Rambling thoughts about nothing really

moving experiences

2012-02-11T10:07:00.001+08:00

I've just recently moved home (yet again) in Hong Kong.

This time the move was quite a big job as furniture (beds, wardrobes, TVs, sofas) needed to be moved. By moving I mean these items needed to be dis-assembled and then re-assembled at the new place.

I had contacted various moving companies, some local and some more expat oriented. Ended up getting two companies Yan Yan and Links to come round to my place to get a more detailed quote.

The sales person at Yan Yan had a quick look at the place and then gave a quote the next day. The sales person at Links took their time, asked various questions and then gave their quote. Both claimed to give an "all-in" price. But then, they started saying that if X needs to be done, then we will need to charge extra. An added benefit of Links was that they would pack all the goods for you (but you would have to unpack at the other end).

I eventually went with Yan Yan (basically because they were the cheapest by a few thousand dollars). Yan Yan provided us with boxes and tape prior to the moves, allowing us to pack our belongings. First time round, however, they forgot to provide us with bubble wrap, so they had to return for that.

Day of the move was set and time arranged for 10am (with an odd job man coming round and hour early to dismantle some fixtures to be taken to the new place). I get a call at 8.40 in the morning saying that the moving van has arrived and we need to be there ASAP (I was about to start to eat breakfast at McDonalds). OK, so this is new, a company that's early, but they were over an hour early!!

In any case we rush back to our flat to let the movers in. We were expecting at most about 3-5 movers. Yan Yan had sent over an army of 10 movers. They started getting on with their work, seems like a bit of chaos, but the movers were doing their job. We had been promised one of the movers would be English speaking, which was the case, but his level of English was limited. There were times when the movers just resorted to Cantonese, so my missus had to deal with them.

We did find a few of the movers to be very rude. One even started telling my wife off (in Cantonese) and pointing at her. He was having a moan at our IKEA wardrobe and saying that these things are only supposed to be installed one time and that he would never move for us again (fine by us as well). Anyway, everything got packed up and we drove to our new place.

One of the problems with our new place was that the lift is actually quite small. We were told by Yan Yan that if they had to carry any items up stairs there would be a HK$40 charge per floor. I was worried this would be a possibility as some of the items were actually quite long. Luckily everything did fit into the lifts.

The movers quickly unpacked the items. We have a glass table which the movers shifted around a bit. As the floor for the new place is stone, some glass scraped off, so we asked the movers to stop shifting the table around. Same mover as before decided to tell my wife off about this. Anyway, everything got shifted and the odd job man hung around for a bit longer to hang up the various fixtures.

I paid the men (they cheekily asked for more money for their tip over what I had given them) and off they went.

When the move was completed we noted some of our chairs got quite badly damaged by the move. I contacted Yan Yan about this (and about the few other problems I had with them), however, to date I haven't heard back from the company.

Overall, I guess we got what we paid for. They moved the stuff for us. Most of the items got their in one piece and the job was done quickly. However, their "customer service" style was quite "local". Would I use Yan Yan again? I'm not too sure, but then again, their price is very competitive.

An Independent Hong Kong?

2012-02-02T14:18:00.001+08:00

Could Hong Kong really be an independent nation?

I know practically the PRC government would probably never let this happen, but just say it turned round and said to Hong Kong, you are now on your own, could Hong Kong really stand on its own two feet or does it always need some sort of father looking after it?

Hong Kong government efficiency

2012-01-18T15:52:00.001+08:00

I know we love knocking HK and moaning etc about it (I am very guilty of doing this). However at least the operations side of things are very efficient.

So the IRD's etax service only works up to Firefox 7 (and the latest version is 9.0.1), however how many people actually raise any issue with the IRD about it cause they think they will just get a stock run around answer which doesn't actually deal with the problem?

Well, anyway, I decided to email the IRD yesterday with my compliant that Firefox 9.0.1 didn't work with their etax service. To my surprise, I got an email today saying that they've looked into the matter and fixed the problem.

Now that's what I call efficiency!

Hong Kong unlimited mobile data plan options?

2012-01-03T12:40:00.001+08:00

My 3HK contract is finally coming to an end shortly and I'm going to shift network.

I am after a SIM only all you can eat data plan (or one which offers a generous cap).

At present the options I am considering are SmarTone, One2Free and 1010, and maybe China Mobile ("CMHK"). I know One2Free and 1010 are on the same network (CSL), but I've been told 1010 does have network priority over One2Free (kind of makes sense as 1010 is more expensive). The one network that is missing is PCCW Mobile, this is a network I am not willing to consider due to its reputation for very poor customer services ("CS").

3HK for all you can eat data is probably the cheapest (I am paying HK$210 a month, but the network is very weak where I need it (which is around IFC, Jardine House and on the MTR) for both data and voice calls. At and around my home (Sheung Wan), the network is fine, but is redundant, as I have wifi in my home. The CS has actually been fine, and they have quite a few innovative products, its just that the network has been very poor.

I had previously been with SmarTone and it was generally OK, but it did have quite a few blackspots around where I used to live (Tung Chung) and on the Tung Chung line. It seemed to be fine in and around central though and CS was never an issue.

The plan prices are as follows per month (and inclusive of any tunnel fees):

- SmarTone: HK$250 18 month commitment
- One2Free: HK$279 12 month commitment or HK$249 24 month commitment
- 1010: HK$351 12 month commitment or HK$321 24 month commitment
- China Mobile: HK$230 12 month commitment

With SmarTone and the CSL providers the early contract end penalty is HK$500. I cannot find information for CMHK in relation to early contract end penalties.

Smartone and CSL uses HSDPA+, while CMHK claims to use HSPA. I wasn't aware that CMHK had its own 3G network, so it may be piggybacking off another network.

At present I'm leaning towards the One2Free 24 month plan. CSL is regarded to have the best network in Hong Kong, but 1010's prices are a bit too high for me.

CMHK does sound tempting, but it seems like quite a bit of a gamble as their network infrastructure is a bit of an unknown. I have been with CMHK in the past and it was fine both network and CS wise, although this was on 2G.

Any thoughts / comments / suggestions?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:32:00.001+08:00

Well, 2011 was an eventful year! The crazy travelling continued with my partner in crime, but we took our journey to the next level with our biggest challenge to date. We survived, learnt lots about each other through the process, but came out stronger. While, at times, we were in a dark place, there was always light at the end of the tunnel, jokes were had, laughs became louder and merriment was had. I don't know what 2012 holds, but with my partner in crime at my side, we'll be travelling, joking around and causing general havoc to those who come in our path (in a good way mind you!) Wishing everyone a very happy new year.

Piss poor customer service by Suunto and Victorinox

2011-12-13T14:41:00.001+08:00

I own a Suunto Mosquito dive computer. Its not the most advanced dive computer in the world, but it does the job. Recently I was having problems opening the battery casing and in any case thought the computer needed a servicing, as I had owned it for about 6 years and had not had the computer serviced since I bought it. I therefore went to the Suunto home page to find out where the Suunto service centre in Hong Kong was.

I went to the support section of the website and I was told for a "diving instrument" to contact the nearest service center and therefore clicked on the service center locator link. For Hong Kong, the search revealed that Victorinox was the Hong Kong service agent for Suunto, with their location being in Kwun Tong.

As Kwun Tong is quite far away for me, I emailed Victorinox to see if they could assist me in repairing the dive computer. Victorinox were quite quick in their response and told me to bring the computer to their service centre in Kwun Tong.

