3G/ 4G and so on for dummies

[Bad_azz]

Me being the dummy..
I have a samsung phone
Samsung GT-I9060I/DS Galaxy Grand Neo Plus Duos (I think)

I have my old XL sim card in it... I want to buy the 4G special offer package from XL cos it seems rather cheap- but I figure if I buy it and my phone/sim is 3G I might be wasting money- am I?

What do I have to do to get 4G - anything? Nothing?
I don't want to change my sim to a new number if I can avoid it- had this one for 5 years.

Help.

 

[wanderer]

Your phone is 3G only so you would not benefit from the 4G offering, at least not for the speed. It would still probably work on 3G as 4G falls back to 3G if there is no LTE available but I have never tried a 4G SIM in a 3G phone.

To get the full 4G you need to get yourself a new phone with LTE. That nice shiny new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 looks good

 

[Bad_azz]

Your phone is 3G only so you would not benefit from the 4G offering, at least not for the speed. It would still probably work on 3G as 4G falls back to 3G if there is no LTE available but I have never tried a 4G SIM in a 3G phone.

To get the full 4G you need to get yourself a new phone with LTE. That nice shiny new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 looks good

haha not a hope of me buying a new phone- hate touch-screens and refuse to buy another until this one is dead.

Waiting & hoping for a reasonable none touch screen phone to come out.
Failing that I have an old BB too hahaha.


So if I buy this 15GB di 4G & 75 min calls for 89ribu does that mean I won't get any internet unless I have 4G - or does it mean I will still get internet (just not on 4G quality)?

 

[El_Goretto]

haha not a hope of me buying a new phone- hate touch-screens and refuse to buy another until this one is dead.

Waiting & hoping for a reasonable none touch screen phone to come out.
Failing that I have an old BB too hahaha.


So if I buy this 15GB di 4G & 75 min calls for 89ribu does that mean I won't get any internet unless I have 4G - or does it mean I will still get internet (just not on 4G quality)?

I think this would be a question for XL themselves because some packages are 4G only, others are 4G/3G. And do not trust *123# or their website as it is not always accurate. I got burnt myself that way.

That said, I find XL's customer service excellent. If you go in person in an XL Center, I am sure they will be able to help you, as they have always done with me. That time I bought a 4G package with no 3G kuota included despite not being warned about it, I went to see them and they sorted me out straight away. They put me on a better packet free of charge and gave me a special price on that new packet if I wanted to keep it after 30 days.

 

[Bad_azz]

I think this would be a question for XL themselves because some packages are 4G only, others are 4G/3G. And do not trust *123# or their website as it is not always accurate. I got burnt myself that way.

That said, I find XL's customer service excellent. If you go in person in an XL Center, I am sure they will be able to help you, as they have always done with me. That time I bought a 4G package with no 3G kuota included despite not being warned about it, I went to see them and they sorted me out straight away. They put me on a better packet free of charge and gave me a special price on that new packet if I wanted to keep it after 30 days.

Aha!
Thank you - so now I have to find the damn place

 

[ukcouple]

What do I have to do to get 4G - anything? Nothing?
I don't want to change my sim to a new number if I can avoid it- had this one for 5 years.

Help.

If it was me i would buy a 4G wireless wifi router (about Rp 200,000 on Lazada and use your 4G XL sim card in that.

No need to get a new phone and Hubby can connect to it as well.

 

[Bad_azz]

If it was me i would buy a 4G wireless wifi router (about Rp 200,000 on Lazada and use your 4G XL sim card in that.

No need to get a new phone and Hubby can connect to it as well.

I use my phone as the router. So if I go out & buy one and buy a 4G sim to go in it , I still need to buy pulsa for my phone too, so I guess I don't end up saving a great deal.

& hubby is a quota guzzler as it is, he likes to sit watching you tube videos - opal polishing & cutting or music . Let him buy his own internet I say

 

[ukcouple]

I use my phone as the router. So if I go out & buy one and buy a 4G sim to go in it , I still need to buy pulsa for my phone too, so I guess I don't end up saving a great deal.

yes nice theory but your phone won't work with a 4G sim (except at 3G speed) so if you want LTE speed you would have to buy a new phone or a 4G router.

