Am looking to get a 3g capable phone which i hope to utilize as an internet modem for my laptop. that way i hope to stay connected without caring an extra usb/express card dongle , I would appreciate if anyone can share their experience with me on which network is best for this kind of service , i have heard about mtn. but their 3gb a month data caps is a huge deal breaker for me. but i have not used the service before so i just might change my mind , please i would appreciate if you have any experience to share , thanks in advance

(Shoutout: Hey Bigbrovar, wassup?)

Regarding 3G, I'll offer my opinions based on those I've tested (MTN and GLO). I tested both in Abuja. Glo is far too unstable for me, apparently I was helping them 'beta' test the package, the connection turns out to be pretty slow even with decent weather conditions, I have to say it was a bit disappointing after all the noise they made 

MTN is by far the best IMO, connection springs up to about 300KBps at night (in Abuja), but with that type of speed, you'd be tempted to initiate multiple downloads which will, in no time exhaust the allowed 3GB limit. I found myself spending above N40,000 (12GB) in a month. I feel our local carriers are being unfair with all these limitations

ETA: Being a fellow Linux user, how do you intend to use the phone as a modem? I've been unable to accomplish this, sadly. So I currently dual boot with Windows 7 (taking that down soon to replace with Vista). However, on both Windows operating systems (Vista and W7), I can use my phone (Nokia E71) as a modem, but trying to make this work on Ubuntu jaunty Jackalope has been a PITA.

Ralvy:

(Shoutout: Hey Bigbrovar, wassup?)

Regarding 3G, I'll offer my opinions based on those I've tested (MTN and GLO). I tested both in Abuja. Glo is far too unstable for me, apparently I was helping them 'beta' test the package, the connection turns out to be pretty slow even with decent weather conditions, I have to say it was a bit disappointing after all the noise they made 

MTN is by far the best IMO, connection springs up to about 300KBps at night (in Abuja), but with that type of speed, you'd be tempted to initiate multiple downloads which will, in no time exhaust the allowed 3GB limit. I found myself spending above N40,000 (12GB) in a month. I feel our local carriers are being unfair with all these limitations

ETA: Being a fellow Linux user, how do you intend to use the phone as a modem? I've been unable to accomplish this, sadly. So I currently dual boot with Windows 7 (taking that down soon to replace with Vista). However, on both Windows operating systems (Vista and W7), I can use my phone (Nokia E71) as a modem, but trying to make this work on Ubuntu jaunty Jackalope has been a PITA.

Thanks mate for the heads up, although i have not heard much about glo's 3g offer. i have heard quite a lot about mtn's and the conscious seem to be that its the best in term of speed and reliability unfortunately the 3gb cap is a real deal breaker for me. the service is not cheap and putting 3gb cap amount to extortion and blackmail from mtn. where i leave and work we have a good internet connection but we also have strict rules preventing the use of Torrent , a rule which (even though am an admin) most keep , since what i need is a connection i could use for Torrenting stuff the 3gb cap of mtn is a real no no , how ever i am hopeful that something would have to give way

about the linux issue , infact that is the least of my problem, i have many options and am pretty confident that (if not all ) at least one would work , i could use the inbuilt network manager that comes with ubuntu which makes connecting to modems a breeze and u will be up and runing with 3 clicks , or i could use good old wvdial which has never failed me in the past , and if push comes to shove then i could always use blueman which allows me to connect to a phone and use it as a modem to browse on my PC , am sure all three would work without problems so am not in anyway bothered.

@ ralvy, U CAN DIAL UP ON UBUNTU, JUST TO CLARIFY @BIGROVAR Y U DEY ASK DEEZ ? NAW, U MY CHAIRMAN 4 LINUX! well tell u what, figure out hw to install yf/open vpn on ur ubuntu and buy that fone, i will spring u the koko's and u will enjoy the 3g as u knw, dont mind them, aint no difference, as long as u in a 3g coverage area, u will enjoy 3g. the rest na just packaging. BUT AS A NAIJA BOY U WILL GIVE ME A LILL SUMTIN SUMTIN DONT BE DISMAYED, I DNT WANT MONEY, JUST A LINUX DISTRO AND UR HELP WHEN I NEED IT FOR MY UBUNTU, FAIR BARGAIN EH

@4llerbe,,,,,,,,,,ole u like awuf

@bigrovar,,,,,,,,,,as per 3G wit phone go for mtn at list its stable except for d 3Gig limit wich som pple n urs trully hv bin able to bypass
am using mtn3.5G on Jaunty rite now
cheers

