Singapores Internet of Nothing
Since I work at http://hackerspace.sg/, occasionally the topic arises of how to keep your embedded device connected to the Internet in Singapore.
Basically it's a huge PITA.
Wireless@SG doesn't work reliably. It's a long running joke. If you miraculously authenticate and get online, you will probably be kicked off.
Getting connected on 4G LTE is expensive and a HUGE PITA. The cheapest way I've discovered so far is to get a "Long expiry plan". The longest being 30 days for 1GB for 20SGD, http://info.singtel.com/personal/singtel-prepaid-data-plans. You have to manually renew it every month from the device itself. Good luck scripting the SMS to top up! No one I know has managed it.
Getting wired connected for a little thingie is generally impractical. OpenNET aka NetLinkTrust can take MONTHS to get their contractors hooking you up. ISPs contract is 1 year minimum. Next you will have little headaches like VLAN tagging to worry about.
There was an initiative for an "alternative" low power connectivity with SIGFOX but that fizzled out and besides... it's one way & non-IP so lacking in versatility.
And no IPv6
Even if you somehow get inexpensively connected to the Internet in Singapore. You won't have IPv6. You won't be addressable. No Internet service I've found does IPv6 natively in Singapore, leading to horrible stop gaps like http://pi.dabase.com/ where I have to keep an expensive socket connection open just to be able to get at my device.
IPv6 workarounds like HENET aren't great because they are usually very slow, expensive and badly routed. IPv6 needs to be natively supported by ISPs and routes need to be constantly tested and maintained.
Conclusion
@kaihendry I'm sorry but we do not have static IP services for residential customers.
— Yong En (@Singtel_YongEn) January 27, 2015So the above connectivity challenges really need to be sorted out for Singapore to have an "Internet of Things" revolution. Initiatives like "Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN)" & "Wireless@SG" sound awesome. But the devil is in the details. A lot more work & consideration must be made to get the Internet of Things sanely online and addressable.