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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 <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: --> . 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[/list:u]

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

Day Plan (just 1 day) - 50Mb/Day Data transfer limit - N500 per day[/list:u]

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[/list:u]

PCMCIA Card - N19,000 - connection speed up to 500Kbps i.e. max data transfer of 50KBps[/list:u]

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

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. <!-- s:mrgreen: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":mrgreen:" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s:mrgreen: --> ).

Etisalat Nigeria
These dudes don't have a bundle package. They only have the 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 <!-- s:mrgreen: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":mrgreen:" title="Mr. Green" /><!-- s:mrgreen: --> ), use the N2,500 all night package from MTN.

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

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

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.

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.

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?

Yes, the locale does matter....

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.

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...

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!

"drixie&quot 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. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> He he.. just joking. But honestly, Zoom is terrible.</p></div></blockquote>

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

in love??? with who??? she's cheating on me????

back to the original thread, Starcomms have been messing up big time lately oh.... on and off... its a big bother to me...

You know lot of types of mobile internet and that's exactly what I am looking for. I am very curious of using and operating them. But then I had withstand it because of your help. Thanks.