Singapore eSIM
In Singapore you connect to Singtel or StarHub, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 119 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Singtel and StarHub
- Typical speed in Singapore
- 119 Mbps typical, 42 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Singapore
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $5.89 | $5.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $2.63 | $7.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $1.98 | $9.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.59 | $15.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.19 | $23.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $0.94 | $46.89 |
How Singapore compares across Asia
- Regional typical speed
- 42.95 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, Singtel, StarHub
- 5G
- Yes, standalone
- Next slowest nearby
- South Korea, 104 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 1: Singapore
Landing at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN)
- Airport
- SIN / WSSS
- Distance
- 24 km from the centre of Singapore
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalThe network is #WiFi@Changi. Changi's own guide says you do not need to register, create an account, or provide an email address or phone number: select the network, open a browser, and click the WiFi logo.
- SIM on arrival
- SIM counters or vending in the terminalSingtel lists Travelex currency exchange counters, UOB money changing counters and Changi Recommends at Singapore Changi Airport among the outlets selling its hi! prepaid SIM.
Getting into Singapore
- MRT East-West Line, Changi Airport branch (SIN). Runs through tunnels, where a signal drops
Underground and on the metro
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) runs 6 lines. It opened in 1987. The operator states mobile coverage throughout the tunnels.
Worth knowing about Singapore
- Mobile phone, 3G, 4G and 5G service is available in every part of the MRT network, including the underground sections.
- The airport MRT station is a shuttle branch: passengers must change trains at Tanah Merah to continue into the city on the main East-West Line.
- Changi Airport MRT station is underground, built 18.5 m below the surface, so signal only returns once you surface or the in-tunnel coverage picks you up.
- Changi has four operating passenger terminals with a fifth under construction; terminal transfers matter for where you land relative to the MRT station.
- Changi's free wifi is #WiFi@Changi and the airport states you do not need to register, create an account, or give an email address or phone number. You select the network, open a browser and click the WiFi logo.
- Wireless@SG is the national public wifi programme, launched in 2006 and run by Singtel, M1, StarHub and MyRepublic. The committed access speed was raised to 5 Mbit/s in April 2016.
- Wireless@SG supports three ways in: SIM based authentication using EAP-SIM, Seamless and Secure Access using PEAP with EAP-MSCHAPv2, and an HTTP captive portal login.
- With Wireless@SG SIM login, after a one time setup a supported device carrying a local SIM card connects automatically, with no need to register an account.
- An IDA fact sheet records that from June 2014 visitors to Singapore could register for a free Wireless@SG account at any hotspot and receive login details by SMS to a foreign mobile number.
- Prepaid SIM registration is compulsory and mandated by IMDA. A foreign visitor registers with an original passport, and since 15 July 2024 a passport registration is valid for only 30 days.
- After those 30 days a passport registered prepaid card is suspended without prior notice and with no refund unless you re-register in person with a Singapore identity card or work pass.
- SimplyGo accepts American Express, Mastercard, NETS and Visa contactless bank cards carrying the EMVCo Contactless Indicator, and no signup is needed to tap in on the MRT or a bus.
- A foreign issued Mastercard or Visa attracts a Foreign Bank Card Admin Fee of SGD 0.60 per day of use, a charge Changi also warns about on its own transport page.
- The first train out of Changi leaves at 5:31 am Monday to Saturday and 5:59 am on Sundays and public holidays, with the last connection towards Pasir Ris at 12:06 am.
- If you prefer a stored value card, EZ-Link cards are sold at any Changi Recommends store and at the Passenger Service Centre or TransitLink Ticket Office inside Changi Airport MRT station.
- Singapore Tourist Pass automated kiosks sit inside Changi Airport Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 MRT stations and run from 5am to midnight, with 24 hour money changer counters selling the pass as well.