How to Stay Connected in Batam: Your Guide to Data Roaming
Photo Source : @UiHua Cheah
These days, data roaming is almost as essential as your passport. From Whatsapp calls to looking up places to go, staying online can make or break your travel experience.
But these all require data to properly work!
Connectivity can vary by country or even regions within the country, and Batam is no exception.
For example, did you know that Malaysian telco signals actually stretch out really far? On your ferry ride from Berjaya Waterfront to Batam, you can still reply to chats and watch TikToks more than halfway through the journey!
With that, here are some tips and tricks to always stay connected during your stay:
1. Check your telco’s data roaming plans
Photo Source : @UiHua Cheah
By far, the easiest way to ensure connectivity is to buy a data roaming plan from your telco.
But what if you don’t have to?
Some providers like UMobile already include free data roaming in Indonesia for some postpaid tiers. This means that you don’t have to pay a sen to stay connected in Batam!
Telcos offer daily passes, along with multi-day and even monthly packages. Depending on the length of your stay, it may be cheaper to buy a week-long package instead of paying for daily passes.
Pro Tip: Always read the fine print. “Unlimited data” doesn’t always mean “unlimited high-speed data”. Many data roaming passes are subject to FUP (Fair Usage Policy) that offers a limited amount of high-speed data, and then throttled speeds after you exhaust your quota.
2. Pocket Wifi rentals are a cost-efficient option for groups
Photo source: Techweez via VOCKET
If you’re travelling in a group, a Pocket Wifi device can be more cost-effective. Essentially, these are portable Wifi routers that multiple people can connect to, and use.
The cost of renting can be as low as RM40 a day, which is significantly cheaper than the combined cost of individual data roaming passes.
Just keep in mind that the group has to be together all the time. Signal strength drops the further you are from the device (or whoever it’s with).
On top of that, usage quotas may still apply. Everyone has to be mindful about their data use, and manage their use of streaming services and always-connected games.
3. Don’t rely on Free Wifi in Batam
Photo Source : @UiHua Cheah
Most hotels offer in-room Wifi. But If you’re banking on using Wifi for free at cafes, you might want to reconsider!
Complimentary wifi is not as common in Batam, although newer cafes are starting to offer it. This means you may need to cafe-hop before finding one that offers public access wifi.
Another factor to take into account is that internet connection in Batam isn’t as stable as in Malaysia, so you may face extremely slow connections (or not be able to connect at all) if there are too many customers hooked up to the wifi.
Overall, you should be using complimentary wifi to ease your roaming quota but not as your primary source of your connection. You may end up spending more on coffee and cakes!
4. Download media from Spotify, Netflix and Google Maps
Photo source: Wondershare
You can still keep up with your favourite shows or jam to your playlists without a connection!
Most media streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube Premium allow you to download episodes, movies, and entire playlists for offline use. In fact, Youtube Premium even has a feature that automatically downloads videos based on your viewing history - which means you’ll always have something to watch even if you forget to download videos in advance.
Just make sure you have enough free space left over on your phone or tablet for photos!
Other useful offline downloads include:
- Google Maps for navigation (but without live data) - here’s how
- Google Translate language packs for Bahasa Indonesia
- Reading materials on your tablet or e-reader
Unfortunately, e-hailing apps don’t work offline, but you can get around this by hiring a car with a personal driver - it’s not as expensive as you think! Click here to read our comparison between e-hailing and car rentals.
Berjaya Waterfront is your strongest connection to Batam!
Photo Source : @UiHua Cheah
Get connected to Batam on the comfortable air-conditioned ferries you can take at Berjaya Waterfront!
As the official entry point in southern Malaysia, Berjaya Waterfront is your one-stop point for tickets, immigration clearance, and duty-free. You can comfortably check your roaming settings, download playlists, and set up that out-of-office reply before embarking on your holiday!
On top of that, there are now stronger connections to Batam because you can take a ferry to the newly opened Gold Coast Bengkong Ferry Terminal!
Click here to learn why this might be your preferred entry point to Batam.
Click here to learn why this might be your preferred entry point to Batam.