Eight Telecom discussion thread

[mosmos]

I was setting up Singpass on my mum’s new phone.
At one point, I was asked to enter an OTP, but I did not receive it.
I pressed re-send OTP, but I still did not receive it.
However, about six minutes later, both OTPs arrived.
There was a significant delay in response from Eight Telco, which is my first unpleasant experience with them.

No delays for my otp, came immediately, maybe you have juz port over? Or is it your phone issue?

 

[Cyborg]

No delays for my otp, came immediately, maybe you have juz port over? Or is it your phone issue?

Since I eventually received the OTP (6 minutes later), it's not a phone issue.
I have been with Eight for over a year, so I can confirm there was a temporary delay by Eight.

 

[carrote]

Signed up for SIMBA on Sun 10 May for the port-in 2 free months promo. On Thu 14 May SIMBA said Eight rejected port out due to “inactive line”. Resubmitted same day, until today still haven’t ported out successfully.

SIMBA port-in promotion requires the port in to complete by 15 May 2359hrs… guess Eight won’t compensate me for their incompetence, $20 gone down the drain

 

[neptunesea]

Signed up for SIMBA on Sun 10 May for the port-in 2 free months promo. On Thu 14 May SIMBA said Eight rejected port out due to “inactive line”. Resubmitted same day, until today still haven’t ported out successfully.

SIMBA port-in promotion requires the port in to complete by 15 May 2359hrs… guess Eight won’t compensate me for their incompetence, $20 gone down the drain

was your eight line really inactive on 14th may? when was your eight plan supposed to expire?

 

[BBCWatcher]

Since I eventually received the OTP (6 minutes later), it's not a phone issue.
I have been with Eight for over a year, so I can confirm there was a temporary delay by Eight.

You can confirm there was a temporary delay, but you cannot confirm that the temporary delay was by Eight/StarHub. It's very possible the temporary SMS delay was upstream of Eight. The bank and the bank's SMS service provider(*) are possible culprits. The mobile network can only forward what it has actually received.

If the delay is a specific peculiarity due to a tower- or cellular-specific issue, you may be able to avoid the delay by enabling Wi-Fi Calling (VoWiFi).

(*) For example, SMS service providers often have message quotas that are limited to X messages per minute. If the bank has contracted for a too low service volume, the messages can back up or never arrive. These problems are more common than you might think, even among supposedly "excellent" banks.

 

[carrote]

was your eight line really inactive on 14th may? when was your eight plan supposed to expire?

No it is active and expires in June. Eight support can only give me a template answer and “escalate the matter to the relevant team”

 

[Habrosus]

No it is active and expires in June. Eight support can only give me a template answer and “escalate the matter to the relevant team”

If you still want to port out, I'd advise you to approach a service centre (from my recent visits) either Clementi or maybe Lucky Plaza. Forget about waiting for email reply nor their Punggol centre that'll only put you to video call for someone to pass message to backend for yet another wait.

 

[carrote]

If you still want to port out, I'd advise you to approach a service centre (from my recent visits) either Clementi or maybe Lucky Plaza. Forget about waiting for email reply nor their Punggol centre that'll only put you to video call for someone to pass message to backend for yet another wait.

There’s no point since the SIMBA port in promotion has already lapsed due to Eight’s issues. Eight service center isn’t open on weekends either. Also I need to maintain the SIMBA line for at least a month or have to pay a $30 fee.

Meanwhile my other line port in from SIMBA to Singtel Hi went smoothly within 1 night. I will definitely submit a complaint to IMDA about this. Can you imagine if Eight can get away with this? They’d hold your line hostage and force you to renew your plan just to earn extra profits.

 

[Cyborg]

You can confirm there was a temporary delay, but you cannot confirm that the temporary delay was by Eight/StarHub. It's very possible the temporary SMS delay was upstream of Eight. The bank and the bank's SMS service provider(*) are possible culprits. The mobile network can only forward what it has actually received.

If the delay is a specific peculiarity due to a tower- or cellular-specific issue, you may be able to avoid the delay by enabling Wi-Fi Calling (VoWiFi).

(*) For example, SMS service providers often have message quotas that are limited to X messages per minute. If the bank has contracted for a too low service volume, the messages can back up or never arrive. These problems are more common than you might think, even among supposedly "excellent" banks.

Just for your info, I was actually dealing with the SingPass Helpdesk, not the bank, regarding the re-registration of my SingPass.

The CSO confirmed that the OTP had already been sent out twice from their end and asked me to check with my service provider.

As I mentioned earlier, both OTPs were received 6 minutes late. I then quickly requested a new OTP, and this time, it came through instantly.

Thanks for your suggestion to enable Wi-Fi Calling (VoWIFI).

 

[BBCWatcher]

Just for your info, I was actually dealing with the SingPass Helpdesk, not the bank, regarding the re-registration of my SingPass.

