Thread: Home internet connection in Bali- Kuta/ Seminyak

Dear forum readers,

I would like to ask for some help on internet connection. I realized I've never had to arrange my own internet connection before so I hardly understand the difference between ADSL and broadband or whatever else. So please forgive what may be some silly questions.

First, does anyone have any comments on Speedy? I am currently staying at a guest house where they have speedy, but I am wondering if it is reliable or not. I tried downloading with it and it downloads at about 5-8 kiloBYTES/ second, or about 4 minutes for 1 MB.

I am staying in Bali temporarily because I felt bored travelling and really wanted to do some research and writing. I dont think I can stay long term, so renting an apartment that would have a phone line installed seems out of the question.

I have read many of the other posts here but it is confusing to me what is the name of a COMPANY or product vs. what is the name of a technology. From my reading it sounds like 3.5g, or perhaps 3G are the best options. However its not clear to me whether this technology/product would require a phone line or not.

ALso price is a factor. If installation/ startup would be really costly, it may make sense just to continue at this guest house.

Also please keep in mind that I will be using the internet a lot, so options with limited hours won't really work for me.

Thanks to anyone who can help, I really appreciate it.

colorful

Hi colorful, and welcome to the forum. You will find a user review of speedy at http://www.expat.or.id/info/internetaccess.html but I am not sure when it was written. Anyhow that user was fairly happy.

But you say:

Originally Posted by colorful

Also please keep in mind that I will be using the internet a lot, so options with limited hours won't really work for me.

colorful

This may also mean that options with download limits won't suit you either, and that review of speedy mentions a 750 Mb download limit before extra charges are added.

Good luck.

Hi, colorful

Don't be embarrassed by asking "simple" questions regarding internet options in Bali (or the rest of Indonesia). "Simple answers" are hard to find. Unless you want this one:
"Fast" internet connections in Bali are expensive. Period!

Regarding Telkom Speedy: I've been using it from my home in Sanur more than a year now. It's OK, but don't expect blindingly fast "speed". Technically speaking, the download speed is a maximum of 384Kb/s, which, in reality, means approximately 330Kb/s, (or less, on average). The maximum upload speed is a paultry 64Kb/s (like somewhere around 20Kb/s, if you're lucky).

Telkom Speedy accounts come in a variety of flavours. The "normal", cheapest one is around Rp 220,000/month, (including tax), for 1GB of traffic (up and down). The next level is 3GB/month of traffic for Rp 440,000, (including tax). A much better and "realistic" quota. Charges can mount up very dramatically if you go over the monthly limit!

If the guest house you're staying in is using a 1GB/month Telkom Speedy account, it doesn't take a real lot to exceed the monthly quota, (even unintentionally). And then, somebody has to pay for the extra!

Many factors affect actual obtainable internet speeds. Here are just a few:

1. The computer being used and its "health". Has it been checked recently with up-to-date virus, malware, adware scanners?
2. The computer's operating system, eg, Windows XP. Windows' default internet settings leave a lot to be desired and can be tweaked, (if you know how).
3. The quality of the electrical wiring and phone cable to the house, (including how many rats are in the ceiling).
4. With ADSL, the distance from the nearest node to you...the farther away, the slower the performance. (Works better within a couple of kilometers or so.)
5. Programs working in the background on the computer and slowing things down like, unwanted spyware/trojan infections, etc, often without the owner's knowledge (hence point 1 above).
6. Most Windows's based computers have some version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on them so that Portable Document Files (pdf) can be displayed. That's great...however, what many people don't realise is that it also has an "Automatic Update" feature, which, unless turned off, will try to download "updates" every time the computer connects to the internet!

Acrobat Reader, especially Version 8 and above, is extremely bloated software. Also completely unnecessary because there are many alternatives available, such as Foxit Reader 2.3. (Faster, leaner, one tenth the size of Acrobat and no silly bullshit going on in the background. Also free and with options for more functionality, if you want that. Some extras you have to pay for, but at least you get to choose! And even the paid-for extras are much cheaper, by a long shot, compared to Adobe's offering.
7. Disabling Acrobat's Automatic Update is not intuitive. If anyone wants to do this and is confused, please PM me and I'll show you how. Better to get rid of it entirely, IMHO.

I'm trying to "nail" Acrobat based on my own experiences. I've checked its folders on my computers and have been astonished to see file sizes in excess of 90MB. I've also caught it trying to download "updates" of 30MB! Halo? It's supposed to be free pdf reader. Apart from Adobe "security up-dates" because of many problems in the last couple of years, I see no other reason for having it. Piss it off, so to speak.

As far as using various available handphone technologies in Bali, (3G, 3.5G, etc), to connect to the internet, be aware that they're relatively slow and expensive. If you have a laptop computer with a wi-fi device included, (most do), you could try using free wi-fi hotspots. There are many along the main beach road in Kuta and you don't even have to go into any shop, restaurant, bar, hotel. Good connections can often be got in front of Circle K outlets. For FREE. Worth trying...

One last thing.
I know that ronb meant well referring you to the link in his post. The problem with that site is that it's often not up-to-date, and a little bit too Jakarta-centric. Read it for yourself...I'll bet you get even more confused.

I hope this helps you and sorry if I've been too long-winded.

:D

Hi Sanurian, you say

The problem with that site is that it's often not up-to-date, and a little bit too Jakarta-centric.

but the Speedy review on that page is written by a Bali user, and is quite detailed and helpful - take a look. Also, I noted that it was hard to know when it was written, but the info looks OK.

I’m in total agreement with Phil, and he knows this stuff very well. Like him, we have been on Telkom Speedy for about a year now, and considering the past dial up modem speeds we were used to for many previous years, Speedy is a VAST improvement and is also very economical.

In the past year, we only noted one breakdown, and that was the result of a broken underwater cable. The problem was resolved in a few days.

Jimbo, does the CDMA network cover all of Indonesia? I am debating whether to buy a small laptop which I would want to use in Bali as well as East Java (in a village area). Would this type of connection work in both? Is it just basically a wireless bit of hardware that plugs straight into the USB with a pre-paid card? Would probably only use it for a couple of hours per day, and not every day, would this be a suitable option in your opinion. Did try to google Indocom without much luck. Could I pick up hot-spots in Bali, but then swap to CDMA when no hot-spot available?

Thanks Jim, much appreciated. I know we have no trouble with mobile reception so sounds like this could be the go, but will take your advice and check which network to go with.

Hey everyone,

Thank you very much for your comments- I truly appreciate your effort to respond.

So far the Speedy connection is not too bad- it has been mostly reliable but as noted, not extremely fast (nor incredibly slow).

But when you mention that it is only 440K Rp for 3 GB I wonder if I would be better off to get my own connection. But its not clear to me- do I need to have some kind of special hardware or equipment in order to have my own Speedy account? (presumably I would need the wireless router). Would I need to have a phone line? (Since finding a short term rental place with a phone line already installed would probably be diffcult, except for a major price) This is important to consider because obviously its additional overhead I would have to pay in addition to the monthly fee.

I noted what Sanurian said about Adobe Acrobat- fortunately I think I have my computer set not to automatically update but to ask me first. It actually asks me quite regularly if I want to update Adobe which I usually decline since it still works on the old version (and how much detail do you really need to read one of these docs anyway?) I have the same settings for Windows updates, so that prevents me from having interference from these updates.

The other factors you mention are important, and I will have to review them and consider them more carefully.

Jimbo, I thought I read you post in an earlier message that "CDMA is soooo slow"? You said you didn't use that much, but about how many hours were you able to use for the $20 card? (or is the $20 for a certain amount of GB?)

Thanks again, and I do look forward to any further input you may have on setting up with Speedy and/or CDMA (if you have time of course!) 8)

colorful