Critical Mindset: communications

A lot of hype are spreading around due to enhancements that our Telcos are doing with their network. The emergence of the term "4G" seems to have boggled people's curiousity and Telcos took advantage of people's ignorance and used it as a marketing strategy - even if they are not really offering what really is to be expected of 4G. Lots of wireless broadband subscription offerings are coming out lately, like Globe's Tonino Lamborghini promising speeds of up to 10 Mbps. Just recently, this news surprised me that Smart is loading their guns with their new Smart Bro Rocket WiFi Plus offering speeds of up to 20 Mbps (albeit the ridiculously expensive pricing scheme). The offerings for wired connection also gets better albeit more expensive. Then, new players have recently joined the competition recently like Wi-Tribe, Sky Broadband, etc.

However, I'll be blatant here - internet services here in the Philippines are still subpar when compared internationally. Most of the wireless internet connections that we have here promises super fast speeds but are very erratic in reality. At one point you can be as high as 10 Mbps but can also be crap like 0.11 Mbps. The same goes with wired connections but to a lesser extent. Telcos here deceivingly use the terms "up to X Mbps" because they can't promise to deliver the promised speed everytime.

At this point, it's too hard to choose a good broadband internet connection that will truly satisfy your needs. ISPs don't offer any trial periods - once you subscribe, you're locked with that ISP for 1 or 2 years. If you're not satisfied, disconnection fees are very expensive, unless you're having issues with it that really affects your browsing experience (e.g. intermittent connection).

So what are the factors that we need to consider in choosing an internet connection we will not regret at the end? Below is a short list of the things you must assess and some recommendations based on subscriber feedback. I may be wrong, so feel free to choose whatever you think is the best. BTW, most of the things I've discussed are based on my experience and feedbacks about ISPs here in the Philippines but the tips here are applicable even for ISPs abroad.

1. Type of User. If you're the type of user who enjoys internet at the comfort of your own home then nothing can replace a wired DSL connection. It is still the best and most reliable broadband internet out there, wireless internet has still long ways to go to match its reliability. However, if you're let's say a full-time blogger, internet shop owner, or online freelancer and your internet connection is your primary source of income then you might want to consider getting a redundant/secondary connection. Yes, it's gonna cost you a lot more, but you'll never know when your primary internet connection will get busted. When that happens, you suffer a lot as you don't know how long it's gonna take for it to restore. I have my Globe DSL knocked out by typhoon Pedring and it's been out of commission for more than 2 weeks now. I could have called Globe and raged on their customer service if I didn't have my Superstick. They promised that I will have a rebate due to this downtime though. So my suggestion? Get a USB broadband stick or wi-fi stick snapped with prepaid internet that you can use in case of emergencies like this.

On the other hand, if you have a laptop and want internet on the go, then wireless internet is for you. Get a USB broadband stick or wi-fi stick that you can bring everywhere. This is my recommendation especially to photography bloggers who travels a lot and updates their blogs with breathtaking photographs of their adventures. Some people just buy smartphones capable of wi-fi tethering which is sharing their smartphone's internet connection with their other wi-fi capable devices. Then they just subscribe to a smartphone internet plan. That's perfectly fine.

2. Location. If you're living in a mountain, or in the middle of the sea, or somewhere far away like Batanes Group of Islands or wherever, you might be left with satellite internet as your only choice. It's self-explanatory. ^__^ Obviously, your location dictates which ISPs you can subscribe to. When I was deciding which ISP to subscribe when I was in Nueva Ecija, my first choice was actually PLDT myDSL. However, they were endlessly telling us to wait till they have collected 200 pending subscribers as they are out of slots already. We've waited for almost a year but to no avail. Later though we found out that one of our neighbors was using Globe DSL and he's pretty satisfied with it so I was like "screw it, I'm getting Globe DSL instead".

In addtion, your location matters so much as ISPs have different performances in different places, especially if you're considering getting a wireless broadband connection. The same is also true with wired connection. My Globe DSL in Nueva Ecija might be very stable and satisfying, but it's unstable in Mandaluyong area especially when it rains (maybe due to flooding). I'm quite satisfied with my Globe Superstick here in Manila, but it was so bad when I took it home in Nueva Ecija. This is probably the most important factor.

So how do you determine which ISP is the best choice in your location? For wired connection, you ask for feedback from other people in your area of course. You need to ask your neighbor of his choice of wired internet and if he's satisfied with it. You may also want to research in forums and blogs.

