100 Mbps Broadband Upgrade [Updated]

My broadband service provider, Netvigator (by PCCW), throw the switch of my broadband connection this morning to upgrade it from 30 Mbps to 100 Mbps.

Although Netvigator has fiber services to homes unfortunately this is not available for my home. Instead what Netvigator offers at my address is DSL at 100 Mbps. Since my DSL modem was recently (3 months) upgraded all that was needed was a setting change at the PCCW exchange.

With this new technology it means most customers who receive broadband services from Netvigator will have or will soon to have 100 Mbps bandwidth if they want to upgrade.
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Choosing a 3G Tariff Plan in Hong Kong for iPad

With the pending iPad official release by Apple Hong Kong some time in July, mobile carriers in Hong Kong have begin to release tariff plans designed specifically to target iPad owners.

Among them only 3 HK currently has a data plan that comes with either a regular mini-SIM or the new micro-SIM. The rest of the carriers are offering data only 3G tariff plans that includes a free USB 3G modem. All of the plans also come with free WiFi network.

Continue reading “Choosing a 3G Tariff Plan in Hong Kong for iPad”

PCCW Netvigator Broadband Interruption Compensations

Netvigator LogoStarted about 14:00 yesterday (August 17, 2009) Hong Kong time access to majority of the Internet web services hosted outside of Asia was unreachable.

This first happened at my home with Netvigator Home Broadband service. I Tweeted about this hoping to get confirmation from others in Hong Kong. I also left to tried to see if the problem is localized to my building or district (Wanchai). I visited a Starbucks in Causeway Bay. After logging into PCCW WiFi connection at Starbucks I confirmed that most Internet web services were unreachable.

A friend then came and logged into the PCCW WiFi University service and was able to connect to each of the web services I was not able to. So I proceeded to try using Smartone-Vodafone to reach these Internet web services. I was too successful in accessing these Internet web services via Smartone-Vodafone’s HSDPA network.

This morning China Unicom released an explanation, as reported by Shanghai Daily, the reasons for yesterday’s Internet interruptions for its customers. PCCW’s Netvigator service released a short news item in their Customer Service section of their web site, placing blame on “severe weather conditions” that caused “multiple submarine cable faults” claiming that “Some customers may experience traffic congestions” with”international traffic”. I have encountered Error 500 for services I tried to access, but in Netvigator’s “news item”, it claims that their “systems are in normal operation and are working closely with partners to divert traffic”.

I cannot see how they can claim their “systems are in normal operation”, when I had paid for and expects the delivery of broadband Internet service at 8Mbps. So I called Netvigator’s Technical Support line, 1000, and filed a complaint and asked for details of compensation to customer for the interruption.

According to Netvigator service policy, if any interruptions is longer than 24 hours their customer is justified for compensation. The Technical Support representative tells me that I should call back after the service is back to “normal”, since they have no idea how long the interruptions will last.

I asked the Technical Support representative if all Netvigator customers will be compensated after the service returns to normal, and he gave me a convoluted answer that basically say that not all Netvigator customers will experience the problem. So I ask for my official complaint to be logged.

I suggest everyone who are effected by the PCCW’s Netvigator Broadband Home service interruption to call Netvigator and demand compensation and to ask for your complaint to be logged.

PCCW – Netvigator Outrageous

Netvigator Logo pccw

This evening (20:52) my girlfriend received a call on her mobile from PCCW Netvigator telephone salesperson. Like in most cases when one receive this sort of unsolicited telephone call, she simply told the salesperson on the phone that she does not have time to talk, which was the case this evening, as she was at a friend’s house.

Instead of giving up and move on to the next “victim” on their call list, the salesperson calls her back and said, “… I was not calling to give you an offer, but if I was I would not offer it to you.”, then hung up.

First of all these sorts of calls are unsolicited and I would consider them to be SPAM calls. I will be writing to OFTA to file a formal complaint of PCCW Netvigator salesperson’s attitudes. Of course, PCCW’s salespersons are already famous in Hong Kong for having one of the worst customer facing attitudes so that is not too surprising.

I wish OFTA would have an ordinance like the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance for regular telephone calls.

[Repost] Truth About PCCW’s Netvigator Service

Repost from: Vinko’s Satellite Blog

Netvigator

For those who do not know, “Netvigator” is the ISP (Internet Service Provider) owned and operated by PCCW of Hong Kong. Like many ISP now a days, Netvigator offers a series of different broadband packages.

I subscribe to their “8M Single User” plan, which means a “8Mbps service”. Like all ISP, that 8Mbps (8 Mega bits per second) throughput is a theoretical maxium download speed, which no one would ever achieve due to the various variables that would effect the actual throughput.

According to the technician at Netvigator Technical Support and the one that came to check my setup. With a 8M service plan the realistic throughput is about 80% – 90% of what’s listed. This equates to about 6554Kbps down stream(download speed) and approximately 819Kbps up stream (upload speed).

For the past 4 years of subscribing to this service (8M plan) I had never enjoyed a speed of more than 2000Kbps down stream. Plus, I had reported this and they had checked my set up numerous times through out the past 4 years.

Recently I joined Netvigator’s NetOne loyalty service, which finally able me to contact their Technical Service hotline 24 hours a day when I encountered connection slow downs. As a result they monitored my Internet connection for a week, and then today came to replace my modem.

As soon as the technician replaced the modem my connection speed improved 3 times. Reaching a down stream speed of 6438Kbps and a up stream speed of 628Kbps.

So the lesson from this is to never believe the ISP when you feel your Internet connection is not up to par. Use analytical results to confirm your suspicions. If possible use the ISP’s own test page; in the case of Netvigator you should use their “Network Test” page, to test your connection speed. Failing that use a site like SpeedTest.Net to test your connection.

So go confirm you are receiving the service level you paid for and stop getting ripped off.