Cyprus-Forum.com

[fatgeeza]

Hi all, please be lenient as this is my first posting on Cyprus forum and I genuinely need some help regarding an intermediate requirement for mobile broadband on my Laptop.

Having spent over 30 years regularly traveling to Cyprus we have now taken the plunge and have a holiday home in Paphos (Empa) which we use about 12 to 14 weeks per year and rent out to friends and family a further 12 to 14 weeks per year.

Like most holiday home owners we do not want to have a phone line installed and neither do we want to have a fixed contract on broadband installation. (nor Satellite Broadband Charges)

I would like to have a mobile broadband connection for my lap top when we are in Cyprus on a pay as you go basis, I have broadband at home and at work in the UK, we use wifi as and when needed in hotspots and I can get a mobile broadband usb dongle in the uk on contract but the prices are sky high for usage in Cyprus. We will not be high users of the service only needing email download and occasional web access, plus the kids use MSN to communicate with friends all over the world, Australia, USA and Europe

Does anyone else have the same need, and have you found a good mobile broadband provider for Paphos who offers a "pay as you go" scheme I would be interested in hearing how you get your service delivered as and when you need it at a fair cost, how do you top up and your general comments on the service.

Thanks in anticipation of your advice and responses
Cheers
Fatgeeza

[B@S]

Have a look here

http://www.mtn.com.cy/index.cfm/id/52/l ... ledatacard

[fatgeeza]

Hi B@s and thanks for the link I had seen this earlier but I am left confused (which is not difficult).

The Page talks about G3.5 and this being GPRS (Mobile phone connectivity not broadband) it also refers to "whether you have a laptop or desktop computer, you can connect to the Internet and send SMS messages through an MTN data connection. " which make me think it is an SMS messaging system via the laptop / Computer

There is also further reference to WAP technology later on and the Pricing refers to €196.49/£115 inc VAT €170.86/£100 ex VAT per Kb which is excessive for mobile broadband, which is charged at €6 per day in the UK and download of 1GB. (1,000 x more)

The page also states "For the casual uses of the internet MTN offers a usage based plan where you will be charged only € 0.007/ £0.004 per 2kb (€ 3.58 / £2.10 per MB)."

I think this refers to surfing from your mobile phone rather than a Laptop

I posted the question as I had surfed various sites and was left totally confused as to if Mobile Broadband and Pay as you go mobile broadband is available in Paphos

Thanks again but I remain confused
FatGeeza

[simonwjones]

I wouldnt bother. I would just hook onto a wifi connection through a number of wifi suppliers in Paphos. Surfing the net on your PC via a mobile phone could be a disaster waiting to happen and very expensive for you.

[hellopaul]

Hello.

I use the MTN mobile broadband system (the evil thieves at Cyta wanted to charge CY£2500 to connect us to the phone network - on which they run their timers 10% fast to overcharge everyone and round their costs up to the nearest 2 minutes, eg. a 1minute 55sec call will be charged at 4minutes. Nobody cares, because what can you do with a monopoly on fixed line telephony?)

I don't have the USB modem or the datacard, but bought a nice Sony Ericsson K800i phone from Carphone Warehouse on O2 pay as you go for UK£80. It talks to my Mac via Bluetooth and I have the €34+VAT monthly MTN deal. Not cheap, and DEFINITELY not even close to the speed of a dial-up service, but other than a hugely expensive satellite system, with the drawbacks of limited data usage and slow upload speeds, I have no option. MTN supplied the SIM (make sure you ask for a 3G SIM, they give you a 2G / 2.5G SIM by default) and I didn't need to do any unlocking. Having an Apple Mac meant that I had to do a bit of searching to find the modem scripts, but if you are sensible and have a PC, installation should be a breeze. This setup also means I can access emails and internet just using my phone.

Despite being slow, it does mean that you can be 'surfing (crawling) the net' while on the beach / in the car / on a picnic / wherever.

The faster 3G service is supposed to be available in the towns, but recently it seems to have disappeared. Although it claims to be much faster than the standard GPRS service, I noticed absolutely no difference whatsoever. MTN used to claim that 3G was faster than ADSL (fixed line) broadband. They obviously have a sense of humour! MTN is bringing out 3.5G, which they claim is fast, but only available in Nicosia at the moment.

If you want to go the Cytanet route, don't try to ask the staff in the shops about it - they know nothing. Look on their site; they used to do an offer limited to 400MB per month and their 3G coverage is wider than MTN's.

Hope this helps!

Paul

[fatgeeza]

Hello Paul,

I think a lot of people will share your comments about Cytanet and I don't want to connect to the internet on my PC through my mobile phone and after surfing the internet for almost 2 days solid I am firmly of the opinion that none of the service providers in Cyprus yet offer a Mobile broadband (USB) connection on a Pay as you go tariff, perhaps there is no market for this service in Cyprus or this may be an opportunity for the enterprising sort amongst us.

I have read simonwjones comments and I have happened across a web site http://www.cypruswirelessinternet.com/network.html who offer a Wifi connection at a installed cost of €299 and tariff’s starting at €17 per month whilst not what I wanted it may be a better alternative to fixed lines and higher rip off costs.

Has anyone used These guys before and any comments ? much appreciated
Thanks
Fatgeeza

[holitec]

Hi Fatgeeza,

There are two other's as well, us (www.holitec.eu) and citycell (www.citycell.tv). I am not certain if citycell cover empa, but both offer a Pay as U go. Ours is €11 per week for a 1.5/256 connection. Both are also fully licensed ISP's as well (DSS is not registered yet, probably because they are a recent starter).

The problem with a USB type broadband connection in Cyprus is a licensing issue - I am sure that there would be a good market for it.

It is probably easier to simply use a hotspot, or just scan the neighbourhood for open wifi networks - you might be lucky.

Digby

[craigbeck]

Vodafone mobiledata cards work in Cyprus so surely Cytavoda should offer them????

[holitec]

Mobile data cards work here, but 3G is only available in the main areas.

GPRS is a bit slow.

[fatgeeza]

There are two other's as well, us (www.holitec.eu) and citycell (www.citycell.tv). I am not certain if citycell cover empa, but both offer a Pay as U go. Ours is €11 per week for a 1.5/256 connection. Both are also fully licensed ISP's as well (DSS is not registered yet, probably because they are a recent starter).

The problem with a USB type broadband connection in Cyprus is a licensing issue - I am sure that there would be a good market for it.

It is probably easier to simply use a hotspot, or just scan the neighbourhood for open wifi networks - you might be lucky.

Hi Digby, I looked at your site on Sunday and the on going prices are very competative but the installation costs apear to be twice as high as at Cyprusinternet, ( I understand different technology dirfferent costs) I had hoped to avoid any installation costs by using a USB Mobile Broadband connection and thanks for the heads up regarding the licencing, I am sure it will come and I agree there is a market.

I have scanned my neighbourhood in Empa for open Wifi signals using my PDA, only one of my neibours has a connection which he has since terminated due to CytaNet costs.

Thanks for your advise
Cheers Fat Geeza