I’ve had 3 different DSL Service Providers in the past 4 years. I want to take this opportunity to give an objective and unbiased review on the experiences I’ve had with all 3. Hopefully this will help you guys when you make your decision to get your own broadband, be it for gaming, e-mail, downloading, or surfing. For this article, I’ll write about my experiences with Bayantel DSL, SMART Bro, and PLDT MyDSL. Check them all out after the break.
SMART Bro: This was my first internet connection outside of dial-up. I had this hooked up when I was still living in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City. In all honesty, I had little problems when the DSL was running. Download speeds were pretty stable and I only experienced lag when I was playing Fly for Fun. It actually ran pretty well with RF Online. For 900+ bucks monthly, the connection was pretty okay back then. My only problem with SMART Bro was when the connection would go down. The customer service reps would say that it would take around 1-2 days for their technical team to drop by to fix it. However, there were several instances when it took the technicians more than 1 week before they come over to fix the antenna. Because of the intermittent connection, I decided to cancel my subscription to SMART Bro after 1 year (contract).
SMART Bro Plug-it: I then moved on to SMART Bro Plug-it. I needed mobile internet because I’m always on the move and it helps a lot with my consultancy work. I bought the USB Modem for P3,800 I think. It kinda makes me sad when I see that the prices have dropped all the way down to P1,800. Anyway, regarding the connection, it really depends on location. There were instances that the speed was really fast to the point that I could actually play World of Warcraft without any hassle. But there were instances that I couldn’t even get a signal at all. From experience, it’s kinda fast in Makati and Tomas Morato, but very erratic in the Katipunan area. By the way, forget about downloading… it takes forever. I still have this with me since it allows me to go online wherever. It’s pretty much for emergency use like: waiting for the girlfriend while she’s shopping, need to send an urgent e-mail, bored to death and I want to Facebook while on the road, etc.
Bayantel DSL: I got Bayantel while I was living somewhere along Katipunan. First, let me just say that they provide the most hassle free service. I called their hot line on Monday, and their agent went by to get my requirements Tuesday. Internet was installed Wednesday. That’s insanely fast! Plus, I didn’t have to go to their service centers at all. I got the 2.5MBPS package which costs around P2699. Initially I had problems with the connection since the Speed Test just registered around 1.1 – 1.2MBPS. However, after making 1 call, they fixed it and I got 2MBPS – 2.4MBPS constantly. If ever I would have problems with the connection, it would get fixed within a day. If they say that the technician would drop by soon, they really mean it. There was one instance that my connection was on and off. I called in the morning, and the guy actually arrived in the afternoon to fix it. Amazing. My only concern with Bayantel is that around 11PM-12AM, the connection is really on and off. Dunno why. Rest of the day though it’s pretty much stable.
PLDT MyDSL: I just moved to Greenhills a few weeks ago and I initially wanted to just get Bayantel because of the convenience. Unfortunately they weren’t servicing the area yet. I had to decide between PLDT MyDSL and Globe Broadband. Since I work for the PLDT Group, I thought of just going for PLDT. Okay, I don’t know if I’ll get into trouble for writing this but… man. I applied for a connection more than 3 weeks ago and I still haven’t gotten any feedback on when they will install! I’ve been calling the contractor that signed me up and she’s no help at all. In fact, she told me to be the one to follow up by calling 171. I have no idea when I’ll get a call telling me that the technician will drop by. That’s the main reason why I haven’t been able to blog regularly because I don’t have connection at home. I’m seriously thinking of going for Globe Broadband if I still don’t get any feedback by tomorrow.
So that sums up my entire DSL experience. If you guys want to share yours, please go ahead and leave a comment. We can use this thread as some sort of a feedback mechanism so we’re all informed before we subscribe. Cheers everyone!
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thumbelena on January 13, 2010
ay nak0! PLDT DSL sucks EXTREMELY BIGGGGGG TIME!!! from 1pm to 9pm everyday i’m always getting timeouts on my ipconfig. and continous timeouts for me means END CALL sa skype. nakakabicet cause i have called them a MILLION times already! and their technician have been here on our house for five consecutive days yet he doesn’t know where the problem is! shonga shonga! kaboplaksan he was even blaming that my modem is searching for international routers daw and that hindi na daw sakop un ng PLDT? duhhh what would i know about that? im paying them to give me internet connection tpos sasabihin na hindi na daw sakop ung paghahanap ng router? anyway he changed our modem pero hindi naman bago ung pinalit nia and it doesn’t fix the problem. PLDT internet and services sucks! to think na we’ve been a subscriber ng PLDT eversince i’m born. i’m planning to switch on BAYANTEL sOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!
