nomad4ever
Thanks 'O' and Allen for the tips! Guess I have to check that out soonest, to not let the July offer expire as well, hehe.
Art Museum I know, so it shouldn't be that difficult to find then....
BaliLife
sorry guys,
this is all a bit techy for me (and i'm an IT Project Manager - god help the bank) - well it's not too techy, it's just so much info.. let me ask you this... my new place will be in jimbaran with presumably all types of access... we use use the internet a lot.. a heck of a lot... what's my best option? doesn't have to be super fast, but fast is nice... and pref a plan that doesn't limit (or has super high limits or low additional fees for excess downloads)? assuming i don't want to pay an arm and a leg...
ct
nomad4ever
sorry, I meant 10-50kbps for XL 3G not 150. ;-)
nomad4ever
Just coming back from the CentrinOnline Office in Jl. Kaliasem in Denpasar. This is what I found out:
- the special offer of unlimited volume via 3G XL Network for Rp. 245.000 plus tax is still valid until 31/7/2007, one-time fee is Rp. 39.500, the monthly fee will remain the same for 6 months
- you will get a 'special' XL SIM card, where the Speed is artificially restricted to 6 kbps both upload/download
- The XL (Centrin) network shows only 3 bar out of 5 coverage even at the Centrin Office (2-3 bar at my location Seminyak/Kerobokan)
I brought my laptop and XL SIM card and ran both connections after each other using the same 3G PCMCIA Laptop Card (Cingular).
3G XL is definitely *much* faster (app. 5-10 times), subjectively felt when surfing heavy-load websites. Download speeds there where between 150-50kbps with 3G XL, Centrin about 5.7-5.8 constant. Centrin speed seem to be pretty stable (probably due to the artificial limitation), but only *slightly* faster than Dial-up.
The price is definitely attractive, but would mean a huge step backwards for me considering speed, so I will stick with the XL 3G for now.
BaliLife
hi allan.... very familiar with the quality, cost, time triangle - it seems our snr directors aren't though... hehehe...
thats why i try to used soft terms, "prefer", "fast is nice" :)
i know we're gonna have to make some sacrafices on connectivity there (canada connectivity is good), but i'm just trying to understand, what makes the most sense, if someone wants decent speed, unlimitted use, without paying a ludicrous amount..
ct
O
Thanks Chris for the update on the Centrin 3G service. It seems I was lucky to sign up early as I do not have any restrictions of download speed on my SIM card acquired at Centrin in May. My DU meter shows a download speed between 15 and 60kbps.
Centrin might have been victim of their own success and may need to keep the overall bandwidth usage low. Plus now they can justify the price difference between the XL direct service and the one offered via Centrin. Looks like XL finally realized that they were loosing customers to Centrin and asked them impose restrictions on speed access to keep their customers. Looks like it worked since they kept your business! And it's true that 5kbps would be hard to accept after being used to 50..
BaliLife
Megabeast,
Where in canada are you? We're in vancouver and will be movin to bali late this year..
Ct
nomad4ever
3G XL had one big outage in my area since last friday. Only GPRS connection was available. 3G was unusable. For sure nobody picked up at all when calling their hotline numbers. So I went to their office at Sunset Road. Hordes and crowds of waiting customers. Took 1 hour for my turn.
XL tried the usual bullshit that I changed my settings or misconfigured my computer. At least they admitted that they had a few technical problems with their antennas over the weekend.
Running around my house with my laptop I noticed constant disconnects and permanent change in signal strength from 0-5 bars to HSDPA sign in my 3G manager.
Today it was working again like nothing had happened! Stable and permanent signal, signal strength 2 bar of 5 as before.
Arlglglglglglgl!!!
spitfire
Happens to my Indosat 3G as well regularly. Signal yes, internet no. Can take 5 minutes to few hours or more.
widder
Thank's Spitfire, just one follow up question, how do I know whether my laptop has bluetooth? I had a look in the hardware device manager, but there is nothing which says "bluetooth", or would I find it somewhere else? Thank you for your patience, Sybille
johannes
Hello,
as we have no telefone-line to our house in Jimbaran I always go to internet-shops. Now bought a laptop for Bali and would like to know what is the easiest way to use internet with it. I know that there are some warungs/cafes where I can use the internet for free when comsuming some food or drinks.
As I am a senior and not so firm with internet-connections with handphone etc. I not really understand all the informations before.
Is it possible to get an internet-connection only by handphone?
