Starhub 1Gbps Fibre Review

[Kzhan00b]

Thanks for raising this, great point.

Worst case would be 2 of us running concurrent video calls, but i don't think large rooms or multiple participants sharing videos would happen.

None of us are teachers/students/occupations which requires us to share/observe video cams of participants so this should not be an issue. We can turn off our cam and/or disable incoming video feeds from all participants.

 

[firesong]

Thanks for raising this, great point.

Worst case would be 2 of us running concurrent video calls, but i don't think large rooms or multiple participants sharing videos would happen.

None of us are teachers/students/occupations which requires us to share/observe video cams of participants so this should not be an issue. We can turn off our cam and/or disable incoming video feeds from all participants.

No worries. Just thought to bring this up for consideration. It was a sore point during the **, though it was also because of poor coverage from their home wifi - people never used to bother until suddenly their lives revolved around a good stable home internet connection. Cos students/teachers don't usually have the luxury of turning off cameras. There are also some employers/team leads who don't allow their staff to hide behind the dp.

But yes, for the most part, save the $240 ($10/mo for 2y) and divert it to other household expenses. Just ensure you have good enough wireless coverage at home if it's needed. The days of one router/AP at home is long gone with the move to 5Ghz networks for speed, so one router is insufficient coverage for a small apartment.

 

[trenzterra]

I had mine changed recently as well. They would tell you that they could send someone down to get it checked out but if they find out that there is no issue, they would charge for the travelling and manpower fee. If there is an issue, they replace for free and don't charge you anything.

Kinda a double-edged sword considering my history of starhub equipment just working properly all of a sudden when the technician comes down.

The technicians starhub send down are outsourced and they get paid by starhub either way. So whether its spoilt or not, you can nego with the technician cause they don't get extra pay even if you paid them for the delivery.

I am just wondering... How long does it take for technician to come down? My ONT is already 5 years old. Still working fine, but scared one day it just dies, and this will be super disruptive cos everyone is WFH at the moment.

I am puzzled why there is no way to self install the ONT till today. When I first got my starhub fibre installed, the guy said he already configured the ONT outside my house, so actually he didn't even need to come in at all.

Is there any ISP that allows you to self install ont these days?I think Singtel allows right? Although I'll never choose Singtel until they fix ipv6 lol

 

[PinkGlory]

Just a quick question. For new subscribers, SH is giving 2 units of Smart Wifi. Is this the router or for wifi extension? Are these good enough?

 

[xiaofan]

Just a quick question. For new subscribers, SH is giving 2 units of Smart Wifi. Is this the router or for wifi extension? Are these good enough?

It is a low end AC1200 mesh solution. Resale value is about S$40 in Carousell for one unit.

If you believe in Starhub's claim, 2 units will cover 3-4 bedroom flats.
https://www.starhub.com/personal/broadband/routers/smart-wifi.html
On the other hand, based on the feedbacks here, it is a lousy router (single unit) and a lousy mesh solution (two units or more).

If you have LAN ports in the rooms, it might work with Ethernet backhaul. If you do not and need to use wireless backhaul, the performance will not be good.

 

[xiaofan]

I am just wondering... How long does it take for technician to come down? My ONT is already 5 years old. Still working fine, but scared one day it just dies, and this will be super disruptive cos everyone is WFH at the moment.

I am puzzled why there is no way to self install the ONT till today. When I first got my starhub fibre installed, the guy said he already configured the ONT outside my house, so actually he didn't even need to come in at all.

Is there any ISP that allows you to self install ont these days?I think Singtel allows right? Although I'll never choose Singtel until they fix ipv6 lol

Yes that is a good point. Singtel allows you to go to Serv+ to replace faulty ONT and collect new ones for installation.

As for how long it will take for Starhub to send some one to come down, I think it is pretty okay. I just called to replace the ONT (fibre cable entry point contact problem, ONT was issued in 2014) and they will send the technician down tomorrow afternoon. Let's see how it goes tomorrow.

 

[PinkGlory]

It is a low end AC1200 mesh solution. Resale value is about S$40 in Carousell for one unit.

If you believe in Starhub's claim, 2 units will cover 3-4 bedroom flats.
https://www.starhub.com/personal/broadband/routers/smart-wifi.html
On the other hand, based on the feedbacks here, it is a lousy router (single unit) and a lousy mesh solution (two units or more).

If you have LAN ports in the rooms, it might work with Ethernet backhaul. If you do not and need to use wireless backhaul, the performance will not be good.

Oh.. Cant be most of the subscribers all buying their own routers right I don't have LAN ports in the room. In your opinion, is Singtel even better? I am still undecided whether to switch coz currently my rooms are not getting strong reception. Old hdb with many thick walls. And just happen SH is having this 4 mths free promotion with Disney+ so I am considering.

