On Saturday, I blogged “Streamyx in Penang sucks. What do you say?”
There were 32 responses.
Conclusion – Streamyx in Malaysia really sucks.
Until recently, Streamyx service in Green Lane area in Penang had been fairly reliable. But not now, as disruptions have become quite common.
What do you say when not only Streamyx went down, Maxis 3G and Celcom 3G were also down, all at the same time, in the same place and for quite a period!
I do not know how often this happens in Penang as I am all over the country most of the time.
But from responses, Malaysians have universal internet complaints rather than universal internet service.
Other countries are leapfrogging into super-fast broadband networks while Malaysia is still bogged down with super-slow broadband service.
Time for long-suffering Streamyx customers as well as other providers to get their voices heard loud and clear!
A revolt of Streamyx subscribers?
What do you say?
#1 by Godfather on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 6:33 pm
Oh, you’re from Penang ? Isn’t that Opposition Territory ? What do you want ? Same service as in Putrajaya ?
#2 by ekans on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 6:57 pm
Hmmm… yes, and the plot thickens…
#3 by carboncopy on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 6:58 pm
Hmm where should I start?
Packet drop within TM Net networks. Ping to their own DNS 202.188.0.133 1% packet loss currently, it was hoovering at 45% for the last month or so. And it peak when both (202.188.0.133 and 202.188.1.5) TM Nuts streamyx was knocked out.
Packet drop to international sites such as those in North America was as high as 50%
All this does not matter to TM Nut because at the end of the day, is that your webpage is loaded. It does not matter if it is 1 hour or 1second.
For TM Net it is qualitative and not quantitative that matters.
If your Internet is only 50% reliable is still consider service.
#4 by guanteik on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 7:18 pm
Streamyx aka Screamyx is not only SUCKS in Penang, it’s sucks everywhere e.g. Ipoh and Selangor. WTH…
#5 by sheriff singh on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 7:19 pm
Isn’t this a rip-off? We pay for no or bad service. Shouldn’t they compensate the consumers?
The other day I saw a group of telephone workers up on the poles along my road. They were shouting instructions to their fellow workers. They spoke Indonesian. Have we sub-con proyeks to outsiders?
#6 by Haris on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 7:33 pm
Revolt is good but we must have an alternative ISP to revolt to.
#7 by aikie on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 7:34 pm
This is a true fact, in fact it is a sad story. I just back from US. The US broadband speed is so fast and we can use it to watch movie or listen to music on demand.
Malaysia broadband is not cheap either. Everyday, we mention to the whole nation that we want to move to ICT age, but we are not ready to engage with this.
Service provider like TM, Maxis, Celcom and others need to step up. Please stop thinking of gaining big bucks from consumers. Please take a day at least to come out post-mortem study on the service provided to the nation.
Overall, I am not proud of the broadband service provided in this nation.
#8 by yhsiew on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 7:35 pm
BN will never allow super-fast Internet to be implemented in Malaysia.
Ex-Premier Abdullah admitted that BN suffered big losses in the 12th General Election because the rakyat were being influenced by alternative Internet media (even though Internet was running at snail’s pace).
If BN were to implement super-fast Internet for the rakyat, that could well mean BN would go down in history in the 13th General Election!
#9 by -ec- on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 7:44 pm
what is the chance of having optical fibre broadband services in the country? am i dreaming too much?
#10 by levidav on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 7:46 pm
oh my gosh……………at last someone voiced it out
ur absolutely right sir.
i’m paying celcom rm 98 for 3.6mbps speed service monthly
but in reality if my speed shows 600kbps also i feel blessed for tht day
tht bad is malaysian internet service providers quality
#11 by ALLAN THAM on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 8:16 pm
This is normal life in Malaysia when ever the business is monopoly.
If your services is down and try call it toll free call at 1300889515 and you need to wait at least half an hour to get some one over that to assist you!
#12 by OrangRojak on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 8:20 pm
You guys complain too much! I’m currently in the UK for a reunion, but also visiting my parents, who live on an island with only charity shops, cheap cafes and Pound Stretchers – possibly due to the apparent prevalence of coffin-dodgers. I asked in the local library if I could download a copy of Ubuntu and burn it to a CD and they said “Internet? I don’t think we have that here”. I needed the CD to boot a PC I used at Uni that is stored in my parents’ loft. A friend downloaded and burned a CD for me when I visited for dinner. At 6Mbit/s, the 600MB+ image downloaded in around fifteen minutes. He says that’s normal, and the Internet connection was part of a deal with digital TV. He pays about 30 pounds per month (less than 2% of national average income) for that, and says he wouldn’t know who to call if it went wrong – because he has never known it to have a problem in over twenty years of being a customer. Never, ever, having a single problem with telecoms is a fairly normal condition in England, in my experience.
