racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

There are a lot of bandwidth checking tools around, but speakeasy.net/speedtest and speedtest.net are a few of my favorites because of their simplicity. Also, speedtest.net lets me compare the speed of my local connection to the speed of my actual connection to the world (see my previous post ranting about Sky’s speed problems of late).

I’ve been trying to do some speed testing just recently, when I noticed I couldn’t access both speedtest.net and speakeasy.net . I initially thought that either these two services were down or I was having problems connecting to the rest of the world (much like during the December Taiwan earthquake, where the country’s major pipes were severed).

But I tried accessing these sites from a remote server I had management access to, and I could connect fine (speed was really fast, actually). I asked friends on other ISPs and the sites were also okay from their end. So I got suspicious and did some more network testing. It seems that whenever I try to access either of these sites, I just keep going around in circles, and I don’t really get beyond the Bayantel / SkyDSL servers. I’m stuck between 7600-gw4.bti.net.ph and gatewaynet-v50-rsvt-7606.bti.net.ph, which I assume are both Bayantel’s servers because of the bti.net.ph domain.

See screenshots of traceroute operations below.

Trying to access speedtest.net

Trying to access speakeasy.net/speedtest

I’m wondering if this is a deliberate move by Sky to prevent users from testing their DSL vs. practical connection speeds.

There are still alternatives, of course. There is dslreports.com/stest and bandwidthplace.com/speedtest . Of coures, there’s ookla.com, but as of my last checking, that site isn’t accessible either! And guess what–I get the similar traceroute results.

Something’s fishy here, Bayantel. You know I often recommend you guys whenever someone asks me about broadband/DSL. Now I might point people elsewhere.

My DSL connection has been really slow for the past two weeks or so. Some colleagues of mine who also use SkyDSL are also reporting similar problems. Thing is, we people rely on the Internet to work, do business, and earn money.

Here’s an email I recently sent to SkyDSL customer service. If you have been experiencing slow speeds on your SkyDSL or Bayantel DSL (essentially the same) accounts, please don’t hesitate to call them up or send email. Their address is csdip@bayantel.com.ph .

Dear Bayantel/SkyDSL,

I’ve been having very slow speeds and unreliable connections on several of my SkyDSL accounts since about two weeks ago. I’ve been getting very high latency and low speeds, and this has badly affected my productivity (most of my work is Web related). I called up 411-2000 but the CSR I talked to said there were no outages or maintenance operations being done on the network. Still, I’ve been getting bad performance, regardless of machine (both PCs and Macs) I use, and on two locations.

Here are some details.

On both my apartments, I use Sky DSL bundled in with my telephone subscription. One 768kbps and one 384kbps.

768K – username (xxxxx). tel no (xxx-xxxx)
384K – username (xxxxx). tel no (xxx-xxxx)

Both of these are along Maginhawa St. in Teachers Village East Quezon City.

Here is a sample traceroute output (to gmail.google.com, one of the sites I find quite slow these days). I was asked by the CSR to send these over for your analysis.

Traceroute has started …

traceroute to gmail.l.google.com (209.85.139.107), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
# 192.168.2.1 (192.168.2.1) 7.345 ms 2.492 ms 2.396 ms
# 202.78.96.116 (202.78.96.116) 32.113 ms 35.902 ms 34.489 ms
# 202.78.97.157 (202.78.97.157) 28.060 ms 32.474 ms 22.195 ms
# 210.4.2.195 (210.4.2.195) 24.580 ms 23.940 ms 22.066 ms
# so-1/1/0.ig3.lax1.alter.net (63.114.59.105) 330.247 ms 334.106 ms 325.866 ms
# 0.so-7-0-0.xl1.lax1.alter.net (152.63.112.250) 328.786 ms 392.810 ms *
# 152.63.57.78 (152.63.57.78) 329.267 ms * 328.802 ms
# 0.so-6-0-0.br1.lax7.alter.net (152.63.112.41) 327.186 ms 321.951 ms 327.682 ms
# lap-brdr-01.inet.qwest.net (205.171.1.145) 206.683 ms 202.827 ms *
# bur-core-02.inet.qwest.net (205.171.213.109) 203.963 ms 211.153 ms 205.584 ms
# sea-core-01.inet.qwest.net (67.14.1.186) 216.476 ms * 218.024 ms
# * sea-edge-08.inet.qwest.net (205.171.26.74) 222.415 ms 218.789 ms
# * 65.121.106.86 (65.121.106.86) 242.668 ms 240.028 ms
# 72.14.239.12 (72.14.239.12) 1467.341 ms 1513.570 ms 1480.514 ms
# 72.14.233.37 (72.14.233.37) 1465.196 ms 1461.246 ms 1466.459 ms
# 209.85.250.69 (209.85.250.69) 242.306 ms 209.85.250.65 (209.85.250.65) 1511.369 ms 209.85.250.69 (209.85.250.69) 241.461 ms
# * 72.14.239.190 (72.14.239.190) 242.521 ms 72.14.239.194 (72.14.239.194) 1513.615 ms
# * pr-in-f107.google.com (209.85.139.107) 1503.991 ms *

And here are some speedtest.net results.

The first one is using the Bayantel server in QC:

Download speed: 763 kbps
Upload speed: 701 kbps
Latency: 106 ms

The second one is using a Hong Kong server:

Download speed: 50 kbps
Upload speed: 41 kbps
Latency: 580 ms

This third one is using a San Jose, CA server:

Download speed: 132 kbps
Upload speed: 126 kbps
Latency: 243 ms

Notice the big speed difference. With this, I think we can perhaps initially rule out any problem from my end to your end (meaning between my computer/s and Bayantel) because connection from here to the Bayantel server (using speedtest) is fast. But connection to the rest of the world is slow.

I hope you can help out with resolving this problem. This is particularly unfortunate to people like myself who rely on the Internet to do work and business. And I have had several colleagues complaining of lost productivity due to slow speeds.

Regards,

Angelo Racoma

There several things that have gone _live_ as I write this. But let me just talk about one of them (the others deserve some major noise, so I’ll announce them later when they’re already running smoothly). Remember I recently applied for SkyDSL’s DSL+WiFi package? My account is active now, but not without some hitches.

I applied at the BayanCenter by filling up a form (just my name, telephone number and signature, actually). I was an existing DSL subscriber, after all. After a day I got a call from Sky DSL’s technical staff and they gave me the username and password to my account. Username was actually my telephone line’s account number, and the password, a randomly-generated number. They advised me to wait for activation, but I tried and tried logging in via the airborneaccess.net Horizon account manager, to no avail.

So I called up Sky DSL’s customer service (411-2000) to follow up. They said I should click the *Blast WiFi* link on the airborneaccess.net homepage to sign up. I realized that the username/password combination they gave me was for registration and not for WiFi access itself. They should’ve told me that in the first place! I guess the same process goes for PLDT DSL and Smart BRO subscribers.

(Incidentally, did you know that you can access Airborne Access using Blast prepaid internet cards? Just append @wifi to the username.)

So after activation, I tried checking my account via the *Horizon* link. Still, it wouldn’t accept my username and password. I was increasingly becoming frustrated. But then I tried checking using the *Wingspan* link (for prepaid), and lo and behold–I was able to gain access. Apparently, Airborne Access treats SkyDSL subscribers as something similar to pre-paid accounts rather than the unlimited Horizon accounts. I just got confused, since my previous _promo_ account with SkyDSL was a Horizon account.

I was able to use my account at a public Airborne Access hotspot this afternoon, and I can say I’m glad to have an unlimited account again–without having to pay the regular Horizon rates. Boo yah!

I was quite surprised with Abe’s latest post, where he shares that PLDT DSL is bundling in WiFi access with their plans. High-end plans get it free, while lower-end ones have to pay PhP 99 per month (promo price; regular price is PhP 199 per month) for unlimited access via AirborneAccess.

I was thinking of asking someone with PLDT DSL or even Smart BRO since my unlimited AA account has already run out.

But then I checked Bayantel’s promo page, and I discovered they’re offering a similar service. You just have to add PhP 99 to your DSL subscription monthly to get unlimited AirborneAccess access. This is good for 12 months, then afterwards the rate will be PhP 199.

That’s just an additional ~ $2 per month. Not bad! If you have to pay prepaid, then PhP 100 is just good for one hour!

This is great for us mobile workers/telecommuters. I used to enjoy unlimited WiFi much, since I sometimes worked at WiFi-enabled cafes instead of just staying at my home office. Since my unlimited account expired, I just used prepaid those few times I get to access at WiFi-enabled cafes.

AA reload is quite expensive compared to these bundled packages. I believe a month’s subscription will set you back PhP 950. A six month reload is PhP3,500, while a year’s reload is PhP 6,500. With these PhP 99 services, a year’s worth of unlimited access will just be PhP 1,118! Even if you make it PhP 199 per month, that’s just PHP 2,388 per year!

Now if they could just also hook up with Globe. Some areas are Globe WIZ only, like Greenbelt, Glorietta, etc. Count on the Ayalas to set up a WiFi monopoly in their territory!

It’s either you’re not that well-versed in wireless technology or you’re a really generous person. But since your router says “default” as its access point name, I reckon it’s the former!

I’m at our new apartment right now, since we’re transferring some of our stuff (hey, it’s only three houses down after all, so a gradual move would do). I was actually surveying the scene again for active WiFi hotspots and this time I brought the PowerBook, and this time I found a signal. It was a bit weak, though, and it only reached the room facing the back of the lot. Hey, at least I’m connected. And it’s at the right place, since this is where I intend to set up my new home office, anyway.

I got tired of holding the laptop in my arm with the Cardbus (the one that pretends to be an Airport Extreme card because it has a Broadcom chipset ) facing the window, so I thought of using the USB WiFi adaptor instead. The advantage? It’s obvious–I could extend the “antenna” by connecting the adaptor via a USB extender. So if you see a USB dongle dangling off the second-floor window, that’s probably mine.

Repeater

I can theoretically set up the desktop here to connect to the live access point and run the second (PCI) WiFi adaptor as an access point. I’ll then set up Windows NAT sharing so I can share the ‘Net across the computers via WiFi–sort of like a repeater.

Of course, if Bayantel beats me to it, then even better! I’ll be sending in my application forms tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll get connected within a few days. I’m thinking of signing up for the lowest plan for now–PhP 899 per month for the 384 Kbps plan. I’ll only have to add PhP 300 to bundle in the telephone connection.

We’ll be completing the move in a few days. So I won’t have to worry about connectivity for the time being. I’m looking forward to getting better work and living space. Watch out–my productivity meter will be shooting through the roof in the next few weeks. Maybe I’ll get that million-dollar idea by then!

By the way, if you’re wondering about the legal and ethical implications of WiFi leeching (and even leaving unprotected WiFi hotspots out in the open), I have a post about this dating from last year.

In the end, those who own and operate the access points should be
responsible for securing their systems. There are various means
of doing this, such as limiting access to specific MAC addresses, use of WEP, WPA, or even a simple http firewall.

After all, perhaps one of the better wardriving tools is Windows XP’s Wireless Zero Config! So anyone with WinXP SP2 can be a perpetrator, or at least his/her computer has the propensity to.

Isn’t an ounce of prevention better than a pound of cure?