Mad about Broadband Part 2 (Final Part)

I have pre-registered my Yes account a few weeks ago. I think it’s a great idea having a prepaid plan while still have the option to surf the net, make phone calls, check your emails, chatting online with your family & friends and at the same time, access all these in lightning speed (well, not actually lightning but it’s faster than normal 3G broadbands. Oh, the rates are fantastic too!

Yes flagship shop at Lot 10

Once registered, you will have your own mobile number and email. But in order to surf the net, you must have your own device. In this case, Yes provided two: the GO dongle and the Huddle MIFI router (you can read it all here).

I bought the GO dongle as I wanted to have a portable device and I’m the only user (Huddle can support up to 5 users at a time). Registering my account cost me RM50 (for account activation, they said) and RM99 for the dongle. As I’m a pre-registered user, Yes is kind enough to provide me with an extra 10Gb complimentary data services, which expires on 19 December 2010. Then after that, I have to top-up my account with at least RM30 to get going.

I can only managed to get 1 bar!

Right now I’m in the mist of testing the speed of Yes, using the GO dongle. At my house in Subang Jaya, the signal is low (the maximum being two bars). But I still able to get speed up to 4Mb/s (the speed fluctuates quite badly).

The Yes GO dongle

Now more about the Yes GO dongle. The size is the same with the other telcos’ 3G broadband dongles, but Yes is operating within the 4G spectrum. Yes claimed an increased speed of up to 4-5 times over 3G broadband, and after using it for about a week, I have to agree with Yes.

Flexible and powerful

The dongle itself is a work of art. It was manufactured by Infomark Korea, but was re-badged by Yes for the Malaysian market. The unit itself is very light and pocketable. The USB connector is foldable, and can be easily change to accommodate tight spots. The antennae is multi-directional (just like P1’s Wiggy) and offers superior reception.

After testing Yes network, I can say that I like very much for the fact that Yes is able to:

• makes me surf the internet faster;
• minimise signal dropouts;
• download files in a jiffy;
• makes me watch Youtube without having to wait for it to load;
• offer cheaper rates for mobile phone, internet and MMS;
• easily topped up my credits using maybank2u and other channels;
• make calls and surf the net at the same time by using my Mac;
• eliminate the need for SIM card(s).

…but Yes is unable to provide me with:

• the choice to surf anywhere (only 63% of Malaysia are covered so far);
• better support for Mac OS (connection is unstable and yeslife is not available for Mac yet);
• choice of own mobile phone (iPhone included). Right now Yes only offer one Samsung phone (HTC Evo 4G phone coming in January 2011);
• better customer account. The current one is confusing.

I’ve managed to test Yes 4G broadband connection using three different test websites, and as expected, the result is three different values. But even with the test, Yes 4G managed to chalk up an average speed of 3.10Mb/s, which is quite respectable.

speedtest.net

Hopefully Yes can maintain their claims that Yes 4G is 4-5 times faster than 3G. I’m for one, is a power user, and I need a fast, cheap and reliable broadband service, regardless of spectrum.