Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

I think we have finally found ourselves an apartment - just waiting to hear if our rental offer has been accepted.

Please can anyone advice on best Broadband package - high speed is a must.

Also, is Astro HD (Byond) available in Penang now?

Thanks!
Sarah

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Rats I thought I was setting up a new thread about Penang food and must have pressed the wrong button.

Agree ex reg. I also have 1 Mbps with Streamyx and very happy. I have tried Maxis and DiGi and where I live they are a waste of time and money. Downside is heavy deposit a foreigner pays TM for the line....(get a local to register in their name for peanuts) If you don't use the telephone you only pay RM1.06 paperwork fee a month and pay Streamyx for whichever plan you want. Often I find Streamyx actually give me higher speeds than I pay for.:thumbup:

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

TM Streamyx has 3G and lately YES has 4G ...both available in Penang. I've noticed a few shops in Gurney Plaza with posters up for YES and you can inquire there.
Astro HD Beyond is also available in Pg.

Good luck in your move and settling :)

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

You need to check into whether Astro HD is available in your apartment block. Most Condo's are not able to take HD because the installation of fibre optic cabling necessary is very expensive. I live in a condo and when speaking with Astro Tech people they told me that only 3 Condo blocks in the whole of Malaysia are able to take HD. In my block we we not allowed to have individual cabling done our apartment - must be one 'corporate' dish.

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

You're kidding? So all these peeps in condos who've bought HD are just actually getting the normal picture :rofl:

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Do you actually know anyone who has HD and lives in a Condo ?
I am relaying information given to during a visit by Astro Tech 2 weeks ago, maybe he is wrong. Can't think why they would tell me I can't have it (unless the condo management agree to install fibre optic throughout) I even agreed to accept additional cost of installation. Maybe your 'peeps' have installed it with an individual dish outside their own condo window which most condo's will not allow.

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Yup I think that could be the case. I know of someone in a condo with HD - I think the condo is 4 or 5 years old but was surprised to see individual Astro dishes outside the units - not very common on the newer ones. The one we are renting at the moment only has the "communal" dish, though when we got our Astro subscription we were presented with a dish. Have kept it though not sure why really. We're not on HD.

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

It depends on how each condo was set up. The one we were in before did not and still does not have 'central' set up and each unit occupant applies for Astro and thus you see the dishes lining or facing one specific direction as indicated by Astro technicians when they came to install.
Bakedbean, even regular Astro comes with a dish, the HD one looks different from the regular one. hehe I think the price includes the dish ;) When you move, you take the dish with you to your new place and you inform Astro that you have a dish, you get a discount! We did that, had the technician removed the old dish and put it in the new place and we got a discount :) Then when HD came along we upgraded the service, the technician came with a different colored dish and receiver and we asked him to take the old dish away.

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

I think the condo you mentioned is the one I'm thinking about - know a couple of guys living there ;) Was surprised to see all the Astro dishes outside.

I suspect that the condo we are moving to will just have the "communal" system. I can't say I'm too fussed about HD as we don't watch much telly.

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Must be the one I'm in. Every balcony has a dish in exactly the same spot all pointing the same direction (out to sea!).....almost like a kinky bit of modern art!! My dish is not connected to anything as I don't really like Astro much. (more adverts than even TV3 and your paying to watch them):frown:
I just didn't want to take my dish down as it would break the symmetry of the place!!!:blink:

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Heh heh, not sure it's the same condo you are talking about, but you see quite a lot of the older ones have tons of Astro dishes. The one I was talking about was fairly newish, 5 years old maybe.

Hey I like your variable location under your name. Sounds like you don't know where you want to be :lol:

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Depends on the mood. Love having options:thumbup:

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

I think Bakedbean and I are referring to the same condo, newish 6 yrs old and most of the Astro dishes pointing towards Pg HILL direction not out to sea ;)

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Ahhh. Mine is 4 times older and would be a challenge to point at Pg Hill from where it is. Pointing to sea is more esthetically pleasing. No idea about reception.:D

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

I've recently moved out of an apartment into a house in the Queensbay area & have already had HD installed. But before you take the plunge check the package as not all the channels are available in HD.

I disagree with the earlier poster who advised about not using Maxis broadband, I have been using it since it was first implemented & when I cannot watch my favourite football team live on Astro I use one of the streaming services to watch the games without any problems.

In mitigation to anyone who has problems with any Maxis 3G, if your area is saturated with subscribers then the more people using it the slower the download/upload speed.

This could be the case in the Tanjung Bungah/Batu Ferringhi areas, but Maxis monitor areas of heavy traffic & generally plan to increase capacity in hot areas, unfortunately it can take some time to go through the system.

I have not tried Digi so I cannot comment & my one attempt to use Celcom was a disaster as the signal was so weak at my old apartment.

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

I tried maxis wireless broadband for a year in KL. Around 1000-1100 I could sometimes get download over 100kb/s, but by 1700 and all weekends I was below 40kb and even down below 10. Took 20 min for speed test to come up with a final answer. Maxis couldn't give a damn and I complained on a regular basis.
For internet I now use Streamyx. Upside I always get good speed and usually more than I pay for. Downside its fixed line although a WiFi modem, so freedom within the home.
Mobile phone I now use DiGi prepaid with "super life" which means I can go away overseas and my existing credit doesn't run out for 1 year and keeps my number safe. Rarely do I run out of signal and generally find them better than Maxis also.:thumbsup:

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Hi Strider,

It sounds like at peak times at your location either the local base station (node B) or the link back to Maxis did not have the capacity to carry the volume of traffic wanting to use the service.

May I enquire how many months/years ago it was that you used Maxis 3g for your broadband?

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Hi TopHattedCat,

I finally gave up on Maxis about October last year. I didn't like the service, I didn't like the attitude. To me extremely second rate.:thumbdown::thumbdown:

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

The service and attitude in their service centres I can agree with you.

I have many years of working in the mobile comms industry and in my capacity working for a European multi-national company I was heavily involved in the first 2 years of commissioning & integrating the 3g system into Maxis network.

So from my perspective I know first hand the limited amount of knowledge people have in the service centres, imo, they are given pre-set answers to give to customers & unfortunately one answer does not satisfy every question. They have zero knowledge of the network & how it functions.

My contract expired at the end of 2007 & I have not been involved since.

As I said earlier, where I am in Penang I get a pretty fast download speed most of the time, having a fixed line would be of no use to me as when I travel around I need an internet connection & the thought of grimacing my way through a whole day of Starbucks coffee does not really appeal :ohmy:

tbh.........By October last year the network in KL should not still be suffering the problems you encountered, that it still does is an indictment of their poor forward planning

Re: Broadband & Astro HD in Penang
 

Many large companies reach a stage where accountants start to take control and become more interested in gaining more customers and squeezing the last sen out of them and lose sight of the fact they are selling a product or service. Maxis is certainly one of those. Another example is DiGi business accounts, where large unaccounted for charges are added, working on the principle that a clerk in their customers accounts dept. simply pays the bills and nobody actually checks the statement details. One no longer watches TV3, 7, 8 or 9 as advertisements outweigh any possible enjoyment one may gain from the increasing level of rubbish they show.:thumbdown: and so it goes.