Anyone went to Midvalley last Sunday? I saw that they had a promotion on the Explore plan. Free modem and monthly data of 10GB at RM78/month. The program only applies to selected roadshows.

Yes confirmed Bukit Jalil don't have but around Bukit Jalil has coverage hehehe... I am at Technology Park Malaysia and there's no 3G as well.

Only on local sites. Apparently on my area (at least), international sites has been sluggish today. Youtube is slow. I wonder why...

Things seem to have returned to normal throughout of today. Youtube speed has restored and everything... seems to be as usual. I wonder what yesterday's congestion about.

By the way, I will be scouting for the HW550-3G router tonight.

Yes, I reported few days ago that the service quality has degraded a bit but things pretty much returned to normal after that. I was doing the same stuff yesterday and everything work just fine. Speed and consistency no longer an issue. Probably Digi is doing 'something' and I hope its not to manage our usages hehehe!

Yeah, I know about the firmware thing. The first thing I always do before using a product was to check their support pages for any new firmware. Usually new firmwares (for these kind of products) are released to support 3rd party USB modems. Anyway I didn't have the chance to test out the routing features of mobile broadband. Didn't have enough time to check it out and worst part is, it decided to quit on me. Few minutes into trying it out, the router stop responding and just left for 'other worlds' haha! I have not even try firmware upgrading yet! I had to go back to the shop in Lowyat to get an exchange.

For potential buyers who are shopping in Lowyat Plaza, try the 4th floor Thundermatch. It is the only place selling the router at RM199. Other shop either ran out of them or selling above retail price at RM230-RM250 which is too much. Probably they are colluding with the price since availability is quite limited.

Your message came in too late haha! But still this is the best product at the right price available. I don't see any of the Dlinks, Linksys and other popular brands offering such a feature. If they do, either their availability so limited or the pricing too high. I can understand why Aztech can offer the HW550-3G at such a competitive price. There is no 3G modems in it. It relies on your modem to be plugged in. They just implement the routing features via firmware. They do need a more powerful hardware and more RAM but then its chips to them compared to integrating an additional modem.

So the next best thing would be a router complete with 3G modem where you're only required to plug in your SIM card. Price will be more expensive.

Great that you have verified it. I was worried because Huawei E219 was not listed in the support page. The previous model E220 was listed though so I wasn't sure. Anyone tried updating the firmware via wired ethernet connection? Did it take a long time for the router to respond?

Yes, I was in some parts of Sunway city where there's no official coverage (as stated by the map). There are some small pockets of 3G reception around it but not where I was. Surprisingly I can connect to WCDMA/HSDPA with minimal reception (0-1 bar) and the RSSI was at the all time low of -103. I still get full speed all the way! I'd applause the good performance of the E219 as its pretty sensitive.

Agreed, the router is pretty responsive. However, I believe on heavy duty use for example a file transfer between PCs the responsiveness would go down. I've check on a Singaporean forum which found out that the HW550-3G uses an Ralink SoC (System-on-Chip) ARM processor clocked at 300MHz complete with 32MB of RAM. Not much since we know some better ones have 64MB and above. I think 300MHz is good enough for some good routing performance. Not sure about file transfer though. After all this is a 2R2T system (2 antenna receive, 2 antenna transmit. The 2 antennas switch between transmit and receive). I'll dig up the complete review and put it over here.

UPDATE: Folks here it is! The REVIEW

The Ralink-based SoC could be very much the Ralink RT3052 released in the 2008. Based on the low chip count of the Aztech HW550-3G PCB, its very likely.

RT3052 technical information

* Embedded 2.4G CMOS radio
* Embedded MAC/BBP with MLD (Maximum Likelihood Decoding) for optimal decoding performance.
* RDG (Reverse Direction Grant) and Compressed Block ACK for more robust data packet transmission,
* 300 Mbps physical data rate
* 1T1R/1T2R/2T2R modes for RT3052
* 20 and 40 MHz channel width
* Up to 256 clients
* Multiple BSSID (up to 8) (Basic Service Set Identifiers)
* WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) 64/128/ WPA (WiFi Protected Access) and WPA2 for latest security
* WPS (WiFi Protected Setup) for ease of use
* QoS (Quality of Service) WMM (WiFi multimedia), WMM-PS (Power Save)
* 802.11d+h International Regulatory Compliance
* Hardware frame aggregation
* 16/32-bit SDR SDRAM up to 64MBytes
* Embedded a 7-port Ethernet Switch and a 5-port 10/100
* 5 10/100 UTP ports and 1 RGMII/MII port (RT3052)
* Hardware NAT, QoS, TCP/UDP/IP checksum offloading

Source
http://www.soccentral.com/results.asp?EntryID=25902
http://www10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view...rticleid=538452
http://www.ralinktech.com:8083/ralink/Home...05_29_2008.html

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 19 2009, 12:02 AM

Yeah, some of us has been reporting about the inconsistent service recently. Yesterday for example, the speed fluctuates around 300-600kbps. I guess we have more users than before now. But still browsing experience has not deteriorate. Only can see it on youtube. I don't know about the latency though but I do it won't be low.

Yeah, I think Digi is getting up on their usage control mechanisms. I can see some pattern or signs of it. Maybe I'm being cynical, cause we've all been disappointed before. I have high hopes for Digi though. I hope their '70% rule' is good.

On the other sub-topic, the Aztech HW550-3G HSPA WIFI router has been excellent so far! Its IC components are as high end as other pricey competitors (300MHz, 32MB RAM). I tested its routing functions and some network speed tests. It just works. Definitely not low end performance. The only downside is the over-simplifying of the Web UI configuration page. A lot of information is not shown unlike Dlink, Linksys, etc. Restart/Reboot takes a little long and the firmware updating process is long too without any notification of progress. It gives you a feeling that it could be dead or something. Pass these obstacles, its a damn fine and responsive router. And cheap as chips too.

Would be buyers can go ahead and try it!

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 20 2009, 01:52 PM

Now I just need the centralized data usage. So I can track my usage over a few PCs...

Yeah thats the problem lor... I have installed DU Meter on every PC. From time to time, I will get readings from each PC and then add them together. My personal monthly data consumption can't even get past 3GB so I guess 3 person sharing should be fine.

Yes! Good move there Digi! So when is it happening?

Update: Oops, its happening already haha!

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 21 2009, 08:43 AM

Nice site for Digi Broadband hehe!


Anyway here are some of the things I would like to suggest and feedback:

Suggestion: Centralized bandwidth usage meter on OCS
I know this is coming according to some users but I hope to see it sooner. I've been using Digi Broadband on a 3G router so I can't track my usages. The workaround I have at the moment is installing DU Meter on every PC going through that router.

Feedback: Erratic performance (More like 'managed' or 'congested' performance)
Lately, some of us have been experiencing erratic performance that is somewhat inconsistent especially during the evening (prime time). Most of the time data rates are around 100-300kbps (down average). Not a problem for regular browsing but a problem for youtube or streaming sites. Direct downloads fluctuates around 30-50KBps. Also the first few moments of connection, download rate is very sluggish around 10-20kbps (not KB). Sites don't respond much until a couple of moments later.

This is in contrast to usage experience on day time where browsing fluctuates at the usual 300-1000kbps, with youtube on a consistent 700-1000kbps. Would like to see the 700kbps average down more often.

Feedback: Switching states from Connected to Idle (Soft disconnect)
When the Huawei E219 is having 3G/HSDPA reception but not connected, it'll blink in blue. When it is connected, it'll light up consistently in blueish green. However if it is on idle for long period of time, it'll just light up blue. Thats soft disconnect in my opinion, cause it'll only go back to blueish green when I resume browsing. Now the time between connected and idle or the decision to do so is not really consistent. Sometimes it'll go to idle sooner sometimes, it takes longer. Not sure if this is really a problem since I understand Digi has to manage infrastructure usage but its not good for IM applications and also Facebook. IM will either disconnect or they don't report real changes especially in Facebook.

