About Wifi Connection in Singapore

[garnet4david]

I read that All Singapore's Public area will be covered with Wifi connection soon. Is that true? Are they free? How about the speed? Can i use wifi or wlan anywhere at redhill? Do the torrent and emule are blocked if we are using them at public area? What is the spec of the laptop that is needed in order to be able to use the wifi? Thanks

[Jeppo]

Look at www.singnet.com.sg for info about wireless. And don't advertise that you are downloading illegal material with those programs

Since you're coming from Indonesia it would be far easier to bring them with you

[garnet4david]

Hmm it seems that i have to pay for that wifi rite? SO internet is not free at all hehe ok thank you for your reply.

[jpatokal]

Wrong, the Wireless@SG network is free. Coverage is still kinda limited though. Details:

http://www.ida.gov.sg/Programmes/200610 ... agetype=36

[Asian_Geekette]

What is the spec of the laptop that is needed in order to be able to use the wifi? Thanks

As long as the laptop has wireless adapter (card) which supports 802.11b/g, you'd be able to connect. It would be easier if you have at least Windows XP installed since it's easier to find wireless connections with the native support for wireless.

Please don't take the risk of using the wireless for P2P type of applications. In order to use the free wireless, you'd have to register first (with details about your passport, etc.).

Just be careful.

[garnet4david]

OOh si what i need to do is registering my passport on that site. Ok thanks for the info. Hmm so they are monitoring our internet activity? How about download manager and rapidshare or megaupload? Is that possible that they can also read what we are downloading now by tracking the destination IP? Hmm seems i can not download a lot of thing there haha.

[jpatokal]

OOh si what i need to do is registering my passport on that site. Ok thanks for the info. Hmm so they are monitoring our internet activity? How about download manager and rapidshare or megaupload? Is that possible that they can also read what we are downloading now by tracking the destination IP? Hmm seems i can not download a lot of thing there haha.

Everything you do in Singapore can and probably is monitored. The question is, do you stick out enough for them to bother to do something about it?

[deveb]

Can anyone comment on the speed about those wireless network?

I got some bad experience while using the one in NLB near cityhall. The speed is OK when there is less people, but when there is a lot of ppl using the speed is super slow. Sometime, you can't even get connect to Internet, but u see your network icon showing there is connection. It is still the same now.

I did ask the librarian once, and she told me to call the operator. Huh ... shouldn't the NLB feedback also to the operator .. seem like no one is managing the network. I did also call the operator. And the guy who answer me tell me he is only doing part time handling the helpdesk on Sat. He cannot do anything abt it and say will refer the case to engineer on Monday. I did not follow up again after that. I know it is free, but should there be some standard? I afraid that we might left with a white elephant if no action is taken.

[garnet4david]

Wow even if we paid for our subscription, they will still monitoring us? But is that really true that the police will arrest us if we download smth like well hmm torrent, emule, p2p? Is there anyway to cloack our internet activity so that they wont be able to chase us? Hmm then mp3 must be illegal too arrgh T_T

[Dobski]

It's the voip stuff that's really cool about all of this for me.
Once we have complete coverage, it means I can use my Skype phone anywhere in Singapore !

My mobile phone will be relegated to trips abroad only !!!!!!!

[bigfilsing]

According to sinftel the free wireless is a 512 k connection. You can upgrade to 1 or 2 mb but you have to subscribe.

I wouldn;t be expecting too much from a free 512 connection if i were you !!!!! Still nice its there thou eh

[Asian_Geekette]

Can anyone comment on the speed about those wireless network?

I got some bad experience while using the one in NLB near cityhall. The speed is OK when there is less people, but when there is a lot of ppl using the speed is super slow. Sometime, you can't even get connect to Internet, but u see your network icon showing there is connection. It is still the same now.

Our current wireless standard (protocols in networking techtalk) is a shared medium. So more users on the segment, less bandwidth available.

Hope this helps.

[Dobski]

fair point Bigfilsing - wonder how well Skype'd cope with 512.......

I just hope they dont spoil this great initiative with too much advertising....
Singtel could lose a lot of money if voip's widely adopted - they're one of the infrastructure providers, so I hope they don't look to claw back the cash through lots and lots of adverts on our web pages......
(I appreciate some is inevitable!)

Even worse, I'd hope they don't hold back giving free 1 or 2 meg access for all, or overcharge for increased bandwidth in an effort to keep mobile phone sales up !

[sundaymorningstaple]

Dobski,

Singtel has been using VoiP for years. Not fully but their 019 number uses VoiP. That's why it's reasonably cheap. Is it Starhub or M1 that uses 018? It's also VoiP assisted like 019. They have to get into it as the technology is too pervasive now.

[ksl]

According to sinftel the free wireless is a 512 k connection. You can upgrade to 1 or 2 mb but you have to subscribe.

I wouldn;t be expecting too much from a free 512 connection if i were you !!!!! Still nice its there thou eh

I was under the impression that the maximum wireless speed was limited to 11Mbps or am i out of date?


About the three wireless networking standards
The 802.11b wireless networking standard was the first widely available wireless networking solution that users could buy; the vast majority of public wireless spaces, including coffeehouses and restaurants and the like, use the 802.11b standard. It uses the 2.4 Ghz frequency for communication, and the fastest speed an 802.11b user can theoretically have is 11 Mbps. (More about why you won't actually see this speed in real life is explained below.)

The 802.11a and 802.11g standards both offer a higher theoretical maximum speed of 54 Mbps. However, nearly half of that is used for routine communication between your computer and the wireless access point it's communicating with, not for transfer of your data requests. 24 Mbps is the highest speed that wireless cards are required to support, and you won't see those speeds in practice either (also explained below).

The 802.11a standard uses the 5.5 Ghz frequency, a signal which is less used by other devices (a bonus for wireless network users) but the signal strength drops off more quickly as you go farther from the access point. However, because there's less interference, it may be easier to design good 802.11a coverage than 802.11b or 802.11g coverage in a given area. All in all, though, 802.11a is currently the least common type of wireless network installation.

The 802.11g standard shares the 2.4 Ghz frequency with the 802.11b standard, but 802.11g provides the higher theoretical maximum speed of 54 Mbps. Since they share the same frequency, many networking cards that support 802.11g also support 802.11b. This is good for users who travel from network to network, since 802.11b is still the most commonly available type of wireless networking. However, having a user with an 802.11b card in an 802.11g network slows the maximum speed of all the wireless network's users to the 11 Mbps 802.11b standard