtel for pay tv installation next week. I will be relocating permanently to join him in a month. When I have visited him previously I have just used prepaid sim in my iPad but I would like a permanent Internet connection when I move.

I don't download movies but I love my iPad and I surf the Internet a lot. As I am realistic enough to know it will be very hard for me to get a job, I expect my Internet use to be high. I would like to pay for the cost separate to my partner because he won't use Internet much at home and he shouldn't have to pay for my hobby. A woman must maintain some independence.

I am at a complete loss to know where to begin re Internet provider. Any and all suggestions most welcome.
Cheers
Angela

Hi Angieh, there are various service providers in Singapore. Singtel, M1 and StarHub. When you said you would like a permanent connection, do you mean a sim card with a data plan? or just a separate internet plan in the same apartment?

For sim card, it's pretty simple. Usually StarHub is the most popular among the locals because the coverage is the best throughout the whole island. I hope this helps.

[aphelionx]

If you are just plainly surfing the net I don't really see a point in getting a 1Gbps internet connection.

Cheapest from starhub, singtel or m1 is fine. There is not much difference from different companies. As from my experience, when I'm using starhub, I'll complain starhub sucks, and when im using singtel, i'll complain singtel sucks lol. well all up to you.