07
Mar
The myth of the Fat Green Pipe
StarHub marketers would have you believe that MaxOnline has a bigger, and fatter pipe to the Internet.
What they didn’t want to let you know was this:
(pardon the lousy drawings)
To test this for yourself:
- Point your web browser to http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest
- Choose any server location to test from (I use Seattle, WA for consistency)
- Take a close look at your connection’s test results
Initially, StarHub’s helpdesk dismissed my concerns as a bottleneck at the end server; something proven wrong quickly with a test using an alternate Internet Service Provider. The problem is very pronounced during the local peak hours: from 7pm onwards during weekdays, and 11am on weekends.
While it is true that StarHub has the biggest, fattest pipe in Singapore - it is just what it is: confined to Singapore. Once you step out of Singapore, the majority of the websites that you visit hit a transfer rate of 30 kB/s, which is insufficient for even basic video streaming.
I’ve tried to work with their helpdesk numerous times, and they have always given me the same answer: that international bandwidth is beyond their control.
I find this a really bad joke. I wonder how they are allowed to advertise their broadband plans as 12,000 kbps when they can barely hit 256 kbps for 95% of websites in the world? StarHub simply refuses to improve their international reach despite being proven that they have the poorest bandwidth for international traffic.
I remember just 2 years back, their bandwidth for overseas websites hung around 700 kbps, which wasn’t exactly phenomenal, but was sufficient for most videos on sites such as YouTube. Now, the service is in such a sorry state that they are not able to sustain sufficient service for most of the websites in the world.
Therefore, I strongly urge any potential customers of the Fat Green Pipe to reconsider in the light of this myth, at least until concrete steps are taken to improve their service. That is, unless you don’t mind watching graphics load at a pace reminiscent of the dial-up era.
[tags]ISP, starhub, speed test[/tags]
on March 11th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I’m a StarHub MaxOnline USer and what you said is so true. Paying extra for faster speed is a foolish decision and now I have to live with that until the contract ends in 2009.
on March 11th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Oh my previous message shows a wrong link to my blog. this is the right one
on March 11th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Previous msg shows a link to the wrong address. this is the right one
on March 11th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Hey Patrick! We are not the ones in the wrong here! It is the service provider which has failed to provide what it has advertised. Not only is it grounds for the contract to be annulled, they would have gotten a lawsuit were us the USA!
What I am doing right now is to apply heat on them to make sure that even if they are not fixing the problem, they are being bothered over it! I won’t give them the satisfaction of forgetting about my existence if I don’t get what I want!