Yes, the verdict is still out. On what? On my Globe DSL Internet. Right now the verdict is looking positive, but a week or two ago it was not. Where will it all end? We’ll have to wait and see.
If you remember, some time ago, after moving to our new neighborhood, I told readers that I had gotten a new Globe DSL Internet Service that promised up to 3Mbps speeds on the Internet. My initial feelings were great! Speeds did not disappoint, often going up to even 4Mbps. This was the fastest Internet speed I had ever had, either in the Philippines or in the States. I was very happy. I could accomplish things on the Internet much faster than ever before. When I lived in my old neighborhood, I was pretty lucky if I got speeds of 800Kbps. Now, I was getting 4 to 5 times that speed.
All good things offer challenges, it seems, though. After a week or so of service, my Internet died. I still had a connection to the net, through another company, because I have 3 different Internet connections. I need the redundancy because of my work. However, I had already grown accustomed to the faster speeds that Globe was offering, and I did not feel satisfied any longer with speeds of under 1Mbps. Well, I could not connect to the Globe DSL for two days. We complained, and after a while it worked again. About 5 days later, it was out of service for 3 days. Complained, and it was back again. This kept repeating every week, and even more frequently sometimes.
After this happened about 3 times in two weeks, I talked to my friend Cheryll, who lives in the same neighborhood where I live. She also used Globe DSL. I told her what was going on and she told me that she had the same problem with them when she first got hooked up. She told me that if we got really mad and yelled at them, they would fix it. She said that it was all due to the telephone cables in the neighborhood being old, and if they replaced the cables near my house, the service would work fine.
Well, it was worth a shot.. but I did not want to yell at them, though, and Feyma told me that she would yell at them instead. We both felt that it would be more effective coming from a Filipino than a Foreigner, so that’s what she did. When she yelled at them, it was fixed in under 20 minutes! Great! It happened again a week later, though, and she yelled at them again. Fixed!
Finally, it came down that the people at Globe told us that there was no problem on their end, and that it must be something we were doing wrong. Well, we had changed nothing since Globe was here to set up the modem and everything. I was certain that the problem was not at our house, but with Globe. I called the Globe Hotline where you can report problems with the DSL. When I did that, and selected the proper prompt that I was calling from Mindanao, a recording came on the line:
We are currently experiencing problems with Broadband Internet in your area. You may not be able to connect due to technical problems. We are working to resolve the problems as quickly as possible.
Uh, yes. That is what I was experiencing, and I was experiencing it regularly. We went back to Globe and told them that the problem was on their end, and that if you called the hotline they even had a recording telling that there was a problem. What did Globe say?
Oh, that recording means nothing! There was a problem about a month ago, but we fixed it. We just didn’t take the recording off yet!
Uh, so the recording is meaningless? Why would anybody bother to call the hotline then?
Globe proceeded to tell us that they would send a technician to our house either later that day (Tuesday) or on Wednesday to fix whatever it was that we supposedly messed up here (although we had done nothing). Guess what… by Tuesday afternoon the Internet was working fine. Nothing had been changed at our house. No technician ever showed up on either Tuesday or Wednesday. But, funny thing is… that was about 2 weeks ago, and the Internet has been working without flaw ever since! Hmm.. but the problem was at our house?
Right…..
I do love the speed of the Globe Internet. It is still very, very fast! I enjoy it a lot.
I am using PLDT here in Tagum. Flawless after 7 months. Getting twice the speed I pay for. Speed is adjusted at their office. They turned it on the very day they installed it. WOW! How did I do it? I was nice and trusting to them. A kind word goes a long way here in the Philippines. Of course it could go bad in 5 minutes and I would get upset.
🙂
73,
Gary
Hi Gary – Well, the past couple of weeks have been good with no disconnects, so I am feeling happy and confident right now! I hope it stays this way. Like in your case, I cannot complain about the speed, as it is usually even higher than they promise…. but it’s just keeping a connection that has been a problem! Keeping my fingers crossed!
Bob, this is a problem all over the RP. I a friend a few houses down has Globe and has been having problems every week. They will lose connection and be down for one or two days, they call and call and call then it is fixed. If you ask for credit because lossing the service they will tell you that if you don’t have service for 3 days then you can get a credit, but your service seems to start working before then and will go down the next day.
Things that we deal with when we choose to live in the Philippines.
Hi Bill – My neighbor, Cherryl, who has Globe said to me that she had not had a disconnection in months, maybe a year. I do believe you, though, that this is a common problem. I mean, it is common enough that they have a recording on the hotline! If it was uncommon they would just answer the question in person! 😉 Thankfully, for now it is not happening… I hope it stays that way.
