New Telbru Internet Plans (eSpeed / High-Speed Broadband)

The Telbru eSpeed/High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) Internet rates have arrived and price wise they are going in a good direction, quota wise not so much, but here are the facts that you need to know.

Base monthly rates have been reduced
Some plans have quotas
If you exceed the quota you will get throttled but you pay no extra (you will still have an Internet connection, just slower speeds)
Throttled speeds are “about 20% of the subscribed plan package”
Extra quota top-ups can be purchased if you exceed your quota which will restore your speed
Price caps are only for those who purchase multiple extra quota top-ups
At the switch over, you will get the same speed but at the new reduced monthly price (and quota’s if applicable)

How to check your data usage

eBill Online: https://www.telbru.com.bn/ebill/
eBill App: Android | iOS

Notifications can be sent to you via your preferred communication channel (e-mail/text message) when you have used 50%, 80% and 100% of your quota volume

https://www.telbru.com.bn/page.php?c=193

Getting Android to play nice with DST’s Internet and MMS APNs (and bmobile too)

It all started off with a tweet from @marul69:

@thewheat do you have DST mms settings working for Android OS?

and so begun the quest to get MMS settings working on Android. Several months ago I tried configuring it on my sister’s HTC Desire, but unfortunately that fight was lost many a times. But today, triumphantly and after some fussing around I managed to get it working. Finally. Settings are below

b-mobile users refer here but I can’t guarantee that it works as I’m not in Brunei and don’t have a bmobile line to test

Internet APN:

Name: dst.internet
APN: dst.internet
Proxy: <Not set>
Port: <Not set>
Username: <Not set>
Password: <Not set>
Server: <Not set>
MMSC: <Not set>
MMS proxy: <Not set>
MMS port: <Not set>
MCC: 528 (for other carriers this should be different. this value was automatically set by the phone)
MNC: 11 (for other carriers this should be different. this value was automatically set by the phone)
Authentication Type: <Not set>
APN Type: default

MMS APN:

Name: dst.mms
APN: dst.mms
Proxy: <Not set>
Port: <Not set>
Username: mms
Password: mms
Server: <Not set>
MMSC: http://mms.dst.com.bn/mmsc
MMS proxy: 10.100.6.101
MMS port: 3130
MCC: 528 (for other carriers this should be different. this value was automatically set by the phone)
MNC: 11 (for other carriers this should be different. this value was automatically set by the phone)
Authentication Type: <Not set>
APN Type: mms

If all goes well, the APN screen will be as shown below, with only the dst.internet APN being selectable with the radio button on the right. This signifies that when mobile data is enabled, it will use dst.internet for Internet access. If APN Type of “mms” is not specified, there will be a radio button next to the dst.mms configuration which needs to be selected in order to send and receive MMSs. The problem with that is, the dst.mms does not provide Internet access so you will not be able to access the Internet unless you manually select dst.internet as the APN which is very inconvenient. This led me to find out the importance of the APN Type value that was found after trying some Googling and landing on Ausdroid’s APN page. So thanks to Ausdroid and hopefully this will help all those having trouble with their Android phone and MMS.

Full screenshot reference of APN configurations:

ICS settings — Android 4.x DST Internet Settings

dstAPNICS2 — Android 4.x DST MMS Settings

bmobile

I can’t guarantee these values work as I’m not in Brunei, so please test and let me know in the comments.

Internet APN:

Name: bmobilewap
APN: bmobilewap
Proxy: <Not set>
Port: <Not set>
Username: <Not set>
Password: <Not set>
Server: <Not set>
MMSC: <Not set>
MMS proxy: <Not set>
MMS port: <Not set>
Authentication Type: <Not set>
APN Type: default

MMS APN:

Name: bmobilemms
APN: bmobilemms
Proxy: <Not set>
Port: <Not set>
Username: mms
Password: mms
Server: <Not set>
MMSC: http://mms.bmobile.com.bn/was
MMS proxy: 129.9.10.20
MMS port: 6500
Authentication Type: <Not set>
APN Type: mms

