⚡️💻 [Official] README First! 2025 SG ISP Comparison & Latest Promo Deals! ✨

[xiaofan]

hi, m1 1gbps @ $40 ending liao.. better to recontract to their 1/2.5gbps plan and included be230? currently using 2 zenwifi CT8, current hardware will still work with new plan right? TIA

If you want to stay with M1, you may have to go with the recontract with 2.5Gbps plan to save a bit of money.
https://www.m1.com.sg/home-broadband

M1 1Gbps recontract is at S$40.65 per month, new sign-up is at S$35.90 per month.
M1 2.5Gbps recontract is at S$39.90 per month, cheaper than M1 1Gbps recontract.

Your ZenWiFi CT8 can still be used but not recommended since Asus has EOLed the product and no longer provdide security updates. So it becomes a security risk. Last FW update was on 26-July-2022.
https://www.asus.com/event/network/eol-product/
https://www.asus.com/sg/supportonly/asus zenwifi ac (ct8)/helpdesk_bios/

If M1 6Gbps plan is available in your area, it may be a better option to get the 6Gbps plan at S$59.90 per month with a pair of ZenWiFi BT10 (triband WiFi 7 router, BE18000, dual 10G ports) and then sell one or two units to get much lower effective pricing. It is a better router than Archer BE230 (dual band BE3600, dual 2.5G ports).

M1 6Gbps with a pair of ZenWiFi BT10 at S$59.90 per month:
Selling one unit of BT10 at S$400 --> effective price of M1 6Gbps with one BT10 at S$43.23 per month.
Selling two units of BT10 at S$800 total --> effective price at S$26.57 for no-frills 6Gbps plan.

You can also read the first page of this thread, if you want to consider other ISPs.

 

[RisingMelon]

If you want to stay with M1, you may have to go with the recontract with 2.5Gbps plan to save a bit of money.
https://www.m1.com.sg/home-broadband

M1 1Gbps recontract is at S$40.65 per month, new sign-up is at S$35.90 per month.
M1 2.5Gbps recontract is at S$39.90 per month, cheaper than M1 1Gbps recontract.

Your ZenWiFi CT8 can still be used but not recommended since Asus has EOLed the product and no longer provdide security updates. So it becomes a security risk. Last FW update was on 26-July-2022.
https://www.asus.com/event/network/eol-product/
https://www.asus.com/sg/supportonly/asus zenwifi ac (ct8)/helpdesk_bios/

If M1 6Gbps plan is available in your area, it may be a better option to get the 6Gbps plan at S$59.90 per month with a pair of ZenWiFi BT10 (triband WiFi 7 router, BE18000, dual 10G ports) and then sell one or two units to get much lower effective pricing. It is a better router than Archer BE230 (dual band BE3600, dual 2.5G ports).

M1 6Gbps with a pair of ZenWiFi BT10 at S$59.90 per month:
Selling one unit of BT10 at S$400 --> effective price of M1 6Gbps with one BT10 at S$43.23 per month.
Selling two units of BT10 at S$800 total --> effective price at S$26.57 for no-frills 6Gbps plan.

You can also read the first page of this thread, if you want to consider other ISPs.

really appreciate your write-up! if i get the M1 6gbps and sell 1 unit of BT10, is the coverage for a 4rm hdb good for 1 unit? currently running 20m ethernet cable as modem is in living room to connect to CT8 in room

 

[xiaofan]

really appreciate your write-up! if i get the M1 6gbps and sell 1 unit of BT10, is the coverage for a 4rm hdb good for 1 unit? currently running 20m ethernet cable as modem is in living room to connect to CT8 in room

Hard to say, all depends on the floor plan and placement.

You may have to post your floor plan and provide the details of the current ONT and location of the two ZenWiFi CT8 units, plus any LAN port locations in the rooms if any.

 

[RisingMelon]

Hard to say, all depends on the floor plan and placement.

You may have to post your floor plan and provide the details of the current ONT and location of the two ZenWiFi CT8 units, plus any LAN port locations in the rooms if any.

dropped by the M1 shop ystd and they told me address not supported above 3gbps yet and have to wait till june to be able to use their plan. I think i should go for the SH 5gbps ONT plan + HB710 if it is possible

 

[MuffinBoy]

@xiaofan I am looking to recontract my M1 1Gbps to their 6Gbps with a pair of ZenWiFi BT10. Do you think the setup will be sufficient to cover the full 4 room HDB flat? Floorplan below

 

[xiaofan]

@xiaofan I am looking to recontract my M1 1Gbps to their 6Gbps with a pair of ZenWiFi BT10. Do you think the setup will be sufficient to cover the full 4 room HDB flat? Floorplan below

Please provide the details of the FTP location (ONT location), LAN ports location in the rooms if any, and the intended location of the two Asus ZenWiFi BT10 units.

