BAYANTEL ...

After ranting about PLDT's insanely lousy service (BTW, that's not the end of that since they called me up on Thursday and informed me that somehow, like a miracle, there are 2 ports available for us!!! more on that next time), I am now half ranting/half raving about BAYANTEL (now called Bayan Telecommunications -- they're emphasizing BAYAN for some reason). It's like this, for the past few days my DSL connection at home which is connected to a well secured wifi router keeps on disconnecting every so often. I spent most of my Saturday troubleshooting my connection figuring it might be on my end since nobody else is complaining of the same situation (not in PinoyDSL and not in BNCXE). I started by checking my router settings. I reset it to the factory default settings and then reconfigured it and also ensured that it's secure. Still the same problem. I even made sure that it's not due to overheating since we never turn it off. Connected my laptop directly to the modem and set my PPoE log-in. I observed again... and still the same thing! I then thought it might be the physical wiring, there might be a grounded wire somewhere that's affecting my connection. Checked everything from the outdoor box to the box where my modem is hooked to and everything was fine. Made up a DIY phoneline tester and made sure the line were clean. I also made sure that the filters were working. All was good but still i get disconnected every hour or so... (I can't bot my chars and the experience was x3 for the week!!!) Frustrated, I called up 4112000 and sought "professional" help... I first talked to a TS named Mitch and she asked me all the basic questions for DSL trobolshootin. Are the lights steady? Are you on a network? Is the sky blue? :( I then proceeded to explain to her my problem and my theories and all she could say was "did you check your router?" (seems like when i explained to her my problem she picked up on the fact that i said i connect using a wireless router and she blocked everything else out...) I then asked her if she understood my problem and she said yes. Aside from the disconnections, since I'm already talking with someone for BayanTel DSL, I also informed her that before the upgrade, during non SOD hours (thats Speed On Demand for non subs wherein your DSL speed doubles during off peak when you sign in with @sod after your username), I get 200-250kbps and 500++ kbps during SOD hours. After the upgrade, my non SOD speed increased to 350++ but my SOD speed remained the same. So I asked her if she can check if the limits set on my account were correct. She put me on hold and never came back... I tried checking my connection again and this time I can't log-in totally! Called them up again and talked with a different TS. After giving out my account number and informing her that i was calling back from a disconnected call she then asked me the SAME questions the prev agent asked (are the lights steady?!) Talk about efficiency... She then checked the records on her screen (which she should have done in the first place) and told me that the previous agent reset my account and changed my password... wth?!?! why did nobody call me up and tell me this? she even noted on the log that we got diconnected on the call. After several resets and call backs later i now have a steady connection (keeping my fingers crossed). Somehow the non SOD speed became faster (i was hitting up to 400++ kbps on non-SOD) and the download rate which normally was 15-20KB/s now reaches at least 34KB/s. CHECK MY SCREENIE. I was loading an episode of Bleach from youtube while botting 3 accounts where one is in XKORE mode and also signed in to 2 different messenger programs... wow. they can actually provide me with this speed! hopefully this will last for awhile before i have to call back again... calling up cust service people for local telecoms can really be draining... i have much respect for people who work as agents specially those who really try to put effort in getting customer satisfaction but alas, it seems that we only provide that to foreign accts (i used to work as a TS for MSN Dial-up). Hayz... hopefully my RAVE outlasts my RANT!!!