So off I go one lunch time (office hours are not the best for Victorinox, meaning the only time I could go was at lunch time and the location is about 50 minutes away from my office). When I get to Victorinox in Kwun Tong I get told by the service centre staff that they do not deal with Suunto dive computer servicing and that a company called CD Services deals with this.

The service centre lady is quite surprised that I would come to their service centre for my dive computer. I showed here my email exchange with her company (where I had specifically stated I was enquiring about a dive computer) where they told me to come to Kwun Tong. Again the lady remains completely surprised but can't really do much about the situation.

The kick in the teeth, CD Services is about 5 minutes walk from my office. I go along there and they happily deal with servicing my dive computer.

What annoys me most about my little episode above is that it is not mentioned anywhere on the Suunto website that CD Services are the dive computer service centre and that even when I asked Victorinox via email, they told me to deal with them, only when I got to their service centre, they turned around and said they do not service dive computers.

HKBN, usenet, Highwinds

2011-12-06T17:49:00.001+08:00

My ISP, Hong Kong Broadband Network ("HKBN") offers me, a dedicated fibre internet connection with a guaranteed speed of 100Mbps. This sounds great, but that guaranteed speed is for connections to the Hong Kong Internet eXchange ("HKIX")! For foreign connections HKBN claim its on a best efforts basis. Through testing it seems that HKBN has a cap of around 20Mbps for foreign connections, which actually isn't that bad at all, but this is the absolute maximum speed I found I could connect at.

For most of my downloading I use usenet. When I was PCCW's Netvigator I was on their 30Mbps plan and I was pretty much guaranteed that speed for usenet downloading, regardless of where their servers were (tried this with the likes of Astraweb and Blocknews). With HKBN, if a newgroup provider's servers are abroad (like Astraweb or Blocknews) it seemed speeds were capped at around 20Mbps.

There is one newgroup provider that has servers in Hong Kong, Giganews. While Giganews does have a solid reputation, its monthly prices are quite high compared to other providers (I really want just plain usenet, don't need extra features like VPN or newsreader software). However, with Giganews I was getting speeds of 100Mbps (tried this out on a trial account)!!! Giganews do offer an unlimited account with just basic downloading, but even then its around US$25 a month. Its affiliate reseller, Supernews, is available via specific sites for US$9.99 a month, but alas it does not use Giganews's Hong Kong server.

Recently a bunch of newsgroup providers had their blackfriday specials at very good rates. The majority of them were Highwinds resellers. Highwinds has an OK reputation, and if all things were equal (i.e. pricing with the likes of Astraweb or UseNetNow) I would not go with them, but they had some very good offers. For example with Thundernews I was able to get an unlimited plan with 50 connections for US$6.50 a month. Also, (not through blackfriday, but another promotion) I was able to get a 1TB block account with NewsgroupDirect (note, affiliate link) for US$50. My view was, even though I'm getting download speeds of 20Mbps I might as well get the cheapest option.

To my surprise I found that with both Thundernews and NewgroupDirect I was able to get download speeds of around 70Mbps to 100Mbps!! From the tracroutes on my computer it seemed to suggest that I was being connected to US servers and not any Hong Kong servers (also I'm not aware of Highwinds having servers in Hong Kong). Naturally very happy with these fast connection speeds and they are coming at a fraction of the price I would pay if I decided to go with Giganews.

moving experiences

2011-08-15T09:30:00.001+08:00

I've just recently moved home (yet again) in Hong Kong.

This time the move was quite a big job as furniture (beds, wardrobes, TVs, sofas) needed to be moved. By moving I mean these items needed to be dis-assembled and then re-assembled at the new place.

I had contacted various moving companies, some local and some more expat oriented. Ended up getting two companies Yan Yan and Links to come round to my place to get a more detailed quote.

I paid the men (they cheekily asked for more money for their tip over what I had given them) and off they went.

HGC total customer service fail, yet again

2011-08-10T15:22:00.001+08:00

What is up with certain telecoms companies in Hong Kong? Well, in certain I mean HGC / Three Hong Hong Kong in specific.

I'd previously ranted about them: HGC / 3HK "world class" customer services. Well nothing has really changed since last time. Wanted to cancel our landline service with HGC. We have been trying to call HGC's "world class" customer service hotline for the past few weeks, its supposed to be a 24 service. However it seems that either the relevant department is always "too busy" or the customer service agent who picks up the phone doesn't speak English. In each case we are asked to provide our number so they can contact us back. No surprises in guessing that they never call back.

Anyway, finally get through to someone. To cancel with HGC you need to give 30 days notice and mail them back a cancellation form. To get this form, they will mail it to you. We are in the 21st century and are supposed to be dealing with one of the most advance communications companies in the world. They do not or will not send documents via email or even fax and nor will they accept some forms. To top it off, recently HGC / 3HK had a massive marketing campaign whereby they were touting the merging of the HGC and the Three brands into one integrated offering, however try going into a 3HK store in Hong Kong to deal with a cancellation, you will show how non integrated the company is.

Frankly this level of service is a complete joke, especially when its competitors, such as PCCW, are so much more flexible in their approach with customer services. PCCW itself does have a bit of reputation for shoddy customer services, but at least you can deal with them via multiple forms of communication, including fax and email. The root of the problem is clearly the serious lack of consumer protection laws in Hong Kong, however I doubt anything will get done about that any time soon.

B&H photography - great service

2011-08-08T16:29:00.001+08:00

I was looking to buy a camera and the prices in Hong Kong at the time were quite high, especially when compared to the price of that specific camera in the USA. As often the case, I turned to the internet. Unfortunately Amazon don't ship cameras to Hong Kong. There were a few companies Hong Kong willing to sell the camera, but without any warranty (I suspect these must have been grey imports).

However, I did stumble upon B&H during my search. That did bring back memories for me, as when I was visiting New York in 2002 I bought my first "proper" camera from them.

In any case, I found that B&H were willing to deliver to Hong Kong. As the camera was being shipped to Hong Kong I didn't have to pay any sales taxes or duty, but did have to pay for shipping, which was about US$41. I ordered on Thursday afternoon and the package arrived Monday morning, so a very speedy service.

It seems Panasonic cameras come with local warranties which is one of the big reasons for buying locally. However B&H offer extended two year worldwide warranty through a company called SageMax at about US$35, which is what I opted for.

Even with the shipping fees and the extended warranty I still saved over HK$1,000 from what the Hong Kong retail price for this camera was when I bought it, so quite happy.

Good optician in central Hong Kong for contact lenses?

2011-06-24T10:52:00.005+08:00

Yes I know there are about a million opticians in Hong Kong, but that is not what I'm asking.

I'm after a good optician who will take the time out and look at different contact lens options, get me to try them on and make sure the fitting is correct, rather than asking me what contact lens type / brand I want.

Does such an optician exist in Hong Kong (and specifically in central) and if so, what's his / her name and where does he / she work?

Unblock-US (and an Android hack), proxy service to access certain sites abroad

2011-06-15T17:40:00.002+08:00

There are some great internet streaming services out there, however most of them are either in the USA or the UK. I'm talking about services like Hulu, Pandora and BBC Iplayer.

These services are generally geo-blocked, so they will only work if the service recognises that you are based in the US / UK (obviously depending on service where you are based).

