Shouldn't the poll contain choices like "None of the above", "I would rather use a different ISP", and "I'll stick with Streamyx"?

No other services required, just the HSBB package cost.

If they have configured things correctly, IPTV usage shouldn't be affected by internet usage in any way.

Streamyx 1mbps + fixed line is RM110/month. Combo package. No reason to pay more.

When you get Unifi, they will give you a new line with a new number. They will not automatically cancel your old line and number. So at that point you will have two lines, two numbers, two phones.

You can cancel the old one if you want to, and stop paying the bills. At the moment you cannot cancel the new one, and the rental for the new one is included in the Unifi subscription price.

If it was free perhaps you'd use it more?

I read this article. It highlights the consequences of a very important, and shortsighted, design decision that was made for the Malaysian HSBB installation.

Rather than actually doing point-to-point fiber from each home to a central point, the fiber runs in Malaysia are aggregated with passive splitters in each neighborhood. This has two major effects:

1) It is much more difficult to unbundle the fiber from access. That is, it helps to preserve TM's monopoly position which is definitely not in Malaysia's best interest.

2) It increases the chance that in a few years, the streets will have to be torn up again to install new fiber.

Too bad there is not more open public oversight of government in Malaysia, it would save everyone a lot of money in the long run.

The effect of changing from ADSL to fiber is in the region of 10ms, whether you are connecting across town or around the world. Your ping to a Malaysian server might go from 20ms to 10ms, and your ping to a server in London might go from 350ms to 340ms.

Any other difference you see is because of routing and has nothing to do with the fiber technology per se.

The fact that people complain everywhere doesn't mean that things are equal everywhere.

People complain about the heat in Germany, that doesn't mean it's as hot as it is in Malaysia.

One of my clients is on Comcast and use it for a few weeks every year when I visit. There is no comparison to TMnet. Sure, it has problems, but as a Streamyx customer, I would kill to have the problems that Comcast users have. Customers in other countries have much higher expectations, and will complain about much more minor issues. If Comcast provided service like Streamyx, they would have gone out of business years ago.

For your chart, here is what I am mainly used to:

http://www.upc.nl/internet/

Ranging from 5mbps for 19 euro, to 120mbps for 71 euro. No cap.

And you can really get those speeds (of course, the server at the other end has to cooperate). Using the 60mbps package I could get 8MB/s downloads from the USA. 700MB ISO file in a minute and a half.

When you compare with TM's offerings you also have to consider that the effective speed is much lower than the advertised speed for most non-local transfers.

You're thinking about it the wrong way.

NOBODY should have the "privileges". It should be an open-access network like in Singapore.

All ISPs should be allowed to compete freely using the fiber infrastructure that was funded by public money. This will ensure better quality of service, higher speed, and a more dynamic market.

The way Malaysia did it was flawed from conception. It was rigged so that only TM could get the job and only TM would benefit, at the expense of other ISPs, and in the long run, at the expense of all Malaysians.

Then something is wrong with your network or one of the endpoint devices.

I have no problem saturating a 100mbps link with HTTP transfers between my Mac and my cheapass little Ubuntu netbook.

Likewise when I am outside of Malaysia and using actual fast internet.

As for your broader point, I don't really agree that the True Answer to all our internet access problems is to train every user on esoteric workarounds for problems that are in fact solvable.

For one thing, if TM is limiting bandwidth per TCP stream, it's because they know they don't have enough capacity to serve users at higher rates. If everyone starts using download accelerators, it won't magically increase TM's backhaul.

Secondly, as a server administrator, those things are punishing. Each simultaneous download thread is a significant amount of extra RAM the server has to use. That costs actual money. Sometimes I find that my only recourse is to limit to 4 or 8 max connections per IP address, something I don't want to have to do, but given the prevalence of download accelerators it's the only way I can continue to serve the same number of users. Frankly it's abusive behavior. Web site operators shouldn't have to pay for limits imposed by ISPs on the other side of the world.

You are making a big assumption about where TM's engineering problems are. Who knows whether the problems are concentrated in such a way that dropping in one router could solve everything? Far more likely that the problems are endemic network-wide.

TM keeps saying "DECT" but that's just a fancy name for cordless phone - almost all cordless phones are DECT these days.

You get a new fixed line number. People can call it just like any other number. TM has not yet managed to work out how to port existing numbers to their VoIP network.

In all these topics and threads I don't recall seeing a single report from someone who has had a VDSL install in a condo. Is TM not doing those at all yet? Or is it just that people in houses are more likely to post about their experience to LYN?

Any photos of the VDSL box? Reports on speed?

No, you just need to be in a covered area. Fixed line is not necessary.

With fiber the distance isn't nearly as much of an issue. Consider that we are connected to the rest of the world on a fiber run from Japan to USA. Okay, there are some optical amplifiers along the way, but spaced 100+km apart.

Those devices aren't that complicated - if they vendor can get it working in their firmware, then I'm sure other people can too, given sufficient demand. Unifi may create that tipping point.

Ask TM. Nobody else can answer this question.

If there are 500,000 people using Unifi it will be the year 2050.