Internet - how much and how fast?

[JohnDean]

biznet

Thanks John,

Just had a look at that site. Looks very very reasonable.

They seem to be offering a 20meg connection and yet noone in this post/forum seems to have mentioned anything anywhere near this fast.

If you buy the 20mb/s package what am I looking at actually getting most the time? Even in developed countries the exchanges always seem to be overloaded and I have got only half the data rate I am paying for in the past in UK and North America. Do you know what they are like for that kind of thing?

Thanks for all the help,
Effie

I will be receiving more info early next week from Biznet and will post here. I do not know anyone using the Biznet service currently. Most likely there non-commercial packages are shared bandwidth since on their site under commercial options they make a point to clarify 1:1 with huge $ increase. For the cost of the non-commercial options though I will still give it a try if or when they provide service to the Seminyak area.

Thanks
John

 

[Lou]

Johnny Cool - regarding the 8 bit byte you are of course correct. However sending a byte over a network incurs an overhead. The early (pre Internet) dial up services, like AOL and Compuserve needed 10 bits to transmit one 8 bit byte so the 10 bit transmitted byte became a shorthand convention (easy to use too). Dial up Internet was/is variable in the overhead as it transfers the bytes in frames but 10 is still a useful number to use. In both of these cases because the speeds are relatively slow it was important not to set false expectations of throughput so sensible service providers continued using 10 bits per byte.

Nowadays the ADSL services like Speedy are more efficient again. Even though there is still an overhead of around .8 of a bit per byte, the speeds involved cause the industry in general to ignore that when calculating throughput for the consumer market. These examples are a simplification but reasonably represent the picture.

 

[donfuego]

That is incorrect.
There are 8 bits to a byte, not 10.

I know you're trying to help but please get your facts right in the first place.

:icon_e_ugeek:

Johnny, I appreciate your scrupulosity but if you read my post again more carefully you'll see that I wrote:

One BYTE roughly equals 10 BITS in the context of internet and computer networks.

Like Lou already mentioned this has to do with network and protocol overhead. Also the point of the post was to give a rough guide to bits and bytes for the mainstream user (not geeks like you and me)

If anyone needs more details on the IEEE 802.3 family standard, the TCP/IP protocol and network overhead involved in switched networks, feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to answer any questions. I used to develop network software and firmware so I know what it takes to push the little buggers around. The bits I mean! :icon_mrgreen:


Back to topic..........

 

[Datienshi]

Biznet coverage

I went to see Biznet office in Kuta and was impressed by the quality of their service. Loved the speed!

However the sad part is their coverage: they are only on the main commercial streets of Kedonganan, Tuban, Kuta, Legian, Seminyak (and Kerobokan by 2011) but they don't go to any residential area. They told me they can go no more than 2 poles away from theirs.

 

[sakumabali]

hello,

we use speedy - at home & office, both wlan since more than 2 years, home is unlimited (750.000 rupiah) and office is 3 GB (around 400.000 rupiah), i didn´t have a good start with speedy but after some technician changed the settings...i ever had problems again since...

They upgraded speedy unlimited to 3 mb / s the last days...

We use all together speedy at least 30 hours a day never down

regards

marc

 

[mango]

iPhone

Hi all,

I have been using Telkomsel simPATI unlimited internet package on my iPhone & laptop for about a month now and it works like a dream. Speed is reasonable, better than what I get at the internet cafes around town. here are the costs:
Rp 200'000/month for 512kbps and 1.5 GB for free. They also have cheaper packages:
Rp 100'000/month for 384kbps and 500MB for free
Rp 50'000/month for 384kbps and 100MB for free

Just wanted to let you know as I have been extremely frustrated in the past with other providers here.

 

[pollyanna]

I'm growing old waiting for my emails and BaliPod posts.

 

[JohnDean]

Gmedia

[/QUOTE]**Update

Biznet failed to deliver service, even after we moved a office to where they stated they could provide service. Huge waste of time. It appears to me they should spend less money on their huge billboard signs and more money on getting licenses to actually have the right to run the fiber lines.

I ended up going with a company called GMEDIA, with a 2-tier bandwidth agreement.
8AM-8PM 3MB up/down
8PM-8AM 6MB up/down
Fiber line with wireless backup

They installed the wireless today, it looks promising http://www.speedtest.net/result/971955390.png

Lintasata had a great stable service but I'm able to save 13 million IDR a month with the switch & the increased bandwidth made it even more attractive.

 

[sakumabali]

:icon_rolleyes: That´s fast for Bali!!!! Gmedia how much is that a month?

 

[ronb]

I ended up going with a company called GMEDIA, with a 2-tier bandwidth agreement.
8AM-8PM 3MB up/down
8PM-8AM 6MB up/down
Fiber line with wireless backup

They installed the wireless today, it looks promising

With speedtests over 5 Mbit, I am just going green with envy. I wonder how long it will take to get services like that in the north - but I am not holding my breath.