While I was visiting friends, I popped into a high street store and bought a pre-paid USB 3G stick, with cash, no ID needed. It cost 39 pounds (about RM200). That includes 1GB of transfer, topups are 15 pounds (RM 80-90?) per 1GB. It’s slow away from a window (!), but next to a window, I often get 2Mbit/s on downloads. And it appears to be reliable.
But here’s why you guys should be proud: even though your phones don’t work, and you pay exorbitant prices for abysmal service and products, UK ISPs don’t own nearly as many foreign telecoms companies as TM does. That must mean TM’s business model is the best, right? I mean, they must be making an enormous profit for that kind of shopping. You guys are the lucky ones – where got national telecoms company like TM! You are truly special.
I’ll be back at my desk in PD later this week. Not looking forward to 512kbit/s with 40% packet loss at all. I could get used to web pages actually appearing when I click on them…
#13 by mendela on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 9:01 pm
With such “suck” Streamyx and other “suck” Internet providers, they only expedite the exodus of foreign investors from Malaysia.
Good Internet service is a norm to do business in this world now.
Clearly Najis and all the scumbags did not get it!
#14 by jasonc38 on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 9:20 pm
Why is nobody in Penang connected to PenangNet?? I have stopped Streamyx more than a year ago and started to use this service instead. More reliable. Cost me RM 60/month.
#15 by Godfather on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 9:49 pm
OrangRojak:
You better start comparing apples with apples. The village you are referring to in Ireland would probably be the equivalent of some kampung in Trengganu.
No, we are not proud of the service by TM. It’s called fraud when they promise you a standard speed, and then what you get is a fraction of that. If we want to compare ourselves with the service in Zimbabwe or Botswana, then that’s fine, but if we want to aspire to be Hong Kong or Singapore, then we better buck up.
Yes, there was a proposal for a broadband backbone for the country. It was nearly hijacked by a company controlled by the chief minister of Pahang – the very chief minister who has been directed by the courts to pay tens of millions of ringgit for compensation to a logging company. In any case, the government decided the country couldn’t afford the price tag of RM 18 billion.
#16 by setiawan on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 10:09 pm
‘REALLY SUCKS’ is an understatement.
The fact is much worse than that!
#17 by a2a on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 10:23 pm
IT IS BN MOTIVATED TO ACCESS INTERNET SUCK.
THEY ARE TRYING HARD TO SEAL MALAYSIAN BRAIN WITH THEIR CONTROL MEDIAS WITH LIES.
IF POSSIBLE THEY WISH TO GET RID OF INTERNET ACCESS IN MALAYSIA SO MALAYSIAN BRAINS CAN BE SEALED WITH LIES.
#18 by StevePCH on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 10:36 pm
just have to agree with all of you guys . it’s so hopeless that I ‘had’ to change the modem router etc … finally , the guys said all you need to do is off everything , they do a ‘reset’ . etc. Then … it’s OK at the dial up speed !!!
#19 by mantaray on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 10:52 pm
There is no streamyc broadband. Only narrowband. Or rubber band whatever.
#20 by citigold78 on Monday, 1 June 2009 - 11:16 pm
US based telcos ain’t that fast…
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/26/engadget-labs-the-best-mobile-broadband-carrier-in-america/
* AT&T: 239.01KBps down; 77.95KBps up
* Sprint: 121.27KBps down; 36.94 KBps up
* T-Mobile: 127.33KBps down; 54.05KBps up
* Verizon: 102.9KBps down; 63.22KBps up
#21 by hplooi on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 12:10 am
Is there any way, the opposion-backed states promote community-run Internet?
http://www.freepress.net/communityinternet/
If a political or legal backdoor can be found around the tyranny of streamyx and main-stream telcos’ monopoly of Internet (via the multimedia act and courtesy of the federal govt), I believe we will see an explosion of fast last-mile Internet access.
I for one will actively champion this for P.J.
#22 by mohrafael on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 4:00 am
yeah…i agree, damned bad.
#23 by k1980 on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 7:40 am
Before you complain, you need to understand the perverted mindset of the powers-that-be. They used millions of taxpayers’ money to buy a ticket for a seat in a Russian rocket, and then they had the nerve to proclaim that Malaysia has successfully sent an ASTRONAUT(!) to space. It’s all about fooling the kampung folks.
#24 by mendela on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 8:08 am
Just off track a bit, the other day my wife flew to Japan via a MAS Boeing 777. The plane can carry more than 330 passengers but sadly, only 40 were on board.
