Eight Telecom discussion thread

[mosmos]

Anyone compared eight 5g vs zym (or other singtel mvno) 5g along NEL (primarily upper half stretch… sengkang/hougang to Serangoon)? Able to have a sensing which one better?

Also, if any, circle line somewhere btwn serangoon and bishan, and red line somewhere between bishan and novena.

share us your experience after you've tested thanks

 

[weng]

share us your experience after you've tested thanks

I’m not on eight 5g, thats why looking out for feedback from other folks

 

[xiaofan]

I’m not on eight 5g, thats why looking out for feedback from other folks

Maybe you can share your experience on Zym so that other users can see your problems with Zym.

Most likely eight 5G will not be better.

Basically you have to lower the expectations when it comes to underground MRT tunnels for all the MVNO plans. Even the more expensive MNO plans may not be good enough.

 

[Mancunian2]

Anyone compared eight 5g vs zym (or other singtel mvno) 5g along NEL (primarily upper half stretch… sengkang/hougang to Serangoon)? Able to have a sensing which one better?

Also, if any, circle line somewhere btwn serangoon and bishan, and red line somewhere between bishan and novena.

when underground , you cannot expect good signals,
some carriers will be good for certain sections but no single telco is consistently good across all lines
for certain stretches above ground train lines, congestion can be pretty bad during peak hours

as an aside, I had good experience with simba on thomson line towards woodlands
I got smooth 70-80 mbps throughout 7 pm peak hours, but that was 1 year+ ago and I no long use Simba

 

[chaiscool]

when underground , you cannot expect good signals,
some carriers will be good for certain sections but no single telco is consistently good across all lines
for certain stretches above ground train lines, congestion can be pretty bad during peak hours

as an aside, I had good experience with simba on thomson line towards woodlands
I got smooth 70-80 mbps throughout 7 pm peak hours, but that was 1 year+ ago and I no long use Simba

Even 5G still cannot solve? Walao since 3G era moi was hoping next gen can solve it, been decades liao. Still hoping 6G can solve underground signal.

 

[twosix]

Even 5G still cannot solve? Walao since 3G era moi was hoping next gen can solve it, been decades liao. Still hoping 6G can solve underground signal.

Need higher and higher frequencies for faster signals. Underground so many walls, high frequencies are useless.

Nobody will install repeaters every 50m with subscribers paying $15/mth.

 

[xiaofan]

Even 5G still cannot solve? Walao since 3G era moi was hoping next gen can solve it, been decades liao. Still hoping 6G can solve underground signal.

Nothing to do with 4G/5G/6G, if LTA does not help out, the telcos cannot do anything about it.

I have put this FAQ in the following thread.

⚡️ README First! How to Select Low Cost SIM Only Plans in Singapore?
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...ly-plans-in-singapore.7167328/#post-157730133
++++++++++++++++
Why it is difficult to get good connections in underground MRT tunnels/stations, especially for EWL/NSL Underground MRT tunnels/stations near the CBD areas?

This is among one of the top FAQs in this forum section.

Discussions in Singtel SIM Only thread.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/official-singtel-sim-only-plans.6588991/page-148

The following seems to be a good one.

It even answers why my wife and I got good signals on the Circle Line with the SingTel S$15.28 plan.

So LTA is part of the problem and Mr Seow can not run away from the issue along with Ms Teo.



******

1. The Distributed Antenna System in the train tunnels and stations, as I'm told, is maintained by LTA and not the telcos themselves. The telcos just hook up their baseband units to it. It's probably not that easy to get new antennas and base stations installed without significant cost and administrative overhead. The only deviation I know of is Singtel, who has their own 5G micro-cells within the Circle Line stations (and not in the tunnels as far as I know).
2. There's no point to "over-cater" infra and bandwidth to support peak hours which only last between 7:30 am - 9:30 am and 6 to 8 pm. After all, how long are you going to stay on the train anyway? Mobile connectivity works pretty well outside those hours.
3. Spectrum is finite. Each telco only has so much MHz of spectrum they can use. Each connected device demands either a certain amount of frequency (FDD) or a certain amount of time (TDD) to transmit and/or receive. Don't forget protocol overheads when switching between cells (happens quite a bit since you're moving so quickly). And if you have more cells, you're more likely to run into things like co-channel interference (among other types of interference) since there's only so much spectrum to split amongst the cells.
4. Each train can contain 1.6k passengers (on the 6 car trains). During peak hours, it's probably statistically possible to have >3.2k transmitting radios in the range of 1 cell (assuming one train each in opposite directions). Nowadays, it's also possible that each passenger has more than 1 phone, so that number could be much higher in real life.

If it's urgent, just make a normal phone call (and not a call on an OTT app such as Telegram or WhatsApp). PSTN/VoLTE phone calls will always work regardless of congestion, because phone calls have a higher priority as compared to data traffic. The cell will drop data traffic in favor of VoLTE call traffic during periods of congestion.

From the above Reddit as well, from a former insider.

*****
too much to explain here. will try to share bit of details

1. Every phone hook up to a cell access point or station. the cone thingy you notice at the station or underground. all this CAS connect to one mobile cell station at the CE room. imagine how much load can it handle when 200 to 300 on going user swarm the station. there are too many overlapping cell around. it all depends on your mobile phone modem to "decide" which cell is the strongest to lock on via VSSI and +5db to -40db.
2. Station operated by operator. Telco infra installed by telco. works need to be approved by LTA and operator (SMRT, SBST).
3. In the tunnel. how you get the network connectivity is via the Leaky cable installed along side the tunnel. you can see those black thick cable. each cable carries multiple frequency spectrum thru the tunnel for mobile cell connectivity and public safety coommunication (SPF and SCDF).