 

[xiaofan]

Oh.. Cant be most of the subscribers all buying their own routers right I don't have LAN ports in the room. In your opinion, is Singtel even better? I am still undecided whether to switch coz currently my rooms are not getting strong reception. Old hdb with many thick walls. And just happen SH is having this 4 mths free promotion with Disney+ so I am considering.

Singtel is not better than Starhub as you will get ONR for new subscribers. Starhub is better for new subscribers as it use ONT and it has proper IPv6 support.

DO NOT decice the ISP based on the free given router.

If you make that decision based on the free router given, then just go to M1 as the free Asus RT-AX55 (or TP-Link Archer AX73) is the best among the big three.

 

[PinkGlory]

Singtel is not better than Starhub as you will get ONR for new subscribers. Starhub is better for new subscribers as it use ONT and it has proper IPv6 support.

DO NOT decice the ISP based on the free given router.

If you make that decision based on the free router given, then just go to M1 as the free Asus RT-AX55 (or TP-Link Archer AX73) is the best among the big three.

I am currently with Singtel, using ONT. They will change my router if I recontract coz it's the real old router. Not sure if they will replace my ONT with ONR though. I cant remember now. Do their current routers work with ONT? My current reception is really bad so not sure with the new router it will help much as compared to other routers provided by m1 and SH. For m1, is the asus one better than tp-link?

 

[xiaofan]

I am currently with Singtel, using ONT. They will change my router if I recontract coz it's the real old router. Not sure if they will replace my ONT with ONR though. I cant remember now. Do their current routers work with ONT? My current reception is really bad so not sure with the new router it will help much as compared to other routers provided by m1 and SH. For m1, is the asus one better than tp-link?

What is your current router?

If you recontract with SingTel, they will not change ONT to ONR. You will get a new router (SingTel Mesh Router AC1900 or SingTel Mesh Extender AC2600). Both are better than the previous free routers like the lousy SingTel AC Plus (worst router given by any ISPs since 2015). However they are still not very good if compared to Asus RT-AX55 or TP-Link Archer AX73. You can choose to buy Asus RT-AX86U from SingTel as that is one of the best WiFi 6 routers available in the market now.

You need to post your floor plan and router placement. It could well be that single router is not good enough (including the free M1 router, or even the Asus RT-AX86U router) and you may really need to buy more expensive triband mesh solution in order to have good wireless performance. Starhub does provide Linksys MX4200 which is pretty good triband mesh, if you choose to switch to Starhub and top up.

 

[xiaofan]

Starhub has its own speedtest site and usually it gives higher speed than Ookla SpeedTest site.
https://resi.speedtest.starhub.com/SG/1G
1) My 500Mbps plan wired speed results with the above site is as followed.
Ping Latency: 3 ms
Download Speed: 517.92 Mbps
Upload Speed: 509.76 Mbps

2) Wired speed using OOkla SpeedTest app

3) For Wireless the Starhub site does not seem to be good. So it is better to use OOkla SpeedTest app.
Wireless speed with Huawei AX3 Pro (AX3000) and my Acer Swift 3 laptop with Intel AX201 wireless adapter.

Waveform.com bufferbloat wired test results: Score A
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=178dcfb8-8c65-487a-a601-074a8df367a9
Latency:
Unloaded: 5 ms
Download Active: +2 ms
Upload Active: +8 ms

SPEED:
↓ Download: 495.5 Mbps
↑ Upload: 499.9 Mbps

4) From the test results, 500Mbps plan should be good enough for a typical household.

​

 

[xiaofan]

It is known that Starhub DNS may have some problems, so it is good to use 3rd party DNS servers like Google or Cloudflare.

If you use IPv6 with Starhub, make sure you also set up 3rd party IPv6 DNS servers.

I was a bit puzzled to find that DNSLeak.com shows I was still using Starhub DNS, after setting up IPv4 DNS servers to Google and Cloudflare. Once I set up IPv6 DNS and DNSLeak test passed without an issue.

 

[xiaofan]

The Starhub technician came and replaced the HG8240 ONT with a new one, still the same HG8240 ONT.

He needed to call the back end to activate the ONT. Then he did the speed test to confirm the activation is okay using the Starhub Speed Test site.

Edit to add:
Transportation charge applies at S$12.84 (GST included). I think that is a reasonable price. For service calls like this, if the fault is not from Starhub side, they may chage S$40.66 (GST included). So make sure you have done your study and you are sure the Starhub equipment is faulty.

They will send you the work order by email stating the charges after the work has been done.

