Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Awesomo]

Currently I have the cheapest phone and the cheapest phone plan available through LG because I didn't expect to use my phone much and that turned out to be a good decision. Now I'm thinking of a second tour through Korea and I am armed with a new ASUS 1000HE that I'd love to take on the road with me when I'm visiting other towns. I'd like to be able to use Skype to call home wherever and whenever. A short search showed several different options for getting data through to a laptop, but didn't mention any prices and even if it did, I suspect the prices would be different for me.

Have any of you ever looked in to this? It'd be a wonderful thing to talk to friends/family and browse the internet on the bus to Seoul or from the top of a mountain, but if it costs a terrible amount I probably won't get it.

Do you have any insight on this to share with me? Are the data plans limited by transfer every month? Are they insanely expensive for foreigners? etc.

[stealth_fighter]

In my opinion HSDPA is not fast enough to handle skype/VOIP calls. I have experience of using one given to me by my office. We use struggle a lot to just upload a fairly small code release of 30MB to a ftp server.
HSDPA will be just enough for browsing and check/answer mails.

[eamo]

The current Wibro services are still pretty slow. You might just get away with audio Skype, but video would be highly unlikely. Surfing the net is doable depending on exact location.

Why would it be insanely expensive for foreigners? If a company like KT or Hanaro are willing to give you a contract, they will charge you the same as a Korean. It's just the same kind of contract as a home internet line.

[bassexpander]

These companies want to discourage the use of Skype in such ways, from what I understand.