The Singapore Forum

Normally, using my starhub cable connection, local sites load quickly, and some sites - notably facebook - are very slow. I always assumed that this was due to the fact that the big pipes connecting Singapore to the rest of the world weren't really big enough..

Now I am using what M1 brazenly dares to call a service via a 3G modem. First up it is slow. As slow as any internet connection I have used since 1964. However,what I really don't get is if it is the local 3G connection that is the bottleneck, why is it that local sites still load faster (relatively) than overseas ones? I gave up on facebook after about 20mins and yet singaporum took a mere 30 seconds

Edit: Not M1. it's Starhub's mobile broadband.

I believe it's called the Singapore Backbone, or sometimes called the last mile.

Latency. Local sites have lower latency than overseas ones - generally they will always respond faster.

As i understand it the M1 broadband service is leased from Starhub who are supposed to have a fat green pipe

Probably something to do with all those b@$tards bit torrenting reducing your bandwidth!

Sorry.. it is actually Starhub.

The question is not why local sites are faster, but why overseas sites are so slow when the bottleneck is the "last mile"

Perhaps the international gateway is given pro rata depending on your bandwidth?

Or maybe a question to ask the Starhub gurus?

Did read recently that they are thinking of charging really heavy bandwidth hogs extra - quite right too

They already charge everyone for their usage. You have a choice of very low, low, medum and high bandwidth. Simple, I hope they don't make it more difficult. Just listening to the Aussie whingers (or the expats in Australia whinging) then it just seems hard work!

What they do in Oz is stupid. I hope they don't consider having such usage limits in Singapore.

If you can prove to me that 'bandwidth hogs' have nothing to do with MaxOnline's ridiculously variable speed, then I might agree that it is a bit unnecessary. However, if the service provider has to keep paying for more and more equipment to keep up with the demands of high-usage customers and this is subsidised by normal usage customers, then I am not sure I have a lot of sympathy

You need to understand what goes on between the time you enter a URL and the time you actually see the website in your browser. This might be a start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lag

Most importently: "There is often a correlation between latency and the physical distance that data must travel."

I'm not saying that what you call "bandwidth hogs" don't have some degree of impact, but it's not the whole picture. What about spam? You don't think that doesn't have an impact?

I can however guarantee that if starhub were to introduce usage based pricing plans, the result would be increased profit for them - you would not notice any difference in response times.

Still doesn't explain it

Scenario A

Time to load local site : 1 second
Time to load foreign site : 3 seconds

So this could be a latency effect - since lag is apparently correlated with distance - or it could be caused by the fact that the links to outside Singapore are congested. Or perhaps a bit of both

Scenario B - using a slower local connection

Time to load local site : 10 seconds
Time to load foreign site : 30 seconds

Extra 9 seconds for local connection presumaby caused by slow 'last mile'

Local connection speed is now the limiting factor, so since distances are unchanged, is it reasonable to expect the foreign load time to be just 9 seconds slower? if not,where does the additional 18 seconds come from?

Don't get what isn't explained - you're on a slow connection so everything loads slower. If you're talking 3G, then the bottleneck is the 3G connection to M1. There are many factors affecting 3G performance. Read up about it here: http://www.mobilein.com/3G.htm

Are you asking this because browsing on 3G iPhone is slow? Does it have HSDPA?

No, I am asking why a slow local connection has greater impact on foreign sites than local ones. Agree that the bottleneck is the local 3G connection

Am staying at a friend's house and using a starhub (sorry not M1) 3G USB modem.

Which starhub APN are you using?