 

[a4973]

Starhub has its own speedtest site and usually it gives higher speed than Ookla SpeedTest site.
https://resi.speedtest.starhub.com/SG/1G
1) My 500Mbps plan wired speed results with the above site is as followed.
Ping Latency: 3 ms
Download Speed: 517.92 Mbps
Upload Speed: 509.76 Mbps

2) Wired speed using OOkla SpeedTest app

3) For Wireless the Starhub site does not seem to be good. So it is better to use OOkla SpeedTest app.
Wireless speed with Huawei AX3 Pro (AX3000) and my Acer Swift 3 laptop with Intel AX201 wireless adapter.

Waveform.com bufferbloat wired test results: Score A
https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat?test-id=178dcfb8-8c65-487a-a601-074a8df367a9
Latency:
Unloaded: 5 ms
Download Active: +2 ms
Upload Active: +8 ms

SPEED:
↓ Download: 495.5 Mbps
↑ Upload: 499.9 Mbps

4) From the test results, 500Mbps plan should be good enough for a typical household.

​

Any reason why StarHub's own speed test site gives faster speed reading than ookla app? Are there real beneficial reasons or it's some backend tweak to inspire confidence with their customers?

 

[xiaofan]

Any reason why StarHub's own speed test site gives faster speed reading than ookla app? Are there real beneficial reasons or it's some backend tweak to inspire confidence with their customers?

I would not say that though. It is more a troubleshooting tool by Starhub for Starhub customers. And they may feel it is more consistent for their technicians to use their own tool for testing than to use Ookla which is a 3rd party.

Singtel has its own speedtest site as well. You can choose SIngapore or US test server in the Singtel case.
http://speed-portal.singnet.com.sg/US/1G?is_admin=true
Same for M1.
https://www.m1.com.sg/home-broadband/speed-test
I will just stick to Ookla as it has more servers for you to test and you can compare the results with users from other ISPs.

 

[xiaofan]

But if you look at the typical local internet download speed (wired), Starhub is indeed publishing higher numbers than Singtel and M1. And I believe this is true based on what I read in this forum.

M1 used to publish lower numbers but now they seem to publish higher number now, probably because they changed the measuring method.

Singtel used to publish higher number, not so sure if it is really true that it goes down to 800Mbps or they choose to publish lower number to deal with less customer complaints...

Starhub: https://www.starhub.com/personal/broadband/typical-broadband-speed-plans.html
500Mbps plan: 477.42Mbps – 496.78Mbps
1Gbps^ plan: 888.99Mbps – 957.05Mbps

M1: https://www.m1.com.sg/support/typical-speeds
500Mbps plan: 440.6 - 450.1Mbps
1Gbps plan: 879.0 - 902.9Mbps
GamePRO 1Gbps plan: 915.5 - 952.6Mbps

Singtel: https://www.singtel.com/personal/support/broadband/typical-download-speeds
1Gbps plan: 800.07Mbps – 972.59Mbps

In any case, this local Internet speed may not really matter. Viewquest is said to be the fastest but without stability it is no use.

Internation download speed may be more important.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/real-international-speed-tests.6405972/

 

[zkwonz]

If we change ISPs, there will need to be new fibre installation done?

 

[xiaofan]

If we change ISPs, there will need to be new fibre installation done?

No need to carry out fibre Installation. Each household will have two Fibre Termination Points (FTP) to accommodate two ISPs.

Rather you will get new ONT (or ONR for ISPs like SingTel). NLT needs to be involved to activate the second FTP. That is why the S$56.71 NLT charge will apply.

In general if you do not have issues try not change ISP.

Starhub is a good ISP. If you are on 1Gbps plan, try to negotiate with Starhub to get a good offer. Starhub usually has the best recontract offer for 1Gbps plan (two months to six months free, case by case).

If you are on 500Mbps, then just stay as there are no offers across all ISPs for 500Mbps plan.

 

[babywoolf]

Asus CSO say their router Xd6 does not work with Starhub.. from what I read so far, it should work with any router except for Starhub TV, you need to use their router. correct?

 

[xiaofan]

Asus CSO say their router Xd6 does not work with Starhub.


. from what I read so far, it should work with any router except for Starhub TV, you need to use their router. correct?

Correct. Only the Starhub TV+ Box FTA channels will need Starhub issues routers Nokia Beacon 1, Linksys EA7500 v2 or Linksys EA8100 v1.

If you do not have Starhub TV+ box, then Asus Zenwifi XD6 will work with Starhub Fibre Internet. I am using a Huawei AX3 Pro plus a pair of TP-Link Deco M4 with my Starhub 500Mbps plan.