The CSO confirmed that the OTP had already been sent out twice from their end and asked me to check with my service provider.

OK, SingPass then.

"Their end" extends as far as their SMS service provider which might not be (probably isn't) StarHub itself. If SingPass's SMS service provider delayed transmission of the message, the Customer Service Officer wouldn't necessarily know that.

As an analogy, when you mail a letter to France you may be able to determine that the letter was, in fact, dropped into a Singpost box at a specific time. And you can even ask the prospective recipient to check with La Poste (the French postal service) whether there's some problem on their end. But that doesn't necessarily mean La Poste delayed delivery. It's still possible for the actual delivery problem to lie with Singpost — or with an intermediary.

As I mentioned earlier, both OTPs were received 6 minutes late. I then quickly requested a new OTP, and this time, it came through instantly.

Yes, and that could still be due to a delay at the SMS service provider. Eight/StarHub could have executed perfectly.

It's also conceivable that your device had a temporary issue, although I'd say that's less likely.

 

[Cyborg]

OK, SingPass then.

"Their end" extends as far as their SMS service provider which might not be (probably isn't) StarHub itself. If SingPass's SMS service provider delayed transmission of the message, the Customer Service Officer wouldn't necessarily know that.

The CSO put me on hold for a quite a while, then came back to confirm that the OTP had already been sent out.

As an analogy, when you mail a letter to France you may be able to determine that the letter was, in fact, dropped into a Singpost box at a specific time. And you can even ask the prospective recipient to check with La Poste (the French postal service) when there's some problem on their end. But that doesn't mean La Poste delayed delivery. It's still possible for the actual delivery problem to lie with Singpost — or with an intermediary.

Yes, and that could still be due to a delay at the SMS service provider. Eight/StarHub could have executed perfectly.

It's also conceivable that your device had a temporary issue, although I'd say that's less likely.

Whatever the case, delays in receiving OTPs have existed.

 

[BBCWatcher]

The CSO put me on hold for a quite a while, then came back to confirm that the OTP had already been sent out.

Yes, we presume the CSO had meaningful and accurate information about whether the message(s) left SingPass's systems in timely fashion on their way to your phone. That's a presumption, not a guarantee, but let's assume that much is factually correct. SingPass most probably does business with an intermediate SMS service provider not named StarHub. What happened at the intermediate(s), we don't know.

Whatever the case, delays in receiving OTPs have existed.

Sure, SMS text messages are sometimes delayed, sometimes never delivered. For a variety of reasons. It's a fairly unreliable way to deliver a message. That's why SingPass is sensible enough to avoid routinely using SMS. That's why most hospitals never relied exclusively on SMS to summon doctors to emergencies as another example.

I haven't found any non-anecdotal data evaluating whether Eight (and StarHub) are more or less reliable than other carriers when it comes to SMS text message delivery timeliness and reliability. I'd love to find such data.

 

[Cyborg]

Yes, we presume the CSO had meaningful and accurate information about whether the message(s) left SingPass's systems on their way to your phone. That's a presumption, not a guarantee, but let's assume that much is factually correct. SingPass most probably does business with an intermediate SMS service provider not named StarHub. What happened there, we don't know.

Sure, SMS text messages are sometimes delayed, sometimes never delivered. For a variety of reasons. It's a fairly unreliable way to deliver a message. That's why SingPass is sensible enough to avoid routinely using SMS.

I haven't found any non-anecdotal data evaluating whether Eight (and StarHub) are more or less reliable than other carriers when it comes to SMS text message delivery timeliness and reliability. I'd love to find such data.

Well, I’ve already said my piece. I'll end my response here since I’ve already gotten my Singpass up and running. Have a good day.

 

[007Mi6]

Eight sometimes if you put on airplane mode, it would have zero signal and recovered only after 1 min or so.

Never had this issue with Vivifi.

 

[hereiam7788]

Eight sometimes if you put on airplane mode, it would have zero signal and recovered only after 1 min or so.

Never had this issue with Vivifi.

time for u to port to vivifi then...

 

[007Mi6]

time for u to port to vivifi then...

main line Eight
2nd line Vivifi
Backup line Maxx

 

[jennypenny]

Any of you face throttling speeds when roaming?

I’m on the 5G plan, but website loads super slowly in Bangkok and KL for me

any advise?

 

[chaiscool]

Any of you face throttling speeds when roaming?

I’m on the 5G plan, but website loads super slowly in Bangkok and KL for me

any advise?

Imo depend on your phone. Moi in siam bkk iphone lag cannot load page but android one can.

 

[jennypenny]

I am using iPhone 17 pro.

not sure if that helps

 

[Habrosus]

I am using iPhone 17 pro.

not sure if that helps

Won't it also depend on the partner network?