Eunos on January 16, 2010
Which is the best service to use in Manila? My cousin will be there for 2 years… She’s worried about not having good connection.
nepie on January 17, 2010
okay naman yung pldt dsl DATI..pero ngayon, i agree. it NOW sucks!!! (i checked on speedtest.net)
last year: umaabot pa ng 1mb/s
simula nung ondoy: 0.5mb/s nalang (okay fine, baka may nasira lang sa network or something) pero i think, they’re not doing anything to fix any damages caused by ondoy
jan 2010: 0.26mb/s nalang!! amp! bumaba pa!! AND take note. there are times when you’ll just be disconnected!! nakakapikon na!!
primo on January 18, 2010
I have Globe DSL dito sa Pasig, since Dec. 2009 I have been calling them about my slow connection, parang dial-up, and cannot open my yahoo mail message up to this time. I have been calling them every week to follow up but to technician ever came. They told me that the problem is in my PC but I think not, for have tested their connection to my two other laptop I still get the same slow connection. But when I use Smart Bro Prepaid I can surf much faster and I can open my Yahoo mail messages. After a month of complaining to no avail, I thinking o terminating my Globe DSL subscription. Am still looking into wired dsl as pldt of bayantel.
itsMeSEPH on January 21, 2010
akala ko ako lng nkaka experience ng ganito s “PLDC” PLDT n plging DC.. anyway nag start ung pag bgal ng internet connection this 1st week ng january 2010. pinaayus ko lng ung telephone namin ksi hindi mgamit plgi wala dial tone. then after maayus ung telephone nag start n ung calvary ko. more than 1 week nwala ung internet connection hindi lng everyday ako tumwag, almost every 3 hrs nag follow up ako pra hindi mpatungan ng ibng reklamo ung ticket ko. then last week my ng punta na technician nila my sinabi inibadaw nila ung configuration ng conection ko, nilipat pla nila s ibng system my sinabi n n nilipat daw ung conection ko from U-tag-1 t0 U-tag 7, so inintindi ko nlng sila maayus rin lng daw “as soon as possible” tatwag nlng daw sila if OK na. then nun umalis silang w8 ako almost 3-4 hrs din ako ng hintay tpos tumwag if ok n daw ba. sabi ko di p gnun p rin.. sabi b nmn uo nga sir ksi ung conection nyo nilipat s sibng system tpos ung pinag lipatan hindi p pla n configure nid pa e-email ung personel n mag aayus ksi di daw nila hawak yun.. WTF! bkit nila nilipat ung conection ko hindi p pla OK ung pag lilipatan tpos ask ko kung how lng maayus sabi nya di daw nya msasabi pro 3 – 5 days pdi p sure.. tpos nung monday tumwag skin ung PLDC ok n daw ung internet ko,dali dali ko open ung PC pra i check ayun meron nga.laking psalamat koksi OK na. pro after 2 hrs sarap pagmumrahin mga hinayupak… khit google hirap mg load ung site.. ni facebook di ko m open… my chances lng n bigla mgiging OK internet pro bka 30 mins lng bblik n nmn s SOBRANG BAGALLL…. now im planing to get Bayantel… subokan ko kung mas OK n ngaun ung bayantel ksi npagkaalamanan ko na mganda n daw service ng bayantel this day unlike b4… ang haba ata ng na share ko… pro mas mhaba ung pag k badtrip ko s “PLDC”!!!
flamingtater on January 22, 2010
i have the Php 1999 plan on PLDT MyDSL and my latency here in Pampanga on World of Warcraft is 500to 600 ms constantly, pero sometimes po umaabot ng 1.2k to 2k. Dati lagi me nadidisconnect pero ngaun ok na.. Problem lang ngaun is double entry ung billing nila ng internet connection i think 3 months nato and ndi pa nareresolve up to now,, arghh..
Jaives on January 23, 2010
hi guys. i’m from paga-asa, qc. i’ve been a bayanDSL subscriber for almost 3 years. prior to november 2009, i’ve never had complaints at all. it’s fast and stable. past 10PM, speed even doubles to 1.4 kbps. I can leave it on the entire night while it downloaded torrents.
Unfortunately, since mid-November 2009, I’ve been experiencing intermittent connections. Maswerte na yung tumagal ng 2 hours ang connection. Otherwise, it can get cut off kahit ilang segundo pa lang connection. Mabilis nga ang service when you call for technicians. Pero kahit pabalik-balik na sila for 3 weeks straight last December, they still can’t figure out kung bakit napuputol internet ko.
