fbpx

Malaysia gets 1st WiMax built-in laptops

Packet 1 Networks (P1) Malaysia, together with Intel launched the country’s first WiMax-Ready 4G laptops today.

While P1 has been in the WiMax service in Malaysia for about 2 years now, this is the first time they introduced 4G-ready laptops.

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

Several laptop manufacturers were there to introduce their own WiMaX-enabled laptops and netbooks.

Present were Asus, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, MSI and Toshiba and all the laptops had Intel’s embedded WiMax + WiFi chip (Centrino Advanced-N + WiLax 6250).

The embedded chips can do both WiFi and WiMax but only works one at a time (WiMax on while WiFi off or the other way around but not both).

Did a quick speed test here with one of the units. Bandwidth tops at 2Mbps with ping times ranging from 160ms to 300ms.

Entry plan is RM89 a month (~Php1,335) and capped at 15GB (you can top up bandwidth after that, or your speed gets throttled down). WiMax speeds can go up to 10Mbps.

The laptops we saw ranged from Core i3s, to ULVs and netbooks — Lenovo IdeaPad V360, MSI Wind 135, Acer Aspire One 533, Asus K42F, Dell Inspiron Mini 10, among others.

They also took us to a ride around the city on-board a bus where we tested out the WiMax connection on the road using the new laptops. The WiMax connection is enabled using a small software utility installed in the laptops and the provider authenticates each user using MAC address and a unique serial embedded into the chip.

It looks like bandwidth capping and throttling is common here in Malaysia. The partnership between P1, Intel and the laptop brands allow for a more affordable pricing plan for the WiMax service as well as the devices.

It is very likely that these WiMax laptops will also work in the Philippines but it will really depend on the providers. It’s up to Smart, Globe or Wi-Tribe if they’ll offer nomadic WiMax service but it’s something too look forward to.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 976 other subscribers
Avatar for Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

9 Responses

  1. Avatar for WILSON WILSON says:

    WILLS ELECTRONICS
    WILLIAM STREET . PLOT 32
    P.O.BOX 27756 KAMPALA UGANDA .
    FAX: 256- 41-345597.
    TEL: 256-772 340 776.

    DEAR SIR/MADAM

    THIS IS TO INTRODUCE TO YOU THE ABOVE MENTIONED COMPANY TO YOUR
    ATTENTION THAT WE NEED TO BUY PRODUCTS FROM YOUR COMPANY LIKE:

    SOLAR PANELS, COMPUTER LAPTOPS, HARD DRIVES,PROCESSOR ETC.
    .
    HAVING GOT YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS WE DECIDED TO DO BUSINESS WITH
    YOU .THERE FORE WE REQUEST YOU TO SEND US YOUR PRICE LIST AND FULL MAILLING ADDRESS
    WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR REPLY AS YOU GET THIS MESSAGE.

    BEST REGARDS.
    B. WILSON

  2. Avatar for awdsad awdsad says:

    kelan po mag uupgrade ng speed ang pldt?

    especially ung 990 n plan ( landline + net)

  3. Avatar for myke myke says:

    last december HP threw in a prepaid P1 wimax modem (free for 3 months with 4gb cap) for every laptop purchased during the pc fair in KLCC.

    very aggressive strategy for p1, currently digi has the best offer at RM68 unlimited broadband.

  4. Avatar for manaka_junpei manaka_junpei says:

    2mbps nga, sobrang bilis

  5. Avatar for Ang Maniniyot Ang Maniniyot says:

    A very promising technology that traveller must have.

  6. Avatar for lovelylady lovelylady says:

    more updates for this info…

  7. Avatar for Teknisyan Teknisyan says:

    I guess PC manufacturer are trying to emulate Apple on what they did with the iPad which is 3G ready. We may start seeing laptop with data plans from telecoms selling wimax/wifi/3g enabled laptop. :)

  8. Avatar for JP JP says:

    A 15GB bandwidth cap?

    That’s only like two HD movies!

    I think they’re also implementing bandwidth capping schemes to eliminate *crickets* piracy there. It’s prevalent last I heard.

Leave a Reply
JOIN OUR TELEGRAM DISCUSSION

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *