Based on my experience with the Time Fibre Broadband deployment in my development, I'm afraid that there's no one answer to your question.

A lot of the time this is due to disagreements between TIME and the apartment/condo management, and sometimes even 3rd party contractors, about whose responsibility it is to perform and pay for the 'last mile' bit of the fibre cabling. Asking around other developments at the time when my condo blocks was being wired up, it was clear that when Time says their fibre broadband is available in a development, it just means that their fibre cable has been pulled off the street and into the comms room of the respective block or blocks (usually in the basement). It's usually a grey area as to whether the cabling has been pulled up through the risers and ducted all the way to right outside each unit of each floor in a block.

If that is not sorted out between all parties involved, and you are desperate to have their broadband service, the cost of pulling the cabling up from the basement up through the riser to your unit is passed on to you, the potential subscriber. That's probably where your RM1K+ quotation is coming from... And even that sounds low, so I assume that you're living on quite a low floor in your block.

Rather than TIME, I would suggest you take up the issue with your apartment or condo management, and clarify as to why they haven't paid for fibre to be pulled up through the risers to each unit. They'll probably say that the cost is too much and cannot be justified, especially if they think the potential uptake is going to be low.. which, in my opinion, seems fair. Prudent management don't like to waste funds.

If they can even be convinced that there will be a 30% uptake, they won't hesitate to do that 'last mile'. Heck, I think then even TIME will be willing to foot the entire cost all on their own.

The awful truth with most ISPs is that about 6% of the subscribers will use up 90% of the available bandwidth, mostly the streamers, downloaders and torrenters who go at it 24/7.

The situation with TIME Fibre Broadband will be somewhat better for the exact reason you mentioned. Being only limited to certain mid- to high-end condos means the subscriber cross-section is smaller - way lower proportion of high-bandwidth consumers.

yang dua minggu lagi tu, did sewa keluar kelajuan tu kepada para sahabat handai dia tu yang masih tinggal di kawasan Streamyx 1MB.

For the same price you are paying to get your 'full' 20Mbps Unifi, you are getting 70-80% of a 300Mbps line, which simple maths well tell you is WAAAYY more than 20Mbps. Even if it was operating at 50% capacity, you're still ahead.

People need to put things into perspective and look at the overall, bigger value-for-money picture.

No, I'm not presently a TIME subscriber, but it is definitely leaning that way once I am convinced that when their subscriber numbers reaches saturation with their new packages, their performance level is still good enough for my home office requirements.

And this is exactly how some countries, like Germany and Norway, market their broadband. Due to EU regulalatory blah blah, most of them offer speeds LOWER than what the port is set to, to account for 'bleed', signal fade or whatever other reason, regardless whether it's on the provider end or the subscriber end.

What TIME should have done, in my opinion, is to market their package as 80Mbps and 250Mbps, while still keeping the ports set at 100Mbps and 300Mbps. That way, when their customers find that they are getting more than the advertised limit, they are very pleased and TIME would probably be their friend for life!

It's not even false advertising, but more of 'underpromising and overdelivering'. However, let's face it, this is Malaysia where large number matters, be it WIFI speeds, cellular coverage, broadband speeds and car engine capacities.

Ask yourself, would you not have subscribed to TIME if they had instead offered 80Mbps for RM149 and 250Mbps for RM189?

My point being it's all a matter of perspective, managing of expectation and the fact that service providers here (not only broadband) fail at knowing what they can deliver vs what is likely possible.

And you, sir, have pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I could say you've won the Internet, but I'm not in the position or power to offer it

Wow! It's like I'm psychic!

Right after I mentioned yesterday about overcapping ports so as to be able to underpromise and overdeliver, it seems that TIME overcapped my father-in-law's 100Mbps package.

It is sustaining around 108Mbps via LAN at the moment, and using the equipment provided, as well.

That said, I probably shouldn't be too surprised. I've been told that back when the packages were 4/8/15Mbps, TIME were frequently capping the ports at 5/10/20Mbps, at least here in the PJ area.

