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StarHub is now bundling a mesh-capable router with most of its fibre plans

By Kenny Yeo - on 22 Mar 2020, 10:50am

StarHub is now bundling a mesh-capable router with most of its fibre plans

Note: This article was first published on 16 March 2020.

This is the router that most new StarHub fibre subscribers will be getting for free. (Image source: StarHub)

In response to every changing customer demands and needs, StarHub has just announced that it will be bundling its StarHub Smart WiFi system with most of its fibre plans.

What StarHub Smart WiFi really is is a mesh networking system. And specifically, it's a Nokia WiFi Beacon 1 mesh networking system.

This is a Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) dual-band AC1200-class mesh networking system that supports maximum data transfer rates of up to 400Mbps on its 2.4GHz band and 867Mbps on its 5GHz band.

It supports both wireless and wired backhaul, and uses a true mesh topology.

Perhaps more importantly, Nokia has done a lot of tweaks on the firmware side of things to improve performance.

For example, it can automatically detect congestions on Wi-Fi channels and switch to the least congested channel. Additionally, it monitors traffic and can reroute device traffic in as fast as 500ms.

The Beacon 1 can be easily set up using the Nokia WiFi app. (Image source: StarHub)

Round the back, each Beacon 1 router has a single Gigabit Ethernet LAN and WAN port.

The Nokia Beacon 1 replaces the Linksys EA8100 router which was introduced in 2018 and was the router StarHub was bundling with its plan.

When asked why the change, StarHub said it was because of changing customer needs and the belief that a mesh networking system would be more beneficial to users.

By starting out with a single mesh router, customers can easily expand home coverage by adding a second router, as opposed to throwing out the router and buying a brand new mesh networking system.

On paper, this looks like a very decent mesh networking system and StarHub says it will be providing this router for free to any customer signing up for StarHub's HomeHub Plus all-in-one value plan with Netflix or any Fibre Home Broadband plan of 1Gbps and above.

Customers living in larger homes or who demand stronger Wi-Fi coverage can get additional units of the Nokia Beacon 1 at S$5 or S$10 each month over 24 or 12 months respectively.

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