The Internet Has Arrived

We finally have internet access at our condo. This means we will be able to catch up on our posting. It also means we will probably get some of them out of order. We also need to re-edit some of the existing entries to include photos. You will have to check back regularly over the next week or so to get caught up.

The internet thing is an epic in itself.

Back on July 21 we got up early and travelled to the next district (Taipan) which is like travelling from downtown to North York. There we visited the TM Points office (that's Telekom Malaysia). In order to get internet access one must have a telephone line because there is no cable version here. There is 3G which is a wireless connection but that doesn't work above the 4th or 5th floor and...well...we're on 13. No one really understands why but it was the salesman for the 3G who told us that it wouldn't work.

Anywaaaay!!! We filled out all of the paperwork and paid our fees and registered to get a telephone line. We asked about internet access (it's called Streamyx) and were told we would have to apply after we had a telephone line. When we asked to whom we would speak about that application the young woman informed us that it was her. We suggested that we fill out the paperwork for Streamyx and she asked if we had a phone line; no; well that's needed first. With a sigh we moved on to a young man who collects the money. The young woman only does the paperwork.

Several days later we were concerned that no service man had contacted us to set up an appointment to install the phone. It took several tries to raise TM because one cannot call the company from a cell phone. Cell phones are supported by a different company. We finally got through on a land line and heard that the technician was scheduled for 10:00 AM the next day. We had no notice and we were working (obviously). We were given the techs hand phone number and called him from our cell. We got the appointment changed to 4:30 the next . We raced home and met him and had the phone installed. It didn't work; apparently it takes several days to activate.

We prepared to wait while the system ground its way to activation. We however received several calls from companies wanting to register us for Streamyx. The sales section is farmed out to private companies on a commission basis. Once they were assured we had a telephone (apparently they can check) we were registered and we arranged to have the high speed modem couriered to us THE VERY NEXT DAY. We had them address it to the college. We spoke with the college receptionist and she agreed that she would accept delivery for us. No modem that day, Tuesday, nor Wednesday. We called; it will be delivered Thursday. No modem Thursday or Friday. On Friday afternoon we called and told them to cancel our order. They said that the problem was that the modem was out of stock; we said cancel anyway because we were not happy with the service. About twenty minutes later we got a call asking if they could deliver the modem immediately (it seems a shipment had just come in) We agreed on a time and the modem arrived within minutes of the agreed upon time.

We spent several hours trying to install the modem the software and to get it operational. In desperation we called the service desk help line. It seems that despite being registered four days before it takes up to seven business days to have a technician plug us into the system. We waited. On Tuesday evening we had a call from someone at Streamyx asking how the service was operating; when informed that it was not the gentleman said he would open a report and call us back the next evening to review. After eight days (it is now Saturday a week after receiving the modem) we find that the service is still not working. We called. The very pleasant and helpful person on the other end "opened a report" for us. This process results in someone checking that we are registered and that our cable has been plugged in. This process takes two business days. We waited. On Monday we called to check what would happen next. Well it takes two business days don't you know so we can't expect a progress report until Wednesday morning. We waited.

On Wednesday morning we called and were informed that the cable was plugged in and that our account was activated and that our internet was working; we begged to differ based on empirical evidence and personal experience. Once the discussion about the validity of our observations was concluded it was agreed that Vincent (a tech) would stop by and check it out. He'd be by around ten the next morning. But we're working. We were given Vincent's number.

We called Vincent and established an appointment for 4:30 to 5:00 the next afternoon. We hurried home from the college and waited. To our happy surprise Vincent arrived at 5:05 and was full of apologies for his late arrival. He spent about 30 minutes verifying that the internet did not work and that the problem was not at our end but at the point at which the cable had been plugged into the system. By 6:00 PM he had the service up and running and he verified this by checking his stock market performance.