People always ask me: What’s the best broadband service in Malaysia? While it would be great to be able to immediately say, “Provider X or Z,” the reality is that this is difficult question to answer. The thing is, it depends on what you want. With so many options for broadband in Malaysia, it can sometimes be tough to make a decision.
To help you make your choice, however, I’ve highlighted seven key factors below. A careful consideration of these factors should enable you to decide which broadband service in Malaysia is best for you.
SEE ALSO: What is the Best Mobile Network Service Provider in Malaysia?
1. Consumer or Business Broadband?
Consumer broadband is designed for individual needs, and is best suited for either home use or on-the-go usage. A consumer broadband connection is of course cheaper than business broadband.
Business broadband, on the other hand, provides users with a higher bandwidth. This means that you’ll be able to have multiple computers connected to a single line, without the internet speed being affected. These packages are typically more expensive.
Major telecom companies offer both business and personal broadband packages.
2. Coverage Area
Unfortunately, broadband services don’t cover every part of Malaysia. Thus, one of the first things you’ll need to check is whether a particular broadband service covers your area. For example, Maxis and Celcom recently released 4G LTE wireless broadband, which is one of the fastest wireless broadband services in Malaysia. Unfortunately, this service is currently limited to very specific areas in Malaysia. You may also be interested in our post about the top 10 cities in Malaysia with the fastest broadband.
3. Prepaid or Postpaid?
If you don’t really make use of the Internet on a consistent basis, having a postpaid plan might be a waste of money. This is because purchasing a postpaid broadband plan will provide you with connectivity all the time – even when you do not need it. However, you should note that if you want fiber broadband (which I’ll discuss in a second), it’s only available in a postpaid package.
Prepaid broadband works out best for people who need infrequent access to the Internet, a shorter contract, or mobility. You should also note that the per unit cost of prepaid broadband is typically more expensive than the per unit cost of postpaid broadband.
4. The Different Types of Broadband Technology
In Malaysia, the three primary types of broadband connections are the following:
Fiber: If your number one priority is speed, then a fiber broadband connection is likely to be your best bet. The downloading and uploading of huge amounts of data will be very quick with a fiber broadband connection. The main downside to fiber broadband services is that you’ll typically be required to commit to a relatively long contract (24 months). Additionally, access to fiber broadband internet is limited to the location where you have it installed.
Wireless: If you are a person who mostly uses the Internet on the go, this type of connection can prove to be very useful. Thanks to developing technology, wireless internet connections in Malaysia are improving with time. Additionally, with wireless broadband you should have prepaid plan options, plus the option of a shorter contract or even no contract at all. Wireless broadband won’t be as fast as fiber broadband; however, 4G LTE broadband offers speeds similar to those of some fiber broadband plans.
SEE ALSO: Is Fiber or Wireless Broadband Better?
ADSL: This is an older broadband technology, but if your internet requirements are limited, then this cheaper option might serve your needs well. ADSL broadband is usually available in many areas where fiber and wireless connections are not.
5. Your Quota / Data Capacity
Your broadband quota is the amount of data that you are allowed to upload and download every month. If you are a heavy internet user with high data capacity requirements, make sure you opt for a connection that gives you a big enough quota.
Fiber broadband services in Malaysia will usually offer you the best quotas. In fact, most telecom companies in Malaysia do not enforce their fiber broadband quotas.
Wireless broadband services in Malaysia usually have lower quotas than fiber broadband connections. For some reason or another, Malaysia’s telecom companies tend to enforce their wireless broadband quotas more strictly than they do their fiber broadband quotas.
6. Budget
This is an important factor to consider; a budget is a budget, and you cannot ignore the price of your broadband connection. In your quest to choose the best broadband service possible in Malaysia, don’t break your budget and impulsively sign for an expensive connection that you do not need. Understand your requirements before you choose your service plan. If you are looking for the cheapest broadband service, then consider wireless broadband or an ADSL broadband service.
7. Customer Service
Customer service is another factor to consider. It may be easy to ignore in the beginning, but will become crucial when you encounter problems with your broadband service. When you’re stuck with a slow connection, a broken connection, payment issues, hardware issues, or you need to upgrade, downgrade, or re-locate–this is when you’ll be in need of good customer service.
Speak to your friends and colleagues about their experiences with particular broadband service providers. You can also go online and check for customer reviews before purchasing a connection. Doing your homework about customer service is well worth the effort, because if and when you encounter problems, customer service can easily become the most critical factor in deciding whether you have chosen the best broadband service in Malaysia for yourself.
If you have a moment, share your experiences with Malaysian broadband services in the comments below. Which is the best broadband in Malaysia for you, and why? We should learn from each other!
A List of Guides to Broadband Packages in Malaysia
Here are guides to fiber broadband services for individuals in Malaysia:
- Maxis Broadband Packages: A 7 Step Guide (includes Fiber Broadband)
- P1 Broadband Packages (Fiber Broadband section)
- UniFi Broadband Package for the Home (note: all UniFi broadband packages are fiber based)
- Time Broadband Packages for the Home (note: all Time broadband packages are fiber or ADSL based)
Here are guides to wireless broadband services for individuals in Malaysia:
- Maxis Broadband Packages: A 7 Step Guide (includes Wireless Broadband)
- P1 Broadband Packages (Wireless Broadband section) (Note: P1′s wireless broadband runs on a 4G network similar to YES broadband services)
- Celcom Broadband Packages (note: all Celcom broadband packages are wireless based)
- YES Broadband Packages (note: all YES Broadband packages are wireless and use a 4G network, which is faster than 3G but slower than 4G LTE)
- U Mobile Broadband: A 6 Step Guide (note: all U Mobile broadband packages are wireless. It uses a 3G network.)
