Internet broadband advice

[cemmm]

Hi there. I need some advice about getting home Internet for my newly rented room. I was wondering about the average speeds of the Internet Broadband dongle from the three service providers.

Or would it be more feasable if I just subscribed to a 2-year home broadband plan with the router and everything? If so, I would need access to a phone line and a phone connection point right?

Thanks!

[BillyB]

Much better to get a hard-line into your room if you are a heavy internet user. Mobile / dongle internet is notoriously slow and volatile and is affected by things such as the condo floor you are on etc. The actual speeds advertised are seldom reached, and are usually less than 1mb; making everything apart from sending emails very slow.

Starhub and Singtel have some some good offers on at present for internet plans.

[the lynx]

Whatever you do, avoid M1!

And BillyB is right regarding the bane of mobile broadband.

[cemmm]

Okay, thanks for the advice.

Another quick question. Would I need to have someone come in and sort out the phone cables and connection and everything if I did go ahead with the hard line option?

[Strong Eagle]

Okay, thanks for the advice.

Another quick question. Would I need to have someone come in and sort out the phone cables and connection and everything if I did go ahead with the hard line option?

Probably already has a phone line. Might also check to see if it has cable... if yes, get a Starhub cable plan.

[BillyB]

Okay, thanks for the advice.

Another quick question. Would I need to have someone come in and sort out the phone cables and connection and everything if I did go ahead with the hard line option?

If you already have a cable point in your room, then it's very simple to set-up. If not, you would need to get these installed.

[cemmm]

Wow, I was looking at the prices for Singtel and Starhub and they all require a $267 first drop fee, a $107 internet cabling fee and a $42 cable outlet fee because I am renting a room in a landed property. With these somewhat costly fees taken into consideration, would it still be worth it to get the hard line connection?

[Strong Eagle]

Wow, I was looking at the prices for Singtel and Starhub and they all require a $267 first drop fee, a $107 internet cabling fee and a $42 cable outlet fee because I am renting a room in a landed property. With these somewhat costly fees taken into consideration, would it still be worth it to get the hard line connection?

Chances are very high that the landed property already has cable installed. Is there a cable outlet in your room?

[zzm9980]

Just to throw out one more option, check out SuperInternet:
http://www.super.net.sg/

Their FAQs are very realistic about the speeds you can expect. All of the ISPs on the island use the same fiber network, so the difference is really just in who you pay every month, and the support you get.

If your landlord declined to have the Fiber termination point installed for free at the time it was rolled out to his area, then yes, you'll probably have to pay for it. Those figures sound right.

You can also see if he is "cable ready" as Strong Eagle said. But if upstream is important to you, cable is much slower than fiber.

[cemmm]

And by cable point, you mean the cable that connects to a TV for reception right? Something like this, right?

http://installittoday.com/store/images/1_plate.jpg

If so, then there isn't a cable outlet in my room per se, but there is one in the living room, which nobody ever uses, but I know is still working. Would I still need to fork out the $200++ connection fee?

Thanks!

[Strong Eagle]

And by cable point, you mean the cable that connects to a TV for reception right? Something like this, right?

http://installittoday.com/store/images/1_plate.jpg

If so, then there isn't a cable outlet in my room per se, but there is one in the living room, which nobody ever uses, but I know is still working. Would I still need to fork out the $200++ connection fee?

Thanks!

I doubt you would pay the connection fee, perhaps only the modem install fee, around $60, I think.

You would have a couple of options.

a) Figure out how to run the cable connection from the living room to your room... maybe easy, maybe not. You should check the outside of the house near the cable plate... often there are splitters put in... you might find a connection.

b) Install the cable modem, and run a hard wire Cat 5/6 cable to your room from the modem. Might be easier as you can get flat Cat 5 cable and it can be run through louvered windows quite easily.

c) Starhub cable modems also include a wireless router/access point. Just go wireless, assuming the signal strength is strong enough in your room.

Wireless would give everyone in the house connectivity... you'd be a star.