Singapore Expats

We did a lot of investigation and went with StarHub. ONE of the reasons was if we bundled our CATV and mobiles and broadband we get some OK discounts, which at the time (FEB08) were better than SingTel. So if that might be a consideration for you, I suggest you do your homework on such things as your mobile plans, as that's where you'll save money (eg choosing the correct plan for your calling patterns).

That being said, we're on the Ultimate Plan, and as many have said here, connection and latency to O/S sites is crap-o-la. My old 24mbps back in OZ was almost too fast for me, whereas the 100mbps Ultimate here lags out on our US based and Europe based servers, and they are on dedicated fibre backbones.

To truly see it in action, use speedtest.net and use the SIN server, then try some of the main US or EU based ones.

Then cry into your beverage of choice

HTH, P & C

ZZOOzzoo wrote:As my family's moving out of Serviced Apartment soon I need to decide which ISP I should go with. Since my family's internet use is quite heavy, I'm going to subscribe to the top-end service. Currently, the fastest Singtel offers is 25mbps and Starhub offers 30mbps, and Singtel one is a bit pricier than the Starhub despite the speed differences.

I guess there shouldn't be too much difference between 30mbps and 25mbps, so what I'm looking for is reliability, trustability and customer service.

What ISP are you currently subscribed to, and how do you find them? Please share your experience. Thanks in advance.

please describe the heavy usage. heavy in browsing and reading emails? if it is there isnt any need to pay for the biggest bandwidth. i would say 1M to 3M is sufficient.

but if you guys are heavy watching online videos and downloading, then you might want to go for higher speed. depends on your usage actually

for me singnet 1M is sufficient for a single user who just browse and watch videos once in a while

I have been using starhub and their customer service is excellent. Their customer service line, 1633, gets connected real fast to a customer service officer real fast as well.

The reason why I chose starhub is because it offers a hubber discount if you subscribe to all 3 of its services (namely, broadband, cable TV and Hp line). As for Singtel, it has been the dominant power in Singapore for far too long and that's why I decided to give the underdogs, Starhub, the chance. Of course, after all these years, Starhub is no longer the underdog. Still, I stick to it because there are no complaints.

Hope that helps.

I'll go for Starhub for their cable, partial reason's the hubber bonus. They also offer one of the most outstanding gifts just to have you sign up with them; Plasma TV, Laptops, All-in-1 Printer/scanner/copier & tons more, esp with the 100mbps ultimate plan...
They also offer very competitive price packages and I've never had much probs with the net service. Even when there're any, their experienced technicians would be there to guide you.

Customer-service wise I'm more inclined to Singtel as they're established and pride themselves for their professionalism and great service. Have been a loyal mobile customer with them for close to 10yrs now because just to remain competitive in the saturated market, they offer exceptionally gd bill rebates, freebies, discounts etc so as to retain current customers.

Still, cable tv & broadband wise, I'll opt for Starhub for their package on the overall.

Angiezz wrote:I'll go for Starhub for their cable, partial reason's the hubber bonus. They also offer one of the most outstanding gifts just to have you sign up with them; Plasma TV, Laptops, All-in-1 Printer/scanner/copier & tons more, esp with the 100mbps ultimate plan...

yeah, all the freebies are great, but make sure you read the T&C as you will be locked in for a long contract!

Entirely agree, tho perhaps as a satisfied customer for the past 8yrs using Starhub's cable, they've never given me a reason to look back so I personally have no qualms staying with them longer...

On a side note, a surveying company in The Concourse recently invited a large number of Singtel users to be divided into small grps for a discussion. They were paying the participants $70/hr for their valued feedback as a market research so I happily obliged...lol
They're seeking ways to attract the new, and retain the old customers.
Facing major rivals like Starhub which offer highly competitive prices & attractive packages, it's consequently drawing part of the market share away constantly.

I guess there're pros and cons and it's tough to pin-point which provider's better since they continually remain competitive by offering better packages. But like sierra2469alpha said, it'll beneficial to do your own market research to compare what each provider has to offer before making a final decision as everyone has their own preferences and one man's trash might be another man's treasure.

currently im happy to stay with singnet 1M. just signed a 2 year contract. paying $15 a month for the first year then $30 for the 2nd year

MikeDirnt wrote:currently im happy to stay with singnet 1M. just signed a 2 year contract. paying $15 a month for the first year then $30 for the 2nd year

but dont you have to subscribe to an analogue phone for their ADSL broadband?

depends on how many bills you want to have. For me all my internet bills /cable tv and mobile are all under starhub for convenience sake. Also if you sign up for all three services you would receive more discount. I think singtel has a similar thing with mio plan but it came out too late for me to explore it.

MikeDirnt wrote:
currently im happy to stay with singnet 1M. just signed a 2 year contract. paying $15 a month for the first year then $30 for the 2nd year


but dont you have to subscribe to an analogue phone for their ADSL broadband?

Yes they do but it's only about $8 a month.

I'm on starhub here and to be honest its f*cking awful. 8MB my arse. More like 8 bloody k.

I'm moving in a couple of weeks and going onto Singtel 8 meg. Gotta be better than starhub. Nothing can be THAT slow.

If you still want cable, theres pacific net. Stable and constant speed through out the day.
laghub blows, glad i'm ending my contract in july....

pacnet is a blast from the past! nearly forgot about them!

I've been using them since 28.8 dialup days! Still using them.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:I've been using them since 28.8 dialup days! Still using them.

that's the one, dial-up. those were the days...

durain wrote:

sundaymorningstaple wrote:I've been using them since 28.8 dialup days! Still using them.

that's the one, dial-up. those were the days...

Ah yes, the good old days of 2400baud modems and dialing up to the local BB, and the only access to the internet was through the uni.