Here are guides to ADSL broadband services in Malaysia:
- Maxis Broadband Packages: A 7 Step Guide (includes ADSL Broadband)
- Streamyx Broadband Packages
- Time Broadband Packages
Here is a guide to a cable broadband service in Malaysia:
Photo credit: Nasir Nasrallah / Foter.com / CC BY
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which is the cheapest prepaid plan? I want something like Digi with rm30 paid in advance and you can call and sms throughtout a year without top up your credit if there is credit balance. But I hav fed up with digi cus their customer service is damn sucks
Which one is better, Maxis wired 2Mbps or Streamyx 2 Mbps?
Anybody know how fast these providers start covering a newly built condo? I’m getting place in empire condo in damansara perdana and none of these providers cover it except macrolynx which has a contract with the condo. But i don’t think it will be as good as tm or maxis. Should I wait for them to start covering or should i just go with macrolynx?
I’m not familiar with Macrolynx. I would think the major provider would want to get the building covered quickly, as the first major provider to offer the service would likely get the larger subscription take-up. Below is a commenter named Mohd Azhar who works for TM. Try messaging him or replying to one of his comments, and he might offer some insight. Cheers.
Thanks a lot nick
i just asked an agent about the landline for telephone and internet and he told me i should register for it via the condo’s management. how does that work? is it gonna be like internet in hotels which everybody uses the same internet? could you tell me if you know anything about it?
I think this is a good post. Helps a lot for me as I’m moving into a new place so need to look for the suitable broadband. I think from this, I’ll probably go with UniFi. I had used the UniFi before and it’s quite stable and affordable. That’s my view though. Any input on the reliability of the Maxis broadband in Jalan Ampang area as my new place is around there?
Hi Billy, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with the reliability of Maxis broadband in Jalan Ampang. I’ll copy in Mohd Azhar who as been insightful about broadband topics in the past. Maybe he knows. Although, since it’s fiber, I think it should be okay. I think wireless tends to have greater discrepancies in reliability. Cheers.
Alright Nick! Thanks man! I’ll probably try both and give some input after that.
Thanks Billy ..
love to hear that you will go with UNIFI .. input on other provider something benefit to us (TM) for the improvement
Hey mohd. I don’t know if you saw my comment or not but i have a question about tm and nick told me to ask you since you work for tm. I would appreciate it if you gave me your email
Good to hear. Always like to get more input posted on the site. Cheers.
just to do some correction :
” UniFi Broadband Package for the Home (note: all UniFi broadband packages are fiber based) ”
actually , for highrise building (mainly for existing cooper cable ready) , the unifi service is using cooper cable … same speed , same features (vip) only the access .
Hi Mohd, that’s a good point, and thanks for posting. From my understanding the fiber cable actually connects to certain part of the high rise building. Then from that part of the building a copper cable is used to connect to the individual’s apartment (if my understanding is incorrect, please feel free to advise). This seems to be standard practice with fiber broadband services. Since the broadband connection is largely based upon the fiber technology and we want to communicate the broadband technologies from a practical standpoint, we grouped them as a fiber broadband service (unlike Maxis, which offers Fiber, Wireless, and ADSL). However, we’ll consider adding the note you. Interestingly, we actually make that disclosure in our post “Streamyx vs Unifi”: http://leapingpost.com/2013/05/21/streamyx-vs-unifi-broadband-differences/. Cheers.
Yeah .. that my point ..
what i am means is the existing cooper on the highrise building is not totally replaced by fiber.
will visit your other then ..thanks
Hi Mohd Azhar – You’ve been insightful about broadband topics in Malaysia. A reader just asked a question about the reliability of Maxis broadband in the Jalan Ampang area. Do you have any feedback about that? Cheers.
Hi Nick ..
i am actually a TM staff and are using UNIFI VIP 5 services . I guess my comment on other provider will bias to support TM .
Just to share that Maxis has incorporate with TM to utilised the TM fibre infra in what we called HSBA (HSBB is 100% operated by TM) .
In my opinion , MAXIS services via fibre will giving high reliability and performances .. and its carried ASTRO services too. The thing to be consider on the maxis services is implementation of CAP of the bandwidth
as now , UNIFI has not implemented the CAP
Thanks for sharing this Mohd. And thanks for being honest you work for TM. I’ll keep you in mind for any future broadband questions! Cheers.
U Mobile seems to have some good packages. Maxis is overpriced as far as I am concerned.
Rajan Baliah Esq
http://www.lahatdatu.com
Nice – this is helpful.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Glad you found it helpful.
UniFi has been a huge upgrade from the Maxis Wireless broadband I had before. I upgraded to UniFi over 2 years ago, as it was the first fiber broadband I heard about it (I’m not sure what other fiber broadband services were even available then). I have the cheapest broadband package by UniFi but I’m fairly happy with it. It is consistently fast for streaming music/videos and downloading. However, I do have one main problem, which is that every few months the internet will stop working. When this happens i have to call TM, go through the long process, test it out, and in the end, find out that the company is just doing some “maintenance” work or something, which is causing the interruption. It usually only interferes for a few hours but this happens every few months and can be quite irritating.
I’ve had similar experiences!