Frequent power outages and no internet for days!

I'm near Ha Long and need some other means of going online. They do sell those "surf sticks", don't they?
Which network would you recommend?

Do they have a >1  GB data plan? Don't have a WP yet so it would have to be a pay as you go solution.

Thanks,
Chris

If you have a S/Phone you can use it as WiFi for your computer, more expensive than cable, ( 200k for 3GB , Vietel/Vinaphone/Mobifone ), but cheaper than USB.

3G works but it is patchy. It started out with good speed and reasonable price, but as more and more people took it up the speed became variable and then they hiked the price. It's ok as a stop gap measure, but I gave up on it last April and had fibre optic cable installed at home.

The fibre optic system works ok about 75% of the time but for around 25% it reverts to cocoa cans and string,

eodmatt wrote:

3G works but it is patchy. It started out with good speed and reasonable price, but as more and more people took it up the speed became variable and then they hiked the price. It's ok as a stop gap measure, but I gave up on it last April and had fibre optic cable installed at home.

The fibre optic system works ok about 75% of the time but for around 25% it reverts to cocoa cans and string,


Yes, one company ( VNMobile ), started out with ' very ' cheap deals, it's internet coverage map said my area was covered, but when I tried to set it up, it kept telling me I needed a different SIM card???? Went back and forth to the " agent ", gave up in the end.

eodmatt wrote:

3G works but it is patchy. It started out with good speed and reasonable price, but as more and more people took it up the speed became variable and then they hiked the price. It's ok as a stop gap measure, but I gave up on it last April and had fibre optic cable installed at home.

The fibre optic system works ok about 75% of the time but for around 25% it reverts to cocoa cans and string,


The first part I  can confirm. With our Fibre, we only have a problem with reconnection on one of our static IPs. It soes, but often it takes like 10-20 mins

This what you need, it doesn't take up too much room.
http://lowres.cartoonstock.com/tv-pirate-buccaneer-tv_channel-television_channel-satellite_tv-bwhn304_low.jpg

If you are good friends with a Vietnamese student, VNPT has a special Students Plan for Radio Data.

Really very good pricing.

Traffic can get slow, depending upon your area and time of day, but is usually great around 22.00H through 07.00H when school-goers are sleeping.

Jaitch wrote:

If you are good friends with a Vietnamese student, VNPT has a special Students Plan for Radio Data.

Really very good pricing.

Traffic can get slow, depending upon your area and time of day, but is usually great around 22.00H through 07.00H when school-goers are sleeping.


" If you are good friends with a Vietnamese student "
I tried that with my step daughter, , they asked her for 10 regular phone numbers that she used, but as she was using MY phone to register, she didn't know which 10 I used, ( probably so they can spam the hell out of them as well ).

You mentioned Power Outages in your title. Most parts of VN suffer power outages even though they are buying electricity from China and Laos.

Power outages don't usually affect the delivery of the InterNet signal to your home, except perhaps on cheap cable systems, so the cure to them lies in your home or office.

I have a battery system that supports our modem and our computers (laptops) in the HCM office. The batteries are charged from the mains supply and the outputs are fed to the equipment via simple regulators and diodes.

If you cannot get a suitable regulator (USD$2-4) for your equipment simply go the basic route, use rechargeable 'D' size cells. Laptops can usually survive on their internal batteries for several hours so the main need is powering the modem, which is simplicity itself.