Tag Archives: 3G

U Mobile expands 3G network in East Malaysia

Months ago,U Mobile started to share with Maxis for its infrastructure in order to expand its 3G network to nationwide.Since then,the 3G coverage on U Mobile in West Malaysia came to be good.Well,recently it started the expansion in East Malaysia and the major cities and towns there had 3G service already.

The areas having 3G service are Kuching,Sibu,Bintulu,Miri.Labuan,Kota Kinabalu,Sandakan and Tawau.You can check the details of it coverage here


U Mobile’s 3G network supports up to 42Mbps DC-HSPA+ .The collaboration with Maxis will let U Mobile expand faster and save more capital.I believe it will also benefit on deploying 4G LTE network which U Mobile maybe will start the service in the year.

Anyway,as a user of U Mobile,I feel some service downgrade in terms of speed and downtime.I hope they could improve the service continuously with the growth of the number of users and don’t let me down.

YES is not so nice

YES had launched for 2 days,however,till now there are still quite a number of users complaining that they can login to the website.And the official website was down in the first 20 hours because of DDOS attack by the 3rd party.I think as a company which provides Internet service,it should have enough ability to deal with this kind of issues quickly.

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Well,for me,I don’t even feel good on the price.After 4GB usage monthly,it will offer 30% rebate on the original price 3 cent/MB.If we use more than 7 GB monthly,it’s over RM140 already.With that price,we could enjoy Streamyx 4Mbps unlimited access.You may ask that YES claimed to have 3-5 times speed than current local 3G providers,so is that really faster?No,according to the testing report from some users,it’s around 3-5Mbps in most areas.

I don’t think YES is priced at a right position.I’m wondering that who want to get such a low cost-effective product.YES,you should know the market first and push the product out later.Otherwise,you will lost the business soon.

3G coverage of DiGi

When I was in Malacca,I brought my laptop with me.So I could check emails and update Facebook on time.However,the hotel I stayed is without free usage of WIFI.I had to use my Google Nexus One as a modem connecting to my laptop to surf internet through DiGi’s network.

 

DiGi has a wide coverage of EDGE,the 2.75G network which is able to provide the downlink speed up to 144Kbps in my experience.However,it could not be suitable to load most websites fast because nowadays those fancy pages always embed with flash and pictures where the size is easily over 1MBytes,meaning that I have to wait at least 10 seconds for each page.I can’t imagine how I could watch a YouTube video or play some Facebook games by using such a wireless service.

I hope when I visit Malacca next time,I could enjoy 3G connection there.Do you hear me,DiGi?

Nexus One in hand

My Google Nexus One finally is in my hands.It takes one week flying from USA to Malaysia.Actually it may not need such a long time by courier service.However,when it reached Malaysia,it was detained by custom because by law any imported telecommunication products to Malaysia should have SIRIM approval.So I have to apply a special approval there to let the custom release my cell phone.

Turning to the topic.I like this phone very much after using it for several hours.It’s so powerful that anything you want to do on the move,you could do in this capable Android phone.

Google Nexus One VS Nokia 5800XM The hardest thing to me is to set up MMS and GPRS/EDGE/3G connection in the cell phone as there is no automatic configuration from DiGi.Frankly speaking,till now I yet don’t know how I solved the issue.

Nexus One has 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU inside.I feel it could be also treated as a super-portable computer.The Android market has around 10,000 apps there and the number is increasing dramatically.

For me,I now hope that ‘Turn-by-Turn Navigation’ in Google Maps could be worked in non-US countries as soon as possible.

Well,I have to take more days to learn how to play it ,not being played by the phone.

DiGi is exactly going for 3G voice service

Why could I say that?Because I saw some small changes on DiGi Broadband coverage page there.

DiGi service coverageI found that DiGi silently improves the existing coverage while expanding the broadband service to a much wider area.At the same time,they are planning to open voice service on their 3G network too.The little trick in the coverage page may imply that 3G voice service is just waiting for a better time to be officially released.

If DiGi could make the coverage better than Maxis for both indoor and outdoor and make the broadband service friendly with those family users(not for personal use only).I think I will transfer my line then.

DiGi,don’t let me upset.

 

Update:I get some updates from DiGi in Facebook channel.

  • Q:I still doubt what is the difference between DiGi 3G broadband and DiGi Turbo 3G.Any explanation?
  • A:DiGi Turbo 3G is our 14.4Mbps HSPA network. Now available for computers (DiGi Broadband) and phones (DiGi 3G).

  • Q:That means DiGi has open up 3G voice service?!When will HSPA network be available in Klang Valley area?
  • A:3G voice & data for phones now available, will launch in Klang Valley soon.

Why won’t I use DiGi Broadband?

I know that DiGi Broadband performs quite well according to the feedbacks from existing users(at least the actual speed is above the said standard).However,I have no plans to use it yet because DiGi Broadband has the following weakness:

1.High monthly charge with limits on usage

DiGi broadband packages

I always watch online TV and download files,so Discover and Explore plan will not suitable to me because of the low usage limits.However,Extreme plan could cost me RM188 monthly,compared to TM Streamyx 4M combo which only costs RM160 monthly.Furthermore,the top plan just provides 20GB monthly and after this the download speed would be cut at 256Kbps.I don’t think I could control my usage within this volume.

2.Stability

Because DiGi Broadband is using 3G technology,it’s wireless.Thus,the strength of signal affects the speed and latency.As we all know,many factors may affect the signal,such as weather,structure of rooms,coverage etc. and it would make the fluctuations on speeds,even a super high latency.I’m sure that will be a nightmare for a online gamer.

3.High cost to get a 3G router to share the connection

Currently I have one desktop,one laptop and one smart phone which always access the Internet at the same time.That means if I want to subscribe DiGi Broadband,I have to buy a 3G router which is able to let me share the connection to all devices.I find that a 3G router recently is still pricing quite high(around RM250-400).

I refuse DiGi Broadband because of the above 3 points.I believe a great number of people have the same worries just like me.I wish DiGi could see it and figure out some solutions as that will be the only way to grow the service.