[Official]: Changi Mobile

[eriol125]

My data sometimes will just stop working even though I have full 4G signal and I have to toggle on/off airplane mode before it will work again. Anyone face similar problem? Any fix for this?

This is well known "airplane mode" issue with M1 and their MVNOs... but i havent encounter it for months liao..

 

[chinnian]

I have no issues with Changi Mobile. Btw, they also just updated their roaming plans with new destinations.

 

[firesong]

Have not encounter airplane mode under CM

What cause it? Could it be type of phone or usage patten?

The telco networks are location dependent. As long as you have decent coverage and are generally static in strong locations, you shouldn't have to toggle the Airplane mode (which is done so the phone is forced to disconnect and then reconnect to the cell towers). I've been in previous jobs where M1 users could not get reception at all while in the office - Beach Road, Waterloo. I've had Taxi/Grab driver friends complain about the reception on the roads around Changi Airport being subpar compared to the other 2 networks that caused them to miss jobs.

I'm hypothesising, based on Wi-Fi network designs (since the concepts are similar), that it somehow does not hand over properly between cell towers/stations. Perhaps because the towers are boosted too much so the handover is inefficient when users move around the island. By right, when the network is optimally designed, if the signal drops below an acceptable threshold, your phone should automatically roam to a new tower/cell. But if the tower signal is still strong, the phone will not roam efficiently. This can cause multiple problems because you may end up traveling beyond the efficient range of the tower and it could be more efficient to connect to a nearer tower but does not "release" from the old one as it is still allegedly strong enough. This affects device battery life too, because the device "return" signals require more power to be sent.

Have encountered it on many phones in my family: iPhone 7,8,XS,11, iPad Air 2 Cellular, Samsung S9+,S10+,S20+, A52s, Huawei Mate 10, Oppo A94, and the Google Pixel 4a. So it's not a phone manufacturer (software) or OS problem.

The battery life issue was most keenly felt in the Pixel 4a. When I switched from Changi Mobile to Vivifi (Singtel), I gained over 1h of SOT extra with the same kind of usage. My battery lasted longer despite being used for a few months with CM before. That's pretty significant and very noticeable when you're using the phone daily.

 

[firesong]

A point to add, if you check Cellmapper, there are much fewer M1 towers compared to Singtel and StarHub, so this reinforces the thought that the tower signals are boosted. Click around your regular areas and compare with the other telcos on LTE. You'll have a visual map of where the cellular towers are like, and what kind of coverage to expect. I have very poor M1 coverage in the 6-8 areas I frequent compared to ST and SH.

If you think about it, plans can also be cheaper if they invested less in infrastructure hardware and pay less bills overall (because of installing fewer towers/stations). Whereas those telcos that spend more to provide customers better coverage will of course need to charge more. Simply, you pay for what you get.

https://www.cellmapper.net/map
Edit: Just picked a place near where I used to work at, and it's right in town so it's not some obscure place that they can claim "I don't expect many users". This is near the very popular Waterloo Street temple. The screen captures speak for themselves.

StarHub:


Singtel:


M1:

 

[sullycoin]

FWIW, I'm almost at the end of my 3rd month on CM (I'm keeping track because I need to wait 3 months before I can port my line back to Zero1!), and the 'airplane mode' problem was particularly bad in month 1 (Apr-May). May-Jun was much better & in the last month (Jun-Jul) was airplane free, to the point that I'm wondering if it is worth the effort of porting back to Zero1 to save $1.30 a month. I'll give it another month, I suppose, to see how it goes & then decide.

BTW, this is my work phone & the places I use it are pretty much the same over the past 3 months (home, office, MRT in-between on the green & downtown lines). So unless M1 has been putting up a heck of a lot more cell towers recently, I'm not sure if it is something as simple as number of cell towers and coverage.

 

[firesong]

FWIW, I'm almost at the end of my 3rd month on CM (I'm keeping track because I need to wait 3 months before I can port my line back to Zero1!), and the 'airplane mode' problem was particularly bad in month 1 (Apr-May). May-Jun was much better & in the last month (Jun-Jul) was airplane free, to the point that I'm wondering if it is worth the effort of porting back to Zero1 to save $1.30 a month. I'll give it another month, I suppose, to see how it goes & then decide.

