What's Your Experiences With Your Internet Service?

[Art2ro]

What are your experiences with your prepaid or postpaid internet service weather they be via your local phone companies, TV cable companies and prepaid or post paid internet plug-in devices? Since there are numerous companies and brand types, I'll just generalize and or mention a few companies and or brand types. Here's my experience with our PLDT phone company and my Smart Bro prepaid internet plug-in device.Since Saturday, July 1st at 1:00 p.m. we experienced a heavy rain storm with fierce lightning strikes disabling our PLDT phone and internet service. Luckily I had my Smart Bro prepaid internet plug-in device, you see them on TV commercials all the time, Globe Tattoo and Smart Bro and etc. Well, I plugged in my Smart Bro device(USB) into my Dell 8" mini laptop which has a 1.2 Gig processor and works pretty well depending on the time of day or night, but only got 41kbps between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., pretty slow! And for some reason I couldn't log on to any of my forum accounts I guess because they didn't recognize my computer, but every thing else I could like email accounts and all of my on-line home banking accounts I previously set up except for my forum accounts! So, I decided to plug it into my desk top which has a 2.2 Gig processor, works great! I got a speed of 1,200kbps, that's faster than my PLDT DSL that's shy of 1Meg at 990kbps. And, I could access all of my accounts as before!My desk top is set up in our upstairs bedroom by the window. I have my Smart Bro connected to my CPU with a 12" shielded USB extension, which I guess to aid in it's GPRS reception. Works great! And I can also reload air time to my Smart Bro from my Smart cellphone or just buy prepaid cards for my Smart Bro. Now, we just waiting for the phone company to come and fix our phone line! Since it is Sunday, they should be out on Monday! Yeah right huh! We'll see!:)

Edited July 4, 2010 by MrBBtheFilAm

[Mr Lee]

I use PLDT for our home (condo) in Cebu since that is all we are allowed in that building, seems the owner made a sweetheart deal with PLDT. The service works OK now that I finally got all the kinks out of it by continually complaining until they got the speed up to what I was paying for, and it has worked OK for 3 years except upon our arrival earlier this year when the dsl was out and it took a few phone calls to get it turned back on. It has been my experience that customer service in the Philippines is seriously lacking and employees are most often poorly trained. My first phone call to complain that it was out was replied to with "we will look into it sir" but since we arrived on a weekend, I had little hope it would get fixed quickly. I called back on Monday and got the same reply, "we will look into it sir," so after sitting there and being very upset and steaming for a few hours, I called back again and asked to speak to a supervisor who got on the phone promptly and she seemed upset that I was upset and told that me she would have someone call me right back, and I said sure in a sarcastic way, but sure enough another lady called right back and was very pleasant. The lady who called me back said, "sir I am going to flip this switch and could you tell me if you have dsl now" I replied that it was still off and she then replied that I should reboot my modem and I did and then it worked. I then asked why they do not have someone working on weekends and her reply shocked me, she said "we have dsl staff on hand 24 hours a day and 7 days a week" so I replied that if all it took to fix it was a flip of the switch, how come someone did not do that over the weekend and not make me wait until Monday and two more calls. The lady was very nice and gave me a dsl phone number to call the next time and assured me that if I called that number then it would be fixed immediately. I guess I will have to wait until I get back again to see if it is still on and find out if she was telling me the truth. Next I also use a USB plug in device by Smart which looks like a large thumb drive and which I think was called BigBro back when I bought it and cost p1995 back then, but it has come down quite a bit in price since then. I use that device when traveling within the Philippines and I have found that if I can find a spot where I have a full signal pin on my cellphone which has a Smart sim in it, that the device works well and was pretty fast when all is considered.  Hopefully others can tell us how other services work for them? and I am really wondering how the Globe USB device works if anyone is using one?

[Jake]

Hey Art, thank you for your comments about your wireless service. This Smart Bro deviceseems to be much faster than your DSL connection. Did you have to pay extra for that12" USB extension? Must be nice that you can relocate the modem for the strongest signal.Again, thank you sir -- JakePS -- I just read Lee's post right above mine. Thank you for some vital information aboutwireless communications in PI. Yeah, you're right Lee -- after service sales is a big onein my book. Thank you.......

[Art2ro]

It's now 11:20 pm, Saturday and I just finally got a faster internet connection with my Smart Bro plug-in for this website to load! So, it does matter on the time of day or evening to get a faster connection even with a strong signal. Also, I have an "Advance Windows Care Pro" program which cost $15.95 annually that has a "Turbo Boost On" button to eliminate some of the unnecessary programs running in the back ground as to optimize my internet speed, works great! My 12" shielded USB extension came with my Smart Bro, paid only P1,195 when they first came out, but I don't really know if it improves my signal reception, because I have always have had a strong signal in our bedroom upstairs! Now my second Smart Bro plug-in device only cost P995, but didn't come with the 12" USB extension, because I guess it's the new and improve type not requiring the 12" USB extension. Also my 2nd device has a different format appearance which looks different from my my other one that I bought a year earlier. You just have to be patient using these internet plug-in devices and see the best hours to use them, because it does seem to matter! Some may get frustrated with them and just throw it out the window or trash can! But, when you do get a good and fast internet connection, it's fast beyond 1Meg! Between 32kbps to 41kbps if you're unlucky! BTW, when I mentioned in my previous post where I said I couldn't log on onto my forum accounts, well disregard that, because now I can! I don't why it wouldn't before. I've also used my Smart Bro on my Dell 8" mini laptop with Skype out of doors and was able to call anywhere in the U.S. either with the free PC to PC calling or paid type averaging $1.22 per hour! I was able to email PLDT customer service using my Smart Bro concerning our home phone and DSL being out of service. They're usually pretty good about responding within 48 hrs! I'll see tomorrow which is Monday if I get a reply via my cellphone since my home phone is out of order. I just may look into other internet service providers in the near future and ask around the other different types like via the Cable TV companies or the Globe line Company! Any suggestions or information about other internet services will be appreciated!

