Buying Broadband - Part 5

No Katharsis but another round of not answering my question:

7 April 2005

Dear Mr Wissel

I refer to your email of 5 April 2005.

I have tried to contact you earlier at around 9AM via your mobile number
but did not manage to get through you.

I wish to clarify that the download speed for our Broadband 3500K
plans will reach to a maximum of up to 3500K, while the upload speed
will be up to 350K.

Please refer below on the maximum download speed that each of our
subscription plan can achieve.

BroadBand 3500kbps offers a download speed of up to 3500kbps  
BroadBand 1500kbps offers a download speed of Up to 1500kbps
BroadBand 512kbps offers a download speed of up to 512kbps

The upload speed for each of our subscription plan will be as follows:-

Broadband 512kbps offers an upload speeds of up to 256kbps
Broadband 1500kbps and 3500kbps offers an upload speed of up to
350kbps.

Please note that under normal circumstances, your service will be
activated within 4 working days, after submitting the Application form.
However, subject to telephone line conditions or locations, it may take
about one month or longer for the service to be activated.

You may also wish to know that our BroadBand is not applicable for
residential which has PABX, hunting line, ISDN, DID, key telephone
system, Auxiliary line.

For a more detailed information on SingNet Broadband service, you may
wish to visit our Frequently Asked Questions at the following website:

[faq that doesn't answer the question]

We strongly recommend that you follow the minimum system requirements
stated herein or those specified by the ADSL modem you have purchased,
whichever is more stringent.

For PC Users
------------

- Win98 2nd Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000
Professional and Window XP Home Edition
- Intel Pentium Processor II 233 MHz, Intel Celeron 300 MHz, AMD K6 233
MHz (or higher / compatible)
- 32 MB RAM
- 70 MB free hard disk space
- 4x CD ROM Drive
- One built-in powered USB port with Intel Chipset recommended (for
users with USB ADSL modem) OR One 10 Base-T Ethernet port (for use with
Ethernet ADSL modem).

For Mac Users
-------------

- Mac OS 8.6 to OS X
- PowerMac G3s Blue/White, PowerMac G4s, iBooks and PowerBooks
64 MB*
- 70 MB of free hard disk space
- Built-in Ethernet Port
- 8X CD ROM Drive
* For Mac OS X, min 128MB RAM required. Additional RAM may be required
to improve your video streaming running.
Mac Users with OS X, it is recommended to upgrade to OS X Version
10.1.3.

For further information on the minimum system requirement, please visit
our website at [repetition of the info stated above]

To do an online check on whether your personal computer meets the
minimum requirement for SingNet Broadband service, please visit our
website at:
[Another page not answering thw question]

For further clarifications, please reply to this email or you may visit
our webpage at
[had that page before] to send
us an online feedback form.

Thank you and I look forward to serving you.

Seems to mutate from a drama to a soap opera:

Dear sales,

thank you for pointing out the details. I've studied the websites extensively and are aware of the requirements. I'm currently using cable for Broadband and we are willing to switch. However when I look at your price plan/promotion: the minimum contract duration is 20 month. The monthly subscription SGD 83.90. So I have to commit SGD 1678 to your organization when subscribing (plus installation cost). That is a lot of money.
The nature of ADSL limits the maximum speed by the length and the quality of the copper cable from the ADSL modem to the network entry point. So while it WILL work at my home, it is not clear to me if it can work at 3.5MBit. Eventually it only works up to 1.5Mbit or 512Kb due to the copper cable leading to my flat. What I simply want to know: how can you confirm that it will work at 3.5Mbit? Of course I could subscribe and hope the best. Since you don't offer a trial period I rather not take that 1678 dollar gamble (remember gambling is illegal in Singapore).

So how?
stw