Here I attempt to answer an age old question – is there any halfway decent internet connectivity option in Karachi?
_Updated July 29, 2005_
h4. recommendations
to cut a long story short, here are my recommendations:
*1) CyberDSL* – see ‘here for my impressions’:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/pakistan/2004_11/cybernet_home_dsl_diary.html (It’s the only affordable DSL provider I know of). More companies are starting up, but so far I haven’t heard about them.
*2) Dialup* – ‘Cybernet’:http://www.cyber.net.pk, ‘Fascom’:http://fascom.com and ‘Supernet’:http://www.super.net.pk are the best dialup ISP’s. See ‘Cybernet HiSpeed’:http://www.cyber.net.pk/cyberhispeed/ – it’s a good example of dialup done right.
*3) ISDN* :: Isdn used to be at #2 on the list, but it really doesn’t belong here. There are no affordable 24/7 packages on ISDN, nor is it broadband. Any place one can get ISDN, a DSL connection will also be available, so don’t bother with ISDN.
*4) GOCDMA* – For those with bad/noisy telepone lines this is the best option besides cable internet. Sadly, Telecard has not implemented this feature properly, and it is closer to fraudulent advertising than a usable internet connection.
h4. New Entrants
_new services starting up_
* “Connect2B”:http://www.connect2b.net :: A new cable internet provider. I haven’t heard anything about this yet. Their website doesn’t work properly in Firefox. They are using WorldCall’s fibreoptic network, which is a big negative.
_January 27, 2005_ PTCL has halved internet bandwidth rates. A number of ISP’s had been sitting on the sidelines waiting to introduce home DSL packages at affordable rates. Hopefully this will lead to more competition and lower prices. Most importantly, the line rent ISP’s have to pay for DSL has gone down to Rs. 250 from the former 750. I hope the above recommendations will be changing soon to reflect this…
h4. overview of the above recommendations
*1) CyberDSL:* The best home internet service I’ve used _(or heard of)_ so far. Other ISP’s also offer decent DSL services, better even, but they are all priced for the corporate market. See ‘my earlier post on DSL’:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/pakistan/2003_09/dsl_let_the_game_begin.html – I wrote that in Sep 2003, and sadly enough DSL is still at the same stage still.
*2) ISDN*: Shahriyar’s experience with ISDN:
bq. i have recently converted my telephone to ISDN line. the conversion took a week and costed me 431.00 Rs. they also give you the ISDN modem costing 12,000 Rs for free. you have to belive this. after getting the ISDN line working i got ISDN loose hours from Supernet for 1100Rs (50 hours). the internet is blazing fast. at 64k the download speed is 7-8K/sec while at 128k the speed is 14-16k/sec.
The bad thing about ISDN is that it is limited to 128kbps. See ‘PTCLs page on ISDN’:http://www.ptcl.com.pk/isdn_bri.html, and ‘Supernets website’:http://www.super.net.pk. ISDN is expensive as you pay per hour – so it’s not for people looking for a 24/7 connection.
*3) Dialup:* The good old standby. The majority of the country will be on dialup for a long long time. The good thing about dialup is that by now the better ISP’s have mastered it.
*4) GOCDMA:* Telecard recently launched a ‘CDMA’:http://www.gocdma.com.pk/ service in Pakistan. As I posted earlier, and according to Telecard themselves, expect 30-60kbps speeds. GOCDMA _(that’s a really crap name)_ is currently running on the ‘CDMA2000’:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA2000 1x standard, which has a maximum therotical bandwidth of 300kbps, but in reality falls far short. It is targeted more towards voice services, as it has six times the capacity of GSM or TDMA systems, and it is fast enough for cell phone access to the internet, but definitly not suitable as a primary internet connection. They are also engaging in false advertising – CDMA2000 1X is *not* 3G – as I’ve seen plastered on their advertisements in all the major newspapers. In the US and Europe CDMA2000 1X networks give 40kbps to 70kbps speeds, so the same network running in Pakistani can’t be expected to be magically faster here. Of course, once they further upgrade their network to CDMA2000 1X EV-DO then megabit speeds will be possible, but since they have just started their service I don’t see them upgrading their network anytime soon. Zahid’s take on the GOCDMA service:
bq. ….u will get maximum of 10Kbytes, and normally around 3-4 KBytes, with timeouts and disconnects after every few minutes.
Mobilink is also starting up their GPRS/EDGE network soon, which should give similar speeds to the GOCDMA internet phone – that is if they ever manage to fix their GSM network, which doesn’t work most of the time. If they can implement GPRS/EDGE properly it will be be faster than Telecard’s GOCDMA service, but going on Mobilink’s track record this is highly unlikely.
At the moment a fixed internet connection is the only way to go – I am a big fan of wireless internet as PTCL is really unreliable and I would rather not use their phone lines, but the current wireless options just can’t compete with dsl or even cable internet. For emailing and light web browsing GOCDMA is good enough – but then so is a modem.
h4. avoid at all costs
1) WorldCall – see ‘here’:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/pakistan/2003_09/worldcall_4_month_review.html and ‘here’:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/pakistan/2004_09/worldcall_review_update.html for my experiences.
2) All other Cable internet operators. These are just too sad to write about. There are very few good ones – I haven’t heard of any yet – so it’s unlikely they’ll be in your area.
3) the thousand and one fly-by-night ISPS offering a gazallion hours for 20-100 rupees. Most are just not worth it.
h4. Why?
