Internet, how do I connect to thee? Let me count the ways... Word has it that a new option for connecting to the Internet will soon become available in Vanuatu. This week, we cover the ways and means of connecting as provided by the monopoly Internet Services Provider, TVL, and the pros and cons of each.
Dialup is cheapest and easiest. All you need is a modem and a normal phone line, and a dialup account from TVL. Accounts go by the hours included in the monthly fee, so you need a good idea of your average monthly connection time. If you exceed the hours your plan includes, you will pay “extra hour” charges which can mount up quickly. You can connect without a plan, but TVL will charge your phone line at Vt27 per minute, very expensive. The good thing about dialup is that it is easy to move around and can use any phone line. The bad thing is that dialup is very slow, especially if your phone line is not in top condition.
Dialup suits people who want email with occasional web surfing and infrequent downloads (eg. anti-virus updates). There is an option for 'unlimited' dialup ie. you can connect as long as you want at no extra charge, this is good value if you regularly download medium-sized files (such as music files) and do not care how long it takes – but you must designate the phone line.
If you want something faster than dialup and/or an internet connection that is always available (eg. for sharing between office computers), you need Marlin. Here, you have a wireless link – this means installing a dish on your roof, and it also requires a line-of-sight to TVL's towers. If you can't see the towers from your roof, you can't get Marlin! Marlin starts at about 3 times the speed of dialup, but is considerably more expensive. It also means you have to pay (a lot) more to buy the radio dish and associated equipment and have them installed. The big difference between dialup and Marlin, though, is that now it is downloaded data that is measured instead of connection time. With Marlin, you need to know how much data you download and upload in an average month. Again, if you exceed your monthly allowance, you pay penalty rates which quickly add up.
Marlin is reliable and significantly faster, but the download limits are small and you must have line-of-sight to TVL towers. Beware of the cheapest 'Famili' package which blocks certain types of traffic. The other packages also include a mobile phone , just to make it harder to work out the plan best for you!
Coming soon – ADSL. Basically, fast internet through your phone line, even while you continue to use the phone line for normal voice calls. Clever technology that means you can do two things on a phone line at the same time. Details of who can get the service and how much it will be are yet to be published. If Marlin is unavailable to you, ADSL may be what you are looking for. Watch TVL's website (www.tvl.net.vu) for details, and select “Tell me more” under the “Internet” heading.