BTW, this is my work phone & the places I use it are pretty much the same over the past 3 months (home, office, MRT in-between on the green & downtown lines). So unless M1 has been putting up a heck of a lot more cell towers recently, I'm not sure if it is something as simple as number of cell towers and coverage.

It could also be reduced numbers of users as many appear to have ported out due to the bad network performance. I am one of them.

Missing client calls was too much. :/

I really wanted to like Changi and tried to stay with it even with slower network speeds. But when it started to affect work on two occasions, that was a step too far that resulted in me porting out immediately to Vivifi.

 

[xd3vilx]

I see. So mine issue is due to the famous airplane mode. Didn’t had issue with CL, so thought CM be the same. Time to port out, very irritating to keep having to toggle on/off.

 

[lohsenglte]

I see. So mine issue is due to the famous airplane mode. Didn’t had issue with CL, so thought CM be the same. Time to port out, very irritating to keep having to toggle on/off.

Switch back to CL?

 

[Rxgn]

Need to wait how long before we are to terminate the plan?

 

[crystalnox]

FWIW, I'm almost at the end of my 3rd month on CM (I'm keeping track because I need to wait 3 months before I can port my line back to Zero1!), and the 'airplane mode' problem was particularly bad in month 1 (Apr-May). May-Jun was much better & in the last month (Jun-Jul) was airplane free, to the point that I'm wondering if it is worth the effort of porting back to Zero1 to save $1.30 a month. I'll give it another month, I suppose, to see how it goes & then decide.

BTW, this is my work phone & the places I use it are pretty much the same over the past 3 months (home, office, MRT in-between on the green & downtown lines). So unless M1 has been putting up a heck of a lot more cell towers recently, I'm not sure if it is something as simple as number of cell towers and coverage.

May I know why you have to wait 3 months?

 

[lohsenglte]

May I know why you have to wait 3 months?

Zero1 requires 3 months before porting back in, else might need to pay extra.

 

[steven168z]

Zero1 requires 3 months before porting back in, else might need to pay extra.

oh. how they know.... normally is min before port out

 

[crystalnox]

Zero1 requires 3 months before porting back in, else might need to pay extra.

Wow that's an odd requirement, a company making you wait before giving money to them again.

 

[lohsenglte]

oh. how they know.... normally is min before port out

It's stated in the FAQ/TnC.

Wow that's an odd requirement, a company making you wait before giving money to them again.

Probably because people that does that is mainly for plan downgrades.

 

[steven168z]

Wow that's an odd requirement, a company making you wait before giving money to them again.

It's stated in the FAQ/TnC.


Probably because people that does that is mainly for plan downgrades.

then their system will be busy tracking useless data which is not their customer base wasting compute resource.

haha

 

[sullycoin]

Zero1 requires 3 months before porting back in, else might need to pay extra.

They didn't even give me the option to pay extra. Just a 'couldn't be done'...

Anyway, I am porting back to Zero1 Starter, just for that $1.10 saving per month. I have been quite happy with Changi for the last 3 months. The performance really has been quite good over the last 2 months. If it wasn't for RedOne's promo last month of $10 per month for 30GB, I would have shifted my children's lines to Changi Mobile.

 

[stellamin]

Horrible experience with this telco.

I signed up and paid for the rollover subscription on 26 March, and in April, no roll-over was reflected in my account. I message them on fb to enquire, they told me it will only take effect in May. But in mid April, I suddenly got complimentary data, talktime and sms as a form of compensation.

Then on 28 July, my recurring credit card has expired and I forgot to update the card. Yup, it's my fault. Was overseas, down with covid and recovering at a place with limited internet connectivity. I received an email at 12.05am on 28 July to inform me of payment failure and I immediately tried to pay at 10am on 28 July. By then, they have already suspended my line and I cannot connect to any telco and my line will be cut off if I do not pay by 29 July.

