Getting connected to the Internet the first time, using a GPRS/EDGE mobile cell phone connection is always a bit of an adventure. New to the country, having done some homework, the first step is to purchase a prepaid SIMCARD. In most countries in the Middle-East and Asia this is no problem. There are mobile cell phone shops in every city.
In most cases one needs to supply a visa and passport copy to the shop owner - that's it. In most cases the SIMCARD works within the hour. And surprisingly, even in Iran, the instructions for the prepaid SIMCARD are also available in English.
Next is to get the GPRS/EDGE settings for WAP and Laptop usage. In a few cases the WAP were sent automatically. The difficult part is to get the APN for connecting a laptop to the internet. This usually requires a call to the helpdesk - hoping for some-one who speaks English and understands what an APN is. Only in Pakistan and Oman this proved to be a challange. In pakistan because most of the helpdesk didn't understand the question. In Oman because they had changed the APN once too many.
With the EDGE/GPRS settings a first laptop connection test to the internet is next. First check the prepaid balance then start the connection, to see how much is deducted if the connection works. When a connection appears, directly check the amount of bytes being transferred and close the connection quickly. Check the prepaid balance again and calculate the charge - check this what is advertised. Usually it matches, sometimes there is no charge till after a few hours.
If there's no Internet connections it's usually the APN which is wrong. Check if there's an Internet connection with the WAP browser in the mobile cell phone. If, that doesn't work either, usually the internet connection is down. If in doubt, call the helpdesk to send the GPRS/EDGE settings again, clearly mentioning the model of the phone. If WAP browsing works, check the internet connection through the laptop. If that still doesn't work check the APN, call the helpdesk and request the APN again. Sometimes the APN changed, and not all helpdesk agents are updated.
Usually the GPRS/EDGE connection works after going through the process above. After this 2 things remain which is the actual speed of the connection and the charge. Sometimes network operators experiment with flat fee's - making GPRS/EDGE connections a bit more affordable. Normally it's a fixed charge by the KiloByte of data transferred.