I agree with you on this Bob, some areas get better service than others. What I’m waiting on is Sky cable to get to my area. We can get the Sky Cable TV, but they do not have the Sky Broadband in are area yet. the Sky Broadband you can get up to 12 Mbps with cable TV for 6,000 or 6 Mbps and cable TV for I think 4,000. I have talked with someone that is using the service and they said that it is good and reliable.
The states have connection upto 20 Mbps, well that was a summer last year, might be higher now.
Prepare yourself for a long wait! SkyCable in Davao has Cable Internet in one neighborhood. They have been advertising since 2002 that they will soon be rolling it out to the rest of the city. I call them once a year or so for an update… they always tell me that they don’t have any new information! If you get cable internet in your lifetime (unless you are in Manila) you’ll be lucky! 😆
I’m in Bacoor, and one of the neighborhoods just down the road got it about 6 or so months ago, so it is moving my way, but as you said very slow; not something that I”m going to hold my breath for but will get it when it becomes avaible.
It sounds like things are moving faster in your area than here, Bill. We have had no expansion for 8 years now! Ha ha… I keep hoping, though! I saw a TV program a few months back showing that there was now 100 Mbps Internet connectivity in some parts of Makati. They showed some displays of the speed, and it was awesome. I forgot what the technology was, though.
I have friends using the Skycable 6mb service, just outside of Manila, and they have had nothing but problems since they got it. They simply do not get speeds close to what is advertised. Sky do not want to know, don’t answer calls and their workmen never turn up when they say they are on their way!
I use the SmartBro fixed wireless service. When it first got installed I had huge problems with constant disconnects and slow service. After many hours arguing with them they finally sent a tech out to troubleshoot. As he sat there with his computer logged into the diagnostics for the connection, typed in a few lines of code, and, lo and behold, 2 years on and I haven’t had a problem since. I regulary get speeds upto 2mb and I can easily stream UK tv from a slingbox…
Hi Steven – Your experiences are very much as I have heard in regards to Sky. So, while I want fast cable internet… I don’t get too worried about it not being available, because I’ve heard so much bad about it. I had only SmartBro in my old neighborhood. It was reliable, but not so fast (800Kbps at the most). I use SmartBro as a backup connection here.
Hi Bob…interesting…not sure on this but you said…before you got… you said…When I lived in my old neighborhood, I was pretty lucky if I got speeds of 800Kbps. Now, I am getting 4 to 5 times that speed, or as you said near… 4Mbps…I am wondering what difference between kbps and Mbps is or maybe that is just the way they say it..but to me…..its the kb/sec I go by….below is what I just got a little while ago on WIFI…any way…you did make a improvement on the new hook up I think….
My Lastest Result:
Download Speed: 8288 kbps (1036 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 393 kbps (49.1 KB/sec transfer rate
I know can really tell it when the kb/sec’s go over 1000….strange how there are different speeds and etc here and there and every where……but hahaha I remember dial up…..you lucky if you got a hook of 49 kb/sec..that was on download and up load was way below that….that is something that I have not fig. out yet….the vast difference between down load speed and up load speed……
Dan 8288kbps is the same as 8.288Mbps and 393 kbps is .393 Mbps
Ok..Bill thanks…..strange why they use 2 different ways to measure the speed but both mean the same……and one thing most maybe no……cable internet has a great down load speed but not so good upload speed…….while your phone co. DSL has a pretty good down load…most now are around 1.5mbps….for the econo deal…but their up load speed is all most 1/2 of the down load speed if not a little better..so if you have 1.5mbps down load…you get close to 700 mbps up load…….I can up load faster using my dsl..than usinf the cable wifi……so its interesting…..also cable internet is good some times but since you are on a shared line……and never no how many are on the same line…..it can change or go up and down and if 2 many get on the same time ..you might was well go watch tv and wait till later…………but on Dsl…it or mine stays the same all the time……..they only problem with dsl..is line noise…..that will bump you off if your line is noisy……..
Hi Dan – It’s not really that strange. It’s kind of like the difference between saying “12 inches” or “a foot”. Just a different unit of measure.
Got it Bob..thanks
Oh, one more thing, upload speeds are always slower than download, even in the states. I think it is something to do with the server that give the higher download. With the right equipment, that cost a bundle, you can have higher upload speed but the average person has no need for it.
Very true. However, we download a lot more than upload in normal internet use, so it’s not usually a big deal.
agree!!!!
