LebGeeks

GreenM

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

I'm getting 10kb/s after 12am now, is this just me or should I be weirded out?

same here, very high pings, low speed and some packet loss

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Hey guys,

I feel all your frustrations. Insider news say that E1s were not signed off to all Private ISPs yet. I, for one have been with IDM since Dialup days. Been a happy customer until now. Ever since the upgraded plans were activated, my connection has been as slow as Dialup up to 512kbps. I have the $50 plan which was 2mbps 20gb and now (Supposedly) 2mbps UNLIMITED.

I have yet to see anything upwards from the crappy 64~512kbps down from 2mbps night or day, before all this upgrade nonsense. I have no clue why all this is happening. All I know is that it's a conspiracy. I am now paying $50/month for a 64~512kbps unlimited connection when it's supposed to be 2mbps...

I contacted IDM and they kept saying it was my modem, then no it's my cable, finally they blamed it on me downloading too much (3gb is too much?). I have since quit trying and currently living the dialup days all over again as you can see from pic below.

Here's all the connection info on my TP-Link TD-W8970 Modem/Router

I have created a blog post about all of this but no idea if I am allowed to share here.

Last edited by TechXero (July 5 2014)

georgesmh

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Thats 30 GB not 3GB which is yes a lot since ur recharge. Anw 10KB/s is very low though.. did u try connecting the laptop directly to the modem through an Ethernet cable?

xAzarian

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Hey guys,

I feel all your frustrations. Insider news say that E1s were not signed off to all Private ISPs yet. I, for one have been with IDM since Dialup days. Been a happy customer until now. Ever since the upgraded plans were activated, my connection has been as slow as Dialup up to 512kbps. I have the $50 plan which was 2mbps 20gb and now (Supposedly) 2mbps UNLIMITED.

I have yet to see anything upwards from the crappy 64~512kbps down from 2mbps night or day, before all this upgrade nonsense. I have no clue why all this is happening. All I know is that it's a conspiracy. I am now paying $50/month for a 64~512kbps unlimited connection when it's supposed to be 2mbps...

http://i.imgur.com/GEOCKBQ.png

I contacted IDM and they kept saying it was my modem, then no it's my cable, finally they blamed it on me downloading too much (3gb is too much?). I have since quit trying and currently living the dialup days all over again as you can see from pic below.

http://i.imgur.com/Z44LG8R.jpg

I have created a blog post about all of this but no idea if I am allowed to share here.

And I thought I'm the only one. DSL isn't available where I live (yes after 7 years) , so my ISP is a guy who buys lines from Cyberia (shows as transmog in speedtest) and yes my maximum speed is 50kb/s and the ping is really high. I don't even know what happened!

xAzarian

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Thats 30 GB not 3GB which is yes a lot since ur recharge. Anw 10KB/s is very low though.. did u try connecting the laptop directly to the modem through an Ethernet cable?

Maybe they're multiplying by 10 like another ISP. A user here experienced the same issue , he downloaded 700mb and they recorded 14gb...

andrew55

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

I too have been with the IDM since the dial up days and i have the same complaint. However, the connection seems to be really good during the morning and afternoon, but it goes to hell starting at 10 pm till at least 1 am. Pings remain stable though. I asked them to switch me to the 4M 50 GB plan instead of the unlimited plan before July 1st and they did. I called tech support and they said FUP will only apply to the unlimited plans even though their website says otherwise. So if i had to take a guess I'd say you've been FUP'ed (tech support said the connection resets every 12 hours. IDM tech support also mentioned that you should stay between 1-2 GB per day at most. If you download excessively you will be FUP'ed for that day but if you continue on doing it for a few nights, the system will detect it and limit your connection for the whole month).

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Thats 30 GB not 3GB which is yes a lot since ur recharge

Maybe they're multiplying by 10 like another ISP. A user here experienced the same issue , he downloaded 700mb and they recorded 14gb...

A lot in what, almost 15 days ? C'mon. From 22nd of June to the 1st I was using as usual, light during the day and heavy during night since I had Unlimited from 11PM to 7AM.

