Is it just me who has connection issues on lamma? I get a 3.06 download and 0.55 upload in tai peng. is this normal? it seems crap.

That's a very good and fast connection speed for Lamma. These are the fastest speeds you can get ANYWHERE on all of Lamma by broadband.

Only faster options are mobile 3G or 4G, but they're not simple enough yet to set up for your desktops, used only by a few Lamma techies so far.

Try a Wifi connection to your 4G mobile set up as a Wifi Hotspot and check the speed you can get.
I get over 20 Mbps this way, but use it occasionally only for large downloads, for various reasons.

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See "Internet speed test -- post your results"
Follow the instructions in the first post, use the LA server, and add your results.

Mine is "Grade F: slower than 95% of Hong Kong".

Thanks Pacific Century CyberWorks! Lamma's 3 Mbps would have nearly made that chart. Perhaps PCCW's own 'broadband' TV service actually reaches the Philippines' or Laos' blazing average speed thanks to some network priority tweaks...

I suppose the profits Richard Li & Co have pocketed from their monopolies, comms swindles and luxury residential complexes like the Cyberport (let's thank the generous HK gov't too) remain too small for PCCW to afford upgrading the antiquated 'broadband' setup of HK's third largest island.

Lastly, thanks to all the rafaelhuis of HK government and OFTA without whom it would not have been possible.

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"Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat!"

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"Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat!"

HK internet is the most messed up I've encountered not least for their disingenuous advertising.

Even Smartone promote this for their data services

'Enjoy FUP Unlimited Data for an additional HK$128 per month! Under FUP (Fair Usage Policy), when monthly data usage reaches 6GB or 10GB, data service continues without speed throttling or data capping, but access to network resources will be given lower priority and data service experience may be affected.'

They're basically asking you to cough up an additional HK$128/mnth for nothing.

I learned something rather interesting yesterday (maybe others already know this, but...) the HGC Broadband cable that was laid on Lamma several years ago is for the use of HK Electric's Power Station, and not for the use of Lamma Residents.
This news was conveyed by the guy who, yesterday 26th March '15, was standing close to the ATMs, selling NOW tv etc, and in answer to my question of 'When might we get broadband internet on Lamma?'
Perhaps HKE paid for the cable, but I wonder if they might be persuaded to open their cable to the rest of us?

HKT just informed me, after I complained to them that most of the time my internet connection is too slow to watch a Youtube video through to the end non-stop, that they are raising my monthly fee from $208 to $316. This is totally outrageous! That's a 52% increase for service that hardly passes for broadband at all!
Does anyone have any suggestions? Alternatives?
They have chosen to let us all suck an egg here with crap connections, while laughing straight in our faces as they slip their filthy thieving fingers into our wallets! It's time for some sort of organised action plan against them via media or whatever!

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
----- Margaret Mead

how about prepaid sim card?

is there any plan that can reach the broadband speed and unlimited?

Prepaid SIM hourly/daily/weekly passes are considered 'unlimited' but their price quickly adds up if used on a daily basis and most mobile providers appear to ban tethering so one is stuck with a single mobile or SIM-equipped tablet.

The only unlimited plans I'm aware of are throttled 384Kbps to sub-1Mbps plans for around $100 a month. They can be useful as backup service (although those daily passes do that as well, esp. if tethering is allowed) but they're obviously way too slow to even consider channel bonding which can incur ~20% bandwidth tax plus the added cost and complexity.

The despots of Lamma's networks at PCCW are likely to prioritize their own " commercial broadband TV" packets over other traffic and that is why particularly video streams from "external" sources rarely if ever reach reasonable speeds even in terms of our outdated "3-4Mbps" DSL service. Forget foreign concepts like network neutrality or competing on price and quality of service. This is Hong Kong.

I just noticed Alan's post above about HKBN having some kind of plans to spice up life in the villages. 100Mbps for $99? Where do I sign up?

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"Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat!"

I am a heavy pc gamer, I think Netvigator is still the only option

I was living here 10 years ago and I will move to Lamma again very soon

Well for DSL you can also use Netfront (aka 2012 Ltd).
http://netfront.net/index.php/en/servic ... connection

Basically the same service, but you can get a shorter commitment than the 2 years PCCW demands.

Otherwise, check out wireless G3/4 services, but availability depends on location, and may have data caps.

I don't suppose the netvigator 'salesman' by the ferry pier was plugging a faster service by any chance?

Interesting story in SCMP today:

A digital dark age:
Residents of Hong Kong's outlying islands bemoan 'dismal' broadband speeds

Islanders say they are being left behind the rest of the city, which has some of the fastest broadband connections in the world

Lantau residents Robert Clark (left) and Merrin Pease display the slow internet speeds in Mui Wo using an iPad. Clark set up the group Islands Broadband Concern to push for a better service.

PUBLISHED: Monday, 14 September, 2015, 12:02am
by Sarah Karacs - sarah.karacs@scmp.com

Residents of Hong Kong's outlying islands have complained about their "dismal" broadband internet service, with 82 per cent of 186 survey respondents saying they were "dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the fixed-line service provided by PCCW subsidiary HKT.

Broadband speeds in southern Lantau Island, Lamma Island, Peng Chau and Cheung Chau average around 4.59 megabits per second, according to a survey conducted by a group called Islands Broadband Concern, set up to push for a better fixed-line broadband service. That speed is less than one-twentieth of the Hong Kong average, which has been cited as the second fastest in the world.

"There's a lot of anger and frustration about this. Dozens of complaints are raised every few days. The service keeps cutting out," said Lantau resident Robert Clark, who set up the group which has since sent a letter to PCCW detailing the survey findings in the hope of opening a dialogue with the provider, which enjoys a de facto monopoly on outlying islands. "The network has been allowed to run down. They need to renew and bring it up to service, but we're at the bottom of the list of PCCW's priorities," he said.

Read more...
(We've been warned repeatedly by SCMP NOT to re-publish their stories, only 3 paragraphs of each story are fine. Paywall @ $100/month from the 2nd year!)


New Closed Facebook Group Islands Broadband Concern,
in addition to the local Facebook Group Faster Broadband for Lamma

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Govt statement at the end of the story:

"Network coverage and the adoption of access technologies and speed are primarily based on the commercial considerations," commerce minister Greg So Kam-leung told lawmakers in May. "The Communications Authority considers it inappropriate to set a standard."

i.e., PCCW can charge what they like and deliver what they like, and it's all good.

Havr given up on my wired connection and just use my 4G LTE connection which does the job very well. Once my contract is up I will not renew. This is not perfect but at least PCCW will not get my money for a pathetic service. One a week day at 4am I get abiut 2mb, would pay a lot more for the 4mb average in the outlaying islands quoted above. Does anyone have a Internet TV sunscription on the island. How does this work?