I am at McDonald's Katipunan, in front of Ateneo Gate 2. Free WiFi service is at best choppy - you're sometimes connected and oftentimes disconnected. I do not know how McDo does it, but this connect-disconnect phenomenon never happens with the Linksys WiFi router that I have at home. I get 384Kbps at best at home, but that is a reliable 384Kbps.
So I stick in my Smart Bro USB modem stick into my MSI Wind, and start downloading OpenOffice 3.0.1 for Windows. I finished downloading 142M in 14m 28s which is an amazing 168 KB/s, at the cost of PHP10.00/30 minutes. I get 35 - 42KB/s at home and I pay PHP999.00 a month. Of course you do not always get this fast connection (HSDPA) everywhere in Metro Manila. Katipunan just happens to have HSDPA signal. I am totally happy with my Smart Bro prepaid USB modem. It is there when I need Internet connection, and it is reasonably fast when I am at the correct HSDPA-covered locations. Galing! Pablo Manalastas *** _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
