Thread: Any suggestions on internet providers?

I would welcome suggestions on internet providers in Southern Bali. Is there any broadband/satellite service that is available at a reasonable cost? I have been using the Telkom dial-up, and would like to know if there are better options. Thanks

Hello Earl,
I've been away since december last year and i was also using TelkomNet since there were no broadband/adsl available to a resonable price. would be great if there were now. i'd also be intrested. here in sweden one can get adsl (about 50kb/sec, around the clock) for approx. 270.000rp/month .. If one only could get it this cheap in bali. happy new year!

I've been using Centrin for years, and it has worked out just fine. There are others, viz, Indosat (hope I spelled that right) and Wasantara...but other expats seem to have only horror stories about them.

hmm yes. i tried indosat for amonth but the speed was about the same as TelkomNet and they had higher fees... so i switched back to TelkomNet. Centrin i quite good from what i hear...

For the six months I spent in Bali in 2003, I used a combination of Centrin and TelkomNet. When one "hung", which was common, I'd switch to the other. It sort of worked. They are both sublect to excessive line noise and occasional line drops.

The French person who runs the Highway internet cafe in Ubud supposedly has strung together a third-world version of broadband ,not very fast, but better than Centrin. I'll be talking to him in 2004.

Ken

More info:

After sniffing around the internet I found that the fiber optic backbone that runs through Bali is owned by Excelcomindo who works with Telemaya. They provide an ISP service. This is worth checking out.

Ken

Ken-- any links to that for more info?
I tried Highway's so-called Highspeed access over the last couple of months, and it works alright.

Uma,

I have forgtten the links, but you could go to google and search on "Excelcomindo" . That's where I started. I think this is what Highway uses. Search on "Telemaya" as well.

Ken

Just some follow up information about what internet provider I finally chose (stayed with). I would have found this information very helpful before I arrived in Bali. I am now using both Telkom and Centrin, depending on what I am trying to do. Here in Kerabokan, Telkom is usually a faster connection (>40kbps), but can be really hard to get on during busy times. I think they charge 165 Rp/min, whether you connect or not, and it can take many trys to get on during the busy times.
Centrin is much easier to connect to the internet with, but the speeds can be slower (usually 30+ kbps, but can be as low as 20 kbps). I think the cost is slightly higher. They charge about 50 Rp / min, plus the phone charges which depend on how far you are from Denpasar and the time of day.9am-3pm is the high time for telephone . Phone costs are3000-6000 Rp/min depending on whether it is high or low time.

No signing up is necessary with Telkom (http://www.telkom.co.id) . The usage charges appear on the phone bill. The dial up network settings are as follows:

TelkomNet Instan Settings
Phone Number: 0809 8 9999
User Id : telkomnet@instan
Password : telkom
Primary DNS: 202.134.0.155
Secondary DNS: 202.134.2.5

To sign up for Centrin (http://www.centrin.net.id) , I went to their office in Denpasar at Jl. Kaliasem No.11A (phone 228228). There is about a monthly charge of about 50,000 Rp, and an initial fee, and you are immediately given a User ID.

I hope this helps some new (or old) arrivals….
Earl

Thanks for the update, Earl.

I always wondered what Centrin cost.

Ken