Most Malaysian internet service providers (ISP) will offer you these types of connection choices, depending on your lifestyle and usage preferences. But, which do you really need?
Fibre broadband:
As its name literally indicates, this type of internet connection refers to data transferred via fibre optic cables either fully or partially. Using glass wires (literally looking like 'fibres'), data is transferred using light signals from sender to recipient. While the connection is very fast, they are best for high-rise buildings.
This type of broadband allows for:
- Fast transfer speeds at up to 10Gbps
- Has great temperature resistance
- Can transfer data in longer distances
Wireless broadband:
This type of broadband refers to using a local area network or wide area network. Here, data is sent via electromagnetic waves from the telco towers to your mobile modem and then to your devices. Compared to fibre broadband, wireless broadband internet uses copper to send internet data around. But, unlike fibre, wireless broadband can reach both high rise and landed properties.
This type of broadband is:
- More affordable
- Easier to set up (just a SIM card and a modem!)
- Available to most home types including landed
- Tips for choosing an internet plan
This may seem like a no-brainer, yet you may not realise what areas should you look into when choosing the right internet service provider (ISP) for your intended internet broadband plan. Here are the most important factors to consider:
1. Availability
The first thing to start with is, what ISP centres or Telco towers are widely available in your neighbourhood. Of course, the more Telco towers (giant antennas to broadcast telecommunication) of the ISP are available in your area, the more stable the connections are going to be.
This means that while some ISP may have great reviews, but they don't necessarily mean they will do the best for you.
Home internet isn't something you want to change very frequently as compared to, say, a streaming service, because there are set up to do before you can use the internet plan. Therefore, ensure that the ISP's coverage and centres are widely available in your area.
Of course, speed is a huge factor in determining what you need. But here, we'll need you to look at how much data you actually need. And this ties back to what activities you'll actually do with your internet.
Say, you want to play competitive games such as PUBG and likewise. So, go for 1Gbps, right? Nope!
In fact, the minimum suggested speed you'll need for competitive gaming is 25mbps. This is why the minimum suggested internet speed for most people are at least 50 or 100mbps.
So from here, depending on what your usual internet download speeds are in a day, you determine how much you need based on how big your household is. In short, choosing the right internet speed is based on how much it can be comfortably split among everyone at home (independently) without any lag. (Ex. 5 people using 25mbps for gaming at the same time = at least 200mbps download speed)
Finally, you'll want to make sure that the ISP's customer support is adequate for you in your living area. This doesn't just mean having excellent service in physical help centres but also call centres, as well as fewer connectivity disruptions whether it's for your home broadband or for your mobile needs.