So I got, 17gb since the 1st. And just a side note, they STILL do NOT count anything I download from 11PM to 7AM. Dunno why !

I too have been with the IDM since the dial up days and i have the same complaint. However, the connection seems to be really good during the morning and afternoon, but it goes to hell starting at 10 pm till at least 1 am. Pings remain stable though. I asked them to switch me to the 4M 50 GB plan instead of the unlimited plan before July 1st and they did. I called tech support and they said FUP will only apply to the unlimited plans even though their website says otherwise. So if i had to take a guess I'd say you've been FUP'ed (tech support said the connection resets every 12 hours. IDM tech support also mentioned that you should stay between 1-2 GB per day at most. If you download excessively you will be FUP'ed for that day but if you continue on doing it for a few nights, the system will detect it and limit your connection for the whole month).

That, sir, is what I call BS. 2gb MAX/day ? Then why the heck did they call it unlimited ? In my opinion, if they are gonna be so aggressive on the FUP, then let them please REMOVE the damn unlimited and just go back to way things were before. At least then all was good an peaceful.

Also, the biggest lie of them all is that FUP also applies to limited packages. Simply because my friend has a limited plan and is suffering just as we all are.. IDM STOP YOUR BS !!!!

I, too asked them to switch me to 4mbps-50gb plan haven't heard back from them in 2 days. So more BS.

Bottom line is, do NOT provide something you cannot handle.

Last edited by TechXero (July 5 2014)

andrew55

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Very true but to be fair that's what they told me before the upgrade so i don't know if things have changed now.

Here is a reply from them when i emailed them last month. My connection goes below 1 mbps during peak hours! that's just ridiculous!

Dear Mr. Assaf,
Please note that your complaint below has been checked by our support team and that your problem is due to delay and slowness over browsing and streaming during peak time  . Unfortunately, there is no estimated time when it will be solved since there are some procedures as well as technical measures with the ministry of telecommunication that cannot be fixed in just a press button, and that is the reason behind the delay in resolving this problem.
If the traffic is not your main concern regarding the 4096k-25GB plan, we do recommend to downgrade your account to get use of a reliable speedy connection .

Please accept our apology and be sure that we are doing our best to provide our customers the best service and the best image of the internet providers and that every negative fact or issue is always beyond our capacity.

We are sincerely sorry, that we cannot help this time.

Thank you for your understanding,
Yours in service,

Johnaudi

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

I recommend you to call them, contact a manager or some high position, and yell the hell out to their faces about you changing ISP if your connection is not fixed, and telling them how much BS this is. (make sure you sound angry)

Since this is, for now, the only cure available in Lebanon.

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Very true but to be fair that's what they told me before the upgrade so i don't know if things have changed now.

Here is a reply from them when i emailed them last month. My connection goes below 1 mbps during peak hours! that's just ridiculous!

Dear Mr. Assaf,
Please note that your complaint below has been checked by our support team and that your problem is due to delay and slowness over browsing and streaming during peak time  . Unfortunately, there is no estimated time when it will be solved since there are some procedures as well as technical measures with the ministry of telecommunication that cannot be fixed in just a press button, and that is the reason behind the delay in resolving this problem.
If the traffic is not your main concern regarding the 4096k-25GB plan, we do recommend to downgrade your account to get use of a reliable speedy connection .

Please accept our apology and be sure that we are doing our best to provide our customers the best service and the best image of the internet providers and that every negative fact or issue is always beyond our capacity.

We are sincerely sorry, that we cannot help this time.

Thank you for your understanding,
Yours in service,

All smoke n mirrors. They don't have the bandwidth to supply for unlimited plans so they are forcing aggressive FUP on all those of us who use unlimited. And to add fuel to the fire, they FUP'ed limited plans too just in case someone wants to play hardball.

andrew55

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Someone here posted about a representative from sodetel telling a customer to change ISPs if he didn't like the fact they will be implementing their upgrade on August 1.. and you said shouting was a remedy right? lol...

andrew55

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Yes that's true.. but thing is you have to wait a month or two to change ISPs... that also is another problem...

