This is for all those geeks out there who are fascinated with this kind of stuff as well as anyone traveling in the Philippines who wants to get Internet access on the iPhone.

Since I've been in Manila, I haven't had the constant 3G Internet access I had in New York, which is crippling for an iPhone, as any iPhone owner will attest to. So, I finally decided to look into the options Globe, my prepaid cell phone provider in Manila, offered. I was pleased to find that mobile Internet access was available, and it was cheap, too--20 pesos an hour or just over 40 cents. Great. Now, I just had to figure out how to enable it.

Just opening up Safari or email wasn't enough. I fished around Globe's website some more and found a 24-hour support line. I called it and spoke to a woman who told me that while they do have Internet access for iPhones, since I didn't buy mine here it wasn't supported and they couldn't guarantee I'd be able to use it.

"Okay," I said. "So, how do I get Internet access then?"

"Sir," she said, "you need to change the APN settings in the phone, but I can't assure you it will work."

"All right, so what are the settings?"

"You need to download them via a wi-fi connection onto your iPhone. Do you have a pen?"

"Yes, go ahead."

"You need to go to https://iphone.com.ph/config."

I entered the settings in my web browser. The page timed out.

"Thanks," I said and hung up. She didn't seem too helpful or willing to help, but she was actually more helpful than I thought at first.

I typed the following into Google: iphone apn settings for globe in manila.

After clicking on a couple links, I found this site: http://philmug.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=24153. The correct url the customer service rep should have given me--https://iphone.globe.com.ph/config--was there. You would think she would know the correct address. It didn't matter anymore. I clicked on the link, and it downloaded a file of an unknown type named "config." I opened it with Notepad just to see what was in it. Just a bunch of code and some references to xml and Globe Telecom. I looked back to the site where I found the link. There were instructions for changing the APN settings. I checked my phone. I assumed iPhones that hadn't been unlocked or jailbroken wouldn't have this feature available but that I might. Yes. It was there a couple levels down under settings. I clicked on Settings, General, Network, and Cellular Data Network. There were fields for APN settings for Cellular Data and MMS as well as login fields. Since I'd used MMS successfully on this phone already and there weren't any login settings entered there, I figured I'd try changing the APN settings for Cellular Data and see what happened. I changed internet.globe.com.ph (postpaid) to http.globe.com.ph (prepaid) then restarted my phone for good measure and gave it a try. Bingo! Online again. I don't know why I didn't look into doing this sooner.

Labels: 3G, APN, Globe Telecom, Internet, iPhone, MMS

As you know from my previous post about this, I was able to have AT&T suspend my service while I'm out of the country for $1o a month. So, where does that leave me then? The iPhone is little more than a glorified mp3 player without phone and data access. The solution was to jailbreak my iPhone and swap out the SIM card with the one from the cell phone my company provided me. (For information on jailbreaking your iPhone visit http://blog.iphone-dev.org/.) Everyone here uses prepaid phone cards to load their phones, and text messaging with these services is cheap--about two cents a message outgoing and free incoming. And those rates are across the board for international texting, too. You can't beat that. I even was able to send MMS (pictures) messages internationally, a service AT&T won't provide until after summer.

Calling is a different story. Assuming you load your phone with 500 pesos ($10 US), a ten minute call will burn that up. So, I can make and receive calls on my iPhone now, but I do a lot more texting, and texting is a hell of a lot more enjoyable on the iPhone than that Nokia piece of crap I'll get charged $250 for if I lose it.

Now I can make calls and text, but what about Internet access, email, and other web-based services? I have Internet access in my apartment, but it wasn't wireless, so I went out and bought a cheap Belkin wireless router for 2500 pesos ($50 US). Now I can check email and do everything else while I'm in my apartment from the comfort of my bed if I so desire, and I do. I can do the same outside if I can find a hotspot, but they aren't as plentiful here as they are in NYC. Still, the texting keeps me as connected as I really need to be. I'm here on a work assignment, so I have almost constant access to a computer and the Internet. GPS still works, but it works a lot better with a data plan and plentiful hotspots. Also, there's no voice mail service with the prepaid phone card. That's not really a big issue. Most of the calls I make are international via Skype anyway, and if someone really needs to get in touch with you there are plenty of alternatives. By the way, Skype has unlimited calling plans to landlines for as little as $5.95/mo for calls to the US and $12.95/mo worldwide. Computer to computer is always free.

I also like using the prepaid phone card. It's a little inconvenient to have to buy one every so often, but they have other alternatives for adding a load to your phone. I like being able to ration out the pesos. In some ways it's easier to keep track of my spending. It's a hell of a lot better than getting raped by the big T for international roaming charges. I've heard horror stories of $30,000 phone bills, and no, that's not a typo. No thanks, AT&T. I'm happy with your service, but your billing sucks.

Labels: data, international roaming charges, iPhone, jailbreak, SIM card, texting