I have been testing the Celcom Unlimited Data package(D120) using the Vodafone-Huawei E220 modem provided by Celcom for the past one month.
Celcom has a good 3G network but not an HSDPA network. On 3G, I am able to achieve speed up to the maximum, while on HSDPA, maximum speed achieved range only from 800Kbps to 9xxKbps.
The last few Celcom events that I attended claims that they have the widest, fastest 3G network in the country. Those aren’t true at all!!! In one event, Celcom CEO was so exited when a speedtest during the event was able to get speed up to 800Kbps while testing on its competitors network showed speed less than 200Kbps. Is that something to shout about?
A telco which claims to offer speed up to 3.6Mbps, capable only to achieve speed up to 1Mbps in reality. Is this a joke? 800Kbps-900Kbps is not even half of the offering 3.6Mbps speed!!! If its competitor, running on EDGE network, is capable to achieve speed close to 200Kbps, thats an excellent thing as it achieved more than 50% of its offering speed(EDGE offers speed up to 236.8Kbps).
As for browsing, local sites hosted locally loaded up faster. Local sites hosted on TMNet was the fastest. International sites such as YouTube buffered a lot, depending on location. Overall, local sites were fast while international sites was a pain on Celcom 3G network.
The network tends to block traffic over a live connection when I remained idle for few minutes. To continue using the services, I had to disconnect and re-connect the Vodafone-Huawei E220 modem.
Coverage wise, Celcom tends to cover HSDPA inside building. For example, there were HSDPA coverage inside Low Yat building while there were only 3G coverage outside the building and the surrounding of Bukit Bintang.
Conclusion, if you love streamyx, you should opt for Celcom 3G. Overall, Celcom has a very good 3G network and coverage but it has a lousy HSDPA coverage in KL with maximum speed up to 1Mbps. As the network is connected to TMNet backbone, Celcom 3G users will face problem when TMNet faces problem. As far as I know, TMNet always faces problem due to their expertise in capping, tweaking the last mile internet in this country. Of course, if you looking for something faster than EDGE, Celcom 3G is something you can count on.
Have you tested Celcom 3G? Give me some comments…
