BolehVPN News/Status/Fun

I will be back on Sunday evening. Please don’t send me angry e-mails or threatening smses. Kthx !

The services mentioned above will be offline for approximately 1 day as we upgrade the server to a dual cpu with another Xeon Quad for a total of 8 cores.

We new server is a Dell one which we hope would improve reliability and stability. We have also installed a DRAC to it which would be independently powered and give us remote access in the scenario where the server fails which will quicken the response time to the problem (and reduce Pit Boss’ petrol bills when he has to drive to the datacentre.

The Star reported the following article:

PETALING JAYA: Streamyx broadband users will have to bear with sluggish surfing speeds until March 5 due to technical problems, according to Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM).

TM said in a statement that there has been a disruption of TM’s Internet services since Feb 18 due to circuit faults on the Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2) between Malaysia and the United States.

Due to this, customers using Internet services may now experience slow browsing while accessing content hosted in the United States, said the statement.

Additionally, customers using Internet Protocol services such as Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other critical business applications linked to the United States may also experience some service degradation.

To alleviate the problem and ease the congestion, some links have been rerouted, TM said.

During restoration process, traffic to North America may experience minor degradation while traffic to other countries would not be affected.

Why this is likely to be bullshit:

That’s the APCN2 network there. I would think any fault on this would affect ALL ISPS in the region, not just TMNet’s. Somehow I have not been hearing any reports of any slowdowns elsewhere and Singapore seems to be unaffected.

Why does http://www.tm.net.my, a local site not load?

Why do pings to TM’s own LOCAL DNS 202.188.0.133 timeout if it’s just the international cable?

Minor degradation????? Only the US? Alleviating and easing the congestion by moving them to already congested routes….

Of course I’m no network expert…but something doesn’t tally here if this was true.

And WHY DID THIS TAKE MORE THAN 1 WEEK TO ANNOUNCE?

In other news, TM now wants to downgrade my 4 mbit…They have offered to give me a RM72 rebate after my endless calls and something I would be entitled to anyway (since it’s the difference between the 1 mbit and the 4 mbit price). Yes, for those of you who saw my status, I almost did throw that TM Service Centre guard.

Just to let you know that several of our servers were DDoSed yesterday but they have been rectified.

A DDoS is a Direct Denial of Service attack which attempts to flood our servers out. Our Datacentre has now resolved the issue and we are continuing to monitor the situation

I’ll let my correspondence to them do the talking:

I have recently upgraded my account from 1 mbit RM88/mo to the 4 mbit package.

Mr X came a few days ago to my home fix the connection and performed the upgrade and reported that everything was complete.

However when I did a speedtest, it was still at the old speed of 1.5 mbit.

I do not believe this is a line or normal speed quality issue as the speedtest returns a consistent 1.5 mbit or (1400+ kilobits/sec) which was the exact same speed I got before the upgrade.

I have called 100 for a total of 7 times. Each time they will first tell me:

1) There is no problem with my account and that it’s at 4 mbit

2) When I tell them I’m still getting only 1.5, they then tell me that one of their systems show me that I’m still on the old 1 mbit package

3) They do not know the status of my reports as there has been no note left

4) They do not know how to process my TR ID: XXXX and that the report number that they have is XYXYXY

5) I received a total of 1 follow up call who called to confirm the problem and was told that he would call yesterday night (19 Feb) but I received no such call.

6) They told me that there was nothing I could do but wait for 24 hours (everytime I wait, there is no improvement)

7) The last time I called (12.10 PM 20 Feb 09), explained the whole problem again and then I was put on hold. After a few minutes of waiting, the line suddenly changed to an engaged tone!!

I received no return call after this.

9) Nobody seems to know what the issue is and I am getting more and more agitated and being asked to call the installer, go to the TM centre or call TM and it seems that I am just being pushed around.

10) Several of the technicians had the nerve to ask me to try that ‘unplug your modem and replug it back in’ old story when it’s obviously nothing to do with it (I have done it several times and am familiar with how it works).

I have also gone to the TMNet customer point in person for a total of 3 times. They too inform me that the work report is ‘in progress’ but don’t know what’s the status but told me they will ‘monitor it’. Got a sms from FOCus saying that my TR ID is XXXX

I have also spoken to Mr X 4x who has confirmed that he has done all that he can on his side and that my phone line is set properly to 4 mbits and that there is nothing more for him to do. He was very friendly however and said that he will try to follow up in KL when he goes over for a meeting there on Monday…

Now I have spent a lot of time trying to get an answer on this or at least an acknowledgement that some work is actually being done on my problem rather than having to repeat my problem for the 7th or 8th time. I just want to know several basic things:

1) What is the status of my report, has someone been assigned to it?

2) What is the time frame for resolution? Please do not say 24 hours as I have already waited for more than that with constant reassurances that the system will fix itself in 24 hours.

3) What is the problem and who is the appropriate person to contact regarding this matter?

I hope to receive a reply on this as soon as possible and I can be contacted via my mobile at XXX. I am extremely frustrated and hope this matter can be dealt with in an expedient manner.

Then their ridiculous reply:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting TM. Firstly, we would like to apologise for the late reply.

Referring to your e-mail dated 20th February 2009 on slow connection issue, we regret that your Streamyx connection still does not function to the expected level of efficiency. However, upon verfiying in our system, we are able to track down your reports XXXX that you had lodged pertaining this issue. Please be informed that this report is still in the midst of investigation and rectification by our Technical Department.

