Excuse my French, but what the fuck is up with this apparent broadband connection? I can’t check Gmail without the system regularly informing me that my connection is slow and that I may want to try the HTML version. Previously, the bandwidth used to improve considerably in the night and entire weekends so I would time my YouTubing (that sounded too nerdy, no?), posting on various forums and listening to new bands on MySpace for those periods.
No more.
The other night I had to refrain from throwing the laptop out in frustration as Google’s home page wouldn’t load. One lousy image, a search box and a bunch of text links taking so long to load is beyond the comprehension of my (arguably fragile) sanity.
Fuck this bullshit.
I am moving to Dialog. Those of you with Dialog, I’d appreciate your thoughts. I know Sanjana wasn’t too pleased with their service but there are guys are at the work place – serial downloaders so they know what they are talking about – who have nothing but good things to say. I don’t even download like I used – I have of late discovered the joy of holding an original audio CD and DVD in my hands – so all I ask for is some reasonable connection speed to the sites and online resources that I visit on a regular basis.
So I pose this question to those of you who have used Dialog: is it good? or should I not bother and just continue with this shit until better alternatives are available? Do share your experiences.
Thanks.
26 Comments
April 19, 2008 at 7:57 pm
For the record, I know plenty of people who are on Dialog WiMax and are quite happy with it. None of them are power downloaders, so if you are into P2P sharing, then something to keep in mind is their fair use policy, which caps your traffic on a rolling 30 day plan depending on which service level you sign up for. Sounds fair enough.
On the other hand, I’ve heard that there no real QoS / bandwidth optimisation built in at the moment to their Wimax services – all’s good for the moment because comparatively few are on the service.
Honestly men, I’ve tried to get Dialog’s Wimax and the most recent attempt was two weeks ago. They NEVER call back. Maybe I’m on yet another black list! Hurrah!
Let me know your experience if you get on the blown away by the amazing speed bandwagon.
SH
P.S. I wonder if you read Lirneasia’s excellent quality of service survey reports that came out last month. Essentially, the report brings out the fact, as SLT itself admits to, that the best ADSL package on average is their Home Express. And here I thought I was paying more money for better speeds when I upgraded to their Office Express package!
April 19, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Hi Sanjana,
Yes, I’ve been informed of their FUP. Seems reasonable enough. Apparently, the 1 Mbps connection will have a download quota of 4GB and the 2 Mbps a quota of 8GB. Quota is probably the wrong word to use here since it implies a limit. It’s more of a ’slowing down’, I am told, of the speed that such a user stands to enjoy.
“Honestly men, I’ve tried to get Dialog’s Wimax and the most recent attempt was two weeks ago. They NEVER call back. Maybe I’m on yet another black list! Hurrah!”
That made me laugh. I thought that the marketing person in charge had called you personally after your first experience with Dialog? Perhaps you should call him back
I’ll read the report once I finished this damn assignment. Thanks.
April 19, 2008 at 9:59 pm
enda sheevana kondu shellren, naa shaiyalla machan!
April 19, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Ram you arse.
April 19, 2008 at 10:28 pm
O rite O rite! Jokes apart, This month there seems to be a promotion for the Dialog Wimax Speed 1 Package. (download speed of 1MB)
Usually the setup cost is above 5K I was told but for this month, its Rs.3,500 and monthly Rs.3,500.
the next month rental (MAY) will be waived off also I was told.
Name is Shiham, 0777 335 425. he works for Dialog broadband, tell him you got his number from me.
Other general info:
Dialog – HSDPA
http://www.dialog.lk/en/mobile/smartphones/modems/vodafonedatacard.html
Mobitel – M3 (HSDPA)
http://mobitel.lk/broadband/tariff.html
April 19, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Forget SLT, try Lankabell for a day. Its hell on earth.
April 20, 2008 at 7:05 am
Not that I have any faith in SLT myself. But if you are a heavy user you’ll anyway be in some trouble with Dialog and their “Fair Usage Policy”. When you do exceed Dialogs “download cap” specified for the connection you’ll get moved into the “Heavy user” category. Then you share the link with other high users whereas you used to share it with low users. This will most probably slow your downloads, streaming, gaming by a noticeable amount. In that case SLT is pretty much the same as Dialog. Ive heard there are some issues with Dialog coverage too.
Bottom line is if you dont use bandwidth much, Dialog’s for you (provided you have signal). Heavy users (I download around 50GB a month) wont see much difference. Which is why Ive stuck to SLT ADSL so far. SLTs problem is that their connection to the outside world is atrociously unbelievably low at 1.5 Gbps. Since we browse sites outside SL, it slows things down to a crawl.
