Tips for Bali internet cafes

Frequenting a variety of Bali internet cafes, it occurs to me there is a huge variance in the conditions and the type of service I recieve. Here are some thoughts about Bali internet cafes.

One thing I always hear in Bali internet cafes, from other customers is “It’s SO slow.” Compared to Australia, the rest of Asia, Europe and the US, most of the internet connections here are slow. Highway in Ubud seems the fastest, but you pay for it.

Figuring out what tasks you have might help you choose what type of place you go to. If you need to send a FAX, make an international phone call, burn a CD, scan a document and attach it to an email, then Internet Outpost in Kuta can handle all your needs. Its not the cheapest though, and if you just want to fire off an email, or read the news, you might be better off at another place. Many of the internet cafes in Kuta / Seminyak charge around 12,000-18,000rp per hour. Global charges 7,000rp.

Many of the ‘mom & pop’ places have no AC, old hardware, no USB ports, which effectively makes them pretty useless to 90% of tourists. Before you waste your time getting online, check they have USB ports and make sure its not dial-up access, otherwise Yahoo’s homepage will take 2 minutes to load.

There are many new places in the Kuta / Legian area which have okay hardware, AC, toilet etc. They almost all use the exact same management program, where you sign your name and get online, with the ability to check your bill at anytime on your monitor. That’s the situation you want, but there are places where you just get online and the staff will tell you what you owe, simply by looking at the clock on the wall.

In my experience here’s some of the things I would do in an internet cafe.
1. Check the price per minute / hour
2. Check the room temperature. Do they have AC? Some internet cafes are like a sauna, others feel like a wind-tunnel with the AC roaring. In the evenings I bring a sweater.
3. Check the hardware. Do they have USB ports?
4. Check the connection. Avoid dial-up.
5. If the sunlight is strong, sit away from the window so you can see what you’re doing.
6. If you are doing bank stuff, sit away from the staff. In my experience, I have not had any occassion where someone has tried to get into my online banking, or other stuff. I have however, had the staff stand right behind me, and watch what I’m doing. They can see what I’m doing on their control monitor, but I just prefer to be away from other people’s constant view.
7. After using iPods / cameras / cell phones etc. put them straight back in your bag and take it with you when you go to the toilet.
8. If you want to write a long email, write it in Word, or Notepad, saving every few minutes. On many occassions, I have witnessed tourists writing an essay, in Hotmail, trying to send it and the system locking up.
9. When you finish with your email, remember to sign out, not just click to ESPN or the news. I have on many occasions started on a machine to find a person’s mail open in front of me (I never read it).
10. After signing out of your mail and other protected areas, go to Tools, Internet Options and clear the Cookies and History. It helps stop other people getting into the stuff you’re into.
11. When you finally Sign Out, using the cafe’s software, remember the actual price, as staff often round up / add onto the price. When they do this to me I say “Are you sure about that?” If they persist I say “Want to try that again?” I sometimes have to show them on their monitor that it’s 19,500rp, not 20,000rp, but that’s okay, I like paying the real price.
12. If you want to scan documents / make international phones calls / send FAX’s, ask the price beforehand. I have seen westerners get bent out of shape, over the cost of their 20 minute chat to mommy, as they thought it would be cheap.

Happy surfing