I've been trying to get back into the connected world since I moved to my house outside of Melaque where there is no telephone or Internet. Two weeks ago I got my first cel phone, the Nokia 1616 below. That's the cheapest phone and for $350 pesos you get the phone and $100 pesos of airtime.
First cel phone in this day and age ... yes I know, I should have had one before. Had to have a neighbor teach me how to use it. Pretty easy really and things went well for the first week.
In the mean time I was evaluating my Internet options including a radio type transmission from a nearby community. That would have involved building a tower and buying sending and receiving dishes. Quite a bit of money for only a shared signal that may not be around next year.
Everyone said Iusacell was cheaper but the signal was weak in our area so I finally went into Telcel last week to see what was available. What a surprise to find they had an unlimited Internet service with a USB modem and an IPhone for $700 pesos a month. That package does require an 18 month contract and a credit check ... but I was approved and it's not much more than a 2meg service from Telmex. And no I didn't have to pay extra for the Iphone or USB .... it's included in the contract price.
I'm now using the USB modem with my desktop and was quite excited to start using the Iphone to browse the web and check email. Sadly Telcel messed up the activation and neither one of the phones work even tho I had $100 peso credit on the Nokia. The messages say my SIM cards are not registered. I can guess at the problem but this will require another trip to Telcel in Manzanillo.
Oh well, at least I have Internet on this computer and will report what the mis-configuration problem was later this week.
Seems the SIM cards were reversed so problem solved. Another correction is that the USB connection thru this computer has a 10 gig limit. Only the Iphone has unlimited Internet time and gigabites.
Seems the SIM cards were reversed so problem solved. Another correction is that the USB connection thru this computer has a 10 gig limit. Only the Iphone has unlimited Internet time and gigabites.
I added the Speed Test image which is from a server in Guadalajara. The servers in the US gave me .85 megs and 1.2 megs. The service is rated at 2.5 megs.
6 comments:
I take it that this set-up works anywhere you have sell service from your contracted provider? Even on the road?
Yep ... you could use the USB modem in a laptop or the Iphone anywhere there is a Telcel signal
What kind of speeds are you getting with that setup?
I added info to the bottom of the post. Why it would change so much from Mexico to the US I have no idea. It feels as fast or faster than my one meg line from Telmex.
Can you daisy chain through the iphone into a laptop to get around the 10 gig limit?
As far as I can tell if you use computer thru the Iphone you have no limit. The 10 gigs is only for the USB connection. However the computer speed thru the Iphone is pretty slow ... like NO YouTube or large graphics. Text based sites work well.
TelCel gave me the IPhone 3 which requires a USB connection ... where an IPhone 4 will do WiFi as a "hotspot"
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