Datec PNG Internet Information

• By Simon
• Posted in Internet
• On April 19, 2017
• 2 Comments.

I created this post as my original ISPs of Papua New Guinea post was a bit content heavy for Datec. This post will contain all the information that used to be there plus a bit more.

Datec is owned by Telikom PNG which is a state owned entity owned by Kumul Telikom Holdings (KTH). They use the PPC-1 (via a Moresby-Madang wireless repeater link) and APNG-2 undersea cables to connect to the world wide web; they also buy bandwidth on the DataCo O3b connection. Datec have a large IT store in Waigani just past Waigani Drive on the Poreporena Fwy (Spring Garden Drive). You can go there to pay your bill, talk to customer service (much more effective than call or email) and buy overpriced IT equipment. TE PNG is your other big IT equipment company.

How does Datec internet work?

They will provide you with a Cisco e1200 router and assign it with an IP of either 192.168.20.1 or X.2; the default login to the router is:
Username: admin
Password: ciscoe1200
If you don’t like the e1200 you can use any router you like; see below (does not need to be a modem router).
You will have an airMAX Powerbeam M5 (PBE-M5-400) installed on your roof and an ethernet cable run into your apartment where it plugs into a Power over Ethernet (GP-A240-050) box. You then run another ethernet cable from the PoE to any router you like to share the internet around your apartment. The M5 has a small computer in it which manages your signal decoding, IP gateway and account access, i.e. it’s like your modem. The M5 needs a line of sight to one of the repeater stations around Port Moresby. When it rains, the internet gets a bit sketchy, unsure what causes the interruption though.

Your router settings

All you need is a regular router to share the internet with your household. You plug the PoE box into the internet port at the back of your router, usually yellow or colour different to the rest. In the internet settings area, save the following information:

Connection type: Static IP
IP Address: 192.168.20.2
Default gateway: 192.168.20.1 (try x.10.1 if that doesn’t work)
DNS: 202.95.200.3 and 202.95.202.8 (I tried using Google’s DNS and OpenDNS for a while and it still worked, YMMV)
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

Once you are set up, you will be given this link:
http://ezyisp.datec.net.pg/ezy2/members/index.php
and a username and password that is provided to you by Datec. You can use this site to see your data usage and manage bill payments. To check your data usage, log in, click on VIEW USAGE on the left, then under the Services section there is a button on the right side of the screen “view usage”. You will see a screen similar to the below screenshot. Your on-peak data is the top number in the “Down” column in megabytes. “Down Off Peak” is, clearly, your off-peak data. So looking below, I ended June using 22.9GB of on-peak data and 34GB of off-peak data.

If you go over your off peak or on peak data allowance, your entire internet will completely stop. The delays to the stop have varied, occasionally I can get a few extra GB if I go hard in the last few hours before midnight of the reset. You need to email concierge@datec.net.pg on the day that your internet resets and ask for it to be manually reactivated. If you ask before your month resets, you will be charged for another month. They only check the concierge email on weekdays.

Additional and unimportant tech stuff

I haven’t been able to log into the set up screen of my Powerbeam M5 dish, yet. I know that it’s IP address is likely 192.168.20.120 if this doesn’t give you the login page, you will need to specify the correct port number as well.
If you get onto to M5 setup page there is an area where you enter your Datec username and password (I watched a Datec tech do this). Your username will be something like firstnamelastname_wl@ngn.datec.net.pg and password will be based on one of your names with some symbols and numbers substituted in; you can find this info in your account area. This information used to be in your account area but it is now hidden, for me anyway. It’s through the M5 you can adjust your dish power, frequencies, account settings. Not really worth doing much as billing is still controlled back at base but interesting for people who like to tinker.