PLDT Upgrade

[Gandang Smile]

7 hours ago, Shady said:

Not free, they're included in the Mesh package price.

You are right.

Actually, PLDT changes the offering once or twice a year. When I signed up for my plan, Home Fibr 6099 was called if memory serves me, the Google Mesh were included. I told them I didn't need them but they came for free, so didn't have much of a choice. They might have made them optional on some of the mid-to-high range packages.

As an IT person, for those who are building a new house, I would strongly recommend investing a few thousand extra pesos in having Ethernet Cat 6A running into the walls. It's much superior than WiFi and ideal for those who work from home from a fixed PC, like me.

[Gandang Smile]

By the way, Philippine companies often fail to provide basic service but credit should be given when it's due. Since I moved here to this place in Ortigas, with fiber in the building, and subscribed to the PLDT Home Fibr, I had virtually zero trouble with my Internet connection, both in speed and reliability.

I sometimes hear problems from my colleagues and friends in the UK and Italy who are largely working from home and wonder about the real state of residential Internet connectivity.

It has always been blazing fast when downloading large files, very smooth and responsive connecting to multiple machines in remote desktop mode. I have to think that, at least in some specific metropolitan bubbles like the CBDs, where offices and BPOs abound, the national carrier might have just gotten it right.

The negative is the price: P 6,100 ($130) a month is not exactly a bargain, although I know that countries like Australia have similar prices for packages of comparable speed.

[GeoffH]

45 minutes ago, Gandang Smile said:

I get the full speed of the connection, which right now is around 300 Mbps download/upload.

It's true that Google Mesh won't support very fast internet connections but in most parts of the Philippines anything faster than 100MBps simply isn't available (in fact many expats struggle to get a reliable 5 or 10MBps), so it wasn't really a factor in my thought process but you make a valid point.

[hk blues]

2 hours ago, Gandang Smile said:

By the way, Philippine companies often fail to provide basic service but credit should be given when it's due. Since I moved here to this place in Ortigas, with fiber in the building, and subscribed to the PLDT Home Fibr, I had virtually zero trouble with my Internet connection, both in speed and reliability.

I sometimes hear problems from my colleagues and friends in the UK and Italy who are largely working from home and wonder about the real state of residential Internet connectivity.

It has always been blazing fast when downloading large files, very smooth and responsive connecting to multiple machines in remote desktop mode. I have to think that, at least in some specific metropolitan bubbles like the CBDs, where offices and BPOs abound, the national carrier might have just gotten it right.

The negative is the price: P 6,100 ($130) a month is not exactly a bargain, although I know that countries like Australia have similar prices for packages of comparable speed.

6,100php is very expensive IMO.  I pay Globe 1899php for 20mbps fiber hybrid - works well 99% of the time.  I get around 16-18mbps without fail even at night when many say speeds drop.  Upload is not so great at around 4-5mbps but more than enough for our needs. 

[GeoffH]

2 hours ago, hk blues said:

6,100php is very expensive IMO.  I pay Globe 1899php for 20mbps fiber hybrid - works well 99% of the time.

We have a choice between 30MBps at 2400php with about 130 pretty ordinary TV channels or 10MBPs at 1700php with about 120 pretty ordinary TV channels.  100 MBps has been on signs as 'coming soon' for several years now (the signs are getting rather faded). Most of the time it runs at the rated speed and we can swap up and down between speeds if wanted, it works fine most of the time and at or near the rated speeds but international web sites can be slow at times.

In Australia I pay 2000 peso for 25 down and 5 up and whilst the download speed is a bit faster in the Phils the ping times tend to be quicker in Aussie (I don't think PLDT have a DNS in CDO).

My budget wouldn't stretch to 6000 peso (about $130 AU) for internet.

Edited November 24, 2020 by GeoffH

[hk blues]

13 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

We have a choice between 30MBps at 2400php with about 130 pretty ordinary TV channels or 10MBPs at 1700php with about 120 pretty ordinary TV channels.  100 MBps has been on signs as 'coming soon' for several years now (the signs are getting rather faded). Most of the time it runs at the rated speed and we can swap up and down between speeds if wanted, it works fine most of the time and at or near the rated speeds but international web sites can be slow at times.

In Australia I pay 2000 peso for 25 down and 5 up and whilst the download speed is a bit faster in the Phils the ping times tend to be quicker in Aussie (I don't think PLDT have a DNS in CDO).

My budget wouldn't stretch to 6000 peso (about $130 AU) for internet.

I don't even think Globe offer such a plan in my area anyway - and if they did I wouldn't be looking at paying that amount.  In all fairness, compared to even 2 years ago the reliability and speed have improved considerably - rightly so given the relatively high cost of internet here.  

[Gandang Smile]

3 hours ago, hk blues said:

6,100php is very expensive IMO.  I pay Globe 1899php for 20mbps fiber hybrid - works well 99% of the time.  I get around 16-18mbps without fail even at night when many say speeds drop.  Upload is not so great at around 4-5mbps but more than enough for our needs. 

What's "fiber hybrid"? Fiber on download and ADSL on upload? 

I agree, P6000 a month just for the Internet connection is something no household should need or afford. I am basically using it as a business connection, since I work from my home office all the time. I probably don't need 300 Mbit all the time but if there were problems on average once a week, like I used to have with Globe when I was in Davao, I would be in trouble with my clients.

[Gandang Smile]

1 hour ago, GeoffH said:

In Australia I pay 2000 peso for 25 down and 5 up and whilst the download speed is a bit faster in the Phils the ping times tend to be quicker in Aussie (I don't think PLDT have a DNS in CDO).

2000 PHP or about 45 USD a month for a 25 Mbps connection is quite expensive by European standards. It kind of confirms that Internet is relatively expensive down under (Telstra a monopoly?) 

Edited November 24, 2020 by Gandang Smile

[GeoffH]

1 minute ago, Gandang Smile said:

What's "fiber hybrid"? Fiber on download and ADSL on upload? 

Fiber to the node box (then copper) called FTTN or Fibre to the curb (then copper) FTTC.

Around CDO I've seen ADSL, ADSL2+, cable internet, satellite and all fiber connections.

 

[Gandang Smile]

1 minute ago, GeoffH said:

Fiber to the node box (then copper) called FTTN or Fibre to the curb (then copper) FTTC.

Around CDO I've seen ADSL, ADSL2+, cable internet, satellite and all fiber connections.

 

Oh I see. For residential usage I think your setup is pretty good!