#Hotlink Free Basic Internet Plan Review

Ported from Digi to Hotlink

  2 days ago, I went and port my number from Digi to #Hotlink latest plan which gives out Free Basic Internet.  After reading a few sites that gave it's review I decided to jump ship to Hotlink.  So I went to the Maxis Center at Kenyalang Park, where I was able to process my application in order to port my number from Digi to Hotlink.  (The one in Saberkas was not able to do it for me, so don't bother going there). 

  Anyway, the whole process took less about 10 minutes, where I needed to give a photocopy of my IC as well as pay them RM10 for the so called processing fees.  But the person told me that, this RM10 will be credited back once the porting is successful.  After that they gave me a new sim card, and told me it will take about 1 day for me to switched over to Hotlink.  But before that, I had to double check with them that I'm going to port to the new #hotlink plan that comes with the Free Basic Internet.

Download & Upload Speed

  So I had about 24 hours to pretty much finish up my credit balance as well as the accidental 1 month data plan I subscribed with Digi of 300MB.  Never the less, by the end of the day I used up all my credits but didn't managed to finish up the data where I think I still had 100MB left.  The next day about 9am, I received an sms from Digi stating that they are in the midst of porting my number to Maxis.  So I guess it was time for me to to switch my old sim card, to the new one that I got from Maxis on Monday.

  Before I could do anything, I had to make an initial call out first to activate my line.  And true enough I receive tons of SMS from Hotlink welcoming me, and settings for my phone. So current balance I had was RM0.27, whereby they deduct RM0.12 for the initial call out.  Once all was said and done, I went and fire up the speedtest.  The Download speed was 2Mbps, while upload speed was 1Mbps.  And I thought to myself, I don't think that's right so I went and turn off the Data Connection.  But upon checking the balance, I was not deducted any credits.  Then I think I recalled I read somewhere on their site stated that I had to wait 2 hours and restart the phone.

Actual Speed of 64kpbs

  Anyway, after waiting 3 hours upon activation of my line the RM10 that I paid on Monday was credited into my account.  So total balance I now had is RM10.27, so having itchy fingers I went and turn on the data connection again only to find the speed remain the same.  So after watching a video on youtube (HQ) it was smooth like butter.  Again, I went and check my balance it was still the same.  Maybe it was a complimentary welcome gift or something, and the speed from Maxis did not disappoint me one bit unlike the previous provider.  But all good things must come to an end, whereby at 8pm I noticed something was not right when I was going through my Facebook feeds.  So I did another test, and this is the actual speed of the Free Basic Internet which is at 64kpbs.  Pretty similar back in the days of dial up speed. So this is when the actual fun testing begin.

Running at 64kpbs test
 Whatsapp & Wechat
  So my initial testing, was of course Whatsapp.  In terms of sending text message you will not feel any difference in terms of speed.  The only time you will start to feel the pinch is when you attach a picture or audio notes.  It will take maybe around 10-20 seconds depending on the file size.  Never the less, it was still at acceptable speed since most of the time you will be sending more text most of the time instead of images.  Wechat share the same similarities, whereby text was quick but when it comes to attachment you may need to wait a while.

Viber
  Next test was Viber.  I called a friend who was on wifi, and to my surprise the network connection was excellent.  There was no robotic sound, but you do get the 1 sec lag which I think it's quite similar to other VOIP services.  But when attaching pictures, this one lags longer compared to Whatsapp.

Twitter
  Twitter was next. Updating status was not an issue, but when I tried adding a picture to a tweet apparently it failed. There is a walk around for that, which I will tell you later. And occasionally you will get something like the screen shot below, whereby you may need to either refresh or tap on the image for it load.

Occasional problems with images on twitter or facebook

Facebook
  Facebook test was pretty much similar to the twitter test.  You will have no problem loading up text, but when it comes to images you will probably see a lot of empty boxes.  Again like twitter if you attach pictures, chances are you may fail.

Instagram
  So if you decide to attach photos to Twitter or Facebook, your best chance to do so is through Instagram.  Posting on Instagram and sharing it through Facebook and Twitter you will not have any issue with it.  This is probably due to the fact that they crop up the photos.  Loading up pictures will also take quite some time, but it's not as bad Twitter or Facebook.

Web Browsing / Youtube
  Ok to be honest, you can probably just skip this part.  At only 64kpbs, opening google page and doing search is not a problem.  The problem only begin when you enter sites that has loads of images.  Even running on Opera Mini didn't help at all, considering the fact that most mobile operator suggested that is the best browsing app for mobile sites.  So don't expect too much from this.  Same goes for Youtube as well.

Blackberry Messenger (BBM)
  Saving the best for last.  Apparently this seems to work very well when sending pictures or audio notes.  You won't feel the pinch when sending or receiving attachment.  I guess this is where Blackberry managed to get things right over the past few years, where the amount of data packets they send are small.  Hence, everything seems to work well.  So for those who intend to use this #Hotlink plan, BBM is definitely an app you need to have if you intend to chat with someone else while sending photos.

Who will benefit from this?

Who will benefit most from this plan?

  So here's my thought after using it for over a day quite aggressively and what I think about this whole new #Hotlink Plan who will benefit most from it.

New Smartphone Users

  When I sold smartphones to especially new users, I would always help them to deactivate the data connection.  Reason is because they have not subscribe to any data plans yet, and also they may not have any Internet connection at home.  So most of the time they will only use 2 functions which are making and receiving calls, and also sending and receiving SMS.  Now with this plan they could actually save more especially on SMS & MMS charges.

Occasional Data Users

  For those who do not want to tie down with any contracts and only wants to surf heavily once in a while you can check out their daily, weekly and monthly mobile plan. Apparently they seem to be generous in

Wifi Users

  These are the group of people who will always hunt for wifi just to get connected and check in at foursquare, tweet, instagram and send massive messages.  Despite having to search for free wifi all the time, with this at least they are still connected through social apps.  But if they intend to upload photos, they could do it through instagram else just wait till they get connected to wifi (which they are already used to it by now).  So having this plan will pretty much be a bonus for them.

Youth With Smartphones

  Need I say more?

In Conclusion

  For the past 3 years, I have been overpaying for things that I don't really use much.  And with this new Hotlink plan, this will make the perfect solution for me.  Because all I need is for messaging purposes while I'm out from work and home where's there is no internet connection.  But 98% of the time I'm at work and home, so the 2% I think this will do just fine for me.  Well at least for each top up now will all go to phone calls and occasionally sms.  I'll give it a few weeks before I decide to port my wife's to Hotlink as well.  Especially in terms of coverage and all that.  This will be something extra for her, since she's always connected through wifi at home.  So at least we could save cost from calls and sms when she's out.

  So now I will foresee myself having tons of credits to spare, and will surely be used for IDD calls when calling my in laws.  I have another line with me just specifically for calling my parents where I pay only RM5/month for that.  Speaking of IDD calls, Maxis line seems to be clearer and does not have any robotic voice when connecting overseas.  So I think I will be happy with them for quite some time.

  And another great thing about this plan is that, since it uses only up to 64kpbs.  I can switch my network to 2G only which will save a lot of battery usage.  So I think it's a plus point for here as well.

  Now we shall wait and see how the other telcos will respond.  Digi have already state their mind which eventually back fired.  Currently I will think U Mobile may be the first to move, followed by Celcom if they ever thought of doing the same thing as well.

Anyway for more details you can check out their site here. https://new.hotlink.com.my/content/hotlink/en/whats-new.html