In the past I've looked at using VPN services and have tested a few out. Generally they worked OK, but they were quite fiddley, in that there was quite a bit to set up. Things could be automated, but it required some work. Also I found that speeds were not the best, resulting in the dreaded "buffering" issue. Being in Hong Kong, connections to foreign US / European sites are already very slow, add into the mix connecting via a VPN and things really do suffer.

I then stumbled upon a service called Unblock-us: http://unblock-us.com/91.html (note, referral link). Basically with this service you change your DNS server details to the one that Unblock-us provides. From what I gather whenever you go to a specific site (like Hulu for example) the traffic is shifted through the Unblock-us servers to pretend that you are in the USA. This seems to suggest that the service has a "whitelist" of certain sites. The benefit of this is that all your other browsing goes through normal channels and at normal speeds.

Another great thing about this service is that you can make changes at router level or computer level. For me I've done it on my router. There is a good thread on DSL Reports which has some further information: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r25640778-Anyone-using-Unblock-us-~start=40.

As a result of the service I can now play Pandora through my Squeezebox Boom and watch the likes of Netflix and Hulu on my TV (through my HTPC). Obviously the service is only limited to a certain number of services, but it does work with the big names like Hulu, Pandora and BBC Iplayer.

The above is all well and good, and the service works great. Next thing I wanted to try was to get the service to work on my Android phone. Using it through wifi was fine, as you can change the DNS settings for wifi, however trying to change the DNS settings when connecting to your mobile network is not so easy.

Through my searching I found a posting on the XDA forums about changing DNS settings on Android (basically the post was about trying to change the mobile network DNS settings so the person in question could use OpenDNS instead of the mobile network): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=450807

The thread linked to this blog post: http://blog.varunkumar.me/2010/09/how-to-change-dns-server-of-3g.html. There were two suggestions there, one involving playing around with ADB and the other was to download a program called "Scripting Layer for Android": http://code.google.com/p/android-scripting/. For me downloading the program was a more preferable option than dealing with ADB.

The blog provided a wrapper script for Open DNS, it was just a question of amending this script to the DNS details provided by Unblock-us. Result is that the DNS settings are changed on the mobile, so that I can play Pandora Radio, watch BBC Iplayer, etc. Obviously I do have issues with network connection speeds, but this is more to do with my network (Three Hong Kong) than anything else. This work around is session specific, so if I restart the phone or use wifi and then back to my mobile network, it reverts back to the network default DNS settings. For this reason I've created a shortcut to the relevant script, so I just have to click on the shortcut to let the script run.

Apps I want but don't exist, even though they could

2011-05-04T14:49:00.001+08:00

- Viber on Android
- Grooveshark on Squeezebox
- Google Buzz on Google Apps
- Cheaper Spotify options
- Native Spotify on Squeezebox Boom
- Ipad internet browser that supports add-ons
- Better Lastpass support for Ipad

How to read the SCMP for free

2011-03-22T23:43:00.001+08:00

The South China Morning Post (or SCMP) is Hong Kong's only "quality" English newspaper. However the SCMP website is hidden behind a pay-wall, which requires you to either have a paper subscription to the newspaper or pay for online access.

The website isn't the best, but it is all English speakers have for "quality" news in Hong Kong. I do use the term "quality" quite loosely here.

If you don't subscribe to the SCMP, you can access the website to see the headlines and if you click on a headline, you will get the headline, along with a few sentences of the article, and no more.

I've just noticed that if you Google search an SCMP article (i.e. cutting and pasting the article headline to google search and adding "SCMP" in the search as well) and then clicking on the search result, you will be able to read the full article. Note, I've also tried with Bing, but am now having as much luck.

This is very similar to what other pay walled news sites do, however I don't think the SCMP mention this option anywhere on their website.

HGC / 3HK broadband "world class" customer services

2011-03-21T12:59:00.001+08:00

Bit of background

Like most other companies, Hutchison Global Communications (or "HGC" for short) tries to tout itself as a provider of "integrated communications services". Recently HGC went through a re-branding exercise, so that all of its residential services (such as broadband, fixed line calling and mobile services) would be under the "3" brand and it would provide customer services with "world class standards" (obviously no definition of what "world class" means).

The story

Anyway, so here is the story. Missus wants to cancel her broadband service with HGC. So I call up on her behalf. Am told to cancel any services with HGC, they need to mail a cancellation form to her and then the form needs to be mailed back to HGC. I did ask, could they not email or fax the form to her and then she would email or fax the form back to them. The answer to this perfectly reasonable request, from such a "cutting-edge" provider of services was that this was not possible, only snail mail would work.

This is quite strange for a company that offers "world class" customer services, considering the fact that other communications companies in Hong Kong offer the option to email or fax service requests.

Two Google accounts on Android, solved

2011-01-07T18:21:00.001+08:00

Previously I had mentioned I was having fun and games two having two accounts on my Android phone. I did some digging and I've kind of sorted the problem out. I still have two Google accounts, but the issue of having to select which account to view my messages on the Gmail app have disappeared.

This post on XDA helped me out a lot: Change Google account without factory reset.

The post talks the result being one account gets deleted. This didn't quite happen on my phone and also some of the options mentioned in the thread were not available on my phone (a Nexus One running Froyo).

The way I went about it was first to turn off the auto-sync for my Gmail account and then go into "Settings", "Applications", "Manage Applications" and then "All". Then for the following applications I tapped the "Clear Data" option: Calender, Calender Storage, Calender Sync Adapter, Contacts, Contact Storage, Contacts Sync Adapter, Gmail, Google Reader and Market. The above thread talks about doing the same for the "Google App", but I didn't have this in my Applications list.

The thread says that if you clear the data for the google applications the phone will then ask for your Google account details again. In my case it didn't.

The first app I went into was the Market app, it just asked me to agree to the Android Market terms again.

After that I didn't get duplicate contacts and my Gmail app is only showing one account!

Migration to google apps

2011-01-05T16:19:00.001+08:00

Introduction

So I decided to get my own domain name and move over from Gmail and associated Google accounts to Google Apps for Domains Standard Edition ("Google Apps").

I had been toying with the idea for a while, and tried out one of those free co.cc domain names for a few days. Seemed to work pretty well, but then I wasn't too keen on keeping a free co.cc domain around.

I had actually decided not to bother, then saw an excellent article in Lifehacker on the benefits of using a Google Apps account and it pretty much sold me.

Finding a domain name

Next step was to find a suitable domain name. I had originally wanted something "quirky", but friends suggested sticking to something more "sensible". ".com" or ".net" was out of the question, as they were already taken (I have a very common surname). I did want a ".me" domain name as an alternative but the one with my surname was already taken as a parked domain. I asked how much they were willing to sell the domain name for, but the price was out of my budget by a few thousand pounds!! I eventually settled for an ".im" domain name.

Finding a Registrar

Next step, find a domain name registrar. Again Lifehacker came into use for this (kind of) with their best domain name registrars article. I'm cheap, no doubt about it, so I did want to find the cheapest deal and in any case this is just a personal domain name for email more than anything else, so I didn't want to spend too much money. Not all registrars offer the .im domain, so I did have to search around. GoDaddy worked out the cheapest, but after searching the internet I heard lots of horror stories about them (I did however end up registering this domain name with them when they had a US$1 a year promotion). In the end I settled for name.com. Not the cheapest, but they seem to have a decent reputation. I did have a few teething problems with name.com, but these problems have now been resolved.