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Someone here posted about a representative from sodetel telling a customer to change ISPs if he didn't like the fact they will be implementing their upgrade on August 1.. and you said shouting was a remedy right? lol...

All am saying is that if they can't provide unlimited without having to screw us, then don't. It's that simple.

On Monday am calling for the 200th time, only this time am calling customer care, if they don't fix this or at least postponing unlimited until they can provide it better am gonna switch plans to something worth its weight.

andrew55

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

This is funny.. The voltage on our "ishtirak" goes down to 140 volts. My whole house is own voltage regulators (they even shut down sometimes! lmao). If a truck can withstand 2 tons of weight, a Lebanese will put 4 tons on it. What makes you think ISPs are any different? do we even have a choice? maybe ogero.. but i don't know yet whether their systems will withstand the upgrade b/c they haven't upgraded anyone's speed yet (just the GB cap!)

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

This is funny.. The voltage on our "ishtirak" goes down to 140 volts. My whole house is own voltage regulators (they even shut down sometimes! lmao). If a truck can withstand 2 tons of weight, a Lebanese will put 4 tons on it. What makes you think ISPs are any different? do we even have a choice? maybe ogero.. but i don't know yet whether their systems will withstand the upgrade b/c they haven't upgraded anyone's speed yet (just the GB cap!)

You make a valid point. But with Internet it was always as advertised. Never tgat bs. And now they chose to apply the so called "Lebanese" mentality?

Anyway here's my post.
http://www.techxero.com/2014/07/new-int … nk-so.html

Last edited by TechXero (July 5 2014)

HotCreep

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Every Sodetel subscriber bashed on Sodetel, including me, for not upgrading during July. turns out Sodetel were the smart ones here. All private ISPs didn't get enought E1s, that if they got any, from ogero. But all of them felt obliged to release the new plans before the 1st of july  to avoid customers' rants, after all the Hype the minister gave to the internet upgrade thingie in May. All ISPs knew that upgrading before getting the required E1s will be on the cost of their already bad QoS. Hence the blackouts, slow internet etc.. \

   Sodetel took a different approach, they were clear that they won't upgrade anything before the get the required E1s from ogero. Their quality of service is still the same it used to be. I am subscribed to the 4mpbs plan and the speed never went below 3.2, even during the night when the quota wasn't being charged.
to be honest if i knew that this is why sodetel didn;t upgrade in july i would have saved my rants for ogero and the minister who claimed that, when announcing the upgrades last may, that ogero will be oh so helpful when it comes to providing isps with the required E1s.

Youssef is really pissing me off.

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Every Sodetel subscriber bashed on Sodetel, including me, for not upgrading during July. turns out Sodetel were the smart ones here. All private ISPs didn't get enought E1s, that if they got any, from ogero. But all of them felt obliged to release the new plans before the 1st of july  to avoid customers' rants, after all the Hype the minister gave to the internet upgrade thingie in May. All ISPs knew that upgrading before getting the required E1s will be on the cost of their already bad QoS. Hence the blackouts, slow internet etc.. \

   Sodetel took a different approach, they were clear that they won't upgrade anything before the get the required E1s from ogero. Their quality of service is still the same it used to be. I am subscribed to the 4mpbs plan and the speed never went below 3.2, even during the night when the quota wasn't being charged.
to be honest if i knew that this is why sodetel didn;t upgrade in july i would have saved my rants for ogero and the minister who claimed that, when announcing the upgrades last may, that ogero will be oh so helpful when it comes to providing isps with the required E1s.

Youssef is really pissing me off.

That's more like it. Your analysis is very sound indeed. Sodetel, one of the worst if not THE worst provider I know of in many areas except Beirut and surroundings, did indeed choose the right way of doing things.

Hats down to them. I just wish IDM did the same thing.

andrew55

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

If there are no "enforced" rules, then people will do as they please and that is the case in this country.. sadly.. and i don't expect it to get any better.

