Internet Access

[bookmanx]

I'm visiting soon with an eye on scouting a place to move to. One requirement I have had in the states for anytime I've moved for the last 16 years was high speed net access available.basically : "Hi, my name is Matt and I am addicted to Everquest and Eve-online.I was wondering how the net connection is in most of the more populated areas (city, not rural of course). I know I'm not going to get the fibre connection I'm used to but DSL will work fine. Are the connections reliable ? Do they cost the proverbial arm and leg ? Thank you all for a very informative place. In reading I'm having questions answered that I didn't even know I had !

[joeatmanila]

You can check these sites, up to you what to choose as per your needshttp://www.pldt.com.ph/products/consumers/internet/Pages/myDSL.aspxhttp://tattoo.globe.com.ph/shophttp://smart.com.ph/bro/products/ i use the pldt dsl and i am very happy, extremely reliable.

[Old55]

Most larger Philippine city's have reasonable internet service electrical service can be an issue at times.

[Dave Hounddriver]

_{When I lived in Canada, up until 4 years ago, I had Cable Internet. When I moved here I was frustrated as could be about the backwoods quality of Internet. Even what passes for Cable Internet in Cebu city does not compare. And the further into the provinces you go the worse it gets. But the good news is: You get used to it.}

[Mr Lee]

Depending on where you live, they also have Sky Cable Broadband up to 12mbps in some areas but it must be areas with newer cables for it to work. We have Sky digital cable in our condo but they would not give us broadband because they said the wiring in our building would not handle it.

[Jake]

I'm visiting soon with an eye on scouting a place to move to. One requirement I have had in the states for anytime I've moved for the last 16 years was high speed net access available.basically : "Hi, my name is Matt and I am addicted to Everquest and Eve-online.I was wondering how the net connection is in most of the more populated areas (city, not rural of course). I know I'm not going to get the fibre connection I'm used to but DSL will work fine. Are the connections reliable ? Do they cost the proverbial arm and leg ? Thank you all for a very informative place. In reading I'm having questions answered that I didn't even know I had !

Hello Matt, So you are an addicted on-line gamer? I wouldn't dare try on-line multiplayer because I would bekilled within the first second. I'm more into first person shooter, still playing old school Far Cry andCrysis PC games. Good luck trying to find reliable and stable internet in the Philippines. You need to also considerthe stability of the power grid, often times a bigger headache than internet services. Welcome aboard sir -- Jake

[Mr Lee]

To answer Jake's post above, I use a UPS on my modem, router, and computer due to all the momentary outages which always seem to come at the worst time. Since hooking up the UPS years ago, I have not lost internet even once, but I did have to shut down the whole system when a power outage lasted more than a few minutes, and good thing I did, because it lasted hours. Also in the Philippines I use a laptop without a battery hooked to the UPS, so if anyone is going to buy a UPS, best to make sure it will handle all your needs for at least long enough to shut the system down.

[Art2ro]

I've had my PLDT DSL 990 plan, about 1meg speed for 4 yrs now and haven't any problems here in Northern Central Luzon. It'll do it for me for now, because I don't need anything faster than that, but sometimes video streaming is slow. PLDT will eventually be coming out with fiber optics, but I don't know when it will make it to our area.

[Garpo]

Matt, You can get decent connections and speeds but beware that the advertised speeds will always say in small print that 1 mbps means that you will get speed up to 1 mbps, If you sign up for a 1 mbps connection then you will get an average speed of about 1/2 to 3/4 of that. Faster speeds will be during the low usage hours of the day and slower speeds will be during the high usage hours. Welcome to the forum,

[Mr Lee]

Matt, You can get decent connections and speeds but beware that the advertised speeds will always say in small print that 1 mbps means that you will get speed up to 1 mbps, If you sign up for a 1 mbps connection then you will get an average speed of about 1/2 to 3/4 of that. Faster speeds will be during the low usage hours of the day and slower speeds will be during the high usage hours. Welcome to the forum,

Not always true but it would probably start out that way. When we got our condo we got PLDT and we would receive about one third the speed most times, so I complained and told them that if they can provide one third the speed, then charge me for the slower plan, well after a few times of complaining on the phone and them fixing it each time and then it going back to the slower speed within weeks, I went to the main office and asked to speak to the manager. I talked nicely to her and told her I had a question for her and that I did not mean any disrespect by it. I asked if she went to the store and bought 10 bananas and got home and there was only 3 in the bag would she be happy, and she of course said no. I said I am paying for 10 bananas and getting 3, so either lower me to the lower cost plan that is for 3 or give me 10 and I would settle for 85% but not 3, so the very next day it was up to 100% plus and has been for a few years now, but having said that, it might be back down the next time we get back and I might have to start over again, :89: so for those who live there full time and are willing to be nice and diplomatic when complaining, you can get them out of tunnel vision with their "up to sir" which is their standard answer, you just have to do it nicely. PLDT offered 2 speeds below the 1mbps I was paying for, so it was pretty easy to get them to understand, so if someone gets 4 mbps and only gets 2, use the same theme and they should wake up and give you what you are paying for or close to it. I refuse to get shafted because employees are taught up to sir. The squeaky wheel gets the oil and most Filipinos never complain, so when faced with logic, a supervisor with a higher education and business smarts than those that just answer the phone, might be willing to understand, but it does take time and patience, as does most things in the Philippines.