Show your best and worst 5G and 4G Speed

[keenklee]

Nice, new record for 4G speed.

What is the phone used?

If you can, install NetMonitor app to show the signal strength and carrier aggregation details. Thanks.

Reference for CC. Your phone may support 3CC-CA for 4G LTE (usually only for 5G SA).

What is Carrier Aggregation and how it works on TP-Link LTE Gateway Routers/MiFi?
https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/614762

For TP-Link LTE Advanced devices, please refer to the following table:

Model	Archer MR600	Archer MR500	M7450	M7650
UE Category	Cat6	Cat6	Cat6	Cat11
Date Rate (Mbps)	DL: 300 UL: 50	DL: 300 UL: 50	DL: 300 UL: 50	DL: 600 UL: 50
CA	2CA	2CA	2CA	3CA

Note: 2CA or 3CA means it supports aggregating up to 2 or 3 carriers at most.

Carrier Aggregation explained
https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/101-carrier-aggregation-explained

IMHO.
Samsung A25 5G. I believe maybe faster if S25U.

Internet :-
The official specifications for the Samsung Galaxy A25 5G, which is powered by the Exynos 1280 processor
Yes, the Samsung Exynos 1280 processor supports 3CC-CA (3 Component Carrier Carrier Aggregation) and significantly more for 4G LTE.

P.S. The netmonitor, free i do.

 

[xiaofan]

P.S. The netmonitor, free i do.

Yes, try the free version first.

I am also using the free version now.

 

[xiaofan]

From what I read, most likely the phone is not using 3CC-CA for LTE as 3CC-CA is more for 5G network and many 5G networks do not support 3CC-CA yet.

My Poco X7 Pro is using Dimensity 8400 Ultra which does support 3CC-CA for 5G.
https://www.mediatek.com/tek-talk-blogs/top-specs-of-the-dimensity-8400

If not 3CC-CA, maybe it is higher LTE Category support when the signal is good. Not an expert here.

LTE Category:

Cat 1 (IoT): Basic, low-power. ~10 Mbps Downlink/5 Mbps Uplink. Good for sensors, asset trackers.
Cat 4 (Standard Broadband): Common for smartphones. ~150 Mbps Downlink/50 Mbps Uplink, 2x2 MIMO.
Cat 6 (Carrier Aggregation): Combines bands for speed. ~300 Mbps Downlink/50 Mbps Uplink, 2x2 MIMO.
Cat 12 (Advanced): Faster speeds, 4x4 MIMO. ~600 Mbps Downlink/150 Mbps Uplink.
Cat 16 & Above (Gigabit LTE): Uses 256-QAM, more MIMO. ~1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) Downlink/150 Mbps Uplink.

Key Factors by Category:

Speed: Higher category = higher peak speeds (e.g., Cat 4 vs. Cat 12).
Carrier Aggregation: Cat 6+ combines frequencies for more bandwidth.
MIMO: More antennas (e.g., 2x2 vs. 4x4) increase capacity.
Modulation (QAM): Higher QAM (like 256-QAM) sends more data per signal.

 

[xiaofan]

When signal is weak, SingTel 5G NSA speed is slower than CUniq 4G (StarHub 4G network) with better signal.

Poco X7 Pro

Singtel S$15.28 SIM Only Plan, 5G NSA

CUniq S$9.9 plan, 4G LTE

Same location, another Poco X7 Pro phone.

SIMBA S$12 plan, 4G LTE-A connection

Eight S$8 4G plan, 4G LTE connection

 

[Swayer]

When signal is weak, SingTel 5G NSA speed is slower than CUniq 4G (StarHub 4G network) with better signal.

Poco X7 Pro

Singtel S$15.28 SIM Only Plan, 5G NSA

CUniq S$9.9 plan, 4G LTE

Same location, another Poco X7 Pro phone.

SIMBA S$12 plan, 4G LTE-A connection

Eight S$8 4G plan, 4G LTE connection

That's really bad for Singtel 5G. I wonder if the signal will be better when 5G SA is fully up(5G NSA shutdown)?

 

[xiaofan]

That's really bad for Singtel 5G. I wonder if the signal will be better when 5G SA is fully up(5G NSA shutdown)?

