Due to changing work trends and a general adoption of working from home (WFH) arrangements, having a good home broadband plan has gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have for many households.
When it comes to deciding the best home broadband plan, there are 7 main internet service providers in the market to consider.
No
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
1
M1
2
MyRepublic
3
SingTel
4
StarHub
5
ViewQwest
6
WhizComms
7
Simba
When applying for a home broadband service, there may be additional fees that we incur, outside of our monthly subscription. A few main ones include:
NLT Service Activation Fee: We have to pay $61.04 for the NetLink Trust (NLT) Service Activation fee for every new fibre port activation. This is typically for new customers or customers who moved homes, as it applies for every new activation. Customers who re-contract (from the same address) should not have to pay this fee.
Termination Point Installation Fee: For homes that do not already have a termination point, we will have to fork out an additional sum for NetLink Trust to carry out this one-time installation work. For HDB and private high-rise apartments, this is charged at $182.03, while for landed properties, it is $333.54. Again, this typically only applies to someone who has moved recently as we very likely already have home internet broadband.
Relocation, repair and replacement & removal charge: For homes that require additional work due to changing the location of a point or maintenance, there is a $184.21 fee and $336.81 for HDB and landed properties respectively.
Additional Fibre Cable Run: For homes that might have peculiarly installed connection points, an additional installation of fibre cable might be required. Do note that there is an added $1.09 per additional 5 metre-block beyond 15m for buildings fitted with end-to-end NetLink Trust’s fibre infrastructure and $1.09 per additional 5 metre-block beyond 25m for buildings fitted with building owner/building developer’s network
When choosing which home broadband plan to subscribe to, we should also ask ourselves two simple questions:
Contract Duration: No-contract, 12-month contract or 24-month contract?
Maximum Speed: 500Mbps, 1Gbps, 2Gbps, or 10Gbps?
Read Also: What Are The Best SIM-Only Plans in Singapore (2024 Edition)
No-Contract Home Fibre Broadband Plans
Unlike the prevalence of no-contract mobile plans in Singapore, there aren’t as many no-contract options with home fibre broadband plans.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Fibre Broadband Plans (Monthly)
Additional Fees
MyRepublic
No Contract 3Gbps Broadband
$49.99
– $59.90 Service Installation Fee
– $49.05 cancellation fee (if you cancel within first 3 months)
– NOTE: $150 New Router Discount
MyRepublic is currently the only internet service provider that offers a no-contract plan at $49.99. With the plan, you also get a free home phone line for unlimited local calls and a $150 new router discount.
Who Should Get A No-Contract Home Broadband Plan?
If we do not want to get locked into the service provider for 12 or 24 months, especially if we expect to move homes or even out of Singapore soon, it could make sense to go with a no-contract plan. Once we get locked into a contract, cancellation charges are hefty and there is nothing we can do about it.
The main downsides are a monthly subscription, as well as having to pay for router and other installation charges (which are typically free for 12- or 24-month contracts).
12-Month Contract Home Fibre Broadband Plans
While a 24-month home broadband plan is most common, there are several internet service providers that offer a shorter 12-month home fibre broadband plan.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Fibre Broadband Plans (Monthly)
Additional Fees
>2Gbps
10Gbps
WhizComms
$26.00 (No Frills Plan)
$29.90 (No Frills Plan)
– $54.50 WhizComms Installation Fee
– Note: No router included
Simba
$29.99
· Free NLT service worth $61.04
· Free one time ONT and onsite installation worth $118
· You will be charged for the remaining monthly of the 12-month contract for early cancellation
Best 12-Month Contract Home Broadband Plan
Only two internet service providers offer a 12-month home broadband plan. WhizComms and Simba both offer up up to 10 Gbps.
WhizComms has a slightly cheaper 2.5Gbps home broadband plan at $26.00. Both WhizComms and Simba offer similarly priced 10Gbps plans at $29.90 and $29.99 respectively.
It may be optimal to go with Simba as its 10 Gbps home broadband plan comes with free service activation and ONT, which can save you quite a bit in upfront costs.
Who Should Get A 12-Month Contract Plan?
12-month contracts offer a middle ground for those who don’t want to be locked into for 24 months, but yet want to enjoy a slightly better rate for the home broadband. However, not many internet service providers offer a 12-month plan.
12-month contract plans can be suitable for those who are living on rent. If we may cancel our subscription in the near term, either because of uncertainty in renting the same home or moving abroad, 12-month contracts would likely charge a lower early termination fee.