I'm going to conjecture that, for the lucky people at least, the ports for the new packages are actually capped at 120,350 and 600Mbps then. I will probably try to verify that at some stage as soon as I can ask a broad enough cross-section of subscribers locally.

It may just be that we're living in the vicinity of some TIME senior management personnel or major shareholders, and we got the spillover effects. Technical probably doesn't want to piss them off

Here's hoping mine will be similarly overcapped when I subscribe.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 8 2016, 03:38 PM

If you go to the management office, you will probably find some flyers and brochures with the name of the designated agent for your development. If you can't find any, there will probably be at least one stuck on your main noticeboard. If there still isn't, I would clarify with your condo management that your development does indeed have TIME Fibre Broadband service.

Since you mentioned Damansara Perdana, if you are living at Met Sq or Armanee Terrace, I am definitely sure you have coverage.

I would emphasise doing it through the designated agent on the brochure or flyer, rather than a reseller here, some of whom are terribly fond of telling you to read your PM, as though it's some sort of secret mission needing secret handshakes and codewords.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 8 2016, 09:05 PM

In addition to the PPPoE username and password, you probably have to change the PPPoE settings for it to work. Do what TXSim suggested and do a reset of the router first.

Then, when setting up the router again for TIME, there should be a setting somewhere BEFORE you put in the username and password where you have to specify the PPPoE settings to be used. It should be drop-down menu somewhere where you can select 'Unifi Home' (which is probably what it was set to before), 'Unifi Biz', 'Maxis Home', etc. There should be one for 'TIME' somewhere, since I seem to remember that the Archer C7 has a fat 'TIME Fibre Broadband compatible' sticker on the box at the shops.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 9 2016, 07:02 PM

Yes, please try to update the firmware first.

I assume you are seeing what is described in the process listed here - http://www.tp-link.com/en/faq-704.html

If after you update your firmware, and there still isn't a 'TIME mode', you may have to use 'Custom Mode' and ask your installer/technician to help... if you still have his number.

I know that when we had trouble with my parents-in-law's installation, the technician came back the next morning to help even though it was a Saturday, and it was his day off. Even declined to accept a tip my father-in-law offered him for his trouble. Nice guy! I am going to specifically REQUEST that he come do my installation as well, just so he gets the commission, incentive payment or whatever helps the broadband installers along.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and start seeing things for what they are.

TIME is not wonderful, as some of the less than good opinions voiced in the previous pages have proven. They are doing just a good enough job at the moment with decent service and performance to make TM seem like mud. They have to, because they are the underdogs trying to build their customer base, and thus their income to offset their expenditure.

As not even a TIME subscriber presently, but having close family members and friends who are, I just hope TIME keeps working hard enough and not become complacent.

At the moment, they may seem like they are 5 or 10 times better than Unifi and Maxis, but as soon as they decide that being 1.1 or 1.2 times as good - i.e. just slightly better than Unifi and Maxis is enough, then it won't bode well for their subscribers.

As for the state of Unifi, it may be a bitter pill to swallow, but I still stand by my statement in the other thread about the subscribers bringing it on themselves by falling for their 'sucker born every minute' strategy. But I rest my case since most people are not willing to listen or agree. So, it'll just go downhill, but hopefully hit bottom soon.

Me, I look forward to being a TIME subscriber in late-September or early-October.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 10 2016, 12:31 AM

This is correct, and the sooner people realise this, the better.

TIME could spend the millions to fibre up a typical small taman of 200-300 households, but with only a 15-20% uptake, they'd already be operating at a loss providing the service. And typical modern Malaysians being the ungrateful, self-entitled lot as they are, 2-3 months down the road, they'll start demanding Google Fibre standards of performance and service at 3rd world prices.

Malaysia needs a few more Unifi-level fiascos before they will truly appreciate it when good broadband comes along.

... or maybe not, if LYN represents an accurate cross-section of Malaysian society.

It depends on the dimensions and the layout of your condo, and where the router will be located.