Speed up the Internet / Reducing your Data Bill

We all love the Internet. Many of us can’t live without it (or at least we think we can’t live without it). E-mail. Instant Messaging. Social Networking. Pick your poison. But as many of us know in Brunei, the Internet can sometimes be hard to get a hold of. Not that we don’t have Internet connections but more due to problems with our service provider Telbru e-speed service or rather it being a congested office network where co-workers are streaming YouTube and other bandwidth consuming services. Some solutions or workarounds I will suggest will basically reduce the amount of data that your browser will ask from the servers that it visits and basically that in turn will help you reduce your data bill. This is great for those with 3G modems without an unlimited data deal and just good to know for any phone-wielding-Internet-accessing user

Use Mobile Versions of the Website

Sites like Twitter have a mobile version of their site catered for phones that usually offers most of the features of the regular site. These pages are typically free from ads and superfluous images and Flash. Sites may not look as pretty and as fully functional as you like it, but you get the gist of the information.

Mobile versions of: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, CNET, Engadget, Digg (iPhone specific, General)

Use an alternative browser (Opera / Skyfire)

Opera mini has always been a great browser for the phone and for users it lets them save on data costs because Opera mini uses a technology of proxying where you data is passed through Opera’s proxy servers (take note of the privacy and security implications of this). The proxying that Opera does on your data enables them to optimize the page for viewing on your phone and at the same time resize images so that you don’t have to download the full image which would cost you. Now the images will not look as clear and sharp as the original but it’s a good trade-off and there are even settings to let images load on “Low”, “Medium” or “High” qualities. Opera mini’s proxy server technology has also been brought to the desktop with Opera Turbo available for Windows, Mac, Linux and other platforms.

Skyfire is similar to Opera mini with regards to the proxying but the cool thing about Skyfire is that it lets you have the PC web browsing experience on your phone (Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile), meaning things like Flash (video) and Silverlight will work. This is a good way to get to watch your media fast and not have to wait for a regular computer web browser to load the video. The video is not as smooth and audio can get out of sync with the video and it can be hard to watch video on a small phone screen but for some things like live streaming, it allows you be a part of the experience rather than waiting in buffering/loading land.

Block Unnecessary Information (Images / Advertisement / Flash / Plugins / Javascript)

All these contribute to the information downloaded to your computer and sometimes the loading of a particular piece of information stalls the whole page from loading.

Blocking Images

Firefox:
- Windows/Linux: Tools Menu > Options
- Linux: Edit menu > Preferences
- Mac: Firefox Menu item > Preferences
- > Content Tab > Uncheck “Load images automatically”
Opera: In the status bar on the bottom click the image toggle dropdown and select “No Images”

Blocking Advertisements

Firefox: Adblock Plus
Modifying hosts files (multi-platform and browser independent)

Blocking Flash

Firefox: Flashblock. Replaces Flash objects with a place holder in case you still want to load it
Opera: Enable “Opera Turbo”. Replaces Flash objects with a place holder in case you still want to load it
- Windows/Linux: Tools Menu > Quick Preferences
- Mac: Opera Menu item > Quick Preferences
- > “Enable Opera Turbo” or Toggle Opera Turbo in the bottom status bar
For multi-browser solution refer to “Blocking Plugins”

Blocking Plugins

Disabling Plugins in your browser
Firefox: Tools Menu > Add-ons > Plugins Tab > Disable all/appropriate plugins
Opera:
- Windows/Linux: Tools Menu > Quick Preferences
- Mac: Opera Menu item > Quick Preferences
- Uncheck “Enable Java”
- Uncheck “Enable Plug-ins”

Blocking Javascript

Firefox:
- NoScript
  or
- Windows/Linux: Tools Menu > Options
- Linux: Edit menu > Preferences
- Mac: Firefox Menu item > Preferences
- > Content Tab > Uncheck “Load JavaScript”
Opera:
- Windows/Linux: Tools Menu > Quick Preferences
- Mac: Opera Menu item > Quick Preferences
- Uncheck “Enable Javascript”
Note: Disabling Javascript may cause most sites not to function properly as they depend on Javascript for various functions.

