Singapore Expats

hi. coming to Singapore in early january.

is it easy to get myself a pay-monthly contract mobile phone from the telecom providers?

which provider (Singtel, M1 or Starhub) is better in terms of cost n service?

i'm abit excited n nervous relocating to singapore

chris_pilgrim wrote:hi. coming to Singapore in early january.

is it easy to get myself a pay-monthly contract mobile phone from the telecom providers?

which provider (Singtel, M1 or Starhub) is better in terms of cost n service?

i'm abit excited n nervous relocating to singapore

If you're here on Employment Pass, yes, you can get yourself a post-paid plan. Even better, if you get a 2-year plan, you will get a phone (subsidised). Singtel is the least painful for all three. M1 is the worst.

Good luck.

I'm using StarHub and most of my friends are using StarHub too. Can give it a try

chris_pilgrim wrote:hi. coming to Singapore in early january.

is it easy to get myself a pay-monthly contract mobile phone from the telecom providers?

which provider (Singtel, M1 or Starhub) is better in terms of cost n service?

i'm abit excited n nervous relocating to singapore

Agree with Lynx that SingTel makes it all quite simple. We have 2 unlocked iPhones and it was amazingly easy. It's actually only a 3 month contract so we cancel anytime after that. M1 is fubar on this piece, if you ask me...

So you're coming here next month and your only question is about getting a phone set up? Wow!

Tanuki wrote:So you're coming here next month and your only question is about getting a phone set up? Wow!

@Tanuki. hahaha .. guess The Phone will be sort of a lifeline to get me thru my settling period in Singapore. i reckon it will take a few days to set up a home broadband so The Phone is pretty much an essential besides, i did find some helpful tips and answers to some of my queries about Singapore on this forum

tbh i'm pretty excited/nervous as the time draws near to leave my comfy zone (although it's freezing winter here) for the sunny island.

how long have you been in Singapore? how do you like it there?

An alternative, for lifeline purposes for just a few days, is to get a local PAYG SIM. You can get one on-the-spot from any 7-11 (take ID with you... the state like knowing who owns which #s). I'd get top-ups from 7-11 too, or NTUC Express*.

You can get on-the-spot pre-paid mobile broadband too, and hook yourself up using a dongle. We got ours from the neighbourhood Starhub shop. IIRC S$18 for the SIM, and that included S$18 of 'air-time'. But they oblige you to buy their dongle for which they charge you $80!. I'd then buy subsequent top-ups on-line.

I imagine broadband might take as long to set-up as long as it takes for you to receive/collect their BB router. Don't know.

Depending on where you end up living your future home might have a fibre connection. Ours does, and it was something completely new to me. That took a month to set up, as an engineer had to visit and 'do something' at the terminal-box end. Looking in the cupboard just now there is a modem and a router in there. I think the latter provides wi-fi. That works just fine in the lounge, but we can't connect onto it from any other room (too much ferro-concrete?). So to get connected in other rooms, we use a thing called Homeplug, that sends data via the pre-existing 240V electrical mains cabling. A pretty amazing concept to me, and it works very well!

In our previous place I couldn't get wi-fi in the study (right next to the lounge/router), but we could in the bedrooms, that were were further away. I.e. it seems pretty hit and miss what works where.

The above is just an overview of how we got started, through to the rig we have ended up with. Hope it may be of some use.

Excited/nervous is the way to be! If you were cool about everything I'd be worried 'Sunny', hmm well it's monsoon right now; so it rains most afternoons. I don't remember when I last saw the sun, quite a while.

While I remember be sure to read a topic here called something like 'What to bring'.

Most of the regulars on here have been here a while (we even have our own version of John Rambo (got drafted to Vietnam, and never went home))


* If you go this route stick with the $18 top-up cards. One time I got a $28 card. They look almost identical but the $28 card doesn't top up mobile broadband (i.e. I still have that S$28 card sitting around unused)

@JR8. thanks for your kind advice. it is much appreciated

one more thing ....

JR8 wrote:You can get on-the-spot pre-paid mobile broadband too, and hook yourself up using a dongle. We got ours from the neighbourhood Starhub shop. IIRC S$18 for the SIM, and that included S$18 of 'air-time'. But they oblige you to buy their dongle for which they charge you $80!. I'd then buy subsequent top-ups on-line.

i have a jail break O2 dongle and am just wondering if the starhub top up mobile broadband sim card can work together? .. $80 for a dongle is truly a rip-off ..

i will be living in district 4 around Harbourfront. so hopefully the place is lovely enough to entice me to stay longer than my intended 2yrs in Singapore

chris_pilgrim wrote:@JR8. thanks for your kind advice. it is much appreciated one more thing ....

Thank you, it is rare to get feedback, and really nice that I might be being of some help Thank you so much - most kind.

chris_pilgrim wrote: i have a jail break O2 dongle and am just wondering if the starhub top up mobile broadband sim card can work together? .. $80 for a dongle is truly a rip-off ..

Yes obviously the $80 dongle is rape, hence my point. But if you're you're say a tourist or new arrival you're the target market and ripe to getting F-F-F-F-F- Fleeced.
Don't know, I'm a numbers/trading guy, and not a techie. People like Nakatago, ZZM and X9200, and others, are hard-boiled techies. So I shan't bother opining, on matters where they are experts. [Yah if they want to start prattling on options pricing or 'yield cone models' , then they can hear it from me too lol].

Quote:: >>i will be living in district 4 around Harbourfront. so hopefully the place is lovely enough to entice me to stay longer than my intended 2yrs in Singapore [/quote]

>> Great area. Lucky you. Wow, you must be very excited. A little nervous at all the change, but, a great move ah?

Throttle up and all systems go. Let's get on with it eh?

We Brits don't tend to eff about, as we're brought up with a Commonwealth and global perspective. You will be no different. Define the job, then get in and do the job.

If you need anyone to bounce teething questions off, just ask. We've all been through it, know the shtick, and are completely happy to try and lead others through the intro month or so.

You've proven the nouse to get here. If you have challenges, no problem, fall back on the regulars here... the answer will be here... People here will really do their best to try and help you.

Rock on.

JR8 wrote:We Brits don't tend to eff about, as we're brought up with a Commonwealth and global perspective. You will be no different. Define the job, then get in and do the job.

If you need anyone to bounce teething questions off, just ask. We've all been through it, know the shtick, and are completely happy to try and lead others through the intro month or so.

You've proven the nouse to get here. If you have challenges, no problem, fall back on the regulars here... the answer will be here... People here will really do their best to try and help you.

Rock on.

awww bless you JR8, i will surely keep that in mind

you are from UK? great! cos i've got a query: how do we vote for our next local election due on May 2014? do you ask for a postal vote to be sent to Singapore?

thanks and greetings from London xx

JR's advice for the mobile phone is good, pick the carrier first and buy a pre-paid card for a few weeks to make sure their coverage by your home is good.

For Broadband, your dongle will likely work at 3G speeds, but not 4G. Singapore's 3G network is terrible, but it's 4G network is OK. Also, only M1 will sell pre-paid 4G. The rest limit you to 3G on pre-paid.

You can also avoid the price of the dongle by just buying a mobile phone and enabling the "Hot Spot" option. Newer high-end smart phones actually will get much faster 3G/4G speeds than those dongles or wireless hotspots usually do. So if you fancy a new iPhone 5c/5s or Galaxy 3/4/Note/whatever, just go for one of those (they're all unlocked in Singapore) and use that for your laptop.

Ultimately though like the others I recommend Singtel. M1 is ok, I used to have their pre-paid 4G sim in my iPad. The coverage was spottier than Singtels. Avoid Starhub like the plague. It's terrible, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or doesn't really use their mobile data much.

chris_pilgrim wrote:you are from UK? great! cos i've got a query: how do we vote for our next local election due on May 2014? do you ask for a postal vote to be sent to Singapore?
thanks and greetings from London xx

[Some backing music for this topic lol]
'The Business - Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ-hLcJkHvA

Good question, and it reminds me that I need to update this. When you're over here you can become out-of-the-loop on macro issues like upcoming elections back home...

There's no need for me to precis the procedure. All you need to know can be found here > http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/how_do_i_vote.aspx Despite the informal www, it does appear to be published by the Electoral Commission.

I need to recheck the above site too. I've used a postal vote once or twice, but forget quite how it works. What I do recall is that when you receive it, you have to turn it around quickly, as there isn't much lead time at all.

Better start the procedure now of looking into it, as it's possible you need to prove ID, get signatures witnessed and so on... I forget precisely what is involved.

I also have some hazy recollection of one time casting my ballot at a UK embassy, somewhere ... don't know.

If you happen to live in the same constituency as say your parents/siblings, then you could look into them voting for you 'by proxy'. This would be simpler than a postal vote, but is unfortunately a route not open to me for reasons of geography...

chris_pilgrim wrote: @Tanuki. hahaha .. guess The Phone will be sort of a lifeline to get me thru my settling period in Singapore. i reckon it will take a few days to set up a home broadband so The Phone is pretty much an essential besides, i did find some helpful tips and answers to some of my queries about Singapore on this forum

tbh i'm pretty excited/nervous as the time draws near to leave my comfy zone (although it's freezing winter here) for the sunny island.

how long have you been in Singapore? how do you like it there?

Glad you were able to find some answers here on the blog. It's generally a pretty good resource, and the gang responds quickly to specific queries.

I just went through the ringer in September so it's all still freshly burned into me. Love Tiong Bahru, myself. I came out from Seattle and the warm weather is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

JR8 wrote: Most of the regulars on here have been here a while (we even have our own version of John Rambo (got drafted to Vietnam, and never went home))

Izzit? Who dat? I though I knew all the vets on here.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:

JR8 wrote: Most of the regulars on here have been here a while (we even have our own version of John Rambo (got drafted to Vietnam, and never went home))

Izzit? Who dat? I though I knew all the vets on here.

Hehehe.... well I expect you know him better than most here, but I'm hesitant to start broadcasting peoples' personal bio's. Sometimes you forget what you've gleaned through public chat, and what might have come via a PM or back-channel...

p.s. As much as the Rambo films might be considered 'pulp fiction', I found the allegory much broader than simply being war films. The man who leaves, and in whole or part, never goes home ... something a number of expats can probably relate to, at least in part....
[Sorry, am I overthinking this again ]

@zzm. thanks for your techy advice. at least now my jaibroken dongle can be put to good use in Singapore

@JR8. thought you would have chosen this http://youtu.be/cZYa_KfLTtM
many thanks to you, i've followed your recommended link and decided to vote by proxy. paperwork done YaY!!

@Tanuki. oh yes this forum is brilliant and you guys are great. most of my doubts n queries are found and clarified in here.
i hope i'm able to acclimatise fast to the humidity in Singapore. i am an autumnal weather (in London NOT the West Country) kind of person

Another techy question which I can't find in the forum:

Amazon Kindle. is there any support there? i'm bringing my Paperwhite. am i able to buy books with it? ta xx