Because of this, I’ve been thinking of switching to another subscription kaso grabe ang mga horror stories. Mamimiss ko rin ang Speed-on-Demand ng Bayantel. If you guys have been experiencing the same thing, leave a reply so that i at least know i’m not alone on this one.
Chris on January 23, 2010
Pansin ko nga ung serbisyo ng PLDT sobrang bagal last september-october pa ako nagapply then sabi nila sakin 10-15days installation sakto naman nung panahong un sunodsunod nman ang mga bagyo kya nadelayX2 pero naintindihan ko un…kaso nga lang nung mga mid November na wala parin kaya panay ang reklamo namin sa office nila..palagi nlang ang sinasabi ay”W8 NYO LANG PO BAKA WITH IN THIS WEEK MAIKKBIT NA NILA ” kc daw marami kaming sabayX2.Kaya un hintay nlang ako nanghintay hangang umabot na nang X-mas vacation, umuwi nmn ako samin sa probinsya sa pagaakala ko sa pagbalik ko ng baguio meron na kc pinabilin ko sa landlord na sya na blha sa pagpapaconect,e nung pagbalik ko wala parin,sinubukan kong tawagan ang PLDT kaso d makontak ..ANU BANG SERBISYO YAN? kaya pumunta nlang ako sa office..tapos nalaman ko nlang sa kanila na wala na plang SLOTS sa lugar ko, puno na daw .E BAT D PA NILA SINABI NANG MASMAAGA? tapos inoffer nman samin na i backOUT nlang ung inaplly nmin.e xempre binakout ko.kya plano ko na mag BAYANTEL by nxtwik kc naririnig q na maganda daw serbisyo nila at d matagal installation gaya ng PLDT,PLDT really sucks…!
Jhe on January 26, 2010
PLDT and EASTERN may have the widest coverage BUT if you or your company is not that BIG (Leased Line Connection), they continue to SUCK on their PROMISED GOOD SERVICE! Bayantel way to go! you won!
Gan on January 28, 2010
Pagnaririnig ko ang PLDT gusto ko magmura. Noon okay naman sya… sa phone and internet connection… okay! So pagdating ng bill hindi ka manghihinayang magbayad. Pero kung 1-2-3 months mawalan ka ng connection at linya… babayaran mo ba ang serbisyong hindi mo naman napakinabangan? Ireport mo man e parang dinedma ka lang. Pagfinollow-up mo yung request mong rebate e naerase na yung record o walang record na nagreklamo ka. WTF!!! Nakakapagod na magdial sa 171 mas lalo na ang magpunta ng office at makipila sa napakahabang mga nagrereklamo sa opisina nila. At pagmoment mo na wala kang mapapala. Uuwi ka lang ng badtrip at nagmumura. Hindi nila iteterminate ang connection hanggang hindi fully paid sa kanila. Pero… ulit! “Babayaran mo ba ang serbisyong hindi mo naman napakinabangan?” kaya ang resulta every month tataas ng tataas ang bill. Tatawag na naman sa 171… Pupunta na naman sa opisina nila. Mababadtrip. Magmumura. Magiging paulit ulit lang ang sistema nang walang resulta kundi kapaksyetan.
Bayantel highly recommended sa panahon ngayon. Kaya sa Bayantel it’s time to shine. Pangalagaan nyo ang pangalan nyo.
Gan on January 28, 2010
A complaint to PLDT
This protest aims at combining all those into one direct complaint against the company
http://www.petitiononline.com/pldtdsl/petition.html
luisivich on January 28, 2010
nagaaply ako dati sa pldt dsl. di abut sa amin yung wiring isang kanto pa raw ang layo so i had to pay halos 3k pra mapaabut lng sa amin. so kinabit na. syempre tatawagan yung customer service, magtatatanong syempre kung okey na connection, nagreklamo ako bakit 1/4 lng ng speed yung nakukuha sa speed test- reply nya magaadjust pa raw yun bukas raw mabilis na yun. so ok na. after 3 days mabagal pa rin. 3 weeks ako tumawag araw araw eventually nakulitan ung enginner na kausap ko ( sya raw dapat kausapin e) tuwing tumatawag ako nasa lunch raw o lumabas. nung nakausap ko ng huli mayabang pa. so nagpunta na ako sa office ng pldt tinanong ko kung paano ipaputol connection, so ok na pinirmahan na ng pldt na disconnected na connection ko due to their poor services. so happily ever after na dapat. after 1 year nangailangan ako ng secondary connection. apply ako pldt nalaman ko na may utang pala ako 30 thousand mahigit dahil may lock in period yung inaapply ko. so i never applied for pldt again.