Try to illustrate. for sample

Woodleigh to Serangoon is 10km apart. Serangoon to Kovan is 10km apart. Woodleigh cell will last until 5km between woodleigh and serangoon. moving from woodleigh to serangoon. when the train, mobile phone or walkie reach that point. the RSSI will drop -5db and lock on to the next cell which is Serangoon. you will get 42db something like that.

so imagine every morning 7 to 8am. full peak hour. the entire telecom there is overloaded. bandwidth will be starved.

4. Telecom communication equipment are sensitive equipment that must not interfere with trainborne signnaling equipment. so most of the equipment are EMI shield. thats explains why some places in the underground station has no reception. there is a reason for that.

Summary. in singapore, our network cell coverage is very good underground. if you cannot get a decent data connection. just put your phone down and enjoy the peak hour. Please try london tube. by the time i walk down to platform level at picadilly station, there is no network coverage. most of the London Tube has no network coverage.

so for this, i sincerely appreciate the coverage and my former colleagues for maintaining the cellular coverage for underground stations.

Sign off
Raccoon!

 

[chaiscool]

Need higher and higher frequencies for faster signals. Underground so many walls, high frequencies are useless.

Nobody will install repeaters every 50m with subscribers paying $15/mth.

Since last time even when subscribers pay $100+ also signal lousy leh.

 

[chaiscool]

Nothing to do with 4G/5G/6G, if LTA does not help out, the telcos cannot do anything about it.

I have put this FAQ in the following thread.

⚡️ README First! How to Select Low Cost SIM Only Plans in Singapore?
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...ly-plans-in-singapore.7167328/#post-157730133
++++++++++++++++
Why it is difficult to get good connections in underground MRT tunnels/stations, especially for EWL/NSL Underground MRT tunnels/stations near the CBD areas?

This is among one of the top FAQs in this forum section.

Discussions in Singtel SIM Only thread.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/official-singtel-sim-only-plans.6588991/page-148

So if they want to solve they can do it and it's not about 4g/5g. Too bad those ppl don't take train so they don't see the issue. If only lta boss take train sia.

 

[xiaofan]

So if they want to solve they can do it and it's not about 4g/5g. Too bad those ppl don't take train so they don't see the issue. If only lta boss take train sia.

Let's see if the other ministers/MPs can help out.
https://www.8days.sg/entertainment/local/singapore-ministers-public-transport-857311

 

[Jitter]

Most prefer eight 5g or m1 maxx 5g?

 

[xiaofan]

Most prefer eight 5g or m1 maxx 5g?

None of the above?

IMHO I will not use either one as my main line.

But if I need to choose one of them as my secondary line, eight 5G or even eight 4G will be my choice due to the free roaming voice support.

My current lines:
1) SingTel S$15.28 plan as main line.

2) Starhub Prepaid S 5G plan as backup line (Happy Prepaid Card migration offer at S$3 per month). This is also for number retention as this was my previous main number before 2013.

3) eight S$8 4G line shared with my wife for roaming (S$88 one or one top-up offer, effective price at S$4 per month)

4) M1 Maxx Zero Dollar per month base plan (will terminate if they start to charge for base plan). Paid S$12 one time charges for the 5G plan.

5) Zym S$10.1 4G line with free 5G trial, only for testing, will terminate by end of this month or port out to other testing line. Paid S$15.6 one time charges and got one month (May 2026) free offer.

 

[xiaofan]

eight 5G versus Maxx 5G

If you have coverage problems with eight 5G, you will have the same problem with Maxx 5G, as both share the same 5G Infrastructure (Antina, joint venture of StarHub and M1).

When there is no 5G coverage, then pick your poison.
1) M1 4G network coverage is not as good as StarHub 4G network, but less congested.
2) StarHub 4G network coverage is much better than M1 4G network, but much more congested.

StarHub (and its subbrands and MVNOs) and M1 (and its subbrands and MVNOs) use the same shared physical 5G network in Singapore: Antina's. There shouldn't be any 5G coverage differences across StarHub and M1 in the same locations with the same devices. Throughput may vary depending on the operators' respective network management, prioritization, and demand patterns.

 

[keenklee]

I’m not on eight 5g, thats why looking out for feedback from other folks

IMHO.
My irks about eight 5g, it likes to switch to 4G.

 

[Prinsloo]

Tested at Novena, 800mbps.

 

[neptunesea]

Topped up $28 at the smarthome show but didn't get the bonus $10 yet. Emailed them no reply...

 

[amazingone]

Topped up $28 at the smarthome show but didn't get the bonus $10 yet. Emailed them no reply...

they mentioned it takes 7 working days to credit the bonus $10 credit

 

[Habrosus]

But this is NSA, Got SA results?

My dual SIM 12PM cannot force 5G.

My Eight 5G speed test result above is from the $10.80 plan.

Will try with my dual SIM 13PM tomorrow.

 

[Habrosus]

Above from Central indoor

 

[jonapple88]

Looks better than your previous test using ip12, isnt it?