Update: Ooh sorry forgot to include my location. Its in Taman Midah, Cheras and Sunway University.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 21 2009, 09:01 AM

Yeah I have experienced that too. There's no official coverage but I am able to draw on the HSDPA network. One time the reception indicator was so weak, there was no HSDPA bar but its locked at HSDPA. RSSI was all time low at -103 and I can still surf at full speed! Pretty amazing I would say. I can now comfortably say that it can be trusted wherever I go (around Klang Valley of course )

Only gripe is the erratic performance once in awhile especially evening prime time. Probably a lot of users.

No need to try other BB services. You've hit the jackpot on the first attempt! Digi has been great. 1Mbps is a nice startup. But it would be nice if Digi can take off that 1Mbps cap and price/categorize their services based on consumption. For example, all packages can enjoy the full speed (probably starting with 3.6Mbps), the only difference is use more pay more. We can maintain the same bandwidth quota at 3GB@RM58, 10GB@RM108, 20GB@188. Idea is simple. The faster the speed, the faster users hit their quota and get throttled leaving more capacity earlier. Let money matters discipline usage.

Also they can start on the division of peak/non-peak hours. Of course all this can only happen when they have good capacity to begin with. We can only hope Digi to keep growing and introduce these.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 21 2009, 05:07 PM

Yeah, I suspect too but don't want to spoil his cover until he is ready.

Is it? Things seems to be fine at my location. I think a lot of users already or usage is being managed.

You mean there's even more already in here? Hehehehe...

By the way great to have you here. Can ask some questions...

Yeah Digi Broadband is the smarter choice if your area is covered. For that I suggest you to checkout http://www.digi.com.my/broadband for packages available as well as the terms and conditions. Your questions will be answered.

By the way, Explore package's bandwidth limit is only 10GB unless you're talking about other packages.

No problem at my location for the past 2 evenings. Was able to stream youtube videos without waiting. Some require waiting but not long. Mine was connected to the router so it was shared with a few PCs. I am happy with the router's routing performance as it didn't really choke the line and quality of service (QoS) was maintained.

I noticed one thing though. With the Digi directly connected to my laptop, the latency is usually around 100-ish milisecond. When connected to the router, even though no other PCs are connected, it goes up by 20-30-ish milisecond and higher. Probably due to the routing efficiency. As a result, when you click on a link it'll take a gap of like 1-3 seconds before everything just get spitted up and completed loading. When that happens, its really fast. Just the 1-3 seconds wait. Its definitely the router here.

Yeah, Digi broadband's latency is still bearable. Around 100++ ms. I guess this is only important if you're gaming but internet experience is not always about gaming. Things like downloading, BT, surfing, streaming, etc seems to be same like Streamyx to me. Of course the speed is a lot faster.

Just came back from Maybank's TreatsFair at Midvalley Convention Center. And I subscribed another Digi Broadband account Woohoo! Of course using another name. They have a roadshow and is offering the Explore package at RM88 instead of the usual RM108. Well this is not as good as the previous one at RM68. By the way they have another roadshow at One Utama from next Friday-Sunday. Most probably they will be offering this RM88 thing again. Also this is only applicable for the 1st 12 months and after that it will go back to RM108. Modem is given free and the model is Huawei E160E.

Another amazing thing is they call me back few hours later that I have won a Samsung C100 <-- old model. Any Digi staff can confirm? The roadshow this weekend is operated by Dynacom.

Affirmative! They're going to One Utama next weekend (if what I heard was true). There's this guy who claimed to be apart of this Digi Roadshow last weekend (operated by Dynacom) saying that I won a Samsung C100. But I couldn't go there in time so he told me that there will be another round in One Utama where I can collect it.

Too bad there's any more RM68 Explore package. It was only for 3 weekends and they stopped it. Now its only RM88. I have a feeling that PC Fair will have RM88 or at least something special. Hopefully there will be RM68. You guys check it out!

----

On an unrelated note, the speed for yesterday at Cheras, Taman Midah is terrible. Not worse than Maxis/Celcom but just not the average 700kbps. I get 100-300kbps on regular surfing and 300-800kbps on Youtube. Latency was good around 90-180ms. I get a very strange performance when I connect it to my router. It seems slower while directly connected to PC, things seems to be faster. I think the router firmware still need improvements.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Jul 27 2009, 09:47 AM