Placement is key, usually two units of ZenWiFi BT10 should be fine if placed properly.

BTW, please do not address the question directly to me next time -- such questions will be ignored.

 

[MuffinBoy]

Please provide the details of the FTP location (ONT location), LAN ports location in the rooms if any, and the intended location of the two Asus ZenWiFi BT10 units.

Placement is key, usually two units of ZenWiFi BT10 should be fine if placed properly.

BTW, please do not address the question directly to me next time -- such questions will be ignored.

Thanks for your help and apologies for addressing the question to you directly. Won't do it again next time. I am thinking of placing the BT10 units in the middle of the house. Not sure if that is the best location.

 

[tsammyc]

Thanks for your help and apologies for addressing the question to you directly. Won't do it again next time. I am thinking of placing the BT10 units in the middle of the house. Not sure if that is the best location.

If you are using wired backhaul I would use LAN2 and LAN5. If you need stronger kitchen coverage than switch LAN2 and LAN3

 

[xiaofan]

Thanks for your help and apologies for addressing the question to you directly. Won't do it again next time. I am thinking of placing the BT10 units in the middle of the house. Not sure if that is the best location.

Your plan may work but it is using wireless backhaul between the two Asus ZenWiFi BT10 units

If you need to use Ethernet backhaul, then the main ZenWiFi BT10 has to be put together with the ONT and the second ZenWiFi BT10 may be put in the Bedroom 2 (LAN4) or main bedroom (LAN5).

 

[eastmountain]

Hi all,
My M1 1Gbps plan is expiring in Feb. I'm considering switching over to Starhub's 5gbps plan but would like to seek advice on whether to go for ONR or ONT option; if choosing ONT will 1 TP-Link HB710 be sufficient or I will need 2.

House is typical 5room HDB at 110sqm.

I am currently using Asus ZenWiFi CT8 - placed in living and study room respectively (Labelled M on the floorplan). My DB box/modem is located at main door entrance beside the household shelter. While they have served me well, I understand from @xiaofan earlier posts that Asus has EOLed the product and hence not recommended to continue using.

All 3 bedrooms have ethernet ports enabled but I have relied on wireless backhaul so far.

My usage needs are average - Work/Netflix + Youtube between wife/myself/kids. No gaming.

Thanks in advance for all your advice. Much appreciated!

 

[xiaofan]

Hi all,
My M1 1Gbps plan is expiring in Feb. I'm considering switching over to Starhub's 5gbps plan but would like to seek advice on whether to go for ONR or ONT option; if choosing ONT will 1 TP-Link HB710 be sufficient or I will need 2.

House is typical 5room HDB at 110sqm.

I am currently using Asus ZenWiFi CT8 - placed in living and study room respectively (Labelled M on the floorplan). My DB box/modem is located at main door entrance beside the household shelter. While they have served me well, I understand from @xiaofan earlier posts that Asus has EOLed the product and hence not recommended to continue using.

All 3 bedrooms have ethernet ports enabled but I have relied on wireless backhaul so far.

My usage needs are average - Work/Netflix + Youtube between wife/myself/kids. No gaming.

Thanks in advance for all your advice. Much appreciated!

I do not think single HB710 is good enough, two units should be fine. The price of S$192 for HB710 is very reasonable.

Using Ethernet backhaul is better: main HB710 in the ONT area, second HB710 in Bedroom 2 (right M location).

But if your DB box blocks WiFi, then you can also consider wireless backhaul, using the same location as what you have now.

 

[eastmountain]

I do not think single HB710 is good enough, two units should be fine. The price of S$192 for HB710 is very reasonable.

Using Ethernet backhaul is better: main HB710 in the ONT area, second HB710 in Bedroom 2 (right M location).

But if your DB box blocks WiFi, then you can also consider wireless backhaul, using the same location as what you have now.

Thanks for your recommendation.

Do you reckon I can place a switch in the DB box/ONT and then my router in Bedroom 2? Using the single router to power the entire house? Not sure if that is feasible.

 

[xiaofan]

Thanks for your recommendation.

Do you reckon I can place a switch in the DB box/ONT and then my router in Bedroom 2? Using the single router to power the entire house? Not sure if that is feasible.

No, I do not think so. You have to have a router behind the ONT in general, not a switch.

But you can always start with single HB710 in Bedroom 2 to see how is the coverage.

