Hi guys,
Another set of questions.
On twitter, it is very important for my job. Initial research says it is not banned/throttled (just sometimes). How true is this? Is using a vpn the only way around it (if banned)? facebook ban (which also rarely happens [according to google]) can be circumvented via dns changes -- does this also work or is there is similar approach to twitter?
On sim card internet speed, what is the usual sim card internet speed? Is it true around 5-9mbps download (how much is the upload speed?) as long as I stick with the top 2 companies? I'm hoping lte sim cards will be officially launched once I get there in a few months.
Regarding VItell fiber optic contracts, what is the minimum contract duration? 6 months? 1 year? less? I'll probably be moving around vietnam at first (a few months at a time) so I want to make sure I wont be tied to an area because of my fiber internet contract 
I know wifi is fast but I wont be using them for work (maybe for entertainment, etc). These questions are specific for my online work needs.
Thank you once again.
Twitter, sim internet speed, Minimum contract for vitell fiber optic
They block it when it suits them. During the formosa protests, Facebook was blocked because that's how the protestors organised themselves. Twitter wasn't blocked since it's not popular in Vietnam. Because of the way the Facebook app works on mobile devices, it's hard to tell when it's down. It was also intermittent which is probably a tactic so they can deny having done so but it definitely happens.
I always end up using a VPN when travelling around asia as each country has it's own quirks regarding to censoring the internet. The worse being China. Vietnam by comparison is relatively uncensored except in times of trouble.
Ah the BBC is blocked...
The party don't like the free press
Hi iMap,
1) Twitter
When I was with FPT, I had Twitter blocked...(But not all users reported this issue on the forum...so I don't know what happened). But it was easy to unblock (I used Google DNS, simple to do and free.)
I'm now with Viettel, and Twitter works well. But they do block Twitter time to time (In case of protest, etc...). To unblock, a DNS suffice.
2) Mobile Speed
I'm using Mobifone and won't be able to comment for others telco. But they have a okay 3G network. It varies a lot depending on the antenna and the number of people connected to it, etc... obviously. But I got from 1 to 8M in DL (Most of the time around 3-4M) and for UP, it is usually 1 - 2M.
I just did 1 speedtest and I got 22 ping, 5.5M DL and 2.7 UP
Mobifone (But also Viettel and Vinaphone) is having some 4G antennas. (In D1 mainly for Mobifone), but few antennas unfortunately. The speed is much better in this case. I had from 18M to 50M in DL and from 6M to 8M in UP.
For Mobifone, nothing like more mature countries, but actually better than I expected.
I suppose it might be the same for others ISP. (Will be happy to get more info with speedtest screenshots xD)
What is quite obvious is that the speed is very inconsistent with 3G in Vietnam. (Well, at least even more inconsistent than more mature countries)
3) Viettel broadband
For Internet, I wrote a post here: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 41#3330414
It might help you. But for Viettel, there is no minimum from my understanding, but if you go for 6 months or more, you will have some discounts. (Free 1 month, etc...), but you may have to pay the 6 months in advance
I've changed from FPT to Viettel, and I'm quite happy. (Faster for same price and hopefully better international connectivity)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_ … in_Vietnam
Code:
As of 29th February 2016, the blogging platform Blogger and Wordpress.com have been blocked using a DNS block. As of 31st October 2016, Twitter is blocked using a DNS block.
Apparently expat.com might be blocked now too
Wouldn't surprise me
Hi guys,
Thank you so much for the responses. Very helpful and just what I really needed.
Good info on the other thread. For others having questions on the internet connectivity check that too.
@phikachu. I'll give google dns a try, but will most likely go with a vpn just to avoid any type of hassle.
@dudumomo. Good info on the 3g and 4g speed. Will look for 4g sim so that I can take advantage of the faster speed if available.
for sim, will give viettel and mobifone a try and see which will work better for the area I'll be at.
Thanks for the heads up on on peak hours, wont be working from 7pm or so then.
Very thankful to know that viettel broadband doesn't actually have minimum contract requirement when signing up. whew!
I guess the only thing left now is to hope that the apartment I end up with has viettel broadband with good speed or its counterpart.
Cheers guys!
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