Edited July 4, 2010 by MrBBtheFilAm

[Art2ro]

Yeah, it's now Monday 11:37 am and I'm on-line again with my Smart Bro plug-in and seem to have gotten a fast internet connection this time of morning near lunch time! When ever I get a slow connection, I just shut down my Smart Bro and turn it back on again hoping to get a faster internet connection, it usually works after the 2nd restart! And my "Advanced Windows Care Pro" program with the "Turbo Boost" helps eliminate other non-essential running programs in the background on my desk top! Works great! As I said, anyone using these internet plug-in devices just have to be patient with them, because the internet speed varies from time to time and location! Any of the brand model internet plug-in devices have post paid service plans, limited or unlimited use. Me personally, I just go with the prepaid cards because I can control my usage and not go over board! Well, that's all for now! Good luck with all of your internet experiences whatever they may be! I just hope my little personal experience has help some people how some of these other internet services works and the problems that may arise with their own existing phone or internet service! I for one, am satisfied with the service PLDT has provided me in the past 8 years and shouldn't have to look any more for another service provider for a long while, unless it's a must have type of thing, like an organ transplant! "Knock on wood!"

Edited July 5, 2010 by MrBBtheFilAm

[Art2ro]

Good news! It's now Monday 12:03 p.m., just a few minutes after my previous post here 20 mins ago and my PLDT phone line and DSL internet is now back on again and no one from PLDT even came out to our home! PLDT customer service emailed me a day after, telling me they already issued a work order to followup on our phone line and DSL being out of order! Guess it was in their terminal system side of the house and was easy to reset my system at home! Anyway, Huraaaah to PLDT for their quick response and it only took an email to do it within 48 hrs! I really hate calling them, because I just get the usual run around and just gets my temper to the boiling point at times, so I just prefer sending them a nice and polite email the first time around, my 2nd or 3rd emails gets ugly if I have to resort to that if they give me too many excuses, but usually it works for me every time the first time around, but in this case I sent them 3 consecutive emails to let them know I meant business! :)

Edited July 5, 2010 by MrBBtheFilAm

[MikeB]

My friend in Manila has Globe. Everything in his home, including all the internet equipment was destroyed by the Ondoy flood in Sept. Internet service was the last thing to be restored and when it finally was - 3 months later, Globe sent a contractor to replace their equipment. He did but still no connectivity and was told "24 hours, sir". That came and went and after a few phone calls to customer service they were told that service could not be restored because there was a past due bill that included the months there was no service to the area. They finally agreed to remove the "no service" months and he would just have to pay the current month, which they promptly did and were told, "24 hours, sir". For 6 weeks, into February when I visited, they called at least twice a day and went to the office and were told "they're working on it" and "24 hours" - 1st tier support, supervisor, manager all same story. Finally, they cancelled the old account and opened a new one with a different name - same address. That "fixed" it. Nothing technical, just a billing snafu. Unbelievable.

[Travis]

I use PLDT & it goes out a few times many days & usually only for seconds or minutes & I might never even know it except I also use AOL in the background & it says goodbye & hello so I feel wanted & not so lonely in my small apartment

[Art2ro]

I use PLDT & it goes out a few times many days & usually only for seconds or minutes & I might never even know it except I also use AOL in the background & it says goodbye & hello so I feel wanted & not so lonely in my small apartment

Yeah, when we still lived in the U.S., we had AOL dial-up! I too liked it when AOL greeted me hello, good bye and "you got mail baby!" Now, I don't have that with my present server! All I get are whistles, bells, buzzes,"YAHOOOOOOO-OOOO" to tell me I got mail and "your anti-virus data base has been updated from Avast, but I turned that off because it got annoying! Oh well, can't have everything!When we first moved into our new home in 2001, it took 3 years before we got cable TV, a phone and DSL! Now, I'm a "Happy Camper!":AddEmoticons04230: Edited July 5, 2010 by MrBBtheFilAm

[Jake]

My friend in Manila has Globe. Everything in his home, including all the internet equipment was destroyed by the Ondoy flood in Sept. Internet service was the last thing to be restored and when it finally was - 3 months later, Globe sent a contractor to replace their equipment. He did but still no connectivity and was told "24 hours, sir". That came and went and after a few phone calls to customer service they were told that service could not be restored because there was a past due bill that included the months there was no service to the area. They finally agreed to remove the "no service" months and he would just have to pay the current month, which they promptly did and were told, "24 hours, sir". For 6 weeks, into February when I visited, they called at least twice a day and went to the office and were told "they're working on it" and "24 hours" - 1st tier support, supervisor, manager all same story. Finally, they cancelled the old account and opened a new one with a different name - same address. That "fixed" it. Nothing technical, just a billing snafu. Unbelievable.

Incredible story MikeB, thank you for sharing that information about after service sales.It only took a few keyboard strokes to fix the problem and yet the siesta atmosphere incustomer service still continues to piss off a lot of people. Respectfully -- Jake