It may improve along the way. Probably not because of 5G NSA shutdown, but because the focus will be on 5G network improvements (5G Radio Access network for coverage, 5G Core Network for capacity).

For the coverage, all depends on the location. This particular location has always been the weak location for me, no signal last time with Singtel 4G. Only with the deployment of 700 MHz band, I start to see SingTel 5G NSA connection here (still pretty weak).

Take note this is still not the worst. I still have no signals in the lift for both Singtel and M1 here (5G/4G). Starhub 4G network seems to be the most consistent in this particular location (west area).

 

[Swayer]

It may improve. Probably not because of 5G NSA shutdown, but because the focus will be on 5G.

It all depends on the location. This particular location has always been the weak location for me, no signal last time with Singtel 4G. Only with the deployment of 700 MHz band, I started to have signal here (still pretty weak).

Take note this is not in the lift. I still have no signals in the life for both Singtel and M1 here. Starhub 4G network seems to be the most consistent in this particular location (west area).

In the past(before 5G), 4G signal in my place(in NorthEast) was really weak for Starhub. Sometime I can only get E or H+. Even the Starhub engineer who came to my place to survey reported weak signal. The CSO told me they are not boosting the signal within the next 6months and still asked me to use my home broadband wifi to cover the shortfall. That made me jump ship to M1.

 

[jess_sy]

Singtel 5G SIM only $15.28

M1 5G SIM only

Eight 5G plan

All tested in the same location and same phone

 

[xiaofan]

This morning StarHub 4G speed is very fast, beating my own 4G speed record.

Poco X7 Pro
Jurong Point JP2 B1, in front of StarHub Shop.

1. Eight S$8 4G Plan:
360.77 Mbps download
28.32 Mbps upload
14 ms idle ping
https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/11307307507

2. CUniq S$9.9 4G Plan
333 Mbps download
48.68 Mbps upload
14 ms idle ping
https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/11307306500

 

[froztheart]

This morning StarHub 4G speed is very fast, beating my own 4G speed record.

Poco X7 Pro
Jurong Point JP2 B1, in front of StarHub Shop.

1. Eight S$8 4G Plan:
360.77 Mbps download
28.32 Mbps upload
14 ms idle ping
https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/11307307507

2. CUniq S$9.9 4G Plan
333 Mbps download
48.68 Mbps upload
14 ms idle ping
https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/11307306500

You hit the jackpot with Starhub's MVNOs.

 

[jess_sy]

Singtel 5G $15.28 SIM only

M1 SIM only

 

[xiaofan]

Updated Post #1 to reflect the later updates.

 

[xiaofan]

A few takeaway.

1) From the test results, other than SIMBA's "5G" network, Singtel/M1/Starhub 5G networks can all be very fast.

2) Cheaper plans like M1 Maxx 5G and Eight 5G can also get very fast speed, same for Singtel MVNOs' 5G NSA speed.

3) Often flagship phones like iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S series can get the top 5G SA/NSA speed.

4) For 4G speed, I have only seen one above 500Mbps speed from keenklee -- he got really fast speed from Singtel 4G network.

5) Challenges for SIMBA 5G plan users -- can it cross 300 Mbps?

6) Challenges for other 5G plan users -- can it cross 2Gbps?

7) Challenges for 4G plan users -- can it cross 600 Mbps?

 

[xiaofan]

SingTel SIM Only 5G versus Circles.Life 5G speed, both are very fast at home.

Using Poco X7 Pro phone.

SingTel SIM Only S$15.28 plan
https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/11323872528

Circles.Life free 5G trial
https://www.speedtest.net/result/a/11323871867

 

[KosmoKramer]

Zym $10.10 plan, 5G NSA

 

[xiaofan]

Zym 5G+ info
https://zym.sg/zym-mobile-5g/
https://zym.sg/faq/zym-5g/

3.How much faster is 5G+?

Here's a breakdown of what you can generally expect:

Standard 5G (typically low-band): Offers better coverage but speeds are often only moderately faster than 4G LTE, often ranging from 50 Mbps to 250 Mbps in real-world conditions.

5G+ (High-Speed Mid-band and mmWave): This is where you see the biggest speed jumps. 5G+ can offer speeds that are several times faster than standard 5G.