When it comes to 3g, you just can't take it from MTN

lynxnoon:

@4llerbe,,,,,,,,,,ole u like awuf

@bigrovar,,,,,,,,,,as per 3G wit phone go for mtn at list its stable except for d 3Gig limit wich som pple n urs trully hv bin able to bypass
am using mtn3.5G on Jaunty rite now
cheers

by d way i use nokia6120classic n 1st time connecting it recognized it trait away  configuring very easy because it list various telcom coys (mnt glo zain) n i conect tru usb cable or wit blutot( tru Bluman,,,,,,,tho dis option is not very stable IMO)

@4llerbe, I think you got the wrong fellow

---

bigrovar:

Thanks mate for the heads up, although i have not heard much about glo's 3g offer. i have heard quite a lot about mtn's and the conscious seem to be that its the best in term of speed and reliability unfortunately the 3gb cap is a real deal breaker for me. the service is not cheap and putting 3gb cap amount to extortion and blackmail from mtn. where i leave and work we have a good internet connection but we also have strict rules preventing the use of Torrent ,  a rule which (even though am an admin) most keep ,  since what i need is a connection i could use for Torrenting stuff the 3gb cap of mtn is a real no no ,  how ever i am hopeful that something would have to give way

about the linux issue ,  infact that is the least of my problem, i have  many options and am pretty confident that (if not all ) at least one would work ,  i could use the inbuilt network manager that comes with ubuntu which makes connecting to modems a breeze and u will be up and runing with 3 clicks ,  or i could use good old wvdial which has never failed me in the past ,  and if push comes to shove then i could always use blueman which allows me to connect to a phone and use it as a modem to browse on my PC ,  am sure all three would work without problems so am not in anyway bothered. 

Then that's great. I'm in Abuja so I'll drive towards the airport one of these days to see you
I tried with the built in Network Manager, that didn't work with my Nokia E71 on Jaunty, however, I tried another Linux distro 'Arch' various similarities with ForeSight and it was a 1-click thing but the OS is a bit empty for me. BlueMan, from what I've read, sounds good so I'll test that when I can get internet connection on ubuntu.

Regarding the 3G limitation, I understand your concerns, it's a big PITA at the moment. However, there's this YourFreedom thing, not sure if you can run it under wine, cedega or any of it's alternatives, might be possible to connect that using MTN and initiate torrents making them use 127.0.0.1(localhost):8080, i.e connecting the torrent application to the internet via the proxy but using a direct connection to the internet for your browser to avoid the weighty 'cut-down' the YourFreedom thing brings into play or even a virtual you know.

Sorry about the silly restrictions at work, although I understand the concerns, torrents just suck up every ounce of bandwidth :-/
The routers at my former office were set up to block them as well or anything originating from the systems to initiate a P2P connection. To bypass that I use some freeware that tunnels the data over HTTP (port 80), the forwarding technique effectively bypasses firewall restriction(s).
I'll definitely see you before going back to school so we'd look into these things more

mtn

mtn by miiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllleeeeeeessssssss

There is d yf source code on yf's site. U gurus can build a .deb frm dt naw or even install lyk dt if im not wrong! Likewise openvpn too so NOTIN DO WE NAW:@:@:@ gbasky. Bigbrovar pls do it n tell me exactly hw to becos im gonna commit hara-kiri dis wknd n remove winblows 4ever. Av had enuf!

Okay, this is awesome
The built in Network Manager connected to the Internet with my Nokia E71, sweet
When I selected my country during the setup, it had all major careers listed
[list][li]MTN[/li]
[li]Zain[/li]
[li]Glo NG[/li][/list]

-[n3rve]

Ralvy:

Okay, this is awesome
The built in Network Manager connected to the Internet with my Nokia E71, sweet
When I selected my country during the setup, it had all major careers listed
[list][li]MTN[/li]
[li]Zain[/li]
[li]Glo NG[/li][/list]

-[n3rve]

see? linux is gets to work nowadays without any tweaking that its starting to get boring . miss does days of PPP and wvdials ,

hmmm bigbros

yaaayyyyyy, up ubuntuuuuuuuuuu, that means lynx wins our argument abt dialup and pc suite , ok nothing spoil. but hw come iv neva thot of trying my zain sim in ubuntu now i will, relief

Up Ubuntu!!
I cnt remba d last tym i used(oopps sory, visited) my vista partition
@4llerbe
U don dey use ubuntu??

.