Introduction
I practically live on the internet, so I am always on the hunt for information on how to get faster cheaper internet that I can pay for and enjoy..

This post is not for those who are looking for free browsing cheats. You actually need to pay for data transfer. This review only serves to guide you on getting the best internet deal as offered by mobile ISPs in Nigeria.

If you are looking for free browsing cheats and codes, this is not the right thread for you. I politely ask you to bounce off.

Don't read this part if you are not a techie Hey, it might even be wrong, but I read it somewhere.
Concerning internet connection speeds, please note that there is difference between Kbps and KBps. Kbps means kilobits per second and is used in calibrating connection speed while KBps means Kilobytes per second and is used in calibrating download speed of files, pages, music and videos. 1 byte normally is equal to 8 bit but when it comes to data transfer on the internet, 2 more bits for extra info are added to make 1 byte equal to 10 bits. Therefore, a 115kbps connection can only transfer data at a maximum rate of 11.5KBps. The word maximum was underlined because actual data transfer is always less than maximum depending on a variety of factors including service quality, network strength, type of hardware and number of current requests depending on the connection. There may be more, but that is all I know in my tiny little brain.

Errata
All the information I have provided below is as a result of months of personal research. If you feel I have made a mistake anywhere, please feel free to point it out:

Disclaimer
All trademarks and company names mentioned in this write-up belong to their respective owners. I'm no legal dude, but I think this should suffice: All references to service quality in this post are based on my personal judgment only. I am only exercising my freedom of speech (or writing or whatever) here. Don't hate a company because I said their service is not good today. It might be the bomb tomorrow. Although I have to admit the chances are slim.

Chapter 1: Nigerian GSM Companies
Internet service provided by GSM companies are relatively faster. You can browse the internet on these connections on pay as you use service which you don't need to subscribe to. All you have to do is make sure your sim is provisioned for data transfer (more info on that later) or subscribe for a bundle package which normally comes at a fixed price with a upper data transfer limit.

My advice
The average price of the pay as you use package is 15kobo per KB. I will not advise you to use this if you are browsing from a computer. It is sheer waste of money. It is more suitable for WAP phone users who just want to check things quickly on the internet. Heck! its even better to just walk into a cafe.

The bundle packages vary according to each service provider and this is where you get to make some real decisions. Bundle packages of GSM providers always come with a data limit (that is if you are not wasting a fortune using the pay as you use option above). So, don't go on hoping to download numerous episodes of prison break, lost, 24 and Desperate housewives on these connections. You'll end up hating yourself (Just don't hate me). Stick to downloading it secretly at that clumsy little cafe near you.

When you exceed your data transfer limit or the time limit (month or day as the case may be) passes, you are automatically reverted to the evil 15k/kB pay as you use package. So, you should always make sure that your account is well funded at the right time and keep a tab on the amount of data transfer you are using.

To use these connections on a computer, the companies always advise you to buy data cards. The data cards are easy to install as they come with the modem software already inside the USB drive. It just installs itself automatically when you plug it in. These data cards vary according to data transfer speed and connectivity. If you want high speed, go for the 3G data cards, if you don't mind crawling through the net, get the GPRS data cards. Before buying a GPRS data card though, check if your phone can serve as a modem, because some phones actually connect and transfer data better than the GPRS data cards. Don't just buy an extra piece of gadget that will make you feel stupid till you start wondering how many shirts you would have bought with the money. Trust me, I've been there . There is a con though, configuring some phones as modem can sometimes be a heck of a trouble. Just make adequate search if it is not provided in your phone manual. You can also post a reply to this thread and I'll see if I can help. I just don't want you to waste extra money when your phone can do much more than just enjoying vacation in your pocket or bag.

One more thing about data cards
Most of the data cards used in Nigeria are provided by one company - Huawei Mobile. (They also supply most of the products used at the base stations across country. [/b]. Now, the good news is that the data cards are not network locked. You can by a data card from MTN and use a Zain sim on it. You just have to get the configuration right. If you are planning to do something like this, make a reply and I'll render some help.

I really don't like the PCMCIA cards. They work only for laptops (consider a scenario where you just wanna use your connection on a desktop when your laptop is down). They don't last long. If you have one, just drop it once accidentally, walk to where you bought it and make an order for a new one.

