Any reliable 3G service in Bali yet?

twiceaman

I have read a lot of negatives about the 3G services on the Island. I would not need access to the web 24/7 but just to be able to get on when I need to. I am not even bothered about speed! I will be based in Seminyak so would love to hear the short term broadband access options if any!

Sanurian

[quote]...I will be based in Seminyak so would love to hear the short term broadband access options if any![/quote] There are lots of "free" wi-fi hotspots in Seminyak. Even more in the Legian and Kuta areas. All along the Kuta Beach sea-side strip is also available. (For free...you don't even have to buy a beer, coffee, meal, etc, in a particular bar/restaurant.) "Reliability", as such, is a matter I won't go into. [b]Most[/b] of the time, they work OK. So - [b]Yes[/b], there are [b]many[/b] options. :D

twiceaman

Thanks, i was hoping for web access from my apartment / hotel room but I will have to suss it out when I get there...

mimpimanis

I dont really know what 3G is :oops: but if you want to be able to use the internet from your partment hotel or other place, I used to use Indosat Starone via IM2. I could pick up the signal in Nusa Dua, Kuta, the airport and Im sure most other places in south Bali. If you want access in differnt places this may be the way to go.

Sanurian

Hi, [b]twiceaman[/b] [quote]i was hoping for web access from my apartment / hotel room but I will have to suss it out when I get there..[/quote] Seminyak is generally regarded as an expensive area to stay in. If you're going to pay a premium price for a place to stay there, it [b]should[/b] already have some kind of functional internet access available. If not, I'd be looking elsewhere. Don't forget the Kuta beach strip is free (if it's working). Hope you have a great time, whatever you're coming for. :D

Sanurian

Hi [b]mimpimanis[/b] [quote]...I dont really know what 3G is...[/quote] It's just like a newer version of whatever handphone you have. More "features", can do more things, maybe faster. To get the most out of service providers, a 3G phone is "better" than one that's not. Then again, there's also 3.5G and (I think), 4G on the horizon. Conclusion: Just try to have [i]at least[/i] a 3G handphone if you're going to use it for internet stuff...and/or use it as a modem. :D

mimpimanis

Hi Phil My last hp which is now put to the side while I revert to Mades old one had Bluetooth, internet and all sorts but I dnt use it for that. I was a bit disappointed that though it had a video function I couldnt get videos of it and onto my laptop. But I have a new camera now and have just figured out that - though I couldnt upload to Youtube yet, maybe because I was using on 8.megapixlels and was too big.... just took forever and timed out but I ma getting there. For me I usea phone for calling and photos. Now with the new camera I only care about calls. I hate smsing even ,takes me forever :roll:

Jimbo

What you really need to deal with all those Techie issues is any 9 year old and above child. They can sort out your phone, computer and TV programming issues so easily :P

mimpimanis

Yes, by the time my mum died she still hadn't figured out the VHS player, Marty at 2 can already turn the DVD on and put his dvd in!

psi

Hi all, This is my first post and I hope to make friends with a lot of you over time. My wife and I can't WAIT to move to Bali at the end of next year, and a large part of the reason is because we can both do our jobs from anywhere. I'm a journalist and she's an online clothes seller. Presumably everyone's talking about 3G because there's not much wired infrastructure in Bali? We use and need the Internet 24/7, and just going to wifi hotspots won't really do, we're going to need it where we live. At the moment we get ADSL at home in Australia and I don't imagine they have much that fast or reliable in Bali, so assumed we'd have to get some sort of satellite service or something to ensure we have decent speeds and connectivity. I've read through this whole thread and it just seems like I might not get the reliability and speed i want no matter what the price...

Peter K

Psi, I have been using Blueline for a few years now. Very fast and reliable. Not the cheapest, but you get for what you pay for. I use Skype a lot for my business and I found that it only works well on Blueline. P

Roy

Just taking a quick poll among the expats at Nuri’s earlier today, to watch the third and final Presidential debate…the overwhelming opinion was Telkom Speedy. These are Ubud based folks of course.

Sanurian

Hi, psi

I don't imagine they have much that fast or reliable in Bali, so assumed we'd have to get some sort of satellite service or something to ensure we have decent speeds and connectivity.

"Reliability" can be a problem, at times. "Decent speeds" depends on what you're used to and expect over here. TelkomSpeedy is reasonable, but not perfect. Just like all the other ISPs here.

I've read through this whole thread and it just seems like I might not get the reliability and speed i want no matter what the price..

There is an Australian-based company here offering "Super Fast Internet" connections. If money is no real object, you might like to check them out. Australian Head Office: +61 431 263 276 Bali office: +62 361 810 558 WEB: http://www.OceanicBroadband.com.au I did, a few weeks ago, but they're way out of my price range. You're up for between $4,000 - 5,000 (US dollars), for the equipment, to start with. And it goes on from there. I have no idea if they are "reliable", or even deliver the goods. Have a look, get some quotes, make a decision. In the interim, TelkomSpeedy suffices, for most people. Indosat could be OK, too, depending where you live. One I would avoid like the plague, at the moment, is TelkomselFlash. Hope this helps. :D

psi

Thanks all for the tips. It's almost worth it for us to lay down $5K up front to make sure we get good speed and reliability because both our work is online based. At the moment we have ADSL2+ which gets us something like 2-3MBps. If I can get near to that it'll be great but making sure there are no dropouts is more important. We're going to be in the Ubud area too most probably, so I'm not even sure if it's a regional thing up there.