Singtel ups max speeds on fibre broadband for home offices

Singtel will offer a 10Gbps fibre broadband service to residential customers in Singapore starting this month. Leveraging on its Next Generation 10GPON or Gigabit Passive Optical Network, this first-of-its-kind service for residential customers follows the launch of the pilot phase last year.

Goh Seow Eng, MD, Home, Consumer Singapore, Singtel, said, “We made a commitment to our customers to bring them the best network innovations, the very latest technologies for work and play. We recognise that residential customers are using greater bandwidth and requiring faster speeds for their online activities.”

Through a dedicated, ultra-high-speed 10Gbps wired connection*, users will be able to download and stream at larger volumes of data. The service, which also features four 1Gbps ports, can serve as a home networking solution for multi-user environments such as home offices and large households. This will enable individuals working from home to conduct multiple videoconferences, file transfer sessions and even run a home business without compromising on connectivity and bandwidth.

To enhance their 10Gbps experience, customers can set up Singtel’s latest WiFi Mesh to improve wireless performance and connectivity in their homes. WiFi Mesh ensures consistent bandwidth at high speeds and increased coverage, providing robust wireless connectivity for data-demanding applications.

Interested?

Singtel’s 10Gbps Fibre Home Bundle** is priced at S$189/month and includes a 10G optical network router, a wireless Dual-Band AC router, NetLink Trust installation and Singtel weekday installation, a 4G Mobile Broadband 500MB subscription, and for a limited period, a pair of WiFi Mesh devices worth S$240.  Customers can register their interest up to 15 February.  
                                             

System Requirements***,****	End User Macintosh	PC
Processor	Core i7 minimum	Core i7-4790K minimum
System Memory	8GB RAM minimum	8GB RAM minimum
Hard disk	SSD	SSD, PCI-E interface
OS	Mac OS X	Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Cable	Cat6/6a cable	Cat6/6a cable
Required connection port	10 Gigabit Ethernet port (10GBase-T) network card or Thunderbolt 2 to 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapter (e.g. SANLink2)	10 Gigabit Ethernet port (10GBase-T) network card

*10-GbE copper (10GBase-T) network port required to communicate over CAT6 (or 6a/7) copper LAN cable to another 10-Gb-T supported computer or network device. Actual speed experienced using the service will be dependent on various elements such as the bandwidth of the destination application, performance of your device and other extraneous factors.  

**Plan comes with 24-month contract. Terms and conditions apply. 

***Customers can connect a 10 Gigabit switch to the 10GbE optical network router (ONR) port available to share connection to more 10GbE computers or network attached storage (NAS) devices   

****Customers can utilise the ONR 4x1GbE to distribute bandwidth to multiple rooms with any existing Gigabit Ethernet enabled devices/computers/WiFi routers   

Extend the range of Linksys routers with new high-gain antennas

The WRT router four-pack.

Linksys, the first company to sell 100 million routers globally and a networking solutions provider for the home and business, today announced the first dual-band, omni-directional high-gain antennas for the consumer market.

The new Linksys high-gain antennas are available in a two- and four-pack versions to help improve a router’s overall signal strength and throughput specifically at the edge of a Wi-Fi network, resulting in enhanced Wi-Fi performance.

Compatible with any wireless router that features an RP-SMA connection, these new antennas deliver 4dBi in the 2.4GHz band and 7dBi in the 5 GHz band for up to 2X* antenna gain over stock antennas.

A more focused beamwidth also equates to higher throughput and a faster, more seamless online experience for all users. According to Linksys, owners can detach the router’s factory antennas and replace them with the new ones.

Mike Chen, VP of product management and engineering, said: “Antennas amplify a Wi-Fi signal and improve performance within the coverage area – providing a stronger Wi-Fi signal and throughput. New antennas like ours will help customers that are looking to improve Wi-Fi throughput at the boundaries
of their existing wireless network. In testing conducted by Linksys, the antennas optimised performance best in a single storey environment where the router is on the same floor as the primary Wi-Fi usage. If users require signal enhancement on multiple floors, a range extender is more ideal.”

Depending on the environment, a repeater or range extender may be needed in order to amplify and relay signals.

Interested?

The Linksys WRT004ANT (four-pack) and WRT002ANT (two-pack) omnidirectional high gain antennas are available in Singapore exclusively at Challenger @ Funan DigitaLife Mall and Challenger.com at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of S$149 and S$85 respectively.

*Actual performance may vary, including lower wireless network capacity, data rate, range and coverage. Performance depends upon many factors and variables, including products used, interference, physical distance, equipment used and other adverse conditions. 7 dBi (for 5 GHz) is up to 2x average antenna gain 3.5 dBi (for 5 Ghz) for stock antennas. The antenna also provides 4 dBi (for 2.4GHz), which is up to 1.5x average Antenna gain compared to 2.5 dBi (for 2.4Ghz).

Ultra high net worth population in UAE concentrated in Abu Dhabi, Dubai

There are 1,275 ultra wealthy individuals in the UAE, representing 20% of the total ultra wealthy population in the Middle East, Wealth-X said. The combined wealth of the UAE's ultra high net worth (UHNW*) population stands at US$255 billion.

The study also reveals that 57% of the UAE's UHNW population amassed their fortune through entrepreneurship. Only 8% fully inherited their fortune; and 35% partially inherited and grew their wealth.

Key findings include:

• Nearly 1,000 UHNW individuals are based in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi (450 individuals), and in Dubai (495) 
• Saudi Arabia and the UAE jointly account for over 45% of the UHNW population in the Middle East 
• Only 3% of the UAE's UHNW population made its wealth through oil, gas and consumable fuels 
• The most significant source of wealth for the UAE's UNHW population is industrial conglomerates, at more than 20%
• The UAE is ranked 22nd in Wealth-X's global ranking of UHNW population by country, behind Saudi Arabia (17) but ahead of Kuwait (32) 

There are nearly 6,000 UHNW individuals in the Middle East with a combined net worth of US$995 billion. Saudi Arabia has the largest UHNW population (1,495 ultra wealthy individuals) and UHNW wealth (US$320 billion) in the region, followed by the UAE.

David Awit, Wealth-X Director for the Middle East, commented: "Despite the UAE equity market suffering declines of nearly 20% in the last year, our study shows that UHNW individuals in the country have defied this economic backdrop to record further increases in their fortunes in 2015, highlighting the ability of the world's wealthiest individuals to continue to create new wealth."

* Wealth-X defines UHNW individuals as those with US$30 million and above in net assets.