SmartBro WiMax VI: Modem Problems Again (Part II)

I haven't brought my modem yet to the Smart Wireless Center. I've been stressing about it lately and finally decided that I've had enough. This WiMax connection has been one of my stressors since the day I applied for it, sad to say. I don't have the time to bring their defective modem back and have it replaced only for the replacement modem to break down after a couple of weeks. I don't have the patience to do that anymore.

I wrote a letter to Smart Communications requesting termination of their service without having to pay for the pre-termination fee (PSF) and other such payments related to disconnection. I sent it through their WebConnect service 24 hours ago, and they haven't responded yet. But then it says that "valid" requests will be responded to within 24-48 hours of submission. I wonder how they classify a valid request. Anyway, if they don't respond within the hours they said, I will send them an email again or maybe go straight to the NTC.

I am actually very, very tempted to just ignore it, get another broadband subscription from one of their competitors. After all, all they could do if I don't pay up is to sell my account to one of the collection agencies, and then these collection agencies would send demand letters, have a "lawyer" call me and threaten to sue me. They can sue me all they want, I know that I won't be jailed for it. Section 20 of the Philippine Constitution states that: No person shall be imprisoned for debt or non- payment of a poll tax.

Real lawyers don't threaten people or coerce them to pay up or they will sue. That only happens on TV. I know that for a fact because I come from a family of lawyers too, and they don't act that way. 

Au contraire, if the consumer is actually forced to pay up or threatened, these "lawyers" can be the ones to be sued as stated in the Revised Penal Code Article 287.

Smartbro WiMAX Review V: Modem Problems

This morning my modem restarted suddenly. Now I didn't see any problem with it since I think it's a normal thing. However, I noticed that it could not find a signal, so I went ahead and checked it's control panel.

It turns out that it had hard-reset itself and now Smart's configuration (Security, Username, Password and Realm) is gone, so obviously it would not be possible to connect to Smart WiMAX internet. (I'm using my other internet connection now, btw).

I decided to call customer service despite the numerous claims that they sucked. I got a technical support rep in just one try. I then proceeded to tell him my story, and that I needed Smart's configuration to make the modem work. However, this happened:

1. He asked me if the modem had "running lights", and told me that it was looking for a signal. He suggested that I reconnect the modem and wait for it to find a signal. Which is a stupid thing to suggest, by the way, since the modem does not have Smart's configuration, obviously IT WOULD NOT FIND A SIGNAL.
2. So I asked him if it was possible for him to give me the configuration instead, but he told me that they don't cater to that request, and then proceeded on the "running lights" solution once again. This time I told him that I was actually an EcE and I at least knew the basic things about modems and how they FREAKING NEED the username and password from the freaking internet service provider for them to work. Actually, one does not have to be an EcE to know that! Nowadays, it's called "common sense".
3. Again with the "running lights".
4. When I asked him if I should just bring my modem to the wireless center, he actually was discouraging me to do so! He told me that what they do is the same with what the wireless center would do. It also seemed that he wanted to waste more of my time by lengthening the conversation. What, do they have a time quota for every call they get?

I'll be bringing my modem to the wireless center later, and hopefully they fix it as soon as possible.

*******

Update:

When I had my modem checked at the wireless center, the customer care representative did not get to find out what was wrong with it, so she had it replaced with a new one, which I am using right now. She also did not have any idea about the username and password necessary for the modem to connect to the internet. The tech support was right about one thing though: that the wireless center customer care would do the same exact procedure he was asking me to do (although I've done it numerous times already, that's how I knew what was wrong), although of course as he was on the phone, he couldn't replace my modem, which the wireless center could do. LOL.

Tatagalugin ko na: Smart, pwede ba paki-update yung mga manuals ng mga customer service at technical support reps nyo para hindi sila nagmumukang tanga. At wag nyong pagmukaing tanga ang mga customers nyo, matagal nang gumagamit ang mga tao ng modem kaya kahit papano alam na nila yung basic troubleshooting. Nagsasayang kayo ng pampasweldo sa kanila, wala naman silang naitutulong sa mga customers.


Ok I'm done ranting. It's just so frustrating that the one thing that you need, you couldn't get because of stupid people. Anyway, I'm just glad I have a new modem. And now for the test drive.

*******
Another update:


I can surf now! I was expecting the internet to be super slow at this time yet here I am updating my blog. So the modem was really the problem then. Or the base station. Since I have a new modem I also got a new serving site too. Hmm. Lemme ask my friend who works at Smart. :)

Smartbro Wimax Review Part IV

So it so happens that I have a close friend working at Smart whose expertise happens to be Wimax technology, and I happened to talk to him this morning.