Setting up Google Apps for Domains

I then went on to setting up my Google Apps account. I opted for the free standard version. Set up was generally fine, got my email address sorted and onto Google Apps Gmail. There are differences between normal Gmail. The two main differences I found was the position of the "mail, contacts, tasks" links and the contact manager. These are all recent changes to Gmail: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=184497, but they haven't as yet made it over to Google Apps Gmail (I'm hoping it is just a matter of time).

Another problem with my Google Apps account was that for some reason the country was set to Pakistan (??) A bit of searching told me this could not be changed in the Google Apps free, however if you sign up for Google Apps for Business then change the country and then cancel, the country will change.

Next step, the migration. Yes, again, Lifehacker was a great resource with an article about migrating your Google account to another one. The article's main focus is about moving from one google account to another one, rather than to a Google Apps account, but the principle is the same. The article set out how to migrate the various Google services one Google account to another.

Migrating Gmail

The first (and probably the biggest) step was migrating all my emails to my new account. Bit of history about my email usage here. My first email address was with Yahoo (back in 1997). I then moved to Gmail ten years later in 2007. When I did that, I didn't migrate all my old messages over, I just auto-forwarded all future emails to Gmail. This time however I wanted to move over all my existing emails (and labels) to my new Google Apps account. Lifehacker had a separate article on the email migration. Basically it seemed to be quite an involved process involving imap accounts, etc. However the comments section in the article was where I got some help. One suggestion was to sign up to Google Apps Premium for a month (one month free trial) and use the email migration tool offered there. Another was to use a program called Gmail Backup. I opted for the latter.

I downloaded Gmail Backup and entered the details of my existing Gmail account. After a several hours all my emails (and labels) were downloaded onto my hard-drive. I then entered the details of my new Google Apps account and "restored" all the emails, along with tags. It worked pretty much flawlessly. There were however a few minor issues. The first was that nested labels were not saved. This didn't take too long to rectify, as I just renamed the labels. The second issue was that my starred emails were not saved. Luckily I did not have many, so all I needed to do was refer back to my existing Gmail account and re-star the relevant emails.

I then set my existing Gmail email address to auto-forward to my new Google Apps email address. One problem with this is that Gmail does not forward spam. Recently I've been having a problem with quite a few false positives with Gmail's spam detection and as a result quite a few of my legitimate emails have ended up in the spam box. This means, every so often I do have to go back to my existing Gmail account to check the spam folder.

The "sent on behalf of" problem

This was a major pain with Gmail. I would often use other email accounts (like my old Yahoo account) via Gmail to send messages. An annoyance was that whenever this was sent to someone using Outlook the email header would read "xxx@gmail.com on behalf of yyy[yyy@yahoo.com]". Google had announced that they had removed this problem in 2009 by using your other email provider's SMTP servers. Only problem with that was it didn't play nicely with Yahoo (according to the link the Yahoo SMTP servers are now working with Gmail, but when I was trying a while back there was no solution). As a result I just used my ISP's SMTP servers, which solved the problem.

One of the reasons why I got Google Apps was so I could use nicknames. However using nicknames still have the same problem as above re the "sent on behalf of". This problem is easily rectified by using Gmail's own SMTP servers.

Migrating the other Google products

The remaining Google products were easier to deal with and I just followed the Lifehacker guide. The Lifehacker guide did not deal with contact migration, but this was easy. It was just a case of exporting the contact list and then re-exporting the list back to my new Google Apps account.

I did have a small issue with Google Reader. Again my articles were not starred, however I have a feed with all the starred items. Also tags were not kept, so I would need to re-tag all my starred items. I am fine with this, as I do need to do an audit on all my starred items in Google Reader. Another problem with Google Reader in Google Apps is that the contact manager doesn't work when I want to send an email of an article to someone, meaning I have to cut and paste the relevant contact from Google Apps Gmail. I have searched around for a solution, but to date have not found anything.

For my Google Chat contacts, I needed to invite them to my new Google Apps address. The same went for my followers and the people I follow on Google Reader.

Android

I have an Android phone, specially the Nexus One. I ended up going with Android because of its tight integration with Google. My Android account was tied to my Gmail account. However Android does allow more than one Google account on the phone so I was able to add my Google Apps account, which has been great. However I would like to ditch my Gmail account from Android as I no longer use it. I know I let it stay, but there is one annoying aspect of the Android Gmail app which makes me want to ditch it. I would want to just go into my Google Apps email account, but as I have two accounts every time I go into the Gmail app it asks me to choose which account I want to access. Also unread email badges with Launcher Pro don't seem to work with two Gmail accounts.

While I can remove my original Gmail account from the phone I will have to re-download all my apps from the Android Market to tie them in with my Google Apps account. Also I have some paid apps, which can't be moved over to my Google Apps account.

Conclusion

Migration from Gmail to Google Apps has generally been fine. There have been a few issues along the way, but the process is pretty much complete. Google Apps does miss a few things that I liked with Gmail, namely Google Buzz and Google Web History, but hopefully those will come shortly. I'm generally happy with Google Apps. It means I get my own domain name and still get to use Gmail and all the other Google apps I like. There are still some issues I do have with Google Apps, as I have stated above, but hopefully over time those will get ironed out.

Taking your Idevice into China may cost you money

2010-10-20T16:04:00.001+08:00

The South China Morning Post is reporting that the Chinese authorities are charging people a 20% duty if you bring your Idevice into China.

The SCMP article is here:

Mainland takes a 20pc bite out of travellers' Apples

Unfortunately the SCMP operates behind a paywall. Here are some excerpts from the article:

"Customs officials across the border have been ordered to step up a crackdown on the smuggling of Apple devices, and people carrying iPhones or iPads are being slapped with an import duty even if they can prove they are for personal use."

"A Shenzhen customs official, who refused to be named, confirmed yesterday that bringing just one iPhone or iPad into the mainland would incur tax. "It's a common misconception that you can get a tax exemption if the device you are carrying is for self-use," she said. "In fact, iPhones and iPads are among the 20 products that are excluded from tax exemption. You need to make a declaration and pay the tax even if you are bringing in only one [device].""

"Most people are not aware of the latest crackdown and many said they had no problem crossing the border with an iPhone in their hands. An iPhone user from Indonesia said yesterday he did not know of the duty."

Posted via email from browngeek's posterous

Hong Kong mobile daily data roaming

2010-09-15T12:22:00.001+08:00

A list of daily data roaming options offered by carriers in Hong Kong. As far as I'm aware only three carriers offer daily data roaming options: 3HK, Smartone-Vodafone (SMV) and CSL 1010 / One2Free (1010 and One2Free offer essentially the same thing, so I will stick to links from the 1010 website).

Each carrier has slightly different offerings in terms of countries the daily rate applies to, types of services that can be used and what classes as a day.

The basic premise is the same for all the networks though. If you roam on a specific partner network, you will be offered a flat daily rate for data roaming, which is MUCH cheaper than usual data roaming rates, which can amount to something like HK$140 per MB downloaded. The vast majority of the daily data roaming rates are using 3G/HSDPA partner networks. One thing is crucial, you MUST MUST MUST roam on the specific partner network designated by the HK home network, otherwise the daily roaming rate will not be applicable and you will be charged usual roaming rates.

3HK
- Offered for both postpaid and prepaid customers
- You can use the daily rate for basically any data, including web browsing, apps, streaming, VOIP
- Postpaid: 23 destinations offered, Prepaid: 17 destinations offered
- Postpaid rates start from HK$68 a day to HK$138 a day, depending on destination
- Prepaid rates start from HK$98 a day to HK$168 a day, depending on destination
- Day is based on HK time (i.e. 00.00 - 23.59 HK time)
- Postpaid: further information
- Prepaid: further information

SMV
- Offered to just postpaid customers
- Daily rate only applies to checking email and web browsing. For anything else you will be charged at HK$30 per MB (however when I tried using SMV abroad, everything but email and web browsing was blocked)
- 45 destinations offered
- Rates start from HK$138 a day to HK$168, depending on destination
- Day is based on HK time (i.e. 00.00 - 23.59 HK time)
- Further information

CSL
- Not sure if it applies to just postpaid customers
- Not sure what services the daily rate applies to, the website says: "Blackberry Services, Internet Browsing, Roaming MMS and WAP"
- 21 destinations offered
- Flat rate of HK$168 a day
- Day is based on local time of destinations (i.e. 00.00 - 23.59 local time of where you are)
- Further information

Posted via email from browngeek's posterous

Prepaid mobile data options in Hong Kong

2010-09-14T15:07:00.001+08:00

As far as I know there are two networks in HK that provide prepaid SIM data plans, I have got most of the information from the various network's websites, however I have also got additional information from speaking to people, which I have added in here.

One network is on 3G/HSDPA and the other is on 2G EDGE.

Networks

Three (3HK)

China Mobile (Peoples)

Plan information on websites

3HK HSDPA Broadband Access Rechargeable SIM ("3HK HSDPA")

3HK International Roaming Rechargeable SIM ("3HK IRRS")

3HK Rechargeable SIM ("3HK Rechargeable")

Peoples Mobile Data Prepaid SIM Card

Frequency

3HK: 3G/HSDPA 2100 MHz

Peoples: 2G EDGE 1800 MHz

Where to get the SIM cards

You should be able to pick them up at the airport, but I am not sure of this.

You can definitely pick them up at 3HK or Peoples stores in HK.

In addition you may be able to pick up the SIM cards from various 7-11's or Circle Ks (but I have not verified this).

3HK also sell their SIM cards at the following locations: ParknShop (supermarket), Fortress (electronics retailer), Watsons (pharmacy), Taste (supermarket) and Citicall (electronics retailer).

For both companies if you go to the market stalls on Apliu Street, in Sham Shui Po some of them will sell the SIM cards at a discount (around HK$60).

There are no requirements in terms of proof of address, ID, etc. Just pay the cash and you will get the SIM card.

Initial costs & other information

3HK HSDPA
- HK$98 (this counts towards your credit) [Apparently, while the card costs HK$98, it comes with HK$150 credit on it]
- Validity = 180 days from last top up
- Can use the daily data roaming rate
- APN = ipc.three.com.hk

3HK IRRS
- HK$98 (HK$55 stored value with an additional HK$52 of calling credit)
- APN = mobile.three.com.hk

3HK Rechargeable
- HK$198 (this counts towards your credit)
- This is marketed as an Ipad SIM, so it comes with a Micro SIM card. To use with other phones that use the Mini SIM card you need to pick up a Mini SIM card adaptor. These are readily available in Hong Kong and should cost no more than HK$20
- Can use the daily data roaming rate
- APN = imobile.three.com.hk

Peoples
- HK$139 (this counts towards your call credit)
- Validity = 180 days from last top up
- APN = peoples.net

Charges

3HK HSDPA
- Data: HK$2 per MB, capped at HK$28 per day and HK$298 per month
- Full list of charges: http://www.three.com.hk/website/appm...10594&lang=eng
- User guide

3HK IRRS
- Data: HK$2 per MB, capped at HK$28 per day and HK$338 per month
- Full list of charges: http://www.three.com.hk/website/appm...10594&lang=eng
- User guide

3HK Rechargeable
- Data: HK$18 a month, which includes 50MB of data, then HK$2 per MB, capped at HK$28 per day and HK$168 per month
- Wifi: Free Wifi provided by Y5Zone. You do have to register for this service
- Full charges: http://www.three.com.hk/website/appm...10594&lang=eng
- User guide

Peoples
- Data: HK$0.04 per KB, unlimited = HK$9 1 day package, HK$38 7 day package, HK$78 30 day package
- Full list of charges: http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/p_prep..._charge_en.jsp

Refill methods (for travellers)

3HK
- Voucher (can be purchased at 7-11's, Circle K, 3HK shops & various other retailers)
- Internet via credit card (note, the recharge website is only compatible with Internet Explorer)
- [There are other refill methods, but these normally are reserved for HK residents]
- More information: http://www.three.com.hk/website/appm...10594&lang=eng

Peoples
- Voucher (can be purchased at 7-11's, Circle K, Peoples shops & various other retailers)
- Internet via credit card
- [There are other refill methods, but these normally are reserved for HK residents]
- More information: http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/p_prep...sim_vam_en.jsp

Posted via email from browngeek's posterous

Why I like Android

2010-09-10T12:41:00.001+08:00

So before I set out my gripes with Android.

Only fair to set out why I like Android:

You can tinker with pretty much everything
The ability to root and get custom ROMs
The ability to use different launchers and themes
WIDGETS and customising the home screen
Great google integration (although would like to see certain other Google apps integrated better: Google Reader, Google Docs and Google Tasks)
You can change your keyboard, I'm using Swype for example

Posted via email from browngeek's posterous

Gripes with Android

2010-09-09T15:34:00.001+08:00

I'm loving Android, but am finding a few things frustrating with it. A lot of the issues are basically thinks I liked about the iphone, that are just not there with Android:

Android's UI doesn't feel as "polished" - note I'm using Launcher Pro as my launcher which makes things a bit better
Some apps are just not present, which I really would like. The biggest app that is missing for me has got to be Skype
The apps that are present are just not as polished as their iphone equivalents, a good example of this is the Facebook app
VOIP doesn't work as well on android. With the iphone you had a solid app in the form of the siphon app. Android does have a few VOIP apps like sipdroid, but again, its not as polished as siphon
The app market on android is a total joke, for starters there is no paid App market in Hong Kong
Music syncing is a pain
Battery life sucks

The list of what I like about Android is much much longer, but I just wanted to highlight things that could be improved.

Posted via email from browngeek's posterous

First test

2010-07-14T13:25:00.001+08:00

OK, so testing how this posterous stuff works.

I had tried to run a blog before, but I kinda failed, lets see if this one is easier.

Posted via email from browngeek's posterous

Which is the best unlimited data plan to use in Hong Kong?

2009-09-21T14:30:00.000+08:00

I've already set out a list of the range of unlimited data plans that I could find in Hong Kong: Mobile data plans in Hong Kong, however which is the best?

China Mobile

By far the cheapest and most flexible tariff as there is no minimum contract.
Only supports EDGE speeds.
No real complaints about the quality of service.
Only one of two networks in Hong Kong that offer free intra network MMS.
EDGE is fine for email checking, IM and simple web browsing on phones which don't have feature rich web-browsers. However things become a bit too slow when you try to use this service for video / audio streaming or VOIP.
Customer service is generally pretty good.
Total yearly cost with China Mobile would be HK$1,320.