Reported speeds are often in the range of 300 Mbps to over 1 Gbps (Gigabit per second) for downloads.

 

[xiaofan]

Not so sure how to verify Singtel's claim that Singtel 5G+ Priority can be 4x speed, it may well be true during congested network situation. The top speed of 5G NSA network as of now is quite close to the 5G+ Priority top speed reported as per Post #1 in this thread.

 

[xiaofan]

5) Challenges for SIMBA 5G plan users -- can it cross 300 Mbps?

As of now, this is probably not possible if the following post is correct. The limit of 204 Mbps download may not be super accurate but you will not get much higher than 204 Mbps, so 300 Mbps is probably out of bound as of now for SIMBA.

SIMBA

SIMBA SuperRoam 12 $12/month
QCI 9 APN: tpg
AMBR: 204/204 (5G)

StarHub

MyRepublic 5G Essential Plan $15.95/month (only available in-app):
QCI 140 APN: shwap
AMBR: 4000/400 (5G)

MyRepublic 5G Flexi Plan $13.95/month (also only available in-app):
QCI 140 APN: shwap
AMBR: 4000/400 (5G)

MyRepublic 5G Prime Plan $12.95/month:
QCI 140 APN: shwap
AMBR: 4000/400 (5G)

eight 4G $8 Plan:
QCI 170 APN: shwap

giga 5G 300+300GB $18.33/month:
QCI 170 APN: giga


SingTel

CMLink 4G 30GB with 10GB China Roaming $10.90/month:
QCI 9 APN: e-ideas
AMBR: 1000/100 (4G)

GOMO 5G+ Asia Infinity $30.56/month (still 5G NSA only as of 28/9/2025):
QCI 9 APN: hicard
AMBR: 1000/150 (5G)

ZYM Mobile Roam SMART 5G $15/month
QCI 9 APN: e-ideas
AMBR: 2000/100 (5G)

M1

M1 Maxx $10 5G $10/month
QCI 9 APN: sunsurf
AMBR: 4200/4200 (5G)

SIMBA

SIMBA SuperRoam 12 $12/month
QCI 9 APN: tpg
AMBR: 204/204 (5G)

Tested on realme GT Neo5 SE (realmeUI 6.0, Android 15)

Updated with some new plans I've gotten to test and the AMBR (speed cap) values which I have gotten from Network Signal Guru. Format is Download/Upload in Mbps, and numbers differ between 4G and 5G for most plans. Keep in mind the limit is unlikely to affect true performance, as most are well above what our networks are capable of. The only ones that may present limits in speedtests are GOMO's 1000/150, ZYM's 2000/100 and SIMBA's 204/204, as each network is theoretically capable of higher downloads for GOMO and SIMBA, and higher uploads for ZYM.

 

[Swayer]

Not so sure how to verify Singtel's claim that Singtel 5G+ Priority can be 4x speed, it may well be true during congested network situation. The top speed of 5G NSA network as of now is quite close to the 5G+ Priority top speed reported as per Post #1 in this thread.

My recent speedtest I carried out on last Tuesday at Serangoon NEX Mall was as follows:

Singtel 5G SOP ($15.28/mth) - DL:552 , UL:70.6 on 5G SA using Sharp AQUOS R9 Pro
ZYM 5G RoamSmart - DL:708 , UL:100 on 5gNSA using Samsung S22 Ultra

Seems like MVNO plan on 5G NSA get better results. I've also conducted some other speedtest at other locations which ZYM has better result than Singtel. Could this due to the mobile phone used when I do the test?

 

[xiaofan]

My recent speedtest I carried out on last Tuesday at Serangoon NEX Mall was as follows:

Singtel 5G SOP ($15.28/mth) - DL:552 , UL:70.6 on 5G SA using Sharp AQUOS R9 Pro
ZYM 5G RoamSmart - DL:708 , UL:100 on 5gNSA using Samsung S22 Ultra

Seems like MVNO plan on 5G NSA get better results. I've also conducted some other speedtest at other locations which ZYM has better result than Singtel. Could this due to the mobile phone used when I do the test?

Yes, the phone plays a big part in the SpeedTest Results.