Changing ISPs can be quite an adventure

Changing ISPs can be quite an adventure

Zatni Arbi, Columnist, Jakarta, zatni@cbn.net.id

It was actually a fairly bright day in the part of Jakarta
where I live, although there were some gray clouds in the sky.
Suddenly, I heard a cracking noise from behind my computer,
followed by a little spark. Before I could determine anything, I
heard a very loud clap of thunder right outside my house. I knew
there and then that the cable modem had been hit. After that, I
lost my Internet connection to LinkNet.

Three weeks earlier, I had to replace the Ethernet card on my
PC, which presumably blew because of lightning. Not surprisingly,
this time my first reaction was, "Do I have to replace it again?"
I called LinkNet's Technical Support, and a very helpful
Gunadharma University graduate helped me determine what was wrong
with the connection.

The LED light on the newly replaced Ethernet card was still
blinking when I used it to connect to my wife's PC, so the
conclusion was that it still worked. The power indicator LED of
the cable modem was on, but its Internet status LED was blinking
orange. "Chances are the modem can no longer be used," she
convinced me.

* DOCSIS

I had been using LinkNet since cable Internet service became
available in my neighborhood. At that time, the only choice was
between LinkNet and Indosatnet, and I chose the first because the
company seemed to be expanding aggressively. I decided to just
rent the cable modem from KabelVision for Rp 65,000 per month,
thinking that they might change the standard eventually. I had no
intention to invest in US$300 for a device that would end up in
my storage room.

There were a couple of problems, although I never really
complained about them. First, because I did not want to use my
credit card to pay my monthly subscription to LinkNet, I would
have to go to an ATM BCA to make the payment. I had to be
especially careful when entering my ten-digit customer number,
and I had to be careful in keeping the transaction slip.

Afterwards, I had to stick the slip on a larger piece of paper
and fax it to LinkNet. It was tedious, and I thought it would be
nicer if I could just use klikBCA to make the payment. CBN lets
us pay for our Internet subscription through klikBCA.

Actual bandwidth was also a problem, especially during the
day. One possible reason is that LinkNet also had a lot of
corporate customers. The speed was usually much better late in
the evening. My wife, who uses the Internet for work a lot, often
complained that because of the slow connection speed she could
not really work during the day -- and would end up watching TV
instead.

I was also told by LinkNet that I could not get a replacement
for the old cable modem, as they were now migrating to a new
standard called Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications
(DOCSIS). The old modem had a unique Internet Protocol (IP)
address assigned to it, and that is why it had a Static IP
address. The ISP had to pay for each of these modems because of
its permanent and unique IP address. On the other hand, the new
standard assigns an IP address each time you turn on the PC, and
that is why it is called a Dynamic IP address.

And then I was told that I would have to buy my own DOCSIS
cable modem. I had learned that ASUS has a good cable modem that
is quite popular on the market. So I went to Dusit Mangga Dua,
found a friendly store that could get one for me for Rp 1.6
million, and bought one. Of course, ASUS is not the only vendor
to offer cable modems. These modems are also available for
LinkSys, US Robotics, ZyXel and others.

* Switching ISPs

Back home, I called LinkNet's billing department and told them
I would like to terminate my subscription to their cable Internet
service. Surprisingly, they were understanding and helpful. Rini
from the billing department even reminded me to send her the
Request to Disconnect form before the 20th of the month so that I
would not be charged the following month for the service that I
was not going to use.

Then I went to CBN's office to register in person. There was a
problem there, though. I was told I could not keep my dial-up
account and start a cable modem account using the same username
and e-mail address. This is something that I think CBN should be
more flexible about. I would not mind at all paying for two
accounts, as it is exactly what I have done since I had the cable
Internet service. As I use the Internet for work, I have always
kept a backup account. When something went wrong with the cable
Internet service, I always had the dial-up account to turn to.
So, finally, I upgraded my CBNNet dial-up service to the cable
modem service with my username, password and e-mail address all
intact. Then I had to open a new dial-up account using a
different username and a different e-mail address. As you can
guess, I did not need a different e-mail address.

Mbak Tati from CBNNet's Customer Service said that I might
have to wait between seven and 10 days before I could start using
my new cable Internet service. However, three days after I
registered with them, I got a call from them informing me that I
could already use it. That was fast!

After I received the call, I immediately changed the IP
parameters of my Ethernet card, determined to try to set it up on
my own first, before calling CBN's Technical Support for help. I
selected "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS
server address automatically", and then clicked OK. To my
delight, everything worked right away.

Am I happy I made the switch? The answer is positive. Today,
CBN has just increased its bandwidth to the U.S. to 71 Mbps. Its
Website graphically illustrates its bandwidth utilization, the
ample bandwidth is evident in the speed at which Web pages open
on my computer screen, even during the day.