ONT --> patch panel --> bedroom 2 LAN port --> HB710 (to see how it goes)

If not good then add one more HB710.

ONT --> main HB710 --> patch panel --> bedroom 2 LAN port --> second HB710 (Ethernet backhaul)

 

[waddahell]

Thanks for all the help xiaofan! You're awesome.
FYI, i've checked with Starhub with the sales rep, NLT charge is free for new sign up.

Does anyone know if above is still true?

 

[sglandscape]

Does anyone know if above is still true?

Why wouldn't it be?

 

[xiaofan]

It is interesting that M1 has reduced the 1Gbps plan to users to S$29.90 per month (not for existing users).
This may be a good option for those new users who want to have a low cost plan without upgrading the existing 1Gbps networking gears. M1's digital voice is also free for those who need digital voice.

https://shop.m1.com.sg/fbb/plans-bundles/fbb-plan?plan=HOMEPAC_1GBPS_24

Edit --> looks like a temp promotion for new users --> back to S$35.90 per month for new users now.

 

[bazingaman]

Now 35.90 :|

 

[dpsk3000]

it seems that Simba and whoever using CGNAT cannot be used for peer-to-peer application such as torrent. is that true?

 

[xiaofan]

it seems that Simba and whoever using CGNAT cannot be used for peer-to-peer application such as torrent. is that true?

No, that is not correct as per the reports in this forum.

You can ask in the SIMBA thread or MR/VQ thread about the experiences of using Torrent. I am not using torrent myself (other than for testing purpose of downloading Linux ISOs).

CGNAT does have its issues --> so if you can avoid it, try to avoid it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier-grade_NAT

If you read the first page of this thread, you can see that there are better plans than SIMBA 10Gbps. For example, IMHO Starhub 5Gbps offer at S$29.55 per month is a better option than SIMBA 10Gbps.

Main reasons why I do not recommend SIMBA:
1) Lack of support is the main reason that I can not recommend SIMBA to average users as of now.
2) Power users know their use cases well -- so it is usually not an issue to go with their choice of ISPs. But I would not recommend power users to go for SIMBA either because of CGNAT (without static IPv4 add-on).

 

[firesong]

No, that is not correct as per the reports in this forum.

You can ask in the SIMBA thread or MR/VQ thread about the experiences of using Torrent. I am not using torrent myself (other than for testing purpose of downloading Linux ISOs).

CGNAT does have its issues --> so if you can avoid it, try to avoid it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier-grade_NAT

If you read the first page of this thread, you can see that there are better plans than SIMBA 10Gbps. For example, IMHO Starhub 5Gbps offer at S$29.55 per month is a better option than SIMBA 10Gbps.

Main reasons why I do not recommend SIMBA:
1) Lack of support is the main reason that I can not recommend SIMBA to average users as of now.
2) Power users know their use cases well -- so it is usually not an issue to go with their choice of ISPs. But I would not recommend power users to go for SIMBA either because of CGNAT (without static IPv4 add-on).

You're not fully correct to say he's incorrect. Some users' anecdotal evidence does not mean it's working the way it does - it could simply because the user is the gross minority SIMBA broadband on the eaxct same service so they don't experience issues, but it doesn't mean that the problem will go away. It depends on too many factors, but in short yes fully agree that CGNAT is a bad idea for home broadband.

There are also possibilities where endpoints enforce IP address checking/verification, and will kick out multiple connections from the same IP address. Many game servers do this, and there are others like Google themselves that throw up the CAPTCHAs cos there are too many connections from the same IP address. This we also experience on Eight mobile and some other mobile telcos.

A router behind CGNAT also means it's a double-NAT connection that one cannot run away from. And this will bring with it all the issues of double-NAT, including performance related issues.

Even APNIC makes it clear that IPv6 is the way to go. It's not perfect only because there are servers/services out there that are still not on IPv6, but it works perfectly if both endpoints are. Problem, Singapore has one of the poorest adoptions of IPv6
https://blog.apnic.net/2022/05/03/how-nat-traversal-works-concerning-cgnats/



https://sbr.com.sg/information-technology/more-news/asian-companies-have-%E2%80%98head-in-sand%E2%80%99-in-ipv6-adoption

What helps is that many clients have pivoted to a client-server paradigm. However, that doesn't mean that they will tolerate multiple hits from the exact same IP address to the server - at some point, DDoS mechanisms will kick in on firewalls. If one looks at network traffic, one will realise that we don't only have one connection to each server, but often make multiple connections/hits as we work with servers. Multiple the multiple hits by the multiple users, and it's likely to be picked up by firewall rules and blocked.