Im also hopin SLT’s IPTV thing plays out. If they can deliver a viable, affordable, efficient triple play network (I’m not holding my breath) I’ll go for that.
SLT IPTV
Most of what I’ve said is info through various grapevines. Reliable, but nevertheless grapevines. So use at your own discretion.
April 20, 2008 at 10:57 am
50 GB a month? Christ on a cracker, Dili!
Like I said, I am not much of a downloader these days. If anything, I’d say that my recent downloads have come down to around 2GB/month, which would make the 1 Mbps plan quite attractive.
April 20, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I’m using SLT broadband!! as you said it’s a pain!!!
ONe of my friends is using Dialog, and it’s very fast!!! I’d shift to dialog very soon!
April 20, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Dude if you are into torrents or an sort of downloading then you’ve reserved a place in Dialog’s heavy user list. IMO the limit should be at least 20gb to become a heavy user. Whats the point of having 1MBps if you cant use it at that speed after all?
Anyway i agree SLT is a slow death during daytime but at night time it’s pretty fast.
April 20, 2008 at 5:16 pm
One point of clarification.
I don’t believe SLT’s soon to be introduced IP-TV has anything to do with its broadband speeds.
IP-TV operates in parallel to its ADSL services on a different spectrum. The mere introduction of IP-TV does not mean that broadband speeds will also increase. One reason is that IP-TV delivery will be within their local network (local meaning Sri Lankan) with speeds high enough and latency low enough for streaming, on-demand video. As Lirneasia recently discovered through their QOS study, it is also the case that the broadband bottleneck in Sri Lanka is really when traffic hits the international gateway. Traffic within Sri Lanka moves along at quite a good pace – which is why SLT’s helpline always asks you to test the connection speeds by downloading a file off their own servers (see my post – http://ict4peace.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/broadband-in-sri-lanka-where-the-gremlins-reside/).
Though one hopes SLT ADSL it will get better over time – esp. with competition from the likes of Dialog and Electroteks – I’m not holding my breath.
Dili has a point – for very high users of the web and the Internet, SLT’s still the only choice. I’m not sure what speeds you will experience on Dialog’s WiMax once you exceed the rolling 30 day FUP quota, but it will never be a primary connection for me. Just this morning, I did local backup of all YouTube videos featured on Groundviews, using a hack that downloads the original file uploaded to YouTube (higher quality / stereo sound where available) and a couple of High-Def videos from Apple’s Quicktime site for my son.
Total download for the morning – 1.5gigs. I must on average go through around 5 – 8 gigs a week (combined up + down) so like Dili, SLT’s the best option for me.
SH
April 20, 2008 at 7:11 pm
hah! apparently I live in the backwaters. i have no trouble with slt, and my gmail loads just fine. it’s because you live in the middle of no where, t man :p
ps – everyone else had left useful comments, i didn’t see the point in me doing the same
April 20, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Madam Pissu,
You live a short walk away from the edge of the universe; I live in Colombo 13. Almost everyone in my neighbour hood is using ADSL – thus affecting my overall experience. I’d be surprised if anyone in your neighbourhood has heard of the internet let alone ADSL.
As soon as my email informed me that there was a comment for moderation in my blog and that the said comment was by a Pissu Perera, I was under no illusions: it would be as useful as Baldrick’s cunning plans.
Now I’ll sit back and wait for the inevitable stream of sarcasm from your goodself.
*wears protective gear*
*takes guard*
April 21, 2008 at 8:31 am
yeah dude.. i suppose since i live a few steps before pissu its alright for me too. As far as I know i was the first user in my area..But I got it as soon as it was out here..
Yet! DIALOG SUCKS!
First..
they’re slow.. 2Mbps.. I think 300Kbps is more like it.
They have crappy service.
They do not work during thunder storms. (assumption based on the fact that the bloody internet stops working during a thunder storm)
They couldn’t care less if your connection sucks when you complain.
When they come for installation. If they can’t fix it they’ll blame you for not having a house that rises above the rest of the buildings.
When they come for installation be prepared to devote over 12 hours for them to get it right. If the above situation applies.
If your roof has roofing tiles be prepared to replace a good number of tiles and a leaky roof is sure shot.
Be prepared to be lied to about the number of broken roof tiles. (I was told 10 when it was over a 100)
Once(if) they get your connection and if you’re using Vista or some slightly different version of XP which doesn’t have the most common setup for internet config they will not know how to do it.
