I now officially join the great number of people dissatisfied with PLDT’s DSL service. I’ve been on PLDT MyDSL for over two years now and I guess my frustration has reached critical mass. I used to think that I’m getting an okay service, getting an actual download speed of 40 kB/s.

That was until other services like Globelines, SMART Bro and Bayan DSL started plying similar packages with much better speeds. Eventually for no apparent reason, my connection got better, with the download speed peaking at 60 kB/s. I though perhaps my connection got upgraded to a 512 kbps connection (512kbps/8 = 64 kB/s).

I though that was because they started advertising that Plan 999 can reach up to 1 Mbps. Unfortunately for me, that wasn’t so. Many Plan 999 subscribers elsewhere can get around 2000+ kbps via Speetest and I still keep getting a pathetic 384 kbps connection.

What even frustrated me more was when Feb came, my actual download speed dropped to 40 kB/s again. I thought this wasn’t acceptable since I was dishing out the same amount of money as others who are getting 2000+ kbps. My sister runs on Bayan DSL and she gets nearly 100 kB/s download speed on Plan 899.

So I called up PLDT’s hotline to ask why was I getting such speeds. And here are some illogical points teh CSR gave me:

1. That our subscription is only for 384 kbps
2. That PLDT is only committed to give me at least 60% of that
3. That my previous connection speed of (what I suppose as) 512 kbps is a fluke (CSR: “Sir, baka mali lang yun. Inaayos na kasi namin lahat kaya 384 kbps lang talaga ang tama.”)
4. That I can’t avail of a 1 Mbps connection because I might live in an area where they haven’t upgraded yet

Miraculously, after two hours or so, my connection got a boost to around 1600 kbps via Speedtest and that gets me a bang-on-the-money 200 kB/s speed (1600kbps/8 = 200kB/s) when downloading stuff.

But that wasn’t to last. Just yesterday, I am back to getting a 384 kbps connection (via Speedtest). Same case today. I might call up PLDT customer service again and ask.

As with many services here in the Philippines, bottom line is that it’s a disappointment.

EDIT:

Called up PLDT customer service again and here’s something more ‘definitive’ BS from them:

1. My area is still under their legacy network (the old one)
2. That the max for the legacy network is 512 kbps for Plan 999
3. That they’re only committed to deliver 60% of that which is 307.2 kbps
4. That I don’t have a reason to report anything since I’m still getting a 384 kbps connection
5. That they don’t know/can’t explain why the speed went up before

Crap.