Hi Dan – 1 Mbps is equal to 1,000 Kbps. Actually, technically 1 Mbps is 1,024 Kbps, but most people just figure it 1-1,000. Yes, it’s a huge improvement to get the speeds I am getting now…. just gotta stay connected! 😉
Thanks Bob…ya ur right..got to stay connected……I hate when can not stay connected……
Yeah, my speeds go down considerably when I’m disconnected! 😯 ha ha
My latest speeds in Angles City thru Com Clark are 1.17Mb/s down and .57Mb/s up for 3,500 pesos per month. In the States, I get approximately 13Mb/s down for 2,000 pesos per month. Over ten times faster for less money. I have not had many problems with ComClark but a friend of mine was having problems a year ago. We tried contacting them by email on their website but kept getting an error message and the email would not go out. We went to their office in the mall and told the service people about this. They didn’t believe us, tried it from their computers and had the same problem. Of course they said they would report it to the office and it would get fixed. Two weeks later, still not fixed. Two months later, still not fixed. I have not tried it since. I guess this way they can honestly tell potential customers that they never receive any complaints.
We tried using Globe Tattoo in Samar and it worked for a while but was very slow. We were told that as long as we had a decent cellphone signal, we could connect to the internet. Wrong! Two weeks ago, we had 5 bars on our cellphone but no internet. We called and were told basically what you were told. It has to be our fault.
As Bill B said, things we have to deal with when we choose to live in the Philippines.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family.
Hi Montana Gary – That seems expense for 1.17Mbps down… I pay P2,400 per month for DSL at 3+Mbps and a telephone line too. Indeed, bandwidth in the USA is much cheaper than here in the Philippines. Maybe someday!
Just want to be clear, the Globe I am using is not Tattoo… I do have a tattoo, but the net I’m talking about is DSL (wired) fro Globe.
Merry Christmas to you Gary!
Bob- this isnt about internet connection but rather about you being told that the only way you could get any service was by yelling at them. ! Last week I had a big problem with Marco Polo Hotel Priviledge Cards not being honored here in Davao so I called my friend who deals with Marco Polo all the time for her business- her response? If you want them to give you good service you have to yell at them !! hahaha
That has been her experience
Hi ian – I used to buy the Marco Polo Privilege card every year, but their service got so bad that I quit about 5 years ago… It is true that I never did yell at them, though! Ha ha
A little warning re the Marco Polo Cards. I bought 2 cards that specified a 60% discount on a Superior room. I called the hotel to confirm the price and they told me the regular room rate was about 4000 pesos. However, when we went to actually reserve the room they told us that the Priviledge Cards were meant for foreigners, and that for foreigners the regular room rate is 12,000 so that if we used the card we would have to pay 4800- rather than the 4000 rate without the discount card !! I emailed a complaint to the Marco Polo who of course just ignored my complaint.
Hi ian – I am surprised that the Marco Polo people told you that the Privilege Cards were meant for foreigners. I know lots and lots of Filipinos who have them. In fact, the person that introduced me to the program was a Filipino businessman who had been getting the cards for years.
That said, though… yes, the room discounts have always been figured on inflated room rates! I never use the room discount cards.
“It is still very, very fast.”
I love your quote Bob. Like you, I typically get 3-6Mbps, and it’s just fine. Back in the UK I had proper fibre-optic that gave me 10Mbps, and I don’t notice a real difference. It’s still outdated technology bringing internet in via a telephone line that was never designed for that purpose where we are now. I buy music from iTunes now that it’s a bit better quality, and I view you-tube occasionally, but that aside I don’t download much, so I don’t think I’d really appreciate much more.
But I have a friend living in an area of London with a connection speed of 100Mbps, which he apparently gets regularly. I wonder how we’d both feel about that? Bet we’d find things to download then!
Not long till Santa comes now. All the very best wishes to you, your family, and all LIP readers for Christmas, and a superb 2011.
Hi Jim – For me, this speed is the fastest I’ve had in my life. When we were still in the States, dialup was the best available, so I have never experiences true super-fast broadband. I am very happy with 3-4 Mbps speeds I am getting now. I download a LOT of stuff… so the speed does make a huge difference to me. 😆 100Mbps… I’d eat it up! Ha ha
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Jim!
Can’t get jack where my house is in Pita. You’re lucky
What about wireless services, Mike? Can you get a cell signal there? If so, you should be able to get one of the wireless services. Whatever the case may be… I hope they bring in service for you soon!
