I've been wondering about the quality of Internet service to Lamma for a long time...

I asked 1010 before about their 4G service. From my e-mail logs, they never replied. So I would assume 4G was not available when I asked (March 2012).

I also followed the saga with the fibre over on this forum:

http://www.lamma.com.hk/forum-OK/viewtopic.php?t=8332

(And apparently, even if Hutchison laid fibre in Lamma, its use is for the HK Electric power plant.)

Also of interest, wrt Internet:

http://www.lamma.com.hk/forum-OK/viewto ... t=internet

I think the most "reliable" service would be PCCW. I'm with 1010 and was with SmarTone when I first moved to Lamma. The service is always excruciatingly slow at peak times (weekends and evenings) on the mobile broadband networks...

Oh I see, thanks Alan. Perhaps the termination of Pacnet on Lamma implies that they know something about Hutchison finally offering service to Lamma...

please ....Hutchinson and PCCW ! it's all Mr Li's ...

Yeah, I see. But then, how much does 3M cost? (I had a theoretical 21mbps on either mobile broadband services, but never got that either...)

Good on them, I guess , but how did Pacific Century CyberWorks end up owning the broadband (proper landline) market on Lamma??

We can presume that any licensed ISP could offer services here using leased HKT... PCCW lines. Yet they choose not to do so because the market is small and their profit is easier maximized servicing the urban population centres.

Still, why doesn't the operating license require that services must be non-discriminatory (i.e. same level or ratio of service / price applies to all customers regardless of geography, within reason)?

Have PCCW's circuit leasing charges perhaps been unsustainably high, especially considering that they haven't upgraded their services for several tech generations?

Is the lack of competitive market in Lamma Island acceptable to government regulators and our politicians, whether elected or appointed?

Finally, I can't but wonder what kind of untold riches of unlit optical fiber might the local Hongkong Electric City be sitting on...

But I digress. Long Live Hong Kong's "Free Market" !!

_________________
"Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat!"

4G LTE speeds in parts of Yung Shue Wan:
up to 32Mbps download and 6.6Mbps upload speeds measured in the Beer Garden the other day on a smartphone!

Even tethering your PC to your smartphone can give you up to 10Mbps download speed, according to somebody who's tested it.

But with my minimum-cost data plan, I'd reach my monthly mobile data transfer limit in less than 1 minute of downloading at these speeds!
So I might have to continue relying on all the free and unlimited Wifi throughout Main Street, but at the modest broadband speeds, of course.

Does anybody know which network(s) provide 4G LTE and at what cost and which areas of Lamma they cover?
The only (?) antennae so far is up atop Po Wah Yuen, I believe?

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

A maximum of 32 Mbps is available now on Smartone LTE on mobiles only for $248/month. Not sure about the data limits as there are no more real, unlimited data plans available and you could exceed your monthly plan in a minute at these speeds, incurring astronomical additional charges.

Those kind of speeds work up for sure between Beer Garden and the Banyan House Kindergarten, half way up Tai Peng Hill. 25 Mbps has been reported by another subscriber last week;
10M download, 4M upload when tethering the phone to a PC, about 20 times faster than a standard Broadband line will give you under optimal (rare) conditions and at the least busy, best of times.

Has anybody tested this in other areas and along YSW Main Street?
Any other 4G LTE service providers on Lamma besides Smartone?

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Great chart by Nick Shearman, just posted in the Faster Broadband for Lamma Facebook group.
Nick writes:
"If anyone is thinking of getting a SmarTone dongle this is what you can expect. Does anyone have a PCCW mobile connection that is better on this ferry route?"

Anybody got figures with other mobile broadband providers? They'd be quite similar, I think.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

OK, I've finally upgraded to 4G LTE unlimited data; $223/month from 3 ($30 less for 2GB data/month).
Like all the new mobile data plans it's got a 5GB/month cap for "fair use". If you exceed that it still works, but they'll downgrade your data speeds for the rest of the month, but probably still faster than Lamma's PCCW Broadband..

But the 4G LTE speeds are truly amazing and it seems to work for much of YSW! Even at my home office indoors in Sha Po Old Village, see Speedtest to HK server (Web Solutions) below.
Downloading is at least 5 times faster than the usual maximum 5Mb/sec I get these days from broadband, and 35 times faster for uploads; and it's cheaper than PCCW home Broadband cable most of us use at home!

Here's my PCCW Broadband Speedtest to the same HK server, at the same time, today late afternoon. These are about the fastest speeds that can ever be achieved from Lamma's sole Broadband provider. Several mobile phone services are offering 4G LTE speeds in some of North Lamma, not sure about their coverage.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.