MTN Internet Connection
This is practically the fastest I have used and it is aptly branded as MTN F@stlink. You can connect to MTN F@stlink using their 3.5G Datacard (N16,000) or the GPRS card (I don't know the cost). You can get yours from the nearest MTN center near you.

The data packages are listed below:

24 hours connection - 3GB/month Data transfer limit - N10,000 per month

All Night (10pm to 5am) - 3GB/month Data transfer limit - N2,500 per month

Day Plan (just 1 day) - 50Mb/Day Data transfer limit - N500 per day

I used an MTN 3G card and I got an average speed of 70KBps when connection was really good and 20kBps when connection decides to be slow. Not bad. I was even surprised (I was actually skeptical before I used it. I thought it was another lie). There were actually some times

Zain Nigeria
You can purchase the

3G USB Data Card - N23,000 - connection speed up to 800Kbps i.e. max data transfer of 80kBps

PCMCIA Card - N19,000 - connection speed up to 500Kbps i.e. max data transfer of 50KBps

GPRS/EDGE Card - N8,000 - connection speed up to 50kbps i.e. max data transfer of 5kBps

EDGE technology has not been deployed by Nigerian service providers and although it is faster than GPRS, you are only stuck to GPRS on a GPRS/EDGE data card.

I currently have a Zain GPRS data card and I get an average data transfer speed of 3KBps. Its quite manageable , that is what I use when my highly unreliable local ISP tries to spoil show (they are cheaper than the rest though, so I am getting what I'm paying for. ).

Etisalat Nigeria
These dudes don't have a bundle package. They only have the [i]evil[/] pay as you use plan. I advise you to run, unless you are browsing on a mobile, which is still expensive by the way. Their easy cliq sim cards would have been a good solution if only they were readily available. I think they should spend the 1 million dollar they are planning to give out in promo to expand their services and throw some free call and data services around.

Globacom Nigeria
Globacom data connection is also fast, but not because it is good, but because there are few people on it. Most of their sims are not provisioned for data and you have to practically rent a house near their office before they allow your sim benefit from data services. So much for a NIgerian company. Their tariffs as made available on their scrappy looking website is as incomprehensible as tariff plans can get:

Happy Hours 9am – 9pm 9pm – 9am Fri 9pm – Mon 9am
Monthly Rental 6000 4500 4000
Security Deposit 8,000 7,000 6,000
Entry Price 15,500 14,500 13,500
Fair Usage(within time band) Up to 2GB Up to 2GB Up to 2GB

Happy Hours 24/7
Connection Fee 10,000
Entry Price 19,500
Fair Usage(within time band) Up to 3GB

Please let me know by replying to this post if you understand the cryptic tariffs above.

Summary
If you are a heavy browser on PC, Get an MTN 3G connection.
If you browse more on mobile, get a Zain sim, get it provisioned for data transfer, get the internet settings and subscribe to the 100mb(N1,000) bundle.
If you are the adventurous type, get an MTN 3G USB Stick, put a Zain sim inside and subscribe to the 1GB(N5,000).
If you don't like sleeping at night (i.e. your parents were heavy clubbers and they passed the gene to you ), use the N2,500 all night package from MTN.

Thats all for the GSM companies, I'll update as time goes by.

Chapter 2: Nigerian CDMA Internet Connections

Most of them don't charge pay as you use (except Starcomms). They normally have bundled packages with price ranges depending on whether the service runs on CDMA or EVDO

Visafone
This is about the fastest CDMA network that I have used. I might even be tempted to say that their 3G Evdo service is faster than that of MTN. Although you can get normal CDMA USB modems for N10,000, the EVDO and EVDO Rev A modems cost an upwards of N20,000. I think it would be a worthy investment.

Their plans are outlined below:

nice one drixie...........thanks for the heads up

hi buddy, pls can u put me through on how to use my Zain Edge data card (Huawei EG162G) to browse with any other network (say MTN Nig). Earlier on, I have managed to unlock the device but whenever I try connecting to the net with it, it refuses. I will so much appreciate ur assistace. U can send ur reply to oje_g@yahoo.co.uk. Tanx in anticipation

He he... You really don't need to unlock the device. Just follow the steps below:

1. Put your MTN sim where your Zain sim should be be.

2. When you plug it and the software comes up on its own or after clicking, Click "Tools" on the menu, then click "Options" in the flyout menu.