24-Month Contract Home Fibre Broadband Plans
This will be the most extensive comparison as all the internet service providers offer 24-month home fibre broadband plans at various speeds.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Fibre Broadband Plans (Monthly)
Additional Fees
1Gbps
2Gbps-5Gbps
10Gbps
M1
$36.90 (1Gbps)
$39.90 (2Gbps-Dual 1Gbps connections)
– Free ONT Activation Charge worth up to $123.41 for all time slots
MyRepublic
$37.99 (3Gbps No-Frills) / $56.99 (3Gbps Wi-Fi 7 Mesh 3Gbps)
$59.99 (HyperSpeed 10Gbps)/ $69.99 (HyperSpeed Mesh 10Gbps)
– $59.90 Service Installation Fee
– Free Termination Point
Installation (worth up to $182.03) for new customers
– Free home phone line with unlimited local calls
Singtel
$59.90 (2Gbps Enhanced) / $74.26 (2Gbps Mesh) / $89.64 (2Gbps Home Priority)
&
$95.90 (5Gbps Enhanced WiFi7) / $106.09 (5Gbps Enhanced Mesh)
$79 (10Gbps Mesh) / $139 (10Gbps Enhanced)
– Free registration worth $54.50 when sign up online
Starhub
$39.00 (2Gbps) / $45 (Ultraspeed 5Gbps
$69.95 (UltraSpeed)
– Free installation and consultation
– Free one-time delivery of device worth $59.95
ViewQwest
$45 (no router) / $50 (10 Gbps WiFi 6) / $60 (10 Gbps WiFi 7)
– Activation Fee consisting of admin fee and NLT activation fee worth $112.27 (waived for limited time)
– $269.97 Modem rental (free)
– $101.86 Delivery & onsite installation during business hours (waived)
Best 24-Month Contract Plan
The 24-month contract plans are less expensive than the 12-month contract plans. This tells us that internet service providers value longer-term customers.
M1 is the only provider that offers 1Gbps plans at $36.90per month.
For the 2Gbps speed, Starhub and M1 offer the cheapest plans at $39.00 and $39.90 respectively. However, if this is the range you want to go in, MyRepublic‘s no-frills 3Gbps plan is more affordable and faster at $37.99 per month.
Finally, if you want high-speed plans, you can choose between ViewQwest’s No Router plan at $45.00 (or Wi-Fi 6 router plan at $50.00) and MyRepublic’s 10Gbps HyperSpeed plan at $49.99.
Most normal people will not come anywhere close to utilising 10Gbps on their own in their average internet usage, but considering that this plan offers 5 times the bandwidth, families living in multi-generational households may want to seriously consider this plan over a 2Gbps or even 5Gbps plan, especially if your household consists of more than 10 active internet users/ devices.
Many of the providers also offer a wider range of plans than what we have listed. These are typically for those who want an add-on product, like television set or tablet. The main telcos may also offer bundle deals that include more comprehensive home entertainment packages.
Who Should Get A 24-Month Contract Plan?
Anyone who wants to subscribe to a home broadband plan should consider signing up for the 24-month contract plan. They offer the best value for money on their contracts, as well as waive certain installation service fees. 24-month contract plans are also frequently bundled with other services, devices and promotions that may offer more value if you are already intending to purchase the bundled services or devices separately.
For most people, the number of active internet users living in your household and connected devices will play a role in the type of home broadband plan you choose. This number should not change so easily, perhaps the only people who might have to pay attention are those who have adult children who may be moving out, in which case you already have an internet plan and it may be preferable to avoid recontracting so that you can downgrade without penalties when your children move out.
Is A “Gaming” Plan Worth It?
Most ISPs have a “Gaming” or “Gamer” version of their broadband plan which features ultra-low latency while charging anywhere between $10-20 more per month. For most other internet usage, you will not notice any difference, however, latency governs how quickly data packets are sent from your computer to the server, and if the latency gets too large, your gaming experience may be affected since your opponent has that few milliseconds of extra time to shoot you.
Most internet latency can be eliminated with the use of the right ethernet cables as well as a good router. For instance, WiFi adds a ton of latency because your data needs to be successfully beamed through the airwaves, so if you are trying to game on a WiFi network, or if you are not using a high-spec router, your latency is going to be higher than whatever latency advantage you might get from your ISP.
Given that regular home setups with non-“gamer” plans can be tuned to get a ping of 5ms or below, the extra $10-20 per month does seem like a rather steep price to pay for the latency upgrade. However, if your internet usage is based heavily on gaming and if you can feel the difference enough to regularly irritate you, that extra $10-20 might just be worth spending.
This article was last published on 28 October 2020 and updated with the latest prices.
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