With such low passenger capacity, do our ministers, DPM, Mahathiu, etc. really need to fly in Government jets or Petronas Jet?
Can’t such people just do what Singaporean politicians are doing, fly only in their national carrier, SIA?
#25 by cemerlang on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 8:08 am
We boleh. We got. The most important thing is we got and we can show people we got. How it is, who bothers ?! This thing happens all over Malaysia. Cable stolen also can happen. Line cut because of thunder also can happen. Some maintainence work in Subang so far away also can happen. So many excuses lah ! Forever excuses ! Quality, MS ISO, KPI all preachers’ talks. May be should change profession and become preachers to talk, talk and talk more. Good idea. Malaysia will be more blessed with more preachers. God money to make things but no money to maintain things or service.
#26 by TomThumb on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 9:03 am
limkamfart can suck my thumb
#27 by mumzie on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 10:22 am
My Maxis 3G, worst it break and no service at all, very frequent now since last April. When I call the centre ask me to switch from 3G to GPRS, still the same, lucky you be able to surf but very slow, if unlucky no service at all. I’m paying RM138 per month. Can someone bring this up in Parliment telecommunication company is sucker, they earn bucks from use and we are given such a rotten service!!!!!
#28 by Caleb on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 10:25 am
I had to change 1 splitter, 2 cables, 2.5 x package upgrade, 3 PCs, 4 routers, 5 modems and numerous complaints before I can get a better download speed.
For those who complained about the streamyx service, you should ask yourselves, what stage are you in?
#29 by ekompute on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 10:31 am
To be fair, my Streamyx is doing fine in Johor Bahru. But if Streamyx is politicized, I think it’s time to change the government. Streamyx, after all, is merely a commercial organization and has no benefit in penalizing opposition states. If Streamyx really sucks in those states, they must obviously be under pressure from BN. To me, therefore, Streamyx doesn’t sucks, but BN surely does… and not only that, it stinks like pig’s waste.
#30 by cintanegara on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 11:54 am
Don’t blame the floor if you cannot dance…it’s the state government that is incompetence not the service provider…..Why is the CM mentor making noise?
#31 by Godfather on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 3:14 pm
stupid cintanegara: we don’t blame the floor, we look at the roof because it could come crashing down anytime….the next time the roof comes down on your thick head, just keep quiet, OK ?
#32 by k1980 on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 3:37 pm
The next time the roof comes down on his thick head, he would be keeping very, very quiet, for he would be off to Paradise to get his 72 houris….
#33 by d8frog on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 5:04 pm
it’s clearly stated in the contract, any ISP in this country, ‘BEST EFFORT’. i guess to them basically, if you’re able to browse the internet, it works and in accordance to the SLA (service level agreement) regardless if it’s takes ages to load up Google.com
#34 by Ramesh Laxman on Tuesday, 2 June 2009 - 7:45 pm
ASTRO also sucks. They screen repeats and porgrammes of any value is on Box Office where viewers have to pay a fee.
DIGI also sucks. A customer on Pre-paid service a three minute call inside Malaysia costs RM2.60 and a call to Singapore for the same duration costs RM0.45.
Basic Broadband sevice also sucks because it is providing the same level of service as Jaring but at higher cost to customers.
Taxi service sucks. The other day I was taken for ride to be only told that the meter was not wrking. Had to pay the demand by driver or face a broken head.
#35 by OrangRojak on Wednesday, 3 June 2009 - 12:05 am
It’s good to see hplooi advocating community networking. The problem as ever with anything ‘community’ oriented in Malaysia is overcoming not-for-profit lethargy. The problem with networking is offering anything of value to the network that requires neither breaking any ISP’s T&Cs regarding sharing of service nor inviting a visit from the copyright police.
I wondered if it might be able to motivate communities to install their own networks as part of a ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ initiative, or to provide high quality video calling locally (maybe of more use to kids than to grownups). You can’t charge for use of the network (you would be an ISP), but you could certainly charge for installation and maintenance, I would have thought. You would either have to ‘wing it’ with regards to ISPs’ T&Cs like fon.com does, and ask some users to make their broadband connections available to their neighbours, or use expensive non-local ISP’s (satellite) and accept the criticism for slow outside-community traffic.
Long term viability would probably depend on being able to achieve sufficient size to acquire bulk access to a major route. While this remains fenced off by legislation, I’m not convinced the prospect is attractive. It’s a pity – the equipment and software for managing high speed networks, and even participating in them, is cheap and readily available. Is ‘Neighbourhood Watch’, free video calls, and high-performance gaming enough? You would almost certainly have to say that P2P was banned, or the network would succumb early to selective prosecution.