Why you should switch to 10Gbps broadband today
Two reasons to switch and two reasons not to.
Need more Internet speed? Here are 2 reasons to sign up for 10Gbps broadband - and 2 reasons not to.
I still remember that breathtaking moment when I switched from a dial-up modem to a newfangled ADSL Internet plan.
It was a different world then.
- No Wi-Fi.
- PC with 16MB RAM.
- 10Mbps (0.01Gbps) LAN.
My jump to 512Kbps "broadband" (0.000512Gbps) felt like magic.
Today, symmetric 10Gbps broadband is available in Singapore for less than SG$70 per month. Should you sign up?
2 reasons to skip 10Gbps
- Your home network is slow
Going for 10Gbps broadband is useless if your home network is too slow.
To be clear, no Wi-Fi device can saturate a 10Gbps connection yet. But how much you can utilise depends on factors such as:
- Speed of Wi-Fi access points, client devices.
- How access points are wired up.
- The presence of older devices.
It's also why telcos are bundling speedy Wi-Fi routers to go with new 10Gbps plans - for a slight price premium, of course.
- It takes effort to benefit fully from 10Gbps
To make full use of 10Gbps, you will need:
- 10Gbps Ethernet port on your PC or Mac.
- At least Cat 5e or better cabling.
- 10Gbps networking gear.
- Fast computer.
For some, it is just more work than it's worth.
2 reasons to sign up for 10Gbps
- That 10Gbps is shared
Home broadband in Singapore is delivered by XGS-PON, which sees one 10Gig optical port at the telco shared by as many as two dozen neighbours.
If this sounds bad, just imagine your existing "1Gbps" broadband shared by a similar number of neighbours. At least 10Gbps gives you a much fatter pipe to start with!
- More is better
Finally, why wouldn't you want more Internet bandwidth? While some will argue that even the fastest Internet won't matter if the "overseas connection" is slow, it is a dated argument.
As a key data centre hub, many websites and content providers have established a presence in Singapore. Most are cached on local CDNs; some have even built data centres.
Why, Meta has a massive 150MW facility at Tanjong Kling built for US$1 billion - making up a hefty 10% of the data centre capacity here.
What's your current home broadband and networking setup? Do you use mesh Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet? Pray share.
