Category Archives: Broadband Malaysia

Netlynx: Broadband Up To 10Mbps From TIME dotCom

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I read that TIME dotCom is providing a broadband service named Netlynx with speeds up to 10mbps. There are four packages available — 2, 4, 6 and 10mbps — costing from RM99 per month up to RM499 per month respectively. They are providing discounts of RM20 to RM30 for each package until the end of this year. The official website for this broadband service is Netlynx.net.my.

Netlynx: TIME dotCom broadband 10mbps

The domain name was registered only early this month indicating that this website is in fact very new. After scanning through Netlynx’s official website, I noticed a few improvements that are needed for it.

  • Blue and red are two very strong colors. I am not an expert in color balancing for website designs but my eyes were “hurting” after a brief view of the website. Red text on a blue background is a definite no-no. I understand that TIME dotCom’s official colors are blue and red but that doesn’t mean you need to cover 70% of the website with these two colors.
  • The entire website is a “large banner” consisting of six images. As much as I do not like websites designed entirely in flash, designing an entire page where all the text are embedded in images is worse.
  • There are no information on where or how to subscribe. The contact number of TIME dotCom is not present anywhere in the website. It is like ordering from a menu only to be told by the waiter that none of the items are available.

It is good that more ISPs are giving new alternatives for users. I am not sure if Netlynx is available throughout Malaysia because, you guessed it, this information is not in the website.

[Via: MohdIsmail]

103bees: How To Make F Streamyx Faster

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I have been using 103bees.com to track my blog’s stats for a month or two now. Although I do not fully utilize its features, I do enjoy occasionally checking out what others are searching for that ended up on my blogs. I checked it again a while ago and saw the information displayed in the screenshot below.

How to make F Streamyx faster?

I really shouldn’t be surprised. Are you surprised? I wonder when TM Net will upgrade their Streamyx broadband to something more presentable. I do hope that WiMAX’s launch in middle of 2008 will finally see some improvement in the broadband service in Malaysia. I do not dare to put too much hope in it though. Someone might just search for “How to make F WiMAX faster?” and land on one of my posts in the future!

Streamyx Finally Providing Faster Broadband Connection?

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TM Net upgraded their services a week ago probably to improve their ailing broadband services (Streamyx). I did not feel any significant performance boost or stability in the past few days. However, the frequency of the line dropping off has reduced slightly. This is when my 3 Steps To Restore A Broadband (Streamyx) Connection still comes in handy.

I did some speed test in between and noted that my connection is fast only when I am allocated with IP addresses that begin with either 218.x.x.x or 219.x.x.x. The 60.x.x.x range has been known to suck big time. I was totally surprised when I did a speed test a while ago on a 60.x.x.x IP address range and got a really fast broadband connection speed.

Test result of Streamyx broadband

Streamyx speed test

I am on the 512kbps package. The usual speed I get on this IP address range is a pathetic 200-300 kbps with a ping time of over 800ms. I wonder if this marks the start towards a better broadband service from Streamyx. I do hope so. I haven’t tested if Streamyx is still cutting off my connection when Bitcomet is running. For this, I hope not.

Celcom Broadband: RM68 Broadband In Malaysia

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Check out this latest Celcom Broadband promotion:
Celcom Broadband + Compaq Notebook + Modem Only RM159 A Month

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Celcom Broadband was launched early this month. It promises true mobility and lightning speed internet access to its users whether they are surfing from home or outdoors.

Plan and rates:

There are 3 plans available. You can choose to subscribe at RM8 for 24 hours unlimited, RM68 for a monthly unlimited access, or pay-per-use at 10 cents per 10kb. The chart below shows a comparison of Celcom’s rate compared to its rival.

Celcom broadband price comparison with competitor

How to subscribe?

Existing Celcom subscribers:

  • Daily Unlimited – Register via SMS or dial *118#
  • Monthly Unlimited – Register at any Celcom Service Centre or selected dealer

Non-Celcom subscribers:

  • Register at the nearest Celcom Service Centre.

What you need?

Laptop or notebook users require a:

  • USB modem
  • Datacard, or
  • A GPRS and/or 3G enabled mobile phone

What is the catch?

#1: The advertised 384kbps speed can only be “obtained” if your phone supports 3G and you are in an area that is covered by the Celcom broadband service.

#2: If your phone does not support 3G or you are not in the service area, you are running on their GPRS service which provides a bandwidth of 60-70kbps only. That is just slightly faster than a dialup connection.

Note: Bandwidth figures and other information were obtained from Celcom’s call center.