A 4G router would be cheaper than a new phone. Just saying...

 

[El_Goretto]

yes nice theory but your phone won't work with a 4G sim (except at 3G speed) so if you want LTE speed you would have to buy a new phone or a 4G router.

A 4G router would be cheaper than a new phone. Just saying...

Especially since I saw an ad from XL where they sell a 4G router with associated package.

 

[wanderer]

Thank you - so now I have to find the damn place

There are loads of them all over the city. You can find a list on their website. www.xl.co.id

http://www.xl.co.id/id/bantuan/xl-center

 

[Bad_azz]

yes nice theory but your phone won't work with a 4G sim (except at 3G speed) so if you want LTE speed you would have to buy a new phone or a 4G router.

A 4G router would be cheaper than a new phone. Just saying...

I am not so much bothered about the speed- I just wanted the cheap data pack - I have used the internet connections in Indonesia as a teacher... teaching me patience - doesn't always work though

 

[Bad_azz]

Me again...
(with functioning spaces- cos I am not replying to a comment)

4g box thingies- modems for in the house- where is a good place to buy and does this Bolt thing work- as in this is how I read it- I buy it, put in a sim card of choice (XL) with pulsa & package loaded and then I can use it??

 

[jstar]

^

 

[Bad_azz]

Cheers Jstart
So, I watched the video- and seeing as my Indonesian is shite- I still have no idea if "bolt" is a company like XL / Simpati or whatever or if it is something I can use an xl card in.

 

[jstar]

In fact Bolt! is a solution, a 'product group'. I recall First Media is one of two companies behind it.

So that "Bolt! LTE 4G" is in fact a technical solution including a wireless connection via this box thing. It is a mobile wireless router. (That's why they came up with the ingeneous name of MiFi.) So you make a 'hotspot'.

To make sure we talk about the same thing: So you connect your Macbook or iPad or whatever via WiFi to this box. And the box connects via a SIM card to the global network. So this solution is ideal if there is no provider with cable solutions close by. Or if you are travelling all the time. If there are internet providers with cable, I would consider them first.

But but but; be careful with Bolt! or so, since they also want to sell you the subscription and a sim card. So I'm not sure if this will work with your XL sim card.

The good news: there are other solutions out there that do the same, they give you a wireless router with sim card slot.

A possible brand is TP-Link. They have multiple solutions, like this portable one:
https://www.tokopedia.com/catalog/50209/tp-link-m5360

Or this one which is more for at home:
http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-4691_TL-MR6400.html

 

[Bad_azz]

Thank you soooo much- so I won't buy the bolt- I will just get the XL thing with the 90gb for 750,000

 

[jstar]

Okay. I added some info about alternatives.

 

[jukung11]

Upgrading to 4G was night and day difference for me. I did not get great 4G coverage outside dense urban centers, but the difference was so great in terms of dealing with the internet, I would have paid more. I had to get a new sim for 4G. I think it was more a billing issue for the company.

BadAzz, Are you sure you will get 4G coverage were you spend most of your time?

 

[Bad_azz]

Upgrading to 4G was night and day difference for me. I did not get great 4G coverage outside dense urban centers, but the difference was so great in terms of dealing with the internet, I would have paid more. I had to get a new sim for 4G. I think it was more a billing issue for the company.

BadAzz, Are you sure you will get 4G coverage were you spend most of your time?

no idea- but will check before I buy

 

[bronze7]

Thank you soooo much- so I won't buy the bolt- I will just get the XL thing with the 90gb for 750,000

that seems a bit high priced. I have a bolt home modem in which we pay 250,000 a month for unlimited. they cap the speed to 10 or 20 gb per second I forget but rarely do we get over 10. Before we had indihome (not fiber) which was max of 5 gb per second. IMO this is a good option if your area doesnt have a good provider like first media broadband. I wont recommend indihome because after 8 months we never could get a speed faster than 1 gb. also my sister-in-law has indihome fiber optic and now she is having the same problem.
This is just my 2 cents.