Rito on January 28, 2010
I’ve been with Eastern for two years, so far naman I’m satisfied, and in fact I wanted Eastern to transfer the service to a place I’m moving into, sa may Bacood or Sta. Mesa, pero wala daw silang service doon. I’m now in the market kung saan ba talaga ako mag-apply ng service – yung sanang may landline. When I put my cursor on the icon for Internet connection (yung dalawang computer monitors), bakit ang lumalabas eh Local Area Connection, Speed: 100.0 Mbps. Akala ko tuloy mabagal yung mga 2 Mbps lang. I suppose hindi totoo na 100 Mbps ang speed ng broadband ko. Pleas enlighten me on this.
Ok kaya ang Sun Cellular?
MIke on January 30, 2010
buti n lng ung akin sa PLDT MyDSL Plan 1995 around here in Parañaque ok naman ang connection ko. na avail ko naman ung 2mbps nila… and hindi ako madalas ma DC… prang 3 times a month lng ako na Disconnect sa Connection… kaso lng.. pag Mawlan ako ng connection eh 1 day naman ang hhintyin mo.. pero ok lng.. kung 2 to 3 times lng naman per month eh..
nalulugi lng ako skanila eh dun sa Promo nila…
ung CALL ALL sabi nila 300 per month lng ang ddag sa bill
tpos nung nakita ko sa bill namin eh.. 700 ung dinadagdag..
ang masama pa nito 2 ung kinuha namin.
kya minsan. 1.800 ang promo nila na wlng kwenta.
kya umaabot ako ng 4k sa bill. hayz..
Lou Smith on February 1, 2010
I am a network engineer. PLDT MY DSL sucks here in Las Pinas. Down all the time. I am a network engineer. Their problem is inside their network setup or not enough bandwidth to support their customers. PLDT MYDSL SUCKS THE BIGGEST!!! Here in BF Resort, they seem to be the only option. Globe also sucked even more. Do not go with PLDT MY DSL.
RM on February 5, 2010
We have a connection of PLDT here in Pasig. Pina-upgrade lang namin yung old phone line namin… Last year OK pa to, no random disconnections except pag may ginagawa sila na fix malapit samin.
Pero simula nun nag start ang JANUARY 2010 ayan na, nagsimula na ang random disconnections! ARGH!
i got a stable modem, lahat ng 3 indicator led meron
ito ang problems:
1. very slow/intermittent connection
2. random disconnections EVERYDAY SINCE JAN 2010
3. NO INTERNET 6PM ONWARDS EVERYDAY, resumes the next day early in the morning! (started this 1st week of FEB 2010)
1st call: may dumating naman at pinalitan un modem namin, no good after ilang hours, ganun padin!
2nd-4th call: tumawag ulit ako pinaparefer na ako sa 173 (phone line repair) kasi static daw yung phone line, chineck ko kung meron, at meron ngang mahina na background buzzing noise.
ang fix ng contractor dito, pinalita ung black na cable n a papunta dun sa poste.. NO LUCK GANUN PA DIN!! ARGH!
5th call – present: napansin ko na kada malakas ang hangin samin meron akong random disconnection. sinama ko na din yun
AT HANGGANG NGAYON, WAL PA DIN TECHNICIAN/CONT RACTOR NA DUMADATING! ARGH! ARGH! ARGH!
Conclusion: PLDT pisses me off BIG TIME!
“ANG BILIS NIYO MAGPAKABIT , ANG TAGAL NIYO MAG-FIX!”
Sana kung may maka basa nito na taga PLDT, favor naman paki sabi naman ito:
Kayo na ang pinaka sikat at pinakamatatag na Telephone Company dito sa Phils, pero sana naman AYUSIN NIYO REPAIR S ERVICES NIYO KUNG GUSTO NIYO NA MARAMI KAYONG SUBSCRIBERS, HINDI YUN PURO PA PROMO nagmumukha kayong pera niyan eh!
*PLDT Sux at their Repair/Services*
Kiko on February 6, 2010
@Rito, yung lumalabas na 100mbps, is the connection speed between your computer and your modem, which is commonly dictated by the speed of your lan card. Yung 2mbps etc, yun yung effective connection speed ng modem with the server, and yung effective speed ng over-all connection mo dahil mas mabagal sya. Nadedetermine to by using online speedtests
Back to topic, mayroon pa po bang may comments regarding Bayantel DSL? Balak kasi naming kumuha nun sa Diliman area.
I’m currently a myDSL user (Plan 999 experience yung type ng plan) sa Valenzuela and hindi naman ako nagkakaproblem sa connection =)
Rito on February 9, 2010
Thanks, Kiko, that was enlightening. I appreciate it.