Why all this angst about internet connectivity? It’s the 21’s century, and yet so many people still do not understand what is arguably the most important invention of the last century – the internet. See ‘this’:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/computing/2004_12/an_open_letter_to_all_pakistani_isps.html.
*It’s not just the speed with broadband*, when pages load in milliseconds instead of minutes than people start using it more and more… which in turn leads to the justification for the high speed internet. Forget about the hordes of teenages downloading porn and tv shows, once normal people start using broadband they realize how much more than just faster speed, the faster speed means.
While you might not NEED the speed of high speed Internet, you admit you want the convenience of always on service. Once the broadband is there, it will be used – *a concept which Pakistani ISP’s seem completely unable to grasp.*
As of this writing, _(Feb 2005)_ despite our last Prime Minister, the sainted Mr. Jamali flying around the world attending IT conferences of all things and the government issuing broadband policies and devoting lots of time and money to making big noises about broadband this and internet that, *there is no affordable internet connection available in this country*. Nothing whatsoever.
One of the problems is that Pakistani consumers are willing to tolerate the crappiest services known to man. The biggest mobile phone company in this country is a prime example, as are most ISPs in this country, as well as the local car manufacturers… the list is depressingly long.
The one good thing about internet services are that it is relatively easier to switch. There is no telephone number to worry about, and most home users can tolerate the 1-2 days it might take to switch ISPs. The government is totally useless – just imagine the service the ‘worst mobile phone company known to man’:http://www.mobilinkgsm.com/ would scramble to provide if the PTA stopped using threats and outright blackmail to get them to improve, and instead uttered the magic words ‘number portablity’:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_number_portability. New upcoming telephone providers would jump up and down with joy and pay all costs plus the necessary bribes for setting up such a system. Instead we have a govt. uttering endless empty threats while consumers get shafted.
Internet services have been non existent in this country for too long, and now that they are finally starting up they seem to be heading the same direction as our current cellular companies. As consumers, about the only, and the most powerfull thing we can do is to vote with our wallets.
This quote from ‘Om Malik’:http://www.gigaom.com/2005/02/23/indian-broadband-battles-continue/ sums up the Pakistani broadband situation quite well: _(just replace India with Pakistan)_
bq. I find that most Indian companies are offering metered broadband access, treating bandwidth like a scarce commodity. That is a bone headed move only thought up by bureaucrats who are used to playing the scarcity game. Growing up there, getting a phone connection was so hard and often involved baksheesh. That mentality prevails. These boneheads should realize that in order to stay competitive Indians need to have as much speed as they can get for the lowest possible price. Look at Koreans, and Chinese.
Shakir Husain sums up Pakistan’s telecom industry. His analysis applies to the ISP industry also, except for the fact that it’s in a shabbier state consumer wise than even the mobile phone industry.
bq.. Today is a brilliant day for me as I get to deprive my (at the time of print ex) cellular service provider of my hard earned money. Ladies and gentlemen, I just voted with my wallet. Mistreated, overcharged, ripped off, treated without an ounce of respect, and utterly exasperated; we, the customers, get to hit back for the first time. I have personally waited for about two years to dump my existing cellular company.
.. Why didn’t I switch services, friends asked me? To tell you the truth, I, like thousands of others, didn’t really have much of an option; as most companies provided the same level of technology and service.
…I feel I’ve put in my time with thousands of other customers; bearing the dropped calls, the static, the no service, the bad service, and the ulcers. I watched from the sidelines as these very same companies that were shamelessly providing substandard services to their customers spent millions of rupees on branding, debranding, rebranding, launches, events, and goodness knows what. What about the basic service/product seethed the customers.
…So even though we don’t have a democratic system to get rid of incompetent rulers and officials, today we are seeing a wave of commercial democratisation, greater choices, and the ability to vote with our wallets, and pay back the fat cats who haven’t delivered the goods to us.
>> “Shakir Husain: The customer strikes back”:http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/mar2005-daily/16-03-2005/oped/o4.htm
p. There are a few good ISP’s in Pakistan, but they unfortunately aren’t targeting the consumer market. The govt. is no help either. In India:
bq. Any download speed which is at 256 kbps or more alone can be termed as broadband service. Therefore, the telecom operators should not mislead the consumers by making such advertisements or adopt any marketing tactics, which would defeat the very purpose of broadband services, the release said.
The broadband policy *defines the broadband connectivity as an always-on-minimum� download speed of 256 kbps.* The government has strictly warned the telecom operators who indulge in marketing or posing to provide broadband services at download speeds of 64 kbps and 128 kbps to refrain from such activities…these types of services will not come under the category of broadband services.
>> ‘Minimum 256 kbps for broadband, insists DoT’:http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=85531
256kbps is an internationally accepted as the minumum speed which can be considered broadband. In this country we have ISP’s advertising 64 and 128kbps as ‘broadband’ with the whole hearted approval of our so called regulatory authorities. Thumbing it’s nose at the rest of the world, the govt. has redefined broadband as 128kbps and above in its ‘broadband policy’:http://ispak.org/docs/Broadband%20Policy%20for%20Pakistan%202004.pdf. Who knows, next they might redefine the Pakistani litre as half that of the international litre to make life easier for the oil companies.
h4. related links
* ‘BusinessWeek – Pakistan: Birth Of A Telecom Revolution’:http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/05_