This post was what started the grueling whole-morning troubleshooting of the problem of my connection. Unfortunately, the only thing he can check is the status of the serving site if it's behaving efficiently. So here's what I got from him:

1. The modem doesn't have to be in the line of sight of the serving site.
2. I'm the only one using Wimax on the sector I belong in so there shouldn't be a problem. Sorry I couldn't explain what a "sector" exactly is.

After he checked the status of the serving site, he said that there was no problem there, so I'm back to square one. He told me to try to call customer service but he also forwarded my problem to the complaints department already. I guess I'll just have to wait and hope that this gets resolved soon. :)

Smartbro Wimax Review Part III

So today's the 5th day of my Wimax connection. And it's getting pretty frustrating on the browsing part.

I've noticed that the connection almost stops - yes, STOPS - from around 7PM to 11PM. I could download my torrents but it's a bit slower than normal, and I could *not* surf the internet. I just hope this improves overtime. I hope someone from Smart reads this. :)

Smartbro Wimax Review Part II

As promised, here's a photo of my WiMax modem:

Motorola CPEi 825

As you can see, I'm very fortunate to have good reception (the five signal lights on the left side of the modem are all lit). This with my room at the back of our apartment and surrounded by high walls. I hope this does not change though.

This is almost my 3rd day of testing the internet connection. It has been pretty stable most of the time, but as is expected with Philippine internet connections, there are "set" times when the connection is slow and/or intermittent. I've observed that this certain connection bogs down at around 6 or 7 PM until 11 PM. Unfortunately for me, those are the times I am most active online, although I don't really do heavy stuff; I just surf and also check my email.

Torrent downloading is definitely fast - fastest I've seen is 125kBps (multiple downloads); I don't do streaming so I haven't observed it, but I'll try it one of these days if I remember. :)

Smartbro Wimax Review

Last September 17, I bought a voucher from Cashcashpinoy on Smartbro Wimax 1Mbps (125MBps ***edit*** 0.125MBps ***edit***) subscription plus *free* modem for Php799/month, with lock in period of 24 months. I redeemed this yesterday, and since there were a lot of people in the Smart/PLDT center, it took almost 2 hours before I got my modem and subscription. I actually already have another internet subscription from another network, but since their connection is below average, I decided to try Smartbro Wimax.

The moment I got home, I ran to my room to test my new toy - a Motorola CPEi 825 Wimax modem. It was a breeze to install the product, but it took quite a while to find a signal. When it did, all the five signal bars were lit, which means I have perfect reception from my room. Oh and by the way, I first placed the modem on the window ledge to get maximum coverage, but since I didn't want to damage it (I heard it was hard to get customer service from Smart - haven't confirmed this yet, but I'm just playing safe. :D), I transferred it on my desk, which is still near the window so there was no difference in the signal bars. It took me a little more than 30 minutes to completely finish the setup (what, there were a lot of cables involved! :p).

When I started browsing though, was another story. I thought I'd try to check my connection's speed through one of the speed test sites. I noticed that my internet kept disconnecting and it was so slow. The speed test site even barely finished loading. I was really worried then because of the lock-in period. I could not last two years with that kind of connection. It was even slower than my 3G internet. :(

I tried all sorts of experiments to make the connection smoother and faster - I straightened the ethernet cable, updated the driver of my ethernet controller, restarted the modem - to no avail. But then at around 1130pm, the internet came to life! I had my torrent downloader on and it registered 60-80kBps download speed; although surfing was still kind of slow for me. I tried another speed test and it only registered 0.25Mbps download speed, which should be around 30kBps download speed only (is my assumption correct? Sheesh, I'm a certified EcE and yet I'm not so familiar with this stuff).

And so I tested this connection until around about half past 12 - way, way past my bedtime - and there were no downtimes unlike when I first fired up the modem; and yes, it was faster than my 3G internet, which is the way it's supposed to be.

In the morning, upon waking up, which was around 5:30, I checked my torrents and was satisfied that at least 600MB worth of files has already been downloaded, and there was another 300MB+ file about to finish, plus my 50+% One Tree Hill Season 7 download (7.5GB) has reached 70+%, which is not bad. True to their word, Smart's claim of it being more stable has been proven, at least in the first day of my subscription. I sure do hope this does not change for the worse though, I'm actually beginning to love my Wimax. <3

I'll still be observing it for the next couple of weeks and posting reviews every now and then, so stay tuned! :) Photos will be posted soon, I promise!