CSL (1010 and One2Free)

Offers probably the most expensive plan, however you are only tied in for one year.
Not clear what 3G speed is offered for the service.
Like China Mobile no real complaints about either the quality of service or provision of customer services.
Note CSL does operate a fair usage policy (this is the 1010 fair usage policy, the One2Free one is exactly the same) when using certain apps and if you exceed this policy, they reserve the right to reduce the speeds at which you access these services.
Total yearly cost with CSL would be HK$6,816.

SmarTone Vodafone

Offers quite a competitive tariff at HK$250 a month for unlimited data.
Tied in for 18 months (but you can cancel at any time, subject to a HK$500 payment).
No real complaints about the service offered and the provision of customer services.
If you do drop out of 3G connection, you are put on a GPRS connection, which is MUCH slower than EDGE.
There have been reports that the browsing speeds on SmarTone Vodafone are slower than on Three: iPhone's on 3 and SmarTone test.
Total yearly cost with SmarTone Vodafone would be HK$3,000 (or HK$4,500 for the life of the contract).
SmarTone Vodafone also offers special tariffs if you have an HTC Android phone (which you purchase from them) or an iPhone, I will deal with these tariffs later.

Three

I will deal with the Three tariff later, as it requires you to purchase an Iphone.

PCCW

Seems to have several tariffs available for unlimited data.
One is through the website, called the WebTalk tariff and others are offered when you go instore. PCCW also offers specific tariffs for the Iphone and HTC Android phones.
In general PCCW does have a reputation for aggressive sales tactics and not the best customer services.
Not clear what 3G speed is offered for the service.
In terms of actual quality of service, I have not heard any positive or negative reports in this regard.
The WebTalk tariff is not the cheapest tariff, however you are only tied in for one year and you do get a lot of inclusive minutes.
Also the MMS allowance applies to intra MMS.
The tariff instore seems to be around HK$210 a month and the contract period seems to range from 12 months to 18 months. Also the instore tariff does offer free wifi with PCCW, which has the most comprehensive wifi service in Hong Kong.
PCCW are offering special tariffs with the HTC Hero and iPhone, but there is little information on the PCCW website.
Total yearly cost with PCCW on the WebTalk tariff would be HK$4,932.
Total yearly cost with PCCW on the instore tariff would be HK$2,520 (and HK$3,780 at 18 months).

Handset rebate plans

Most providers will offer you a handset, either for "free" or with a subsidy, however they do require you to sign up to a fixed contract, usually for 24 months for this privilege. The usual procedure is you provide a "pre-payment" at the start of your contract and this is given back to you in the form of rebates over the course of the contract. In the case of unlimited data plans all the networks, apart from China Mobile, offer rebate plans.

The most advertised and probably the most attractive offer relate to the iPhone and the HTC Andoid handsets. While Three has the exclusive contract for the iPhone in Hong Kong, there is nothing stopping anyone from purchasing an iPhone from an authorised dealer or even Apple Hong Kong, and connecting it to the network of your choice (as iPhones in Hong Kong come unlocked). SmarTone Vodafone and CSL even offer rebate plans on the iPhone if you provide a receipt showing that the iPhone was purchased through an authorised dealer. Out of the four networks, Three and SmarTone Vodafone probably have the best offers.

For reference the price of the iPhone is as detailed at Apple Hong Kong: iPhone 3G 8GB - HK$4,448, iPhone 3GS 16GB - HK$5,388, iPhone 3GS 32GB - HK$6,288.

For reference the price of the HTC Androids is as detailed at Expansys Hong Kong: HTC Magic - HK$4,510 and HTC Hero - HK$4,380.

CSL (both 1010 and One2Free)

CSL now offer a rebate plan with the iPhone: CSL 1010 iPhone plan (the terms for the One2Free plan are almost identical).
T&Cs for the 1010 plan (again the T&C's for the One2Free plan are almost identical).
According to the T&Cs you have to sign up for 24months to at least the HK$298 Smart Data Plan. However the HK$298 Smart Data tariff only provides 500MB of data. The unlimited data plan is charged at HK$568 a month and subject to CSL's fair usage policy.
Total cost for duration of contract period is HK$13,632 (HK$6,816 a year).
The yearly cost of the Smart Data Plan with the iPhone is exactly the same as if you didn't obtain a rebate with a phone, therefore it is worthwhile if you wanted to purchase an iPhone and use CSL.

SmarTone Vodafone

SmarTone have rebate plans for both the iPhone 3GS 8GB (whereby you have to provide a receipt) and the HTC Android and Hero (which you obtain from SmarTone).
The tariff details of the two plans are exactly the same and you are tied in for 24 months.
Total cost for duration of contract period is HK$10,704 (HK$5,352 a year or HK$446 a month).
If you were to sign up for the HK$250 unlimited data plan as detailed above and purchase an iPhone 3GS 8GB separately the cost over 24 months would be HK$11,388 and for the time of the contract (18 months) it would be HK$9,888.
For an HTC Hero on the HK$250 plan the costs would be HK$10,380 over 24 months and HK$8,880.
This means that the SmarTone iPhone plan is HK$684 cheaper than if you were to purchase the iPhone 3GS 8GB separately and go on the HK$250 plan, however the SmarTone HTC plan is actually HK$324 more expensive than purchasing the HTC Hero separately and going on the HK$250 plan.
The obvious benefits of the HK$250 plan are that you are not tied to a two year contract and if you do want to cancel the contract the penalty is only HK$500.

Three

As previously mentioned, Three is the official reseller of the iPhone in Hong Kong and it offers a specific unlimited data tariff for the iPhone (providing you with a full rebate).
Total cost for duration of contract period is HK$10,416 (HK$5,208 a year or HK$434 a month).
This is cheaper than SmarTone's iPhone plan and you can also obtain a full rebate for the iPhone 3GS 16GB (the SmarTone iPhone plan will only rebate you up to HK$5,388 which is the full cost of the iPhone 3GS 8GB).
As mentioned above, there is some evidence that internet browsing is faster on Three than on SmarTone, however this was based on one test.
The downside with Three is there are many complaints with their customer services.

So which network is the best?

Well, it depends!!!

The cheapest and most flexible tariff is with China Mobile, however you are restricted to EDGE.
The cheapest 3G tariff is probably what is offered by PCCW instore, however they don't have the best reputation.
A very good value tariff is the SmarTone Vodafone HK$250 a month tariff. However you are tied for 18 months (but this can be broken with a HK$500 penalty).
In relation to the handset rebate tariffs Three probably works out the best, but you are tied in for 24 months and Three does not have the best reputation for customer services.
If you want to buy an HTC Android phone you are better off buying the phone separately from the tariff rather than signing up to SmarTone's Android tariff.

Hong Kong credit card exchange rates (Visa & Amex)

2009-09-15T15:11:00.001+08:00

Just a quick post re some foreign transactions on two credit cards recently and the results as follows (the exchange rate of the day is based on the interbank rate found on oanda.com):

Citibank Visa
07/08/09 - SGD28.25 charged to card as HKD155.33.
HKD-SGD rate: 0.18510
Therefore the credit card rate was 1.74% off the interbank rate

SCB Amex
29/07/09 - CNY1,257 charged to card as HKD1,454.82
HKD-CNY rate: 0.88270
Therefore credit card rate was 2.12% off the interbank rate

SCB Amex
14/09/09 - US$19.99 charged to card as HKD158.05
USD-HKD rate: 7.75150
Therefore credit card rate was1.96% off the interbank rate

Credit card spending and Asia Miles in Hong Kong

2009-09-08T13:14:00.004+08:00

Below is a list of what I reckon to be the best credit cards available in Hong Kong to earn Asia Miles. Asia Miles is the travel reward programme for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in Hong Kong. It is distinct from the Marco Polo Club, which is the frequent flyer programme for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair in Hong Kong, however if you have Marco Polo Club membership, it will be linked to your Asia Miles account.