UPDATED:
1) You will need to have a 3G sim card in order to get the 384kbps bandwidth. Or else, it will only be 112kbps max.

2) The 3GX that offers you up to 3.6mbps is open for invitations only. You will receive an SMS if you are the lucky one. Even then, you will need to be within the coverage area.

3) The USB modem (Huawei E220) is sold at RM900+ to RM1,200+. You will need to look around to get a good deal on this. My friend bought it for RM1,100 last week.

3 Steps To Restore A Broadband (Streamyx) Connection

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If you live in Malaysia, you would have probably experienced or at least heard of the poor quality of broadband services (Streamyx) in Malaysia. Just do a quick search with technorati and petalingstreet reveals countless complaints about the poor quality of broadband service it serves.

This point is further strengthened with a website created dedicated to expose the lousy services that Streamyx provides. I found a blog post published by someone living in Australia who doesn’t use Streamyx but knows that Streamyx sucks. He compared his 56kb/s connection to the 512kb/s broadband Streamyx serves and claims that his 56kb/s doesn’t lag compared to Streamyx’s.

I’m fortunate enough to live in an area where my Streamyx connection isn’t perfect, but it isn’t as bad as some claims they have. However, there are times when my connection drops or becomes unstable as well. Whenever that happens, there is a “routine” that I perform to restore the connection. I have been doing it for some time now. Therefore I believe it “should work”.

I even tested the same “routine” when I was having problems with the Streamyx connection when I was in PJ some time ago. Happy to say that it worked there as well. So, fingers crossed, I hope it works for you as well. This “routine” should work, provided that the Streamyx connection in your area is not “borned” crappy — if you know what I mean. Here goes:

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Step 1: Ping your default gateway infinitely

Firstly, you will need to find out what your “Default Gateway” is. To find this out, start up command prompt. (Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> Command Prompt) Type “ipconfig” and hit the <enter> key. From the screenshot below, my default gateway is set to 192.168.0.1. Write down *your* default gateway.

Displaying default gateway

Now that you have your default gateway, you can start to ping it. Type “ping <your default gateway> -t” and hit the <enter> key.

Ping the default gateway

To cancel the ping, press the “Ctrl key” and “C” together (Ctrl + C) or just click on the “X” on the top right of the window. You should try pinging your default gateway for 1 to 2 minutes. Sometimes, my connection will be restored with this process. However, if you have been pinging your default gateway for more than 5 minutes but your connection is still dead, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Disable your Local Area Network and restarting it

This step works best when you have other computers connected to the router that are still able to surf the Internet but only yours are not able to. Firstly, you will need to open up your “Network Connections” folder. You can do this by going to (Start –> Control Panels) and selecting “Network Connections“. An alternative way will be to “Right-Click” on the “Local Area Connection” icon on the taskbar, and selecting “Open Network Connections“.

Opening up Network Connections

You can then disable it by following the next process. “Right-Click” on the “Local Area Connection” icon and select “Disable“.

Disabling the Local Area Connection

Wait for 30-60 seconds or more. Enable it back by “Right-click” on the “Local Area Connection” and selecting “Enable“.

Enabling the Local Area Connection

You will need to wait for another 30 to 60 seconds or so before your connection will be ready. If nothing happens, give it a little “boost” by repeating Step 1.

Step 3: Restarting your ADSL modem

If the 2 steps above failed, your last hope is to restart the ADSL modem. Below is a picture of how my ADSL modem looks like when it is “connected to the Internet” and on “standby”. Whenever the connection to the Internet drops, the LED on the top that shows “LINK” will be blinking. If that happens, I know it’s time to restart the ADSL modem. Since different ADSL modem “behaves” differently, you’ll need to observe your own ADSL modem to see how yours works.

ADSL modem status

What you need to do is to switch off the ADSL modem. Let it stay that way for 30 to 60 seconds or more. Switch it back on right after that. You might need to wait a while before the connection goes back online. If nothing happens, give it a little “boost” by repeating Step 1.

So far, I’m happy to say that my connection will always be restored after going through step 1 to 3. I hope it works for you as well.

Step 4: (Bonus) Streamyx Customer Service

Heck, if all the steps given above doesn’t work, there is always the “Streamyx Customer Service” team. ;-) I’m not too sure if this step works but you may give it a try. LOL. I found an audio file that I heard sometime ago about a conversation between a Streamyx customer and their customer service. It is a little funny, yet disturbing. Proceed with caution.

TMNet User VS Customer Service