 

[JohnDean]

Gmedia

:icon_rolleyes: That´s fast for Bali!!!! Gmedia how much is that a month?

25 million IDR a month, worth every penny. It's is 13 mil cheaper then what I was paying Lintasata the last few years with only 2MB up/down.

 

[mat]

25 million IDR a month, worth every penny. It's is 13 mil cheaper then what I was paying Lintasata the last few years with only 2MB up/down.

That is serious money for internet.

 

[donfuego]

Just below 2000 times more per Mbit than what I used to pay for my 100 Mbit home fiber back home

 

[Effie]

Well in the end I went with blueline. I paid a lot for installation - 9 million but it does guarantee 1.5mb which is incredibly fast.
You can get it installed for a lot less than that but I live in a funny place for signal.
So you can get very fast internet if you want it here - and it isn't too expensive especially if you need it for work or whatever. I was just worried when I came out here that fast internet wasn't an option but that just wsn't true!

 

[JohnDean]

Progress

Well in the end I went with blueline. I paid a lot for installation - 9 million but it does guarantee 1.5mb which is incredibly fast.
You can get it installed for a lot less than that but I live in a funny place for signal.
So you can get very fast internet if you want it here - and it isn't too expensive especially if you need it for work or whatever. I was just worried when I came out here that fast internet wasn't an option but that just wsn't true!

I arrived in 2005, the options were limited & the speed options horrendous, 2005 @ 128KB down/56KB up (shared) to 2010 @ 6MB up/down (dedicated) is not bad in 5 years for an isolated Island with poor infrastructure. Each year the options are improving, speeds have increased and cost is slowly coming down. The issue remains for the majority of causal internet users that the cost for dedicated/guaranteed 1:1 connection can still be a limiting factor in Bali.

 

[Rainbird]

I skipped to the end here after reading a few pages so excuse me if I'm repeating what anyone else has said. I use Bali Media Net. www.balimedianet.com
For 1.5mill they installed a wireless receiver and modem on my roof, ethernet cable to my own wifi router. I pay 550,000 a month for unlimited down/uploads, at a perfectly reasonable speed for general browsing, forums, emails, etc. If I want to watch eg a Youtube or Facebook vid, I might have to go put the kettle on while it loads but that's fine considering I'm miles north of Ubud and it's a miracle to me I get internet at all. They have a coverage map on their website.
If I move, they will move the set up to another place, so long as their transmitters reach there.

They have good customer service (respond quickly to queries, upgraded my aerial, come to the house to collect monthly payment) and I'm happy to recommend them.

 

[steelersman]

If you rent a house that already has a functioning active phone line, then getting Telkom Speedy ADSL connected is relatively easy. Time frame depends on where you are & how busy they are, mine took 3 days in one house and a week in another. They sell you a modem (around 900,000rp).. You pay monthly you get 100mbps (I think thats the term) and its ADSL down your phone line with a splitter.

If the house doesn't have a phone line, do not believe the landlords promise of getting one. some places wait up to 6 months for a phone line that never comes. People are actually offering their phone lines for sale in Sanur to make a profit. Check last issue of Bali Advertiser on line.

There is a package that's only 200 per month but just one meg and if you go over it its very VERY exy. I think there's a 400 and a 700 (unlimited) rupiah a month package.

if you call telkom on 147 from any land line (or 0361 - 147 from any mobile) you can inquire directly... pretty easy

I am on line at least 8 hours a day and while its no where near as fast as Australia or Singapore I think overall its the best for the price by far for the speed and service

N

Would Telkom Speedy be fast enough to work via Skype Monday through Friday?

 

[ronb]

Would Telkom Speedy be fast enough to work via Skype Monday through Friday?

Yes. I have seen many people Skype-ing in restaurants that seem to be using Speedy. As far as I can tell as an eavesdropper, it seems to be working well for them.

 

[donfuego]

Just a heads up when it comes to Skype, the speed (bandwidth) is not the issue but rather the latency and stability (amount of "packet loss"). If a fast connection is suffering from high latency and packet loss it would still result in a worse Skype experience compared with a slower but more stable connection.

With that said, Speedy should *probably* be ok. You might want to look into First Media too if they're available in your area.

 

[widder]

Ceria Internet

I used to use different telkomsel products, but that got a little too expensive in the end. Now I have been using Ceria for over a year, and I am very happy with it. It's still dial-up - but it's very stable, and fast enough to upload changes to my website and it's cheap, just Rp110.000 per month unlimited! They also have pretty good coverage, important as I live in Tulamben now.
You don't need a fixed phone, see above, and Ceria provide you with a modem which you pay for when you first start using their service. Their office is in Teuku Umar opposite Fave Hotel and Starbucks.