Why StarHub's 5Gbps plan is an excellent deal

StarHub's new 5Gbps plan lets you break the 1Gbps home Internet barrier without breaking the bank.

This news came in via email when I was at the airport yesterday and I thought it was a great deal.

Here's the quick lowdown:

• 5Gbps download speeds.
• Symmetric, so 5Gbps uploading.
• Priced at SG$45 "for a limited time".
• Free Nokia Optical Network WiFi 6 wireless router.

Let's be real

But first, let's cut out the marketing fluff and get to the point.

• The service uses same backbone that delivers you your 500Mbps, 1Gbps, 10Gbps and now 5Gbps Internet.
• Yes, 5Gbps is much faster, but unless you upload a lot, 99% of your daily tasks will probably feel the same.
• Extra effort/equipment is required to leverage the full 5Gbps bandwidth. (My 10Gbps setup: https://lnkd.in/gX8sCy3D)

In my view, household with multiple heavy users will benefit the most. And if you just want ultrafast Internet but balked at the cost of 10Gbps, then this will appeal.

Why I like it

Still, here's why I like the new 5Gbps plan.

1. Small premium for big improvement

When I set up dual WAN Internet connectivity for my home office, I scoured for the most value-for-money plans. The cheapest 1Gbps plan is ~$37 if you stacked the promos correctly - and it hasn't changed much since.

Read: https://lnkd.in/g5QNsBrS

For just a few dollars more, it's now possible to sign up for a symmetric 5Gbps plan, how means you can upload at 5Gbps speeds too! That's a fantastic offer in my book.

2. It works better than older '2Gbps' plans

Remember those 2Gbps plans? They are really a bundle of 1Gbps x2 plans for a slight discount.

The thing is, most users won't see as much benefit from 2x smaller pipes than a single larger pipe. This is because the latter makes it far easier to share the bandwidth.

3. Achievable benefits

Finally, it takes effort, planning, and (very likely) new equipment to maximise a 10Gbps plan. While this is true of a 5Gbps plan as well, the bar is lower.

And even if all you simply swap out an existing 1Gbps optical model for a 5Gbps unit, I estimate that most users will benefit from the bigger pipe during periods of heavy usage*.

*Dependant on your exact network setup.

By the way, the final part of my 3-part series recently came out on HardwareZone, where I explain how to set up a home network to support 10Gbps.

👉 Are you planning to upgrade your home Internet and/or Wi-Fi soon?