I have got the information in relation to the credit cards and the amount of Asia Miles ("AM"s) received partly from the various credit card websites and information from the Asia Miles forum on Flyertalk. This post was basically inspired by the following thread on Flyertalk: Best credit card conversion rate to Asiamiles in 2009? (For FTers based in HK).

The standard procedure is that when you spend with your credit card you will receive "reward points" which can be redeemed for, amongst other things, AMs. In most cases you can redeem your reward points into AMs when you want to, normally with a minimum amount requirement (with most cards this seems to be 10,000 AMs). This is useful as AMs expire after three years, while often the credit card reward points have no expiry date. Some credit cards to allow for auto transfer to AMs at the end of each month though. Also some credit cards may charge to redeem your reward points to AMs.

As anyone who lives in Hong Kong is aware there are hundreds of credit cards with hundreds of various loyalty programmes on offer. I am specifically looking at maximising the credit card spend to redeem reward points into AMs. Many credit cards will have introductory promotions/offers and promotions/offers at points during the year, however as these change all the time, it would be impossible to list these. Therefore the list just sticks to the standard, day to day offerings for each credit card. Also each card offers extra benefits on top of the reward points for day to day spend, however at present I'm purely focusing on the AM redemption on a normal spend (unless I think the extra benefit is one that should be pointed out). Please note all prices are in HK$.

You will normally receive more reward points when using your credit card abroad, however do note there are extra charges for you credit card abroad (however it is still better than the consumer exchange currency rate). Usually Visa / MasterCard credit cards would be c.2% off the wholesale exchange rate and American Express ("Amex") would be c.2.5% to 3.5% off the wholesale exchange rate.

Generally Amex cards will have the best reward offerings, however their acceptability, both in Hong Kong and abroad, is much less than Visa / MasterCard.

Most credit cards in Hong Kong have an annual fee, however this is normally waived, especially if you have used the credit card. Sometimes the fee waiver is automatic, sometimes you have to call the credit card company up to arrange a fee waiver. However, sometimes the credit card company may not waive the fee, especially if you have not had enough spend on the credit card.

If I've missed out any information / a specific card or you spot any inaccuracies, do please let me know so I can amend the list. Also I have found it very hard to find information on whether Octopus AAVS, bill payments and online payments will count to the AM spend, so information on this would be great as well.

HSBC (Visa or MasterCard)
This is probably one of the worst for converting to AMs, but have included it as HSBC credit cards are very popular in Hong Kong.

Both local and overseas spend: $15 = 1AM
$300 yearly charge for the HSBC mileage programme
No charge for converting reward points to AMs
Reward points are valid for at least 1 year and up to 2 years and for Premier Card members for 3 years
Reward points T&Cs: http://www.hsbc.com.hk/1/2/hk/cards/rewards/tandc?pwscmd=cmd_init

Citi PremierMiles Platinum Visa

Local spend: $8 = 1AM
Overseas spend: $4 = 1AM
Reward points do not expire
$50 handling fee per 5,000 AMs redeemed (however this is permanently waived)
Overseas spend excludes Macau and Mainland China
It has been reported that you will get $8 = 1AM for Octopus AAVS

The DBS Black Card (Amex)

Local spend: $6 = 1AM
Overseas spend: $4 = 1AM
Octopus AAVS: $12 = 1AM
Reward points do not expire
No transfer fees for AM redemption
Overseas spend excludes Macau
T&Cs: http://hk.dbs.com/en/consumer/creditcards/blackcard/tnc_e.htm

DBS Platinum / Titanium Credit Card (Visa or MasterCard)

Local spend: $12 = 1AM
Overseas spend: $4 = 1AM
Local dining spend: $4 = 1AM
Octopus AAVS: $12 = 1AM
Reward points do not expire
No transfer fees for AM redemption
Overseas spend excludes Macau

American Express Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card (Amex)

Local spend: $8 = 1AM
Overseas spend: $4 = 1AM
Double AM ($4 = 1AM) when booking CX flights from the CX website
No transfer fees for AM redemption
Auto transfer to AM at end of the month
Free Prestige membership to Priority Pass
Overseas spending is defined as spending which is at merchants outside Hong Kong
First year fee waiver. To have fees waived for the following years need to show one of (a) $150k spending for the proceeding year on the credit card (however if you call up they will reduce that to $80k), (b) be a Marco Polo Club silver member or higher, or (c) hold an Amex Platinum or Centurion Charge Card or an Amex Platinum Credit Card
T&C of the reward programme: http://www.americanexpress.com/hk/en/pdfs/terms_n_conditions.pdf

Standard Chartered American Express Card (Amex)

Local spend: $6 = 1AM
Overseas spend: $2 = 1AM
The above only applies if you redeem 10,001+ AM, otherwise local spend: $7.5 = 1AM and overseas spend $2.5 = 1AM
Reward points valid for 3 years
$100 handling fee per 10,000 AMs redeemed
T&Cs: http://www.standardchartered.com.hk/personal-banking/creditcard/american-express/en/_document/tc.pdf

Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card (Visa)

Local spend: $6 = 1AM
Overseas spend: $6 = 1AM
Octopus AAVS: $6 = 1AM
The above only applies if you redeem 10,001+ AM, otherwise all spend: $7.5 = 1AMFree Prestige membership to Priority Pass
Reward points are valid for 3 years
$100 handling fee per 10,000 AMs redeemed
This credit card is only available to SCB Priority Banking customers or through invite by SCB

12vpn - quick review

2009-09-02T12:29:00.002+08:00

I've already mentioned the service 12vpn for connecting to US and UK sites such as Hulu and BBC Iplayer.

I thought I would give the service a try out. They have a "lite" package available at US$2.95 a month, so I thought I would sign up with that as a test.

Overall I have to say the service does run great. Have been using it on both my Iphone and on the computer.

The 12vpn has a wiki page which sets out how to set up the services on various platforms.

For the Iphone it shows you how to set it up using both the PPTP and the L2TP protocol. For some reason PPTP wouldn't work but L2TP worked fine. The only real pain, and its not a fault of 12vpn, is activating a VPN connection on the Iphone. You have to go to Settings - VPN and there you can connect the VPN service. So far there is no SBSettings toggle for VPN connections. Hopefully someone will come up with one, would make life easier.

The VPN connection speed is generally fine and I had no problems watching BBC Iplayer shows through it. There is a slight delay in getting the video up, but once the video is streaming I haven't had a problem with connections or buffering (issue I have often on my computer). I was able to watch Have I Got News For You without issue on an MTR ride without any connection problems. For info I am on SmarTone-Vodafone.

Now with the PC you can run either PPTP, L2TP or OpenVPN. I went down the OpenVPN route and installed that. First time using everything was smooth sailing. Was able to get onto Hulu and BBC Iplayer.

