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| What are the plans that SingNet BroadBand offers? |
| SingNet BroadBand offers 5 different unlimited plans to suit
your needs, namely, 1Mbps, 3Mbps, 6Mbps and 10Mbps. |
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| What are the differences between "kbps" and "Mbps"? |
| The letters "kbps" stands for kilobits per second, while "Mbps"
stands for megabits per second. These are units for throughput.
1Mbps = 1,024kbps. Here's a simple comparison table: |
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Plan
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In kbps
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In Mbps
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1Mbps
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1000
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1.0
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3Mbps
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3000
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3.0
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8Mbps
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8000
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8.0
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10Mbps
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10,240
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10.0
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25Mbps
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25,600
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25.0
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| Common browsers such as Internet explorer usually display
the download speed in kilobytes (kB) and not kilobits. To convert
the two, you need to multiply kiloBYTE by 8 (8 bits = 1 byte). |
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| How to choose a suitable broadband plan? |
| When choosing a broadband plan, these are some of the pointers
to be considered: |
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Will the connection be shared? |
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The consistency in speed? |
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What is the throughput, and what is the
maximum throughput? |
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Where gaming is concern, is latency important? |
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Looking for value for money plan? |
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Your individual usage needs - only pay for
what you need, or are you over-subscribing? |
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| What are these jargons in the virtual world? |
| 1. |
What is "throughput"? |
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Throughput refers to the rate of data successfully
transmitted from one point of a network to another. |
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| 2. |
What is "TCP"? |
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TCP stands for Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP), one of the most prevalent protocols
used in the Internet. It governs the way data is
chopped up into smaller size groups, known as "packets",
so that it can be sent over the Internet effectively. |
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The way TCP works is through "sessions"
- something like a telephone call. The sender must
first "call" the receiving party, and the receiving
party must pick up the phone and acknowledge the
"call" before they can start communicating. |
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Simple analogy of starting a TCP session:
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| 3. |
What is "Single TCP"? |
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"Single TCP" refers to one TCP session established
between two computers/ servers. |
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| 4. |
What is "Multiple TCP" and "Max Throughput"? |
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"Multiple TCP" simply refers to more
than 1 TCP session. In the Internet world, you can
have many sessions running between the same 2 computers,
unlike a telephone conversation. And, as you would
correctly deduce, the more sessions would mean collectively
higher throughput. |
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The speed plan that you
subscribed with your ISPs (e.g. SingNet) is actually
the maximum throughput that you have signed up for.
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Hence, to know whether you can really
achieve the throughput of your subscribed plan,
a simple test would be to open as many TCP sessions
as possible to maximize your throughput. The data
rate combined by the sessions will be your achieved
maximum throughput. |
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However, do note that
if you open too many sessions, the number of packet
collisions increases. This will make your throughput
lower. Therefore, maximum throughput will need to
involve an optimum number of sessions, and not "the
more the merrier". |
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So what does Single TCP
and Multiple TCP actually mean in real life? |
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When you try to open
a website, many common browsers such as Internet
Explorer and Fire Fox initiate multiple separate
TCP sessions in order to load faster. For example,
each picture in the website will have its own TCP
session. |
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Single TCP throughput
therefore refers to how fast each of your picture
loads. Since they are running in parallel (given
that your subscribed throughput is not reached yet),
you can load your websites much faster! |
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Single TCP
will also refers to how fast your file downloads
are using internet browsers, since downloads are
running on only a single TCP session per download.
The similar applies for email downloading from your
ISP. |
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For Multiple TCP, you
can see it at work if you use a download agent/manager
that helps you to control the number of concurrent
sessions running to download a file. Basically,
the file is broken down into smaller files size,
and a new TCP session is started for each of these
smaller files size. The download agent must be able
to glue these smaller files back into the large
file before you can use it on your computer. |
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Another example of multiple
TCP will be when you share your connection with
your family members. |
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| 5. |
What is consistency in the network world? |
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Consistency refers to whether you get the
same surfing speed or experience during daytime, nighttime,
peak periods, lull periods etc. |
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This is a very important consideration,
because the usage pattern of most users will probably
apply to you as well. For example, it is expected that
working adults will use the internet only after work and
dinner, probably 10pm, while during working hours, they
will be busy at work. As long as you are also a working
adult, you will follow the same pattern.
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Therefore, wouldn't it be frustrating if
you want to surf but you cannot get good throughput, due
to the fact that every other person is surfing at the
same time?
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You do not have to worry about this if you
are a SingNet BroadBand subscriber. Because the technology
we use is dedicated for you in the last mile, you can
be sure that your surfing experience will not be affected
just because you are a normal working adult/student. |
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