When we first arrived in Indonesia, we just went to one of the many mobile phone stores/counters and asked them for a mobile internet package. This turned out much more expensive then we thought. Here’s how you get a much better deal.
Free wifi everywhere, for real?
Even though most accommodations (and supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants etc.) in Bali offer free wifi, it isn’t always very reliable. For example the place where we’re staying now advertises free wifi, but it’s done by a dongle with prepaid credit that often runs out. Especially when you’re working online, there are times when you really do need to be connected and using you’re iphone as 3G hotspot works quite well.
Save some $$ on your mobile internet
The first SimPati mobile internet package we got was about 60.000 rupiah (about €4,-) for 1,5GB. After a comment on the Webworktravel FB group we figured there had to be better packages out there. Of course things are never as easy as they seem and after visiting at least 5 or 6 stores in the area it was clear none of them knew how to do it (or maybe they just wanted to sell us the more expensive package :-)). So we spend some time researching how to get the best deal. And we thought we’d share it on our blog to save other travellers some time and $$.
[styled_box title=”Good to know” class=””]To check your remaining quota use: *889#
To check your remaining phone credit use: *888#[/styled_box]
Cheaper mobile internet step by step
Here’s the step by step guide of how to get the 4,5GB valid for 30 days. To get other packages (more GB’s or longer validity) choose one of the other options in steps 4 and 5. We used an iPhone, menus might look a bit different on an Android phone.
Before you start
Get a SimPati / Telcomsell simcard with enough credit. To check your phone credit call *888#
Step 1:
Call *363#. This will result in an Indonesian text menu. We haven’t figured out a way to get this in English, if you know how, please leave a comment below.
Step 2:
Press REPLY and then 1: Paket FLASH (Buy internet package). Choose reply in the top right corner.
Step 3:
The following menu gives you the choice to select the validity. We chose the 30 days validity. To do so press REPLY and then 3: Bulanan (month package for 30 days) and reply. You can also choose one of the other options for longer or shorter validity.
Step 4:
The following menu gives you the choice to select the size of the package you want. We chose the 4,5GB package which costs 135.000 rupiah. To get his press REPLY and then 3: 4,5GB and reply. You can also choose one of the other options for more GB’s.
Step 5:
Indicate whether you want a monthly subscription or a one time package. To choose the latter, hit REPLY and then 2: Sekali Beli (one time package) then reply again.
After this you should see the following message:
‘Terima kasih permintaan anda sedang di proses. Tunggu sms notifikasi sebelum penggunaan.’,
This means ‘Thank you for your request is being processed. Wait for sms notification before use’.
You will receive a text message shortly after if you have enough credit in your account. And you’re done! Your internet should be working!
It took us a fair deal of time to figure this stuff out so we hope we can spare you the trouble with this post.
P.S. If you choose a different package leave a comment below with the type of package and the price.
