Smartfren Issues

fastpitch17

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Not sure if anyone else is affected or not but my Smartfren, which I have had for 6 years now is giving me headaches. Ever since they went after the now defunct Bolt users I have had a slowdown in service. I now get at best 220Kpbs between 10:00 AM and 10:30, and From 9:00 PM until around 10:30. By best I mean anywhere from 40Kbps to 220. The other times of the day I get 0 to around 22Kbps. It all started getting worse when Smartfren announced they would switch over Bolts Mifis to their service.

Contacted Smartfren Customer Service and explained everything. Yes, already restarted it. yes, took speed readings, yes, yes, yes. Asked for a day to check it out. Came back with technicians could find no problems. I explained that it is either their system and/or a big increase in subscribers without having the equipment to support them.

Then they told me to go and get my equipment checked out at one of their galleries. They gave me a list of their locations and they were all located in Jakarta. I asked if they knew where I was located and the reply was Jakarta. I looked over the 30 backs and forths and noticed the replies from them came from an assortment of people, not one working on my problem. I informed them to read the earlier postings and then send a list of where their galleries were located. Of course I added something about in all likelihood their technicians also being confused. Got back a list of galleries. I answered with a thank you and asked if they knew the location for Telkomsel galleries. Then they started saying how sorry they were for my problems and actually used the word please when asking to go to their gallery. I think that is the first time i have ever heard anyone say please.

Tomorrow I will pack up my mifi router and take it to a Smartfren Gallery. I have an extensive list of speed test results with times and feel I can show them that I doubt it is my box with the changes in speeds being consistent at particular times. When they tell me their is nothing wrong with my box, I will proceed less than a kilometer and check in at Telkomsel Service center and look what they have to offer.
I can't be paying for and living with speeds less than dial up. The wife just had this brainy idea and bought a Smart TV. Still working on figuring that one out.
 
Took my router to the Smartfren Gallery as they requested. Checked it out, no problems. Showed them the speed test readings and how they slow to nothing between 9:30 AM and 10:00 PM. Same every day for a few days. I tried to explain that the readings would indicate that there was an overload of users during peak periods. No, that can't be. Was working very fast at the gallery. Asked again my location at home. After repeating it for the third time she suddenly states, oh, there is a problem in your area. What type of problem I asked? They are building a new tower she explains. Oh, so I asked what happened to the old tower? No reply. I asked when the new tower would be completed so I would have some indication of just how long I would be waiting for internet. She doesn't know. The contractor is building it and he knows. Can she find out I asked? No, they have no contact with the contractor. Then being the excellent customer service rep she was, she picks up my router that she stated was working just fine and the speed I seen their confirmed that, she sticks a pin in it and resets the whole thing thus removing all router names and passwords I had set up for it.

No problem, Tekonsel is just around the corner. Needless to say, that is where we headed. Those customer service people are not much better but I did end up with a new router and am getting 150Mbph now. Easy to tell the difference between 25Kbps and 150Mbps.
 
My wife has two SIM's in her Galaxy now, one of Indosat and the other is Telkomsel. Easy to switch and for the price of a prepaid month (75K for 30 days and 8 GB) you can't go wrong.

I'm not using the MiFi anymore, no need then. On Bali and Sulawesi Telkomsel works great, in the DKI we find Indosat and XL better. The problem is that -unlike in the EU or so- the telecom providers often don't use each other's towers. To avoid proliferation and landscape pollution, many countries have laws in place for a forced rental of the antenna towers from the owners to the other providers.
 
My wife has two SIM's in her Galaxy now, one of Indosat and the other is Telkomsel. Easy to switch and for the price of a prepaid month (75K for 30 days and 8 GB) you can't go wrong.

I'm not using the MiFi anymore, no need then. On Bali and Sulawesi Telkomsel works great, in the DKI we find Indosat and XL better. The problem is that -unlike in the EU or so- the telecom providers often don't use each other's towers. To avoid proliferation and landscape pollution, many countries have laws in place for a forced rental of the antenna towers from the owners to the other providers.
I use the MiFi since I hook it up directly to computer and then my surroundings have the WiFi. Phones only get small network packages and use WiFi around the house. My tablets are WiFi (too cheap to buy the ones that can have their own sim) and when I travel I can use the MiFi portability. Just trying to figure out which package I need to buy. Smartfren was easier that way. Hopefully I just buy the "Internet" package since that is what I did. almost out of the introductory that came with the MiFi which say 4G Internet. Still have some that says just Internet. I bought a 30 day "Internet" Package. Guess I will find out soon if that was the right choice. I have no idea what Maxstream is so that will probably go unused but it does come with it.
 

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