As a sequel to the articles, Glo Introduces Pre-Paid 3G Packages, and Official configuration settings for the new Glo prepaid internet bundle plans, I gave the new bundle packages and settings a try this morning.
Having purchased N500 airtime and sent the required SMS codes, I was notified that I had successfully subscribed to the Always Day plan. This plan gives the subscriber 50mb data for a period of 24 hours. My subscription notification came in at 7.17 a.m. this morning.
I immediately noticed that I lost 3G connection. Trying to browse with the new APN, Gloflat, resulted in “Packet data not connected” errors. I also remembered that brym! had mentioned a 3-hour waiting period. No problem!
But while waiting, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to continue browsing with the old Glodirect settings and be billed per kb for that, since I still had some airtime on the line. As such, I selected the Glodirect settings and tried to browse. Same error. I tried the other official Glo APNs and got the same error. Apparently, subscribing for Always Day got me yanked off mobile internet entirely on the Glo network.
Over three hours later, I tried to see if anything had changed, but no; I was still unable to get a connection. Dialling 121 didn’t get me anywhere; I simply got the busy tone each time.
Finally, I decided that I wouldn’t throw N500 at Glo like that. I had thrown away too much to GSM networks in the last several years. I did something I absolutely hate doing – I drove down to the nearest Gloworld. I knew I was going to be treated to the same old dose of ignorance or foolishness. Or both.
I wasn’t disappointed.
The plump, fair, and clueless lady who attended to me made such amazing statements like:
It cannot work on your phone because it is for modem and PC only
and
When you activated the bundle package, it messed up your provisioning because it is not for phones
and
I was not trained to activate this plan on a phone. I can only activate on PC. Please go and bring your laptop
As if it wasn’t the same settings both the modem and the phone would use. As if it wasn’t the same GSM/3G radio that powers both modem and phone. I felt like yelling at her, “Don’t be stupid; if it works on modem, it works on phone“.
But I let self-control rule. I requested that she at least provision me for regular internet service. The silly girl sent me Glo WAP settings – because in her little mind, all that my Nokia E90 communicator could handle was puny WAP. Doh! Need I say that whatever it was that she did worked not?
To make matters worse, I went to the menu in my phone browser to select the new bundle package APN, and discovered that the silly girl had deleted them! She had collected my phone for a brief period, and had apparently deleted the settings then. Why would she delete those settings from my phone? Why did she sneak up on me like that? Those settings are official. Anyone with the modem can actually look them up easilly.
Perhaps she knew that they would work on the phone, but she needed to follow a stupid line that a superior had fed her about making sure that their dumb subscribers buy those modems? But Yomi is no dumb subscriber. She was messing with the wrong chap.
Again, I kept my cool. I did not say a word about the deleted settings. I simply typed them back in. Tried browsing. Again, no show.
Meanwhile, I spoke with my contact at Glo engineering, and he went to work. I know the guy; he is an intelligent person, and one of the few people at Glo who seem to know anything about mobile technology. The others are mostly dullard businessmen and marketers, it seems. He excused himself and called me back a few minutes later.
He asked me to load at least 1 kobo on my line and then try to browse. I was under the impression that he had done something at the other end, but later found that all I needed to do was have some amount on my line’s balance, which was reading zero at the time. [Updated 13th november]
Having followed his instructions by loading airtime, I selected the Gloflat settings again, launched the browser on my phone, and presto! I was on. I was still seated before her royal cluelessness all this time. With a smug, I told her that I was now browsing – and that I was specifically browsing on the Always Day plan.
She almost jumped out of her skin and retorted, “That’s not possible because I deleted the settings.” As if she what she did was such an irreversible thing.
I smiled coolly and said, “Yes; but I put them back in.”
The look on her face spoke volumes. Perhaps I had under-estimated this man? I can imagine that this was getting embarassing for her. Customers were sitting and standing all around, anhd I imagine that some of them had followed our little drama from inception.
She started saying something about my airtime being eaten up because the service would only work via their modem. I said goodbye and walked out with a smile. I would have loved to say to her, “My name is Yomi – and when Yomi tells you that something about mobile technology should work, you shut up, sit straight and listen. Don’t ever forget that name or this face.”
That would have been dramatic – like something out of a James Bond movie. But I didn’t. I simply walked out with a warm “Have a nice day“.
Screenshot of the Gloflat configuration on the Nokia E90 - Click on image for full version
This was several hours ago. I have been browsing, connecting to mail servers, and chatting via Messenger on my phone since then via the Gloflat settings and the Always Day subscription that I did this morning. My regular airtime has stayed intact. Not a kobo has been deducted. At least, I am getting value for the N500 I loaded this morning. Tomorrow, I will be taking a deeper plunge by subscribing for G-Work, costing N6,000 and giving me 3GB for a 30-day period from 8a.m. to 9p.m. daily.
Gloflat connection at work - Click image for full size
Wish me luck. Who knows? I may complete the subscription tomorrow and my line be de-activated and yanked entirely off the GloMobile network. Now, you can stop laughing; it isn’t funny. Serious.
Both MTN and GloMobile offer 3.5G-based mobile internet services in Nigeria. They both regularly claim to offer the fastest 3.5G service in the country.
On Glo 3.5G, we get between 70 and 150 Kb/s, plus we also observe that there are times it gets unusable too. However, there does not seem to be a fixed period that these downtimes occur. As a result of the slower speeds on Glo, downloads and video streaming are not quite as pleasurable as obtains via MTN.
There is a drop-down menu at the top-right section of the homepage from where you select which of the two main sections that you want to go. There’s also now a search box, allowing users to find information quickly. But note that the box searches only whatever section of the site you are in.
Experience one of the advantages of 3G on Glo Video Mailbox. It is an experience you have been waiting for. Simply dial 151 as a video call to activate and 154 as a video call to send a video message.
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