Indonesia and the Internet

This is a postscript to my earlier letter describing great difficulties in connecting to the Internet, and it may serve as advice for readers experiencing similar problems.

The problem was that with Meganet, I could connect easily at my office, but at home, connection was always cut after a maximum of two or three minutes, with the message "disconnected from the computer you dialed".

Telkom was very helpful, checked the lines, and told me it was unlikely to be a line fault at the modem speeds I was using. I am extremely grateful to the reader who advised, through your column, that "all providers are not necessarily the same". How right he was.

When I use the company facility on my home number to connect to Meganet, the same problem occurs. Now with Radnet, I am a getting trouble-free connection every time, without exception.

Clearly, in my specific circumstance, Radnet is a better service provider than Meganet (on my home number). But the real test for a subscriber is how problems are dealt with -- Meganet continues to ignore the problem and has not attempted to investigate.

Any response can be faxed to (62 21) 6406507.

BILL GUERIN

Jakarta