3. A new interface appears. Click on "Profile Management" on the left hand side. On the right hand side of what loads up, click on "New" to create a new profile.

4. Give the new profile a name most probably "MTN". Type "web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net" in front of the access point. Leave the access number as it is. Type "

5. Click "OK", it takes you back to the main screen. Select the profile name you have just created (e.g. MTN) from the Profile Select drop down box on the main screen, click "Connect" and you are good to go.

I didn't know Zain modems were unlocked. Bought mine from Glo but managed to unlock it through the help of one russian forum.

Are those modems locked at all? IMO, they aren't. They are all made by Huawei and I have not had any lock issue on any of them.

Mine was locked oh! When I tried MTN sim on it it started asking for the unlock code which I finally got from that forum. Unfortunately I can't tell the name of the forum cos Nigerians will inundate the place with requests for unlock codes so they can start the business of buying from Glo, unlocking and selling to the masses @ a higher price.

What am I even saying sef? They've started the business already but I ain't gonna make it thrive further.

Allrighty, I'll check it out. I bought a Glo modem for my neighbour recently but I did not bother to give it a test drive of other sims because I saw the Huawei logo on it. I just assumed the others will work on it straight up.

BTW, how is the Glo Internet Service, better or poorer than the others?

In terms of speed GLO has been the best for me though they also have that FTP /SSH issue. Of recent, they've been misbehaving sha though after 1am their service stabilizes again. Maybe it's just my area.

Yes, the locale does matter....

Ah... people who speak my language....lol...

so am thinking of getting MTN's N8500 3.5G modem, good idea?

Most of us who have subscribed to MTN's N2,500 night browsing have the same experience. After downloading 1GB of data @ slow speed, it's as though the ystem automatically shuts you out leaving your remaining 2GB to go to waste. Few folks are happy with them BUT many are lamenting. For now I'm sticking with Etisalat and Glo though Glo has been misbehaving lately.

no etisalat in my house...dont know why, but except i want to do open air crusade with mosquitoes outside my house i cant get etisalat...maybe glo, now you mentioned it!

i used to use MTN in kano... when i first joined this forum in 08, actually i paid for the service because of this site, and the issue i had with MTN and still have is that when they're up, its rosy, when they're down they are absolutely down, not slow link o, as in 0 bytes sent, 0 bytes recieved! for now i use starcomms evdo, which i must confess isnt bad at all...

@folasanwo

Just stick with your starcomms, please don't let MTN break your heart. Because of some tech-ish stuff MTN does not allow, they spoilt my last upgrade of nigerianz.com, so something that should have taken one week ended up taking one month, but that one is another tori for another day.

Anything you do, just make sure you use EVDO service from the CDMA networks be it Starcomms, Multilinks, Visafone. Those are the reliable services for now ... at least, until Glo gets their acts right. I cannot vouch for Zoom although Adogain has been telling me that it rocks.

If you really really wanna go for an N8500 3G modem, buy from Glo; you can make calls or receive calls with and it also has provision for multimedia card (I really don't know what that one is for, but since its there, I've got a feeling its a kinda better deal that MTN's "vanilla" modem).

and starcomms wins again....

...no matter what you do, DO NOT STICK A ZOOM MODEM IN YOUR COMPUTER.... remember my wise words...lol...it takes 19 exact mins to install drivers and applications and the internet connection is as epileptic as modern day mtn!

If you are going to advise someone about Zoom, advise Adogain. When I had a zoom modem, a letter I sent to a friend in the US through NIPOST got there before an email I sent to him. He he.. just joking. But honestly, Zoom is terrible.

drixie wrote:If you are going to advise someone about Zoom, advise Adogain. When I had a zoom modem, a letter I sent to a friend in the US through NIPOST got there before an email I sent to him. He he.. just joking. But honestly, Zoom is terrible.

thats a good joke, even when am chatting wif her, she's always answering my questions late...lol