Second time though, I got serious buffering issues. Basically everything would stall for a few seconds and start again. Not really ideal to watch videos. Now, I suspect this may be a routing issue, as things seem to work fine with my Iphone.

A great feature about 12vpn, is it will automatically route to the relevant IP address. I.e. what this means is there is just once connection, and if I want to go to Hulu it will automatically route to the US address and if I want to go to BBC Iplayer it will automatically route to the UK IP address.

I should also add, the service from 12vpn is great. The guy who runs it has answered all my questions pretty promptly and has been very helpful.

Now if I can sort out why I'm not getting a good connection on my home PC, 12vpn will be a great solution for me!

The ultimate aim is I will be able to watch Hulu and others through my ps3 using a service like PlayOn or TVersity Pro. I'm also looking at the possibility of my router, the D-Link DIR-655 accepting VPN connections at the router level, but this is a project for another time!

VPN services - to watch Hulu / BBC iPlayer

2009-08-28T15:44:00.000+08:00

So being in HK, I can't get direct access to a bunch of US or UK only sites, namely stuff like Hulu or BBC iPlayer. This is a real shame, as TV in HK sucks at the best of times.

I had been looking into various alternatives to try and access these sort of shows. As a backstop I use Torrents and Usenet, which is great. However, you have to plan a bit ahead, and you can't really "channel surf".

I then started investigating the use of proxies and virtual private networks ("VPN"). Proxies didn't work out so great, as these have known IP addresses and were often easily blocked by the likes of Hulu.

I did come across Hotspot Shield which wasn't that bad. However, due to the fact it was free and its popularity, meant that it was very very slow to use and it got blocked.

I had noticed generally, even with VPN's when connecting to UK or US sites there were some serious speed and latency issues. This would mean having to wait ages to buffer videos or just a very slow connection, not ideal when you want to watch a video.

I did try out a small company called consult-here. At the time it was pretty unique in the sense it offered both a US IP address and a UK proxy address. Perfect for watching both Hulu and BBC iPlayer. Nothing wrong with the company, and the prices are pretty competitive. Downside is the above issues with slow speed and latency.

Recently I have come across two other services: Witopia and 12vpn. Both offer UK and US IP addresses, which, again is VERY useful to me. Also both seem to be very popular in China, to avoid the Great Firewall there. Hopefully this will mean latency will not be an issue with both these services.

Witopia is priced a bit cheaper, if you purchase over the year. However it seems 12vpn is based in Hong Kong, which I am hoping will mean better connections to Hong Kong.

Have not tried either, but will attempt to try both over time and see which one works out.

Mobile data plans in Hong Kong

2009-08-25T15:02:00.021+08:00

These are all based on what I found on each provider's website (apart from one exception re PCCW, also you may be offered slightly different tariffs if you go instore). All the plans include unlimited intra network SMS, voicemail, call forwarding. I've only really looked at plans offering unlimited data, there are cheaper plans if you don't want unlimited data. Most of the tariffs will not support tethering your device with your computer and will be subject to the network's fair usage policy.

The download speeds I'm listing are theoretical maximums and a whole bunch of variables come into play including (but not limited to) network reception and maximum speeds handled by your device.

Peoples / China Mobile

$98 (+$12 tunnel fee) a month
Unlimited 2g (GPRS/EDGE - 236.8 kbit/s)
No contract
Free wifi with Y5Zone
600 inter & 600 intra minutes calling
Free inter + intra MMS (this is a promotion, not sure when it ends)

http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/p_tariff_plan_data_en.jsp

CSL (both 1010 and One2Free)

$568 a month
Unlimited 3g (HSDPA - up to 3.6Mbps to 21Mbps, not clear which speed is offered on this plan)
12 month contract
Free wifi with Y5Zone
3,000 minutes calling
Note, speeds will be slower if you exceed their "fair usage" cap on certain monitored apps (like video streaming and torrenting)

1010: http://1010.hkcsl.com/jsp/service_plans/service_rate_plans/service_rate_plans.jsp#05
One2Free: http://one2free.hkcsl.com/jsp/service_charges/mobile_broadband_charges/mobile_broadband_charges.jsp

Smartone Vodafone

$238 (+ $12 tunnel fee) a month
Unlimited 3g (HSDPA - up to 14.4Mbps, however I have been told, but I haven't verified this, that you have to request such speeds otherwise the default is 7.2Mbps) BTW if you are out of 3G reception, then speeds will drop down to GPRS at up to 80kbit/s
18 month contract
$500 cancellation fee if you want to cancel your contract before your term is up
1,000 inter & 600 intra calling

http://www.smartone-vodafone.com/jsp/mobile/prices/hot_offer/english/priceoffer_05.jsp

Smartone Vodafone - special plan for Iphone/HTC Magic/HTC Hero

$398 (+ $12 tunnel fee +$36 compulsary VAS) a month
Unlimited 3g (HSDPA - up to 14.4Mbps, however I have been told, but I haven't verified this, that you have to request such speeds otherwise the default is 7.2Mbps) BTW if you are out of 3G reception, then speeds will drop down to GPRS at up to 80kbit/s
24 month contract
1,800 inter & 1,500 intra calling
You will be rebated the cost of purchasing an Iphone 3GS (need to show proof of purchase from an Apple authorised dealer), HTC Magic or HTC Hero with this tariff

Iphone: http://www.smartone-vodafone.com/jsp/mobile/prices/hot_offer/english/priceoffer_06.jsp
HTC Android: http://www.smartone-vodafone.com/jsp/phone/english/offer_detail_v3.jsp?id=155

Three

$398 (+$36 compulsory VAS package) a month
Unlimited 3g (HSDPA - up to 3.6Mbps)
24 month contract
Free wifi with Y5Zone
2,000 inter & 1,500 intra minutes calling
This plan is only available if you purchase Iphone from Three. I couldn't find an unlimited plan with Three without the purchase of a phone.

http://iphone.three.com.hk/website/en/iplan.html

PCCW
Very hard website to navigate. The PCCW website says the following: "PCCW mobile is dedicated to offering you the simplest and the most comprehensive tariff plans, the most superior network quality and the most pleasurable communications services", which I found very amusing.

$399 (+$12 tunnel fee) per month
Unlimited 3g data a month (no indication of speed)
12 month contract
3,000 inter & intra minutes calling
300 inter & intra video calling
400 inter & intra MMS messages

http://www2.pccwmobile.com/portal/gen/WEB/home/Services_And_Pricing/tariff/Web-Talk-tariff-plan.jsp

I was contacted by a PCCW rep who had offered the following:

$198 (+$12 tunnel fee) per month
Unlimited 3g/HSDPA at 1.8Mbps
12 month contract
Free wifi with PCCW
600 intra & 600 inter minutes calling

Others have also been offered the following by PCCW when going instore:

$210 per month
Unlimited HSDPA (no indication of speed) dropping to GPRS/EDGE
18 month contract
Free wifi with PCCW
1,600 intra & inter minutes calling
SMS charges at $0.60 for the first 100 and then $0.50 after (no indication if this is inter or intra SMS charges)
This tariff allows the ability to tether with your computer

Please also see this post: Which is the Best unlimited data plan to use in Hong Kong, where I've looked at the data plans offered in a bit more detail.

First blog

2009-08-24T15:12:00.001+08:00

Ok, so this is my first blog post thing.

I suspect no-one is going to read this, so not too bothered what I write here! But what the hey, I'm giving this blogging lark a try out.