[animalmom]

Hi,

Moving to HK in January and I wondererd how Broadband works in HK.

I am an undercover gamer in my spare time and wondered which services provide the most consistent high-speed connection.

I typically connect with DSL but am amenable to cable - do you actually have choice or is the market highly regulated?

Does your building control who you can purchase from?

Thanks.

AM

[KnowItAll]

*most* of your DSL will end up being a PCCW line of some sort or the other as there is a last mile (and some more..) issue going into your building.

[discobay]

You only have a choice of ADSL (in one form or another) and cable. There is only one supplier for cable. ADSL is generally available throughout HK but cable is not. ADSL tends to be cheaper. Both are usually sold with no limits on usage and downloads.

[animalmom]

That sounds bad, unless of course it's not

What speeds are available and could you explain the PCCW comment - I don't get what that means but it sounds bad.

[KnowItAll]

You can get all the way upto 100mbps in places like Mid Levels.

[HKChigger]

Originally Posted by animalmom

That sounds bad, unless of course it's not

What speeds are available and could you explain the PCCW comment - I don't get what that means but it sounds bad.

He means PCCW has a market over most broadband in HK. If your building is older or in some districts you will have only one choice. But, PCCW offered me 3mbps, 6mbps and 10mbps I think. I live in Mong Kok.

[KnowItAll]

What I meant was most of the secondary networks also end up going through PCCW's telephone lines.

We used to have netfront (www.netfront.net) as they're one of the few (if not the only) that offers a fixed IP address, before we switched to PCCW to get their Now Broadband TV a few years ago.

[MrMoo]

HK is small any provider should be ok, you are generally limited on the last mile who you can actually use. For gaming you can play on SE-asia servers: South Korea, Japan, Thailand, but don't expect great play with Europe or the U.S.

Enjoy these maps:

http://www.telegeography.com/product...rnet/index.php

[animalmom]

Ahh I see thanks.

What is this broadband TV thing - any good?

thanks

[MrMoo]

Originally Posted by animalmom

What is this broadband TV thing - any good?

TV over IP, I think PCCW is the first in the world to use it.

Its varied, I'd say get it if you cannot get good cable or the channels you want. There are quite a few issues:

1) The display is in Now! datacentre and the picture is sent down the telephone line to you. This means basic menu things like looking for a channel, navigation are significantly slower than other systems where the menu runs on the box in your home.
2) The prices of subscriptions through the menu are significantly higher than what you can get over the phone.
3) The number of channels available is really small, and doesn't include all the ones available on cable, or the many available in China.
4) There is no HDTV support because HK are waiting on China to roll it out first.
5) If you reset the power too quickly you reset the box and it will have to download many updates from Now! again.