Very smart of them. To update and pay the bill, I had to add a new card and receive SMS OTP from my card-issuing bank. But they suspended my line and I can't receive any SMS. I messaged them on fb, no reply. I messaged them on Whatsapp, they say will escalate. Luckily I had a Youtrip card which does not require sms otp authentication, so I used that card to pay for the bill (base plan + rollover subscription) at 12.16pm, 28 July.

Then come 1 Aug, I notice there's no roll-over again. And I whatsapp to enquire and this is the email reply I received from the CSO.

Dear Valued Customer,

Greetings from Changi Recommends! Thank you for reaching out to us.

As per checking, due to late payment, your rollover was being forfeited. Please kindly ensure payment was made on time in future in order to avoid mobile disruption and rollover being forfeited.

Thank you!
Best Regards,
Normelyn
Customer Care Associate, Changi Recommends Contact Centre

The payment deduction date is 28th of the month. Payment failed via recurring payment. I paid manually on the same day (28th), so what they meant by "late payment". Forfeited? Is that their way of "punishing" customer? I did pay for the roll-over subscription. Even though it's late, it's late payment, not non-payment. So why are they denying the service? To me, it's as good as being scammed. Paid but was not given the service.

Their service is just appalling. Although the price is cheap, but I would rather pay more for more ethical business who employ people with brain.

 

[crystalnox]

Horrible experience with this telco.

I signed up and paid for the rollover subscription on 26 March, and in April, no roll-over was reflected in my account. I message them on fb to enquire, they told me it will only take effect in May. But in mid April, I suddenly got complimentary data, talktime and sms as a form of compensation.

Then on 28 July, my recurring credit card has expired and I forgot to update the card. Yup, it's my fault. Was overseas, down with covid and recovering at a place with limited internet connectivity. I received an email at 12.05am on 28 July to inform me of payment failure and I immediately tried to pay at 10am on 28 July. By then, they have already suspended my line and I cannot connect to any telco and my line will be cut off if I do not pay by 29 July.

Very smart of them. To update and pay the bill, I had to add a new card and receive SMS OTP from my card-issuing bank. But they suspended my line and I can't receive any SMS. I messaged them on fb, no reply. I messaged them on Whatsapp, they say will escalate. Luckily I had a Youtrip card which does not require sms otp authentication, so I used that card to pay for the bill (base plan + rollover subscription) at 12.16pm, 28 July.

Then come 1 Aug, I notice there's no roll-over again. And I whatsapp to enquire and this is the email reply I received from the CSO.

Dear Valued Customer,

Greetings from Changi Recommends! Thank you for reaching out to us.

As per checking, due to late payment, your rollover was being forfeited. Please kindly ensure payment was made on time in future in order to avoid mobile disruption and rollover being forfeited.

Thank you!
Best Regards,
Normelyn
Customer Care Associate, Changi Recommends Contact Centre

The payment deduction date is 28th of the month. Payment failed via recurring payment. I paid manually on the same day (28th), so what they meant by "late payment". Forfeited? Is that their way of "punishing" customer? I did pay for the roll-over subscription. Even though it's late, it's late payment, not non-payment. So why are they denying the service? To me, it's as good as being scammed. Paid but was not given the service.

Their service is just appalling. Although the price is cheap, but I would rather pay more for more ethical business who employ people with brain.

System sees a failed deduction and automatically assumes late payment, customer service not flexible and just follow a scripted procedure flow. Just port out la, no need to fume so much. Better MVNO plans launching every other month.

I can recommend Vivifi's customer service, a lot more flexible. But of course no where near as cheap as Changi.

 

[stellamin]

I ported in from Vivifi in March
Yeah will be porting out soon when I find a suitable one.

 

[AlvinDj]

Would like to ask if anyone knows, how many days minimum I have to stay in CM after porting in and before porting out? Can't seem to find anything relating to this in their FAQ..

I plan to do a M1 > CM > MyRepublic

Was wondering if I can port out like 1-2 days after CM's line successfully ported in from M1

Because I need a network provider with eSim + VoLTE Voice App for overseas use.. And MyRep dont have promos for M1 port-ins lol..