Jinja Island: The Internet / Phone

I have not been posting like I wanted to, so my first new post will be about why that is. On my last trip into town, I forgot the doohicky. Read on about why forgetting the doohicky is a problem…

On Jinja Island, internet service is provided by a little doohicky (looks like a memory stick) that you buy in town and load with a SIM card (that you pay for separately) that contains your data allowance. As with internet on your smart-phone, you pay for data, not time. I’m guessing that this is because internet service here is hitch-hiking on the cellular network.

On Jinja, you then plug this doohicky into the router (see pic, thing sticking in on top) where it produces a wifi network. But, you could just as easily plug the doohicky directly into a laptop and use it locally. As for the the wifi signal – you can pick it up all through the house, but not far outside of it.

It ain’t cheap, and getting back into town to re-load the doohicky is a pain, so you have to be very deliberate with your internet browsing and downloading. I’m guessing that Facebook videos that show automatically in your feed are not your friend. You most certainly do NOT download or stream any video. I have downloaded some books and podcasts. That’s not a huge burden.

Just like the subway does not disappear when your fare card is used up, the internet does not disappear when your SIM card’s data allowance dries up. In fact, Digicel lets you keep accessing certain sites and apps even when you have no data. So far I have discovered that these include Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Wikipedia, and WhatsApp.

Also, any content that has been embedded directly into Facebook can be viewed, even if you are out of data. This is how I was able to have a Rick & Morty marathon on my rainy July 4^th, even though my data was dry – internet saints had posted all Rick & Morty episodes to Facebook.

In my four days without data, I became very proficient in looking for pirated content embedded in Facebook, but only because I had to! I’m a big proponent of always paying creatives for content.

In Bocas Town, wifi is a given at any hotel or hostel catering to a non-Panamanian crowd, or upscale Panamanians. Even so, it’s not always good. I’m not sure if they use the doohicky system or something more regular and by-the-month. What I do know is that even when power goes out (which is often, even when there is no storm), if an establishment has a generator to keep essentials running, wifi is one of them. This is why, as I sit here typing, internet is working at Selina Hostel even thought there are no lights and no water pressure (because the pumps have no power – no water towers here).

Although I HATE to say it, I’m starting to appreciate Comcast a little bit. Just a little bit. Bastards.

And then there’s local phone service – to access this I just bought the cheapest thing that I could, a “candybar” burner phone that takes pay-as-you-go SIM cards. I only turn it on when I need to call a lancha from Jinja Island.