Internet service

[harryopal1]

For some years living in Jimbaran I have subscribed to MNC for satellite TV and internet connection their range of options include overseas ABC TV and can watch Aus football. Towards the end of each month, as in now, with the turnover to the next month's subscription the availability of the internet becomes very difficult and extremely slow. Used to have to pay an extra fee to get a few more megabytes to tide one over. First thing in the morning almost impossible to connect. Near 11 am a connection might be made but often brain numbingly slow. Have asked if I can switch to better internet delivery and pay more but their only response is to pay extra near the end of each month for the little bit of extra capacity.

Any others have this problem or ideas as to how to deal with this? Enormously frustrating. I had even mailed a letter to the CEO but never did get a reply.

 

[britoo]

Sounds like you might be hitting your quota or fair-use limit and you should be able to confirm this by:
1 confirming if your ISP has a fair use quota and what happens if breached - they usually slow you right down - so fits your reported symptoms
2 might have to toggle something on your router settings but you usually can set it to measure monthly stats so you can see if you are blowing though your quota.

With streaming I could easily use about 1T a month which was on the edge of my fair use quota. Any slowdown wasnt enough for me to notice however.

If this is indeed the problem you could look at some solutions:
1 if its streaming that mainly uses your internet then you could ramp down the quality a bit if you are ok with that
2 You could look at getting a higher speed package which normally comes with a higher fair use quota
3 You could change ISP being mindful of the above.

If its not related to quota, ie. it something to do with the ISP then the only thing I can think of is ask them to fix it and if they can't/ won't / don't then jump ship assuming you can.


Cheers

Ps is your satellite content still delivered via dish or via your broadband?

 

[harryopal1]

Thank you Britto for your response.

Both TV and, I think, internet are delivered by satellite. I cannot get a higher speed package from MNC. They prefer that I pay a ridiculous rate for a small top up.
I am not aware of an alternative that offers the ABC overseas tv service as part of a package.

Actually, today my wife checked and we had not exceeded our quota. At times it is extremely difficult to open websites even though the modum is showing we are connected and other times it is tooth gnashingly painfully slow. At the moment, 10.35 pm. it is functioning okay.

 

[Markit]

Internet here is an ongoing joy and we have time relevant dips and rises in connection speeds always. Particularly noticeable on Sunday afternoons when everyone is at home or evenings around 5pm for same reason.

Unless it's important to you to have your tv shows the minute they are sent on the channel you might want to consider downloading your favorite programs from a torrent service such as The Pirate Bay ( https://piratebayproxy.live) torrent search engine - click on your chosen show and it should load automatically into the "client" you've installed such as qBittorrent which will download it for you automatically.

 

[britoo]

Thank you Britto for your response.

Both TV and, I think, internet are delivered by satellite. I cannot get a higher speed package from MNC. They prefer that I pay a ridiculous rate for a small top up.
I am not aware of an alternative that offers the ABC overseas tv service as part of a package.

Actually, today my wife checked and we had not exceeded our quota. At times it is extremely difficult to open websites even though the modum is showing we are connected and other times it is tooth gnashingly painfully slow. At the moment, 10.35 pm. it is functioning okay.

Jimbaran ought to be well connected via more reliable means ie: wifi, fibre, mobile and I imagine you would be spoilt for choice.

If ABC (I'll assume Australian rather than American) is the sticking point perhaps someone from the Southern hemisphere could confirm if a VPN could practically solve this problem. "practically" = Some folks just want to use a remote control rather than mess around with casting and IT solutions.

I've just done a test for you (though I am not in Bali at the moment nor Australia) and I have connected my PC to and Australian VPN server and accessed ABC iview. Seems to work fine and I have watched some live TV and a movie as a test. I assume they'll have apps available on tvs and tv boxes.

So you might want to consider if a set-top box with VPN capability or a router with VPN capability (sites on the fritz or i'd insert a link) night meet your needs. Then you can go with fibre which will be a much better experience. Being neurotic, if you go this route, don't go for a hacked tv-box solution with 10 billion paid channels free as someone selling that product could easily use it to hack you and spy on activity on your home network.

You could test such any setup before you commit by initially using a wireless hotspot from your phone to make sure it works before taking the plunge.

You do need to sound out some local knowledge though as to how reliable it is and if the solution meets your needs but if so you'll be in a far better place if you can do it.

Hope this is helpful and not just gibberish

 

[harryopal1]

Thanks for the responses. I have no problems with TV channels. It is using the internet, as Markit indicates, where the service is erratic. This morning it is working fine. ABC TV overseas and ABC iview are different things. ABC iview doe not include AFL football. I do have a VPN so it seems the basic problem is the lack of reliability of the internet. This month I have not exceeded my quota but, as previously indicated, MNC do not offer a better quota package just like to screw you for tops ups.

In a world beset with tens of millions of people homeless, overwhelmed with disasters and cruel poverty I guess this post is as much about my immaturity at being bothered by such a minor problem. Watched a documentary last night about growing poverty in Britain as poor slide into ever worsening circumstances and middle class slide into being below the poverty line. Same in Australia, US and I imagine many other countries.

Anyway, having had a whinge and knowing others also have internet unreliability is consoling. Thanks again for your responses.