Also good point about sodetel. However, there is a whole blog about sodetel with regards to how bad their speeds and pings are!

Last edited by andrew55 (July 5 2014)

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

If there are no "enforced" rules, then people will do as they please and that is the case in this country.. sadly.. and i don't expect it to get any better.

In general I would agree. But, with the Internet it was always different in a good way. But yes, sadly time has come for them to join the crap.

HotCreep

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

If there are no "enforced" rules, then people will do as they please and that is the case in this country.. sadly.. and i don't expect it to get any better.

Also good point about sodetel. However, there is a whole blog about sodetel with regards to how bad their speeds and pings are!

Mainly because they were more reliant on satellite downlinks rather than E1s. that needs to change before applying their new plans though, satellite downlinks are not "economically viable" for them anymore.
I am not sure about how their service is outside beirut, but I live in beirut and i am pretty satisfied.
I never get high pings btw

georgesmh

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

I am in Amchit and in fact Sodetel is the best private ISP in this area especially before the upgrade because we belong to Sodetel Dsp so we got the 4mbps package while subscribers from other isp got the 2mbps speed for a higher price. My speed never had been lower than 3 mbps. I am not defending them they have their flaws clearly but lets not deny that sometimes they show superior to other ISPs

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

I am in Amchit and in fact Sodetel is the best private ISP in this area especially before the upgrade because we belong to Sodetel Dsp so we got the 4mbps package while subscribers from other isp got the 2mbps speed for a higher price. My speed never had been lower than 3 mbps. I am not defending them they have their flaws clearly but lets not deny that sometimes they show superior to other ISPs

I did specify to my knowledge. They do have flaws, main one being that they don't cover as a wide area as others do. So they are bad in more areas than other private ISPs. Especially in mine which is Beit Merry Ain Saadeh.

Bottom line is, until private ISPs get more E1s, service will remain very bad. Unless they revert back to old plans which I don't see happening.

Very very very sad situation indeed...

andrew55

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

How can we know which COs belong to sodetel dsp?

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

Just got off the phone with a guy I know that works at IDM. Called him on his Cell.

As it was mentioned here, they are currently providing us with new plans using bandwidth they have had for years. They are currently working around the clock to upgrade their own infrastructure and "Centrales" to accommodate the new plans. Things have happened so fast they were not given time to do so.

Might take a week for some areas, others more. As for the "FUP", it is indeed only applicable to unlimited plans not on limited. But due to entire infrastructure being upgraded, limited packages seem to indirectly be affected as well. All that will be remedied once all is done.

Now, that brings me to my final point, what is exactly considered as "Very High Daily Usage" and when does the "FUP" take place ? For now no exact numbers. But an average of 3gb/day is the extreme limit where a "Daily FUP" takes place. And more than that a "Monthly FUP" happens.

Now to explain that the simplest way I know. If you are in the <3gb/day area, "FUP" will apply to you (Medium Speed Throttling) and get reset at 00:00am. On the other hand, if you are in the > 3gb/day realm, like 10gb+, you are considered as an extreme downloader, which is where things turn to the worst. Yep, that means, that your speed will be extremely throttled, no exact values, but the nightmare'ish part is that, "FUP" will not be reset at 00:00am as with <3gb/day users. It will only be reset once every cycle/month. Very very bad in my book.

That, said, now it's much clearer to everyone, I hope. And for that I will be returning to a limited plan where things are much calmer, and more stable.

Hope this helps clear the cloud from an otherwise cloudy and iffy situation ;)

Last edited by TechXero (July 5 2014)

TechXero

Member

Re: Internet in Lebanon - General Questions

why do they call it unlimited if you are not allowed for more than 2gb let's say per day

That's the conspiracy my friend. Just smoke n mirrors. Unlimited in this case just means you can Skype more and download important emails and attachments without having to worry about any "limits". Not download movies n games without any limits.

It's not for us YouTubers or heavy gamers. And that's what I call utter BS.