A wired connection to the provided router will get you close to 100mbps, but WIFI from it will probably be an issue since 2200sq ft is big, and if there's the router is in the living room where the BTU is probably going to be, the room at the far end of the condo is going to get a weak, if any, WIFI signal.

Bear in mind that no router out there regardless of how much you are willing to pay is going to be able to cover a 2200sqft condo with a strong wifi signal more than 20 feet or so away from it, and walls, especially thick ones, will have a dire effect on signal strength.

Hmmm, seems like an unusual place to put the equipment. Is it by choice? Are you trying to hide them away out of sight? Or is your maid that good that you're giving her the best wifi reception in the house?

Most people keep the modem (BTU) and router in the living room near where the fibre cable is pulled into the unit from the riser outside. At least then, the living room and the adjacent dining area will have good wifi coverage.

That aside, I guess you need to ask yourself how many places do you need a wired connection at and how many places do you need good wifi at. A lot of people don't realise that a wired LAN cable will ALWAYS provide a better and more reliable broadband connection than a wifi signal. So, if there's a PC in your study or something, it's always best to connect it using the LAN port than using wifi.

The best solution is usually to have structured cabling put in, i.e. pull network cables all over your condo and putting LAN points in each room, and then use access points and switches from there.

However, that can get expensive, so the next best thing is to use homeplugs. A lot of people sneer and look down on them, but they work pretty well especially when you are only in 100Mbps.

Finally, wifi repeaters can be used to increase the range and strength of wifi signals all over, but performance is subjective and very much dependent on the layout and location of power sockets.

1) Don't live in a development that is low- to medium-cost.
TIME is not interested unless there will be a high uptake rate. TIME is not going to put in infrastructure just for you and 3-4 of your neighbours.

2) Don't live in a development that is far away from an existing development with TIME.
TIME is not going to pull cable from 10+KM from their nearest node just to wire up your development

3) Don't live in a development where the management is cheapskate.
TIME is not going to pay for everything, including internal block cabling in risers, conduits, etc, as well as ongoing maintenance costs of equipment. The development management has to agree to share the cost.

4) Don't live in a development where the management only wants to do things their way.
TIME is not going to bend over backwards to accommodate near-sighted and unreasonable demands from development management. There needs to be a degree of give and take.

5) Don't live in a development where even Unifi is not available.
If even TM is not touching it, TIME ain't got time for that!

If your checklist is fine, ask your development management to inquire and request that TIME become a broadband service provider.

Unusual that you were charged extra. 15m is usually enough for most installations dragged to the living room.

If they were counting the 22 metres from the riser, I would have a word with your condo management.

Normally, the 15m is counted from the conduit point right outside your front door. Any cabling between there and the riser/comms point is usually not your responsibility, it being the common area outside your unit.

And from the distance involved, it sounds like you are living at Armanee Terrace?

Anyway, if you're happy with it and don't mind paying the extra, I guess it doesn't matter.

This post has been edited by tritonite: Apr 18 2016, 04:25 PM

Your condo must be huge... or you had to snake it up and down walls to make it stay hidden?

I mean I would be ok with it if it actually takes 15m from your doorway, but @infin said it was from the floor switch, for which I feel the cost should have been borne by the condo management. Some of the corridors of these developments are long, and if your unit is the furthest away from the riser, it just sounds unfortunate.

Yes, that is standard practice, and it's the same here at my condo.

Again, just sounded like @infin had to pay extra for the piping from his riser, comms cabinet, floor switch or whatever you want to call it, to his unit. I would query my condo management if it happened to me.

15m just sounds more than enough to me, unless you wanted the ONU located somewhere other than where people are usually happy to have it - i.e. living room, behind the TV table.

Of the 10 people, all it takes is 4-5 binging on high-bandwidth stuff like Netflix, Twitch and YouTube all day long to make everything go pear-shaped.

Rather than throw money at the problem and hope it goes away, I would seriously look into where all that bandwidth is going. If the proverbial pipe is clogged up, no amount of business-grade hardware is going to make an ounce of difference.