new in singapore, advice on phones & evrything

[pinayjade]

Hi, it's just my 3rd day here in Singapore. I bought yesterday a prepaid sim card since I have brought with me my phones from Europe just to realize that it is quite expensive to use a prepaid because I get charged whenever somebody calls me.

Can anyone advice me on which mobile plan to take? I do call once in awhile my mom who lives in another country but for the rest I would just get calls from my husband. And if i take a post paid, does that include a phone? And is a fixed phone needed here in Singapore homes?

There's only two of us here, my husband and I. So I am wondering is cooking not more expensive than just to eating outside or food delivery.

Thanks! Looking foward to you advices

[sundaymorningstaple]

Phone plans vary from week to week. You will have to do some research to find the plan that will best service your needs. (I am sure you have not included enough detail in your post for a stranger to do so.)

Following is the websites of the three mobile service providers here in Singapore:

http://singtel-mobile.com/main.html SingTel Mobile

http://www.m1.com.sg MobileOne (M1)

www.starhub.com.sg StarHub Pte Ltd

Being a childless couple I don't see any reason for a landline unless you are planning to have broadband in your home. However, should you opt for cable broadband/tv services then you won't need a landline at all. Depending where you live, you may not even need cable. Just a mobile line and register for the new Wireless@SG wireless internet that was rolled out in January and will be free for about 2 years. You would need a mobile number to do that however.

[huggybear]

my coworkers say M1 is the best network here.

nice headsup on the sg wireless. looked up their website and the free service is only 512 kbps...

that's a touch slower then DSL.

i think M1 is offering some wireless broadband through the USB port for 2 Mbps speed.

[pinayjade]

ok great thanks. i am doing the research. does de mobile subscription here comes with the phone?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Usually yes, from free basic phones (like I normally get - currently using a moto L6) or a reasonably(!) discounted higher end phone which will do almost everything except making your cafe latte.


Huggy,

If you do the majority of your surfing on sites located outside of asia (e.g., US sites) I think you will find the majority of people are hoodwinked into buying big bandwith broadband packages. The only real benefit to the large pipe broadband is if you have kids or both husband & wife are no longer interested in each other and spend most of both their times on the internet. Then the big packages are worth it as the 512 would be shared amongst all in the household logged on at the same time (kinda like cable does). If there is only one in the house logged on then you are at the mercy of the broadcasting servers output. In the US 'bout the best is a T1 line but most only use 348 I believe. You cannot download faster then their servers can upload. (Course if you are accessing singapore sites you have the backbone here with is quite fast).

Try this from your computer:

http://promos.mcafee.com/speedometer/test_0150.asp

[huggybear]

that must be why this website is so freaking slow

thx for that. ur right. you're at the mercy of two people...your own service and the service of the site you are trying to access.

[huggybear]

just a little update. i tested my internet connection...
came in at a pathetic 200 kbps

logged a complaint to get it fixed...
oh well.

[sundaymorningstaple]

That's what I've been averaging for the past 18 months or so. there is nothing that can be done from this side, as I said, you are at the mercy of 1, the uploading servers and 2, the size of the pipeline coming into singapore. It's a fact that cannot be avoided. But you can avoid being suckered by the local ISP's that are trying to keep selling you bandwidth you cannot use except on the Singapore Backbone and nowhere else outside of Singapore.

Here's a better site for dsl tweaking and testing using multiple sites:

http://www.dslreports.com/tools

This will probably just make you madder though.....

[kirstyL]

for free incoming on prepaid u have to get starhub or you will pay everytime, but it does still cost, only 60 cents a day, better then paying for each call!

[muratkorman]

I have Singtel Hot100 prepaid card. It could be a good alternative for covering the extra costs of incoming calls. You only pay 28 S$ to have 100 S$ credit on your account. The validity of the credit is 50 days. After that you have to charge again. In summary you have 72 S$ extra to make your phone calls locally. For international calls you can only use that 28 S$ which you already paid. I think the tariff could be a little bit higher than some other packages, but you should compare it with other alternatives. I hope this helps.

[nicoletta]

we had to put a deposit down of 250 dollar for the broadband and i cannot remember for the tv and the contract is for one year - you lose the deposit if you leave early and no opportunity to explain you just break the contract and they keep the money - you also need to return the digital boxes and cables - but there are points open all over the city

but we have the sport channels - my husband need to watch his football -
and the film channels i like, also with the telephone ( if you make local calls are free ) and the broadband service we have can service 3 computers - which we needed ! my laptop from work, my husband laptop from work and our personal one !

for international calls i use skype or the messenger!

i hope you find this useful