I’ve been a Streamyx user for over five years now. I do not stay with the the service out of affection or loyalty; I do it because I lack alternatives. If there was a better broadband service available in my area, I’d jump ship in a heartbeat. There are times when two tins and a piece of string might seem to provide a better service than what Streamyx provides. The service is terrible and remarkably, it’s getting worse.
Like many things in Malaysia, all Streamyx IP addresses are equal but some are more equal than others. Technically speaking, regardless of what IP address you get, you will still be able to surf the internet. Realistically speaking, your experiences with different IP addresses will be startlingly different.
If you get an IP address in the 118.100.*.* or 115.133.*.* range, you can rest assured your ADSL modem will be only a slight improvement over two rusted tins and a piece of string. It is literally dial-up speed on these IP addresses. I’m seeing pages download at speeds measured in bytes per second. This is high speed “like a bad dream”.
The IP address range that delivers broadband speeds is 60.49.*.*. This may be different for Streamyx users elsewhere in the country. Different location, different DSLAM, different experience.
Unfortunately, getting the magical 60.49.*.* IP address is far from easy. I have to play a game I call the Streamyx IP lottery. If I win, I earn myself broadband speeds. Sites load faster, files download faster, the entire surfing experience is smoother. If I lose, I experience the internet at dial-up speeds circa 1996.
Playing this game involves repeatedly connecting and disconnecting my Internet connection until I get that coveted IP address. The game gets complicated because users are temporarily prevented from connecting after half a dozen connecting/disconnecting cycles in a short period of time.
I do not like playing this game but it’s something I have to do since I need broadband speeds to update my various sites.
Screamyx
Take a look at any Malaysian internet forum and you will find a steady stream of Streamyx user complaints. Another company might be moved to act; TM Net, the Malaysian telco operating Streamyx, has no real incentive to do this. It has the backing and protection of the government and, like other ISPs, is also quick to point out that all services rendered are done on a best effort basis.
The problem here is TM Net’s best effort is not only not good, it’s not even decent. It’s simply terrible is what it is and if terrible service is the result of the company’s best efforts, one only shudders to think about what might happen if it decides to slack off.
TM Net’s usual response to customer complaints is to shrug, continue to oversell Streamyx and blame others for shortcomings. These “others” includes the customers themselves.
Frustratingly, Streamy users are indeed part of the problem.
It’s the buffet mentality, really. Anyone who has seen Malaysians at a free buffet will know what I’m talking about. There’s a segment of the local population — this would be the crass, boorish, obnoxious segment — who will run, yes, run to the buffet table in order to quickly pile on more food on their plates than they can ever hope to eat.
Bittorrent and Rapidshare are the online equivalents to the buffet, of course, and thus a 24×7 connection must be used 24×7 to download everything under the sun. TV shows, Japanese cartoons, the entire ouevre of Rocco Siffredi, amateur Italian proctologist … if it’s online, it must be downloaded by these gluttons.
So, that’s the problem. And the solution? Well, I don’t know, really. All I know is I have to keep playing the lottery on a daily basis until the situation gets better, and as long as TM Net gets to hide behind the government and the “best effort” claim, it doesn’t look like the situation will get better any time soon.
Maybe I ought to try that two tins-and-a-string alternative …
