Life: Internet & I

Internet, like some other people, already part of my life and can't be separated from it anymore now. I still remember the early days of internet with dial-up modem speed of 14.4K, 28.8K and 56K (max)... with its typical sound while connecting, and the pain of being disconnected at anytime while surfing using the now-extinct-Netscape. Now, in broadband era, surfing speed is amazing and it keeps growing...

It always be my dream to be able to surf internet anywhere with acceptable speed and affordable price. It's only after 5 years living in Singapore, the launch of Wireless@SG fulfilled part of my dream... and it's free! But, it's only available at certain places only. WiMax gave some hopes but it still not commercially available till today. GPRS gave a slow and expensive mobile internet experience using PDA phone... then, came 3G with faster internet... and now 3.5G (HSDPA) with even faster speed.

It was M1 who is the first offering mobile internet... it immediately catched my attention. Quite keen to subscribe, but in the end, I decided not because I still think it is not the right time yet... the speed still not acceptable for me... need to wait until this new technology stable. Besides that, I am StarHub subscriber so it just a matter of time that StarHub will offer the similar service. So, when StarHub launch its MaxMobile subscription, my waiting is over... When my MaxOnline contract expired last month, I downgraded it to MaxOnline Express Plus (from MaxOnline Premium) which bundled with unlimited 1Mbps mobile broadband. It comes with Huawei E170 USB Stick and Data SIM Card (not free though, need to pay for it). The SIM Card (3G) can be used in any 3G Phone but can only be used for data, no voice call. Since I only have one 3G phone, no choice that I have to interchangeably the SIM Card... not conveniece but it's OK. Well, wish can upgrade to dual SIM Card Windows-based PDA phone (none in the market at the moment), or get another 3.5G phone free... ha ha ha ... dream on it!

Using my new LG KS20 - a slim, beautiful, and affordable Windows-based PDA Phone which support 3.5G - I start experiencing the convenience of internet browsing anywhere at last. But wait, not everywhere I can surf at 3.5G speed ("H" indicator)... most of the time still at 3G speed ("3G" indicator)... worst at GPRS speed ("G" indicator) in MRT!

Based on my early mobile internet experience, at 3.5G speed, video streaming runs quite smoothly with minimal disruption. Well... not sure whether it will be still same speed if later on more and more people starts using mobile broadband internet, since - in the end - all should share the limited bandwidth... sigh!