I am in Metro manila with PLDT. Got the normal plan couple of years ago…. Then 7 months ago,I upgraded speed. Haha After 2 weeks nothing changed, except my bill. So off to the SM Mall, and there main office, I wanted credit back for the bill they charged me and also wanted somebody to take care of the connection speed. Well the counter lady (duhh) I finally told her I wanted to talk tothe supervisor there, after explaining all over again the situation to her, she told me ..give me a chance to correct the problem, and I agreed, she said she would take care of the 900p credit due us.. Well here I am 7 months later, and after repeated calls for my credit to be applied, (I call every month after I receive my bill with the credit not applied) This month I talked to a high up supervisor she even returned my call and said it was taken care of (the credit) so I am waiting for my bill to see… Now, I still do not have a betterspeed after4 service calls, one guy said my computer was bad, so I made him bring his computer up to my room and his did not work also, So On So Forth, then it was my wire outside was grounded , so they fixed that yesterday, still very slow speed but computer does not hang up anymore (an improvement) So, tomorrow, A professional man (they say) will come to the house and try to correct the problem.. So I have paid for 7 months and never received what i paid for, but if they can repair the problem, I won’t complain… Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
It’s all part of Lipping. Best of luck, and Merry Christmas!
Hi Lenny – I had a similar experience with PLDT years ago. Back in 2002 or so, I signed up for DSL with them. Over the years, whenever faster speeds were available, I would upgrade. After 5 years or so, after having noticed that I would upgrade to more expensive accounts but could never notice any difference in speed, I found out that my upgrade was only on the “payment” end… my “service” end of things was still at the same speed that I signed up for!
Customer service here in the Island Paradise leaves much to be desired, very much. Once they have your money all bets are off.
Haha.. that’s why I always say it’s not paradise! 😉
hi bob,after reading all your mail i feel very lucky here in ozamis,i have smart bro broadband and i am getting 10.0 mbps,i have not had any trouble with it for the last 18 months it cost me 999 peso’s mt. very fast and fast down loads and up loads.makes me wonder why rest of philippines does not have smart bro
Hi Franklin – I have SmartBro as my backup. I think you have a decimal point misplaced, though, because the fastest speed that SmartBro has is 2Mbps. Perhaps you are getting 1Mbps? The fastest I could ever get from SmartBro was 800kbps (0.8Mbps), but I am getting nearly 5 times that speed with Globe DSL. SmartBro is OK, but to me, it is a bit too slow.
The same thing happen to me. I did go two monts when first hooked up without problems and then all He– broke loose. Call and it would work 2 or 3 days and then same thing. My caregiver was talking with them trying to resolve the problem. He was getting angry, but perhaps not angry enough. He told me while still on the phone with them that they said, “it was a problem with my computer or I had changed the connection.” Thas is when I took the phone and exploded. I told them that I knew my account was said up as Father Thomas J. Martin and I hope they would forgive all Catholic’s because they were fixing to hear things come from a priest that I was sure they had never heard before. I tore into them and ended with come take your s – – – out of my house in two days or I will remove it and put it out on my front patio. If it gets wet take me to court if you can get a court date before I get back to the U.S.A. It was fixed within 3 hours and 8 months later I have never had a problem
Ha ha, Tom… Amazing! 😯
mmm it says speed 10.0 Mbps but i will have to look deeper!
Ha ha… I know what you are talking about now… it’s a common mistake. On your computer a little box pops up and says the connection is 10 Mbps, right? That is the speed of communications between your computer and the modem, but that is meaningless. It is the communication between the modem and the rest of the internet that is meaningful. Common mistake, don’t worry about it! 😆 But, I can assure you, you are not getting 10 Mbps on SmartBro! 😉
And they say the Lord works in mysterious ways !! lol Maybe I should get you to put in a good word for me with Him/Her Tom !! I could use the extra speed on my connection also .
ok your right i took digweb speed test…..download was 1619…upload was 194
Yeah… my speed on Globe is usually between 3000 and 4000 for download. Upload is generally 900 to 1100 or so.
I have Globe DSL here in Makati with download speeds of 3 Mbps and uploads of 2 Mbps. I previously used a local wifi connection thru my residential community at 512 Kbps. I am very happy with Globe and have had minimal downtime on the internet. My total cost is 1000 pesos a month for fast and reliable service.
It must be ” YOUR ” equipment that is at fault. That’s not just in the Philippines, I think just about every big company uses that where customer owned equipment is involved. A couple of years ago my Broadband Cable at times would be slower than Dial Up. When I called the cable co. they tried to give me the ” Your Computer ” excuse. I replied that I use 6 pc’s here and I don’t think they all have the identical problem. They said it must be my Router, I commented ” What router ? ” I am plugged directly into the modem. They said it must be ” My Modem ” I told them it’s not mine, it is Your Modem and I am renting it from you for $5 a month. I explained to them that I still have a dial up acct here and in a side by side comparison my $9.95 / mo dial up was faster then their cable broadband is when it slows down. I had a feeling that the cable co system was approaching the point of being over full capacity at times and it took a couple of months to prove it to them. I nailed that one.