It's a different story when it comes to wireless connection though. Your neighbor might have a very good connection with his 3G wireless internet stick but there's still a chance that you can't have the same satisfaction when you try it in your home especially if your house is a little bit too far from a cellsite or there are obstructions to your line of sight with it. So in this case, you might want to test first if you have acceptable performance in your home. Borrow someone else's USB/Wi-Fi stick or buy one yourself (if you can afford it) and test the connection via prepaid. Test it in every corner of your home, put in your window, kitchen, bedroom, garage, bathroom and check which area your stick can receive the best signal.

3. Usage. What are you gonna use your internet for? If you're a heavy downloader who wants to get the latest HD movies and porn from torrent and save them on your 2 TB external hard disk then choose an internet with a higher download rate. It doesn't matter if it's wired or wireless as long as the download rate is high, like 2 Mbps or more. If downloading is all that you'll do with your internet then it can be practical to get USB broadband internet postpaid plans like Globe Superstick, Sun Broadband or Smart Bro Plug-it (don't ever get the Smart Bro Rocket!). For as low as 999 you can get as fast as 5 Mbps speed. And it's unlimited! However, before you subscribe test it yourself first. Refer to #1 for tips.

Note: Yes, a lot of people are saying Globe's Superstick plans have bandwidth capping so for the benefit of the doubt I'll confirm this to everyone - postpaid subscriptions don't have bandwidth capping, at least as of now. Bandwidth capping is only applied on prepaid subscribers, so postpaid subs don't need to worry.

The fastest internet that is offered for wired connection as of now is 5 Mbps while in wireless it's 12 Mbps. However, prepare to shell out higher monthly rate if you really would like to get this.

If you're just a Facebook or Twitter junkie, then I don't think you need an internet connection with monthly rate. Just get prepaid internet or subscribe to a data rate plan, like Smart's Always On and Globe Powersurf plans. These are pretty cheap and most practical for light internet usage.

For seamless video streaming or video calling, get a high bandwidth wired connection that has consistent speeds. A 1 Mbps connection might not be enough. Get at least a 2 Mbps connection. You might need faster speeds if you're streaming HD videos a lot.

For online gaming though, download rate doesn't seem to matter anymore. What matters is upload rate and ping rates so avoid wireless connection as much as possible especially if you're into competitive online gaming. 150 ms ping rate or lower is ideal, 300 ms or higher is pretty shitty in my book. From the feedbacks that I've gathered, PLDT DSL is probably the best for online gaming, with ping rates as low as 50 ms.

4. Pricing and Bundle. Of course, after we take a look at the first few factors mentioned above, we take a look at the price. As the bandwidth gets higher so as the price, so choose carefully based on what you really need. For example, Sky Broadband offers 5 Mbps internet for just P999 but capped at 15 GB. So you have to make an estimate - what are your usual internet activities? Do you download or stream videos a lot? Do you think 15 GB is not enough for you in a month? If you think it's not enough then just get a slower internet plan with a higher bandwidth limitation. If you think you really need the speed then get the unlimited plan for a much more expensive price.

Bundles can also be factor, and this is probably the reason why I am hesitant to subscribe to PLDT myDSL for my apartment. Subscribing to their internet requires you to have a landline as well which is billed separately and I don't really need it. But when it comes to quality of internet service I can say that PLDT is one of the best. To each his own I guess.

5. Customer Service. Hmm. Do you think I really need to discuss each ISPs' standing in this category? I mean there's no contest here - all of them suck! (don't believe me? Try searhing this in google "<insert ISP name here> customer service sucks"). LOL, not really but yeah, there are times that they are not much of help. For the most part, these customer service representatives are not really technical people so all they're gonna say is the "please monitor your connection within 24 hours and just call us back if you still have issues" crap and pass the responsibility to a technical person. However, when the technical person tends to neglect your concern your blame goes to the CSR. Poor CSRs!

Because of this, this factor is of little significance compared to the other factors I've discussed above and of course, we differ in experiences when it comes to dealing with customer service so I can't really give too much when it comes to this category. However, it does help a lot when you have a reliable customer service to depend on in case everything else fails with your internet connection. Just remember that before calling them, make sure that you have done the primary troubleshooting yourself! Exhaust all possible solutions to your internet connection issue. You don't wanna call customer service just to tell you to restart your router to solve your issue, right?

Hmm, that's all I can think of unless you guys can add some more to this list? Let me know in the comments!

If you like this post, don't forget to subscribe to my RSS feed.

Read more »

Posted in: communications,internet,technology