Mobile Internet (DST) in Ubuntu with a Nokia E51

I heard about Ubuntu’s 3G support quite a while back, but yesterday was the first time I actually tried it out. This was done using a Nokia E51 connected via USB with a DST Easi card with Ubuntu 9.04. Please note of the importable troubleshooting note below

Connect the phone and set connectivity mode to “PC Suite”
A configuration wizard should pop up as shown below:

If the wizard does not show, start it manually by following these steps:
1. Go to the Ubuntu Menu: System > Preferences > Network Connections
2. Go to the “Mobile Broadband” tab and click the “Add” button
Select the any setting as they will be manually edited later. For this example I chose Albania and Vodafone as the country and provider respectively as it has minimal configuration changes
Give the connection a name: “dst.internet”
Go to Network connections (System > Preferences > Network Connections) and edit the newly created connection
Ensure the configuration is as follows:
- Number: *99#
- APN: dst.internet
- Username and password can be left blank
- If the Albania > Vodafone settings were used, only the APN needs to be changed
Left click the network manager applet and connect to the newly created “dst.internet” connection
Enjoy your mobile broadband =)

Now I wonder if this works for the DST Go! and bmobile Zoom! modems….

Troubleshooting Note

If you have a problem connecting please note this bug that causes the connection to timeout if there is a shell running as root. So close all terminals open. It took me 2 hours to figure this out so I hope you won’t have to suffer the same.

DST 3G speed tests

While I did get a DST GO! SIM card quite a while back just to see how it is, I am reluctant to call these GO! speed tests as they were done on my phone with a 3G Easi SIM card, not a GO! SIM card. Basically all mobile phone customers of DSTCom (Prima or Easi) can enjoy the fast speeds of GO! without having to spend anything extra, so long as you have the following

3G / 3.5G phone
3G SIM card

Note: Not all 3G/3.5G phones are created equally and each have a maximum 3G speed that it can obtain. These details can be obtained online from places such as GSMArena.com. E.g. Nokia 6680 max 3G speed of 384 kbps, Nokia E51: max speed of 3.6 Mbps.

Jalan Kebangsaan Lama

UBD: Institute of Medicine

Configuring your phone for mobile Internet (DST/bmobile, Brunei)

Note: for Android configuration refer to this post

With mobile Internet being very cheap on DSTCom (B$0.05/MB) we all wish to to be surfing the ‘net but before that your phone needs to be configured to do so. The settings supplied by DSTCom are:

For Internet access
Name: DSTInternet
APN: dst.internet
Username: <no username>
Password: <no password>

For MMS
Name: DSTMMS
APN: dst.mms
Username: mms
Password: mms
MMS Server: http://mms.dst.com.bn/mmsc
Proxy Address: 10.100.6.101
Port No: 3130

However it’s not always easy translating these settings to your phone. I recently had issues with a friend’s Sony Ericsson G502 being a Nokia person myself.

Update 1: Due to search requests on bmobile internet connection I shall add it here based on the findings of Hazarry’s work here (PDF file) and bmobile’s iPhone settings.
Bmobile’s APN: bmobilewap. More detailed configuration can be found

For Internet access
Name: bmobilewap
APN: bmobilewap
Username: <no username>
Password: <no password>
Proxy Server Address & port (these settings seem optional as they are not listed in bmobile’s settings PDFs)
HTTP: 129.9.10.20:6500
WAP: 129.9.10.20:6500
Socks: 129.9.10.20:1080

For MMS
Name: bmobile MMS
APN: bmobilemms
Username: <no username>
Password: <no password>
Proxy Server Address & port: 129.9.10.20:6500
Socks: 129.9.10.20:1080

Server Name : B‐Mobile MMS
Gateway : 129.9.10.20
Port Number : 6500
Server Address : http://mms.bmobile.com.bn/was
Connect Via : MMS Servers
Size Limit : 300K
WAP Version : WAP 2.0
GPRS Authentication: PAP

–End of Update 1

Nokia E51 Configuration

Continue reading “Configuring your phone for mobile Internet (DST/bmobile, Brunei)” →

Share this:

Like this:

bmobile

Share this:

Like this:

Use Mobile Versions of the Website

Use an alternative browser (Opera / Skyfire)

Block Unnecessary Information (Images / Advertisement / Flash / Plugins / Javascript)

Blocking Images

Blocking Advertisements

Blocking Flash

Blocking Plugins

Blocking Javascript

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Note: for Android configuration refer to this post

Nokia E51 Configuration

Share this:

Like this: