http://www.mtnonline.com/fastlink/infopack.asp

I was wondering how good MTN's Fastlink 3.5G service is. Could anyone who has used or is using MTN's Fastlink 3.5G service to browse the internet on their computers give info on it's reliability and average data speeds.

*MTN did not give the tariff for prepaid customers on their site

no mind them.The thing don spoil their brains.
Everything na so so free
Ah Ah

I've had it for about a month, and so far so good. It had been slow for about one week, but that was because they were adding bandwidth from Suburban. I am getting speeds on average of 60KBps down during the day, and 120KBps at night(that with the big B, downloaded about 300megs in 35-40 mins). The current modem I have is capped at 1.8Mbps, so it might actually be faster with the 3.6Mbps modem. It's a lot better than what Glo is offering because of the unlimited download.

This speed test was done while posting this reply.



This one was on sunday.



This should not be possible on my modem but

How much does it cost for post paid and is this service also available for pre paid customers ?

Postpaid is 12k, but somone told me it might have come down to 10k ( 25k for modem, 380 Naira for simcard. u don't have to buy the modem from them). Prepaid I think is just pay as you go which is charged at like 35 kobo a KB.

hmmm looks super,

@jdoss

Please what package are you using (postpaid or prepaid), and you mentioned that there is no monthly download limit. But ( I think ) I read from the MTN site that there is a 3gb monthly limit. Could you please confirm this. Thanks.

I am on the postpaid, all i got from MTN was the sim card and the monthly service N12,380. I had the glo 3g service which was 15k but got rid of it because of the 3gig limit and the wonky billing system(glo is the one with the limit). Did not have to buy the modem because I used the one from glo. MTN offers theirs(modem) for N25k.

@jdoss

Thanks for the info. I might go for the MTN Package as they have better 3g coverage (compared to Glo), plus Glo's 3gb monthly limit is a deal killer!!!

@ jdoss

guy, you are making me green with envy Now a few questions, i have a hp laptop on which i want to use the mtn 3G data service because of its mobility. My problem is it comes with the new expresscard slot and not the pcmcia or pc card slot which mtn is selling its card for. So does mtn offer any viable alternative and what is the model or manufacturer of your card. thanks

Like I said earlier, I did not get my modem from MTN, I got it from Glo. However, I do remember the guy at MTN telling me they had both PCMCIA and USB modems. The USB might be your best bet. I currently use the Option Globesurfer Icon 1.8Mbps.

MTN has changed it service package. It is no longer simply pay 12K and get unlimited access on postpaid. They have now also instituted the 3gig "fair usage" policy. It's now 10k for 3 gigs/24hrs/month on post paid and prepaid. They also have 2.5k for the night service 10pm-5am, you get the same 3 gig limit for a thirty day period on post and pre-paid. They also have N500 for 50MB for 24hrs on prepaid.

Prepaid access codes

Monthly 24hrs send text message 101 to 131 after loading 10k
Night service send 102 to 131 after loading 2.5k
Daily service send 103 to 131 after loading N500

jdoss:

MTN has changed it service package. It is no longer simply pay 12K and get unlimited access on postpaid. They have now also instituted the 3gig "fair usage" policy. It's now 10k for 3 gigs/24hrs/month on post paid and prepaid. They also have 2.5k for the night service 10pm-5am, you get the same 3 gig limit for a thirty day period on post and pre-paid. They also have N500 for 50MB for 24hrs on prepaid.

Prepaid access codes

Monthly 24hrs send text message 101 to 131 after loading 10k
Night service send 102 to 131 after loading 2.5k
Daily service send 103 to 131 after loading N500

@jdoss

Nice work on the update. The deal would have been sweeter with at least a 5gb limit, but if they maintain good data speeds I wont complain. It's high time the GSM operators with the financial muscle start paying attention to data services. Their presence would make the CDMA operators sit up and improve on the quality of their data services and the competition will in-turn push prices down.

Its far better than Starcomms.
here's starcomms speed test i just did


I used it once for video streaming, and u dont get tht silly buffering thingy.

@Dual Core
impressive
how did u do that, ?

I hope this is for real cos they are known to be a money sucking company.

@jdboss,
This sound great. After getting the modem, will I still need to get their Sim Card?

I use Starcomms izap but not impressed with their service.

Please explain how I can get the service. Use a laptop with PCMCIA slot

cheers

Quick question for anyone that knows. Say, I visit Nigeria next month and I buy an MTN sim card, is it 3G or even data enabled? I already have the settings on my phone from a couple of threads here. Just want to know if all sim cards are data enabled, be it 3G or not. That's the way they work on this end.

How about my ISP? Yiu should try my service! 

I paid 12k for the current month and the service has been above quite impressive but i don't understand this talk about this 3 GB fair usage policy use.

I might get this thing soon, and I hope it's good.

A question about this download limit thing, though. Does it mean that all the data that one will get from the internet (pages, pictures and all that) will count towards your gigs or just downloads like software and music and all that?

@Bossman, yes all mtn sims r data enabled.

Thanks, Dual Core.

I'll be using MTN during my visit next month.

Dual Core:

@Bossman, yes all mtn sims r data enabled.

how do i know if it is prepaid and post paid service of mtn one is using.

dunno so much about the average speed but i know 2 people that use mtn and glo datacards, and the mtn is obviously faster tho both of them still have long way to go and glo really messes up at times.
they weren't as fast as i expected.

@ Bossman

Everything that enters your computer is counted into your monthly bandwidht limit of 3GB including data from surfing websites, downloading music, streaming music etc. You know that network icon that shows you the data packets that are being received and transferred into your computer, well thats also a counter of your traffic. But why is MTN putting this download limit. I have know honestly passed the stage of and average internet user. I download 3GB worth of data in just 48 hrs. A movie for example using emule is like 700MB if you want to see a movie like the dark knight. There should be a bigger bandwidht plan and MTN should start reducing prices if they want more subscribers though.

what the heck! MTN is a rip off then!!! i didnt know about tht 3gig limit, hell. today i've downloaded movies and stuff worth 2gig, meaning if i waz on mtn, i'll be left with roughly 1gig for the remaining 29 days?!?!
mehn!!

@ dual core
pls what service provider do you use??

Starcomms EVDO

@dual core

abeg i dey use starcomms destop fone for browsing, is it any different from the EVDO ur talking about

Dual Core:

Starcomms EVDO

What's your experience like?

I use Starcomms Izap abi na EVDO and I stay in Akoka, but service not good here.

Anytime I move to Sabo/Alagomeji/Ebute Metta, it improves tremendously. So it all depends on the area you reside.

I am yet to open a picture on Facebook for close to twenty minutes now.