Also careful since if anyone else wants to use the internet you’ll have to buy a router which does not work with SLT and vice versa.
They trap you into a 6 month contract. So no chance of trying them out.
I know SLT sucks..I honestly feel your pain. I Download a lot and You Tube’s a bitch on SLT.
But when you consider the factors of versitility. If you change your mood and decide to DL a few movies You Tube too much you might be in a whole loada worse crap. This would be crap for the next Six months without Choice. A Deal With the Devil himself T man.. My advice.. Do a line check. Get slt to come see you. Complain they’re relatively ok. They come to my place the other day. Maybe wires are old or something (thinking aloud)
April 21, 2008 at 8:35 am
PS – protective gear and taking guard aint gonna save you from PP dude.. I’m sorry. RIP T man
April 21, 2008 at 2:29 pm
1. does SLT ADSL have a FUP
2. does SLT monitor & control throughput , so as to impliment an undiscloosed FUP?
April 21, 2008 at 7:05 pm
a short walk away from the edge of the universe, my dear ignorant man, is better than a short walk away from the country’s biggest garbage dump and health hazard
also, you tell me which is better. everyone in the area using ADSL, thus affecting YOUR “overall experience” as you put it, or living in a place no one “has heard of the internet let alone ADSL” leaving me to download my Gmail and youtube in peace. i’d pick the latter any day.
no wonder you’re still lost
ps – protective gear?! taking guard?! i’m not THAT bad am i? (A)
April 21, 2008 at 7:33 pm
“a short walk away from the edge of the universe, my dear ignorant man, is better than a short walk away from the country’s biggest garbage dump and health hazard”
It’s actually closer to Thumbelina’s (or is she Emolina now?) place.
“also, you tell me which is better. everyone in the area using ADSL, thus affecting YOUR “overall experience” as you put it, or living in a place no one “has heard of the internet let alone ADSL” leaving me to download my Gmail and youtube in peace. i’d pick the latter any day.”
Who is comparing? I am merely illustrating why you enjoy such relatively fine speeds. I, for one, wouldn’t mind a place near the edge of the universe even if that means living in your general vicinity (yes, I used ‘vicinity’; cue for you to make fun
)
“ps – protective gear?! taking guard?! i’m not THAT bad am i? (A)”
Duh.
April 22, 2008 at 7:45 am
Enrico Lisk,
I’ve heard that this is indeed the case. I can’t confirm though.
April 23, 2008 at 1:02 pm
[...] a smoke and joined the guys for an early morning smoke. Discussed the usual bullshit: downloading, SLT’s piss poor ADSL service, etc. Typical internet addict guy [...]
May 8, 2008 at 9:36 pm
so i’m wondering since i myself live a short walk away from da edge of da universe
,if slt wud finally give coverage to my area(they’re talking bout expanding coverage in da second half of this yr) or quit my perpetual waiting and go wiv dialog…Hmmm!
June 13, 2008 at 2:00 am
I was amongst the first batch of dialog wimax customers. Their service and sales team is pathetic.
Which explains why they had only a 1000 customers as at 31/03/08 (as stated in their financial statements)
don’t go for dialog broadband, hold on to your pathetically slow ADSL connection (yes, I got one of those too) or wait for lankabell.
July 13, 2008 at 12:37 pm
hmm, i’d say SLT, or wait for Lanka bell to show up, it seems Lanka bell is going to catch the market
July 20, 2008 at 11:10 am
ok i waited no ADSL yet(don’t think it’ll ever come) but bell’s here:D anyone using it,is there any download limit like in dialog and more importantly how are the speeds must be blazing 24×7 with their fresh new 1Tb+ submarine cable:)
October 27, 2008 at 12:28 pm
well i’ve tried mobitel Hspda and its really fast 3.6mbps like they say. only limitation is the bandwidth, its reall low. for Rs.1500 user get only 1.5Gb bandwidth. since you are a casual user this would be the choice. they have good coverage all over the country.
i also got a dialog HSPA which i tool on a promotional offer. for Rs.2000 i get 5Gb (university student oackage). the only probs is that, when theres rain the signal get fucked big time, if not its good with its speed.
LankaBell has started there broadband services, ppl say its good, but cant comment on it nor SLT ADSL.
Cheers
March 11, 2009 at 9:12 am
Hay, any1 using slt bband 4 download torrents using bittorrent. Is it worth 4 spend more thn 6hrs for just 1gb.. Are thr any other ways to d/load torrents wit low risk of viruses and wit least 100kb/s using normal bband. Plz help
Cheers