How much for Internet access?

[ATJ]

I'm going to be traveling to Borneo and staying at a resort that I believe offers Internet access at a price. At this point I don't know if it will be available and if so how much it will be (if they charge at all).

I would like to get an idea of the sort of prices Internet cafes and the like charge as a comparison. I expect the resort to charge a bit more as they will have a monopoly but not knowing what the "going rate" is I won't know if I'm being ripped off.

Of course, if I'm desperate to connect, I'll probably pay.

[Mr Darcy]

It is very hard to predict.
On our trip, Murray and I paid rates that varied from "Here's the password" to AUD10 per hour. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the differences, though in general the flasher places seemed to be more expensive, but not always. Some places had two tier systems where you got very basic access cheaply or free, then pay fairly steep prices for greater access Others charged an arm & a leg for an hour, but not much more gave you unlimited access for a day.

[digitor]

Prices I have been charged recently:

US hotel: $10 (24 hrs)
Au hotel: $24 (24 hrs)
Italian hotel 3 Euro (1 hr) (Didn't use this one)
Italian trains 1 cent (24 hrs)
Various cafes etc. Free, get the password when you buy something, it changes every day I noticed.

Last time (2009) I used internet cafes in Asia they were fairly cheap, a couple of dollars per hour.

I guess you'll have to wait and see what they charge!

Cheers

[Mr Darcy]

Just one other thing.
Internet access is not always what it seems.
We had one place that offered free WiFi, but when we checked it out, the WiFi fed into a personal computer that was only on in office hours. It fed in turn into a dial up voice modem. With two of us hitting image sites we soon moved into town & paid for a "real" connection.

[radar]

In the end, it doesn't really matter if you are getting ripped off or not It only matters if you have a choice to get the internet somewhere else. On our recent trip to Tonga, the resort was providing Internet access via one of the local ISP, fairly expensive. We saved our Internet fix when we would go to town and get it for free at a local café.

From memory, they were charging about $5AUD/hr or $20/day!! If I wouldn't have had the choice, I may have bought some for an hour, two max.

[ATJ]

In the end, it doesn't really matter if you are getting ripped off or not It only matters if you have a choice to get the internet somewhere else. On our recent trip to Tonga, the resort was providing Internet access via one of the local ISP, fairly expensive. We saved our Internet fix when we would go to town and get it for free at a local café.

I know I won't have a choice. This is where I'm staying: Kapalai. Zoom out to see the "neighbourhood".

On the facilities page on their web site it says:

“Broadband Internet Access, satellite phone, fresh water from mainland, free from mosquitoes & flies” are some of the words uttered by our customers.

although further on the page it says:

Other resort facilities includes dive centre which provides diving, snorkeling and kayaking gears and equipment for rental, souvenir shop, game room and internet access.

So I guess they will have access.

Other "non-official" sites that talk about the resort lead me to believe it will be around AU$10-12/day.

[biggerry]

If internet access was the only issue i was concerned about when traveling to Borneo then I would be a happy man. For me, at the end of the day its like a cup of coffee, can be 99cents and bloody awesome at one place and then two shops down it can be $5 and crap...this is almost irrelevant in which country your in now.

If internet access is a real drama and you need to ensure access how about your phone and the respective phone plan with roaming? definitely not cost effective but almost guaranteed. I used my phone to pick essential mail whilst away and it also provided incentive not to check the internet

[ATJ]

Having access to the Internet is certainly not necessary and I don't believe I have said anything to suggest that it is. It is not even a worry. If there's no Internet access at all, all will be fine.

If there is Internet access and it is free to use it will be a nice bonus. If there is Internet access but it is charged, it will be nice to have some other prices to compare it to, hence this thread. I don't need it, but it would be handy for keeping in touch with home, checking ID information on the critters I will be photographing and perhaps even uploading some photos.

I believe mobile access will be non-existent due to the remoteness of the location. The comments about satellite phones supports this belief. I suspect the Internet access (if present) will be satellite based.

[radar]

Andrew,

when I go somewhere remote and I want to let home know that all is okay, I got myself a SPOT. Every night, I would activate it and that then sends an email to my wife saying I'm okay and my GPS coordinates. Works great, more expensive then Internet access but you then have it for yourself. Depending when you are going and I don't need it, I'd be happy to lend mine to try out. You would just have to pay for postage.

The one that I have is the older and bigger one, SPOT Personal Tracker.

http://au.findmespot.com/en/

Looking at their products, they have a SPOT Connect, links with an iphone and allows you to send an email, up to 41 chars.

cheers

André

[surenj]

SPOT Personal Tracker.

Great idea!

[ATJ]

Depending when you are going and I don't need it, I'd be happy to lend mine to try out. You would just have to pay for postage.

Thanks for the offer, André, but I think I will be OK.

[lightning]

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserRevi ... Sabah.html


The second review mentions something about the internet service but not the cost.

[lightning]

Actually reading a few reviews later they complain that "wifi was provided at a ridiculous cost"

[ATJ]

I'm just home. It was a very reasonable cost. RM 20 per day (around $7) although they password never expired so I basically only paid the RM 20 once. My real problem was time - we were either diving or eating and I had very little time to do much on the Internet.

[sirhc55]

My real problem was time - we were either diving or eating and I had very little time to do much on the Internet.

That’s a holiday Andrew

[stubbsy]

Good to see you got back - so where are some pics

[ATJ]

Good to see you got back - so where are some pics

You won't see any pictures until I can work out why the latest version of LR/Mogrify 2 broke my exports.

[stubbsy]

You won't see any pictures until I can work out why the latest version of LR/Mogrify 2 broke my exports.

That's odd - didn't happen to me - you haven't by any chance installed a new version of Image Magick to a slightly differnt folder name have you?

[ATJ]

You won't see any pictures until I can work out why the latest version of LR/Mogrify 2 broke my exports.

That's odd - didn't happen to me - you haven't by any chance installed a new version of Image Magick to a slightly differnt folder name have you?

As far as I know, ImageMagick is not required on the Mac, the code is built into the plug-in. I was able to revert to 4.41 and can export again.

[stubbsy]

As far as I know, ImageMagick is not required on the Mac, the code is built into the plug-in. I was able to revert to 4.41 and can export again.

OK on the PC you have to install ImageMagick and point LR/Mogrify 2 at the mogrify.exe file installed with Image magick. SOunds like the Mac is easier (but please don't quote me)