Since the break-up of the Bell System, landline customers are responsible for the phone wiring in their houses, unless you pay the phone company for a Service Contract should your ” premesis wiring ” become faulty. Numerous times when I have had a problem on the phone line, before I call the phone company I completley disconnect the phone companies ” Drop Line ” comming from the pole in the street to my house. With my house completley disconnected, I use a clip on test set to check the Phone Companies line, every time the problem is on their line. When I call their repair number it is always the same thing ” We tested your line from our office ( usually in another city far away from where I live ) and we found nothing wrong with the line, it must be Your premesis wiring or your phone. At this point I ask ” What premesis wiring ” ? They say ” the wiring in your house or apartment and we are not responsible for that”. I reply ” there is no premesis wiring because I disconnected the line running from your pole to my house, I am standing out here on a ladder connected directly to your terminal box and the drop line going to my premesis is completely disconnected so there is No premesis wiring involved, it is Your problem not mine. Then they tell me they will schedule a repair but if the problem is in my premesis wiring I will be billed for the service call. If the problem is a totally dead line, in recent years I use my PC and skype to call them, or someone elses phone. Also when it rains hard here, sometimes the ” splice boxes ” get water in them creating a loud hum on the line.
Once when I told them I was clipped onto the terminal box on the pole, they told me ” You Can not do that ! “. I replied, well………….if you people can not fix my phone line I guess I will just have to do it myself “. That usually brings me some action.
Poor service, mis-information, outright lies from Utility or other service providers is not just in the Philippines, I get it here in New York too. It is probably something universal !
Hi Bob – Merry Christmas to you! Yep, it really is the old repairman’s trick, isn’t it… “it’s something wrong on your end!” Ha ha…. happens every time you need repair. Either that, or when the repairman shows up, everything is working fine! 😆
Hey Bob – You have so many internet connections. So nice! And with your line of work, you need to have the best! Need for speed. He he. Here in Quezon City (area where I live), residents mostly have either Sky cable internet – Sky broadband, Destiny cable internet. DSL is not loved anymore.. he he. I also see many kiosk for Wi Tribe (From San Mig Corp) and WiMax (Globe) for wireless broadband connection. Have you tried any?
Hi Sugar – Yep, I have three connections to the net. Globe DSL is my main one. SmartBro Canopy is secondary. I have a Globe Tattoo to back up those two, just in case. Mostly the ones you mentioned are not available yet in Davao.
Hi Douglas – I enjoy Globe most of the time…. if I just stay connected! I’m glad that you have had good luck.
If you get cable internet in your lifetime (unless you are in Manila) you’ll be lucky! 😆
I was suprised at that statement Bob as i had assumed Davao would have in place because Cagayan de Oro does . We don’t get anywhere near your speeds but then we have only for personal use and our digital tv package is tied in as well at a total cost of 2,000 a month .
Actually the internet is more reliable than the Digital TV for the most part as it’s not uncommon for a specific tv channel to have “no signal” in the higher end frequencies – channel 300 & up ( that doesn’t mean we have 300 + channels though ) 🙂
When i would call and complain they would always say it was my wiring and they would come out and patch it . Couple of days later would have same problem until they completely replaced all the cable from house to the telephone pole . Week later , same problem .
Personally , i think they have receiver problems at certain frequencies and just don’t want to admit it . Something about “saving face” i suspect . 🙂
Hi Alan – Sky must be much more active in CdO than they are here in Davao! 😉
Reading this thread makes me feel a bit bette now.. hahaha. No seriously. My wife is in Surigao and often times she would loose connection the most 2 days. It’s hard trying to connect in those days. And the other times she would have a very low connection.. not enough for a video feed! Thought it was just her network etc. when really it’s a bigger than that and that’s why.. i feel a bit better now!
Ha ha.. glad you feel better…. don’t be satisfied with poor service, though!
Hi Bob,
Seasons greetings to you and your family. Well here I am at 5am just finished work again. have to say that i get a great connection from Smart in the middle of the night grrrrrrrrrrrrr the rest of the day is garbage. I can’t even hold a connection to my servers even with a five bar signal … How I miss my UK 20 mb connection which is fully stable and costs me the equivalent of just 490php. I haven’t experienced a decent internet connection here yet in 7yrs.
Hi Alfie – Thanks, and Seasons Greetings to you and yours! I get nice connection speeds from Globe 24/7, and lately I’ve had no connection problems either, so I am very happy with them.