Surfing on StarHub's mobile broadband

Darius Chang | Jun 19, 2009

The user interface for Starhub prepaid braodband on Mac OS X.
(Screenshot: John Chan/CNET Asia)

For tech journalists, CommunicAsia in Singapore is one of the biggest events in June (next to the Computex Taipei). For such events, we are always on the go, whether to scout the halls for the latest and weirdest tech gadgets, or attending announcements where big-name vendors announce their services and products. Some companies even hold their separate events at various locations in the country. Getting news out with such a hectic schedule can be impossible if we depend on wireless hotspots at CommunicAsia, so we gave StarHub's new prepaid mobile broadband and HSPA+ a go to see if it helps in our work.

StarHub's prepaid mobile broadband plans are SIM cards with stored value that allows the user to hook up to the Internet with speeds of up to 7.2Mbps. The HSPA+ is a new service currently on trial that can reach speeds of up to 21Mbps. I used the HSPA+ network during my coverage of the show and came away quite impressed with the speed. Downloading high-resolution images and videos were very quick on this network, and streaming sites performed without a hitch. I used the mobile broadband service in a cab while traveling to the event and was quite surprised that the network transitioned seamlessly between cell phone towers. Even in blackout areas along the highway I was able to reconnect automatically and my downloads were not affected due to the short downtime.

Two other CNET journalists tried out the 7.2Mbps prepaid service and here are their experiences.

John Chan
Assistant editor

StarHub's MaxMobile modem is also plug-and-play compatible with OS X and I gave it a go to find out how different the experience will be. After plugging it in and installing the necessary software, you see the following interface, which is largely similar to what you see on Windows. That is, except for the lack of an important icon called "MaxMobile Prepaid".

That section of the interface lets you pick which plan you wish to purchase. The eight options include hourly and daily plans at two different speeds, 2.0Mbps and 7.2Mbps. Without the drop-down menu, I had to whip out the manual that came with the SIM card to figure out how to get my prepaid card activated. This was eventually accomplished by sending an SMS with a keyword like 2M1H (to indicate you want a 2Mbps connection for 1 hour) to the number 6782 using the Text interface on the application.

Given the style of the interface is consistent with the Windows version, it seems strange that StarHub and its modem provider, Huawei, would leave out a useful component of the OS X application. It's interesting how this service actually made OS X less user-friendly than Windows, an occurrence you don't see very often.

Philip Wong
Senior writer

Installing the software preloaded in the bundled Huawei 3.5G dongle on our laptops is a "plug and play" affair, while connecting to the mobile broadband network encompasses a few simple clicks including the selection of a relevant data plan. Unfortunately, we were able to achieve up to only 1.2Mbps instead of the 7.2Mps downloading speed offered by StarHub's MaxMobile Prepaid plan.

Having said that, casual Web browsing was still relatively smooth, though YouTube videos were choppy most of the time. For the record, these evaluations were repeated in our CNET Asia office, as well as in the heartland residential estates using two different laptops.

Would I recommend everyone for this service? The prepaid scheme is rather expensive compared with a regular postpaid plan, which can cost less than S$30 (US$21.60) monthly for unlimited data. However, this service is great for business users and foreign travelers who need mobile broadband connectivity only occasionally and also helps keep accounting simple.

Filed under: Notebooks
2 Comments | Bookmark | Share

Slashdot

Digg

Facebook

Twitter

Delicious

Google

StumbleUpon

close this

Add tag

To add tags, you need to become a member. It's FREE.

Cancel

Log in or sign in

abt21

View profile

abt21 says...
Ok in the day but cannot cope with evening demand.

I got a Starhub prepay 7.2Mbps card yesterday and logged on in the afternoon - speeds well below the promised max at around 40KBps but fine for browsing and checking email. Then in the evening from about 8.30-11pm it was totally unuseable - speeds between 0 - 0.5 KBps, I could load no more than 30 pages in 2 hours, Yahoo Mail couldn't load and Outlook couldn't connect. Embarrassingly, it was so slow that the Starhub customer service page kept timing out and didn't load! After 11pm the speeds were much better - up to 40-60KBps.

The same thing has happened today - I topped up at 8pm and managed to download a large file at a massive 120KBps (still way way short of the promised 7.2Mbps though). Then just after 8.30 pm - no speed at all. It's been at 0.5 1.5 KBps for the last hour with a couple of spikes up to 20 KBps. It's not even worth running a broadband speed check as every time I search for one, Google keeps timing out!

This doesn't look like a mobile signal reception issue as my computer is reporting full strength WCDMA reception and the speeds vary so widely even when I'm at the same location, so I guess it's an upstream issue of Starhub simply not having the network capacity to provide the service when everybody logs on in the evenings. Oh well at least it's only $12 for 2 days - I can throw away the card and try a Singtel one tomorrow. Maybe I'll be luckier.

Oct 16, 2009 21:41

Flag as offensive

abt21

View profile

abt21 says...
Same again tonight. Just did a connection speed test on HSPA:

Download 0.09Mbps, upload 0.04Mps.

www.speedtest.net...

So that's a teeny tiny 1.25% of the promised 7.2Mbps.

Looks as though Starhub are well aware of the problem but continue to promote the service as super-quick - this is what their FAQ has to say:

"Why should I pay for a higher MaxMobile plan when Iâm not getting the speed advertised? Can I down grade to a lower MaxMobile plan?

"The advertised speeds are what is achievable based on the technical specification for HSPA. This is the standard practice in the industry for both the fixed and mobile broadband operators worldwide. While not following industry practice is an option for operators, it will result in more confusion in the marketplace."

Oct 17, 2009 00:11

Flag as offensive