Johannes :?
spitfire
[b]Re: RE: Indosat 3.5g 3.6 Mbps???[/b]
[quote=widder]Thank's Spitfire, just one follow up question, how do I know whether my laptop has bluetooth? I had a look in the hardware device manager, but there is nothing which says "bluetooth", or would I find it somewhere else? Thank you for your patience, Sybille[/quote]
post your brand and model/type number and I should be able to tell you.
spitfire
[b]Re: RE: Indosat 3.5g 3.6 Mbps???[/b]
[quote=johannes]Hello,
as we have no telefone-line to our house in Jimbaran I always go to internet-shops. Now bought a laptop for Bali and would like to know what is the easiest way to use internet with it.
....and not so firm with internet-connections with handphone etc. I not really understand all the informations before.[/quote]
In that case Johannes, to use your laptop at the internetcafe. Then you'll have at least some sort of professional help in case you have problems. Connecting through handphone or even USB modem requires some insight as sometimes nothing is wrong with your settings or connection and you'll still have no internet because the provider is down.
widder
Hi Chris and all the other forum members who appear to have a PhD in mobile phone/internet technology :D - gosh I am envious! Although using a laptop quite efficiently, I was left behind in the field of mobile phone technology - until recently I thought they were actually used to make phone calls, but one of my colleagues who is about half my age enlightend me. As a matter of fact, I don't have one :shock: I am in the process of moving to Bali, and my question is, whether I should get a mobile here in Cairns prior to leaving, and then get a new SIMS card and internet bundle when I get to Bali, or whether I should just wait till I get there. I have absolutely no idea how all that stuff works, like connecting my laptop to my mobile to get internet access etc. Since my laptop has wifi capacity, do I actually need to bother? Obviously I need help - I don't mind broadcasting some of my short-comings :oops: cheers, Sybille
spitfire
If handphones in Ausralia are usually sold (or come free) in combination with a subscription, buy it in Bali. You will not need the Australian subscription and to get a separate phone will probably be cheaper here. You can also find a lot of second hand phones.
3G is a different technology from WiFi. To use 3G or GPRS with your handphone and laptop, you will need to be able to connect your handphone to your laptop so it can be used as a dial up modem to the internet. In my case, I use bluetooth, but not all laptops have that built in. A special USB cable will usually work also.
To use 3G or GPRS on a PDA handphone, you don't have to do anything special, however in combination with a laptop it will probably not work. I (and Indosat technicians) cannot configure my pda phone to work as a dial up modem in combination with my laptop! So when I want to connect my laptop to the internet, I switch my Simcard to a simple Nokia 9310i and connect to the laptop with bluetooth to pass on the internet signal.
Recently I just bought the new 3G with a USB modem. This makes life very easy. Just plug-in the USB modem in any computer. It will install the dashboard to connect and you're of. No handphone needed anymore and interchangeable between any computer. I keep using my old handphone number which gives me access to GPRS on my pda phone as well, to quickly check emails while on the way.
Just a note: The modem doesn't work with Vista automatically, but it can be configured to work. I use it.
widder
Hi Spitfire,
silly me, I always thought a spitfire was a plane, not a snazzy red car :wink:
I have an Acer Travelmate 4220, 1g processor, 1g RAM, using XP professional. cheers, Sybille
InAdelaide
Hi I have been using Indosat 3G for 2 days, at the moment the reading is 1.04Mbps...thats in Legian...no problem with dropouts, it says in the manual for the modem , disconnecting modem without safe removal can cause connection/dirty modem probems...fix is to do a safe removal...
widder
Hi Spitfire,
yep, that's the way I'll go, 3G and usb modem. I'll check on stores after I have arrived. Thank you for your help. bye for now, Sybille
nomad4ever
Wow, Spitfire is really fast. As I'm quite late, there is nothing much I can add to his explanations. :)
For using a Laptop with 3G, it might be cheaper to buy a 3G PCMCIA Card instead of the 3G USB Modem, works similar but these are especially made for Laptops. But for sure the USB Modem you can use with any computer with USB and not only Laptops. So it's all up to your preference and what is available at the time.
widder
Hi Chris, thank you for dropping in. I think I clarified what I needed to know, and I am glad I don't have to buy a mobile, as I prefer not to continuously add more devices to my otherwise simple life :D Maybe I need to appoint someone as a "minder" when I go shopping for that stuff, otherwise I end up with an electric jug or a toaster :roll: . Once again thank you for all the help and advice. cheers, Sybille
