Malaysia Explorer

By Oon Yeoh

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No Wi-Fi in Perth

Posted in Malaysia Explorer by Oon Yeoh on 2006/06/15 18:48:03

I was in the city of Perth for about a week.

I had expected to be able to do some work while over there, either through the hotel's broadband network or Wi-Fi hotspots in the city.

To my horror, when I checked in, I found out that my hotel had no broadband. When I asked where I could find Wi-Fi hotspots, I was told that they are not very common around here. (Nope, there was no Starbucks to be found.)

So, I wandered the city looking for a cybercafe. I managed to find one operated by some Indonesians, which stayed open until midnight (the ones operated by Australians typically closed by 7 pm).

The rate was A$3 (US$2) per hour. Not terribly expensive but certainly more than in Malaysia where the hourly rate can be as low as RM1.50 (US$0.41).

I also managed to find a 24-hour cybercafe, but that one charged even more, A$4 (US$2.98) per hour. I used it once to check my e-mail really late at night. The speed was so slow, I gave up after a few minutes. Quite useless, really.

Perth is a lovely city but very laid back. I wonder if some enterprising entrepreneur will begin offering Wi-Fi access throughout the city anytime soon.

It would be a boon for international visitors like me who need to be connected even when travelling abroad.

Cybercafes there are unsatisfactory, not just because they are not convenient for doing work (though okay for checking e-mail) but the rates are quite high, too.

Disclaimer:
Views and opinions expressed in this blog are the author's, and do not necessarily represent those of ZDNet Asia.

Talkback 9 comments

I refer to Oen Yen's article "No Wi-Fi in Perth" published June 15, 2006 in ZDnet Asia. Perhaps Oen Yen did not have his Wi-Fi card turned on. Perth is home to a number of Wi-Fi service providers, including metromesh, the country's largest citywide Wi-Fi network. It covers most of downtown Perth. The only way you can miss the metromesh SSIDs is to turn your Wi-Fi card off. Oen Yen go back to Perth and check out: (web link) or ZDNet's own archives: (web link)
_carrier_eyes_Sydney_Melbourne/0,2000061791,39205227,00.htm
or simply Google "Wi-Fi Perth" and see the numerous results for metromesh and other service providers.
Posted by James T Callahan on Monday, July 03 2006 04:40 AM

SO MUCH WI-FI IN PERTH

Go to (web link)

Which Perth did you go to?
Posted by MDF H on Monday, July 03 2006 04:50 AM

I am the Technical Director of 'metromesh' and currently Perth has one of the largest standards based Wi-Fi 'HotZones' in Australia. While we do not cover every hotel we have a significant coverage of the CBD and it is expanding at a regular pace. Next time you are in Perth please feel free to contact us and we will make sure you get connected.
Posted by Mark Middleton on Monday, July 03 2006 07:43 AM

'metromesh' is much more that a hotspot, it is a hotzone which allows the user to roam over a wide area using the same logon credentials at many different locations. Flexible pricing, no logon limits, no connection fee, no timed expiary, user pays only for actual downloads, and the performance is fantastic!
Posted by Glenn Farrow on Tuesday, July 04 2006 09:01 AM

Perth has probably the biggest citywide WiFi network in Australia. How did you miss it. The SSID is metromesh and the coverage is everywhere.
Posted by Nancy on Thursday, July 06 2006 11:40 AM

hmmm... I was about to say, hey even the small hotel i stayed in Perth during my holiday also has Internet Kiosk. I think it cost $1 for 15min??? can't remember. but it was quite difficult to use.... the keyboards and trackball are hardened to last long and frequent abuse...
Posted by Pertholidayer on Friday, July 07 2006 12:37 PM

Yes. Very good site! worth to visit!
Posted by que on Thursday, July 27 2006 09:20 PM

Perth has metromesh a citywide Wi-Fi network. It is hard to miss the signal so i am not sure that you even had your Wi-Fi radio turned on!!!!
Posted by Ricky on Wednesday, August 09 2006 02:13 PM

The Perth network is built using RoamAD - this gives it the 3D Wi-Fi coverage in the metro area. The signal works well indoors and at high levels (20+ storeys).
Posted by Sam on Tuesday, July 17 2007 05:57 PM

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About the blogger

Oon Yeoh

Oon Yeoh has been writing an ICT column for The Edge Malaysia, a business weekly, for the past six years. He's also written a book, Transition, about the impact of technology on society. He's currently working on New Media projects involving the convergence of text, images, audio and video.