We acknowledged that your urgency towards this issue. However, we regret to inform that we are unable to provide you with the specific time frame of the service restoration time. Please note that our technical team is currently working on it and we will do our level best to rectify the problem occurred. Should you need to check your report status, kindly contact our Technical Department at 100 and select “Internet Services”.

For further assistance or feedback, kindly e-mail us at help@tm.com.my.

Alternatively, you can also contact TM at 100 and select “Internet Services”.

Regards,

Che Ashaliana Che Deraman

Customer Care Support, Internet Services,

Customer Service Management,

TM Retail.

www.tm.com.my

(ICOMS#8979308-561503)

Sometime on Friday, my line was magically reporting 4 mbit on speedtest. I called the tech guy who installed my line and told him everything was in order albeit the international slowdown which he can do nothing.

So there I was…yes still upset that my 4 mbit line could not even surf Facebook but took solace that the whole tech fiasco was over and all I had to do was wait for TM to fix their lines.

Then lo and behold…got a call in the morning and this was really the icing on the cake

“Hello, Reuben speaking”

“Hi, I’m calling from TM Customer Care”

“Ah yes.”

“Regarding your complaint, the technician has informed me that 4 mbit is currently not supported in your area”

“What! But I’m getting 4 mbit now!”

$*#&$8$&#*$(@#$#&(&#$!

In short and from our other users’ experiences from upgrading their line:

1. 4 mbit does not improve surfing
2. 4 mbit works at 4 mbit on local sites. International sites….hit and miss (with miss being more)
3. Be prepared for several weeks of no internet (I’ve received reports that in W. Malaysia they cut off your line pending the upgrade)
4. Be prepared to be locked to an IP range (I now cannot get any other IP range besides 115.x.x so if that sucks, I’m screwed)
5. Be prepared for LOTS of frustration in dealing with Tech Support should your upgrade not proceed smoothly
6. 4 mbit Premier Support just means that your Premier Support Assistant can now no longer speak English
7. Be told a 100x that you need to power on and power off your modem first by an automated message then by the human technician (what’s the difference!)

The Malaysian ISP Streamyx’s issues shows no signs of letting up. It looks to be confirmed as an internal problem as connectivity in Singapore and other neighbouring countries do not seem to be affected.

At the point of writing, connectivity to many international sites have worsened to the point that it is barely usable and also prevents any connection from reaching to our VPN servers with packet loss percentage ranging from 50% to 100%.

We’ll keep you updated.

Malaysian Users:

I know I know, this is the 3rd time I’ve posted regarding this but it appears not everyone has gotten the message and still spamming me with support requests for slow/poor connectivity Give poor me a break and direct your energies to the party at fault…your beloved ISP TMNet.

For Malaysian customers, please note that Streamyx has a CONFIRMED problem. As usual they haven’t provided any details except that connectivity to ‘certain’ (yea more than 50% of them…) websites have been affected.

For those of you who don’t believe me (Malaysians seem to be a distrustful bunch thinking I’m trying to push the blame away), you may call 100, press 2 for English, press 2 for Internet Support and press 1 for Technical Assistance. Within a few seconds you’ll hear the automated messages announcing the disruption.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Latest Update 22 February 2009 12:37 AM (GMT +8): Problems still persist. Funnily when I call 100 this time and press 2 for English and then 2 for Internet/Streamyx issues, it will consistently cut me off. I guess they are being spammed with support requests!

Both  TM’s official website and the Streamyx websites are also slow in loading though I think this has something to do with the following announcement on TM’s website:

February 20, 2009 Dear Customers,
Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) wishes to inform its customers that it will be performing a maintenance exercise for its TM Online Services (www.tmonline.com.my) from 7.00 pm on Saturday, 21st February 2009 until 10 am on Sunday, 22 February 2009.

As a result, customers will not be able to login into TM Online application during the said period.

We wish to assure you that the services would be back to normal after the said period.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Well hopefully we’ll wake up tomorrow morning to a brighter internet

Or Not:

Please note that account creations/renewals will be delayed today until this evening due to Gilbert’s office suffering from a blowout on their main switch. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Update: Keygen has resumed earlier this evening. However Streamyx disruptions are still occurring for Malaysian users.

The IPT account has been restored and the details are available to those who have had their support access upgraded here. Remember that you have to be logged on to the BolehVPN forum and had your New Subscriber status removed by applying here if you haven’t done so already.

Please take note of the following:

1. The account is to be SHARED among all BolehVPN users. It is not your own. Attempts to steal in the past have been identified and had their accounts with us terminated.
2. You may have to clear your cookies (different than your cache) if you keep on being returned to the login screen despite entering the right password
3. Please do not pm me for the latest user details. I will always update it here.
4. Seed back as much as you can and donations to IPT are always welcome by the Founder.
5. AND DON’T FRIGGIN CHEAT! IT IS A FREELEECH ACCOUNT! The Founder of IPT is implementing a system where the IP of the cheater WILL be logged and identified (other IPs will not be retained) and we will not hesitate to use this information to identify users who wish to disrupt this service for everyone.

Streamyx is experiencing major disruptions throughout the country. Please call the customer helpline at 100 and press 2 for English, 2 for Streamyx problems and 1 for Technical Support. You will then hear the Disruption Notices.

Please take note that this affects our VPN performance to Malaysian customers but is out of our control.