G’Day

My internet connection saga continues. That is, the lack of it! Ring a 4 digit number, answer a prompt or two and Yes! I am somewhere in Asia. The usual provision of enough personal information to allow identity theft and a revelation!

Apparently this individual, has information at hand that my account has been cancelled. Perhaps that is why it is not working? Off to the accounts section. I am still somewhere in Asia but I suspect a different country, it does take a awhile. I am introduced to “hold music”, if it can be called that. Oh, I have payed my last bill as well. After the billing errors were sorted out.

Accounts. My account is active and not cancelled. An attempt is made to hand me of to the technical people again, but I strongly resist the “telephone tag” game and insist that a tech be contacted and connected.

A considerable wait again. That “hold music”. I am sure it is designed to cause hangups, so that statistics can give false results, designed of course, to make the right people look good and top management to gain a false sense, of things are going well.

A tech. The usual checks, disconnect this, reconnect that. Some mutterings about the account not appearing to be connected to the server. Much testing later, it is confirmed that the service is not working. Mine that is. There are no faults at my postcode . Reported ones that is.

I am entitled to compensation because the tech cannot turn up for at least 10 days. Things are a mess in Queensland because of a nasty weather event. My fault did occur before the weather event, but still!

An account rebate and a USB dongle for my laptop. Before you know it I am off to accounts. BUT! A USB dongle, a device which connects to the providers 3G network providing a data connection, is really of little value to me. I have 2 x desktop computers, 3 x iPads, iPod Touch, iPhone, I need a wireless device.

That blasted “hold or hangup music” is playing again. Time is going by. What part of the world am I off to now? Tic.Tic.Tic…………….The minutes roll on. I have heard that tune before “hold or hangup”?

The music has stopped. That is a different accent. Perhaps continental USA or Canada! That is a big leap!

I can only have one or the other, not both. I take the discount for the monthly internet cost. No mention of the additional monthly Music subscription service fee for a service which, I have been unable to use. Oh well, there is no chance of changing the script at this stage.

I still have no internet service. The preceding 2 plus hours has obviously gone according to script. Evidence points to a continuity issue, but the script has been performed to the best ability of the actors. The audience though, is not impressed and is rating the movie poorly.

As a customer I have achieved very little, used a great deal of time and patience and I am still without a cable internet service, for a considerable time.

I will not be defeated and bow to poor scripting and service. I have participated in a crappy movie experience and it is time to start a re run, with a script written by me. I will also be the Director and Producer.

First - get an internet service that I am not paying for. I am willing to provide the hardware. Generous me!

AM Office hours. The same 4 digit number is used but there is a specific keyword to use at the prompts so that…………

I end up in Melbourne Australia talking to an Australian. I explain my issue and state that I have a Telstra Elite MiFi unit which I will use instead of the USB dongle, if they would just allocate some data to it.

A delay as the account it is attached to is sorted out, then a further delay as a supervisor needs to make a decision re data allocation. All is confirmed. Data will be allocated to the device and a reference number is given, so that If i runs out of data, more will be allocated by simply making a phone call and quoting the reference number.

Time to completion. A little over 60 minutes. Faster than 2 plus hours.

Well. So far I cannot work out if extra data has been allocated to the MiFi device. The 5 gigabyte that was on the device is no down to less than 1 gigabyte. I wonder if I will get that back?

Oh well I guess I will just keep using it until it stops working and then make the phone call and see if the code works. It is slow and prone to rebooting itself on a fairly regular basis, I cannot leave all my devices connected as it has a limited connection number.

I can now class myself as a world traveller. Did not see much. No achievements of note to report. But my ability to understand “Multicultural English” has improved.

Act 1 END.

Australia Day. A time to be proud of Australia and Australians.

Hmmm…..It is the 9th time this month that my cable internet has stopped working and the 3rd time today. For most of today I have not had an internet cable connection

My cable internet service is provided by an Australian company. This company makes huge profits. It regards itself as a premium provider of Internet, Telephone (mobile and fixed line) services. It of course, charges a premium price, to go with the service claims. It is a national provider of these services.

This month is not a bad month for my provider. All months since connection have had one or more service failures, including soon after initial connection. Loss of internet services is not an isolated occurrence.

Ringing the HELP Desk is fraught with risk and difficulty. Help Desk’s are out sourced, out of the country. Staffed by foreign nationals, who are not subject to Australian laws, I am required to provide sufficient personal information, that it’s misuse could result in identity theft. Then there is the language difficulty, english can be spoken many ways and with many accents and the of times crappy, Voice Over IP connections. Usually pleasant people, but rarely a satisfacory experience.

Thankfully I own a MAC, so the HELP Desk are less inclined to want to “fix it”. I never let a HELP Desk “fix” my computer or its peripherals. Remotley accessing is simply a no no!

I do have provider choice. I can have ADSL via 3 or 4 others who use the Telstra or Optus networks. My experience with ADSL was not positive. Slow and with a provider who allowed a conjested network. Cable is the fastest and less subject to slow down with user numbers. I do not have a choice of cable providers.

My provider runs a web site, Facebook Page, Twitter account/s and offers 24/7 service response. Sounds impressive! Problem is it cannot provide a reliable service.

It is the owner/builder/maintainer of a cable network that in my locality, has spent an inordinate amount of time not providing any ser ice. I have had to use alternative systems/services, at my additional expense, to maintain internet access. This has been a ongoing problem.

Currently Brisbane and surrounds are experiencing a serious weather event. Internet services are invaluable in keeping an eye on this type of event. I struggle to do so, using poor 3G services, which are affected by this weather event.

A review of the providers service levels web site reveals that the fault has been fixed and that it only existed for 30 minutes. A comforting statement/statistic, obviously for management consumption. The fault issue has been ongoing since at least 0100 hrs 26 January and persists to this time 1730hrs 26 January.

I look forward to the arrival of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in the form of fibre to the premises. I will then have an up to date, high capacity network connection, that does not rely on an obviously poorly maintained cable network or even worse, a copper based ADSL service with serious limitations. Importantly I will have a true choice of provider, as the underlying network will be consistant and controlled-managed by a single entity.

Oh I must mention the 3rd alternative of wireless 3G and limited 4G. A poorly performing system that is subject to the vagaries of weather and the radio frequency your provider is using, along with poor coverage, congestion and if your outside a major centre, no realistic choice of provider.

Any of it is over priced and varies only slightly in cost between providers. Copper based networks have well and truly reached their use by dates and any belief that wireless is an effective replacement for a hardwired network demonstrates a lack of technical knowledge/understanding/limitations of this technology, now and in the future.

The clock has made it to the top of the hour 1800hrs on the 26 January 2013 and still no cable service. The providers web site claims it has been fixed. Management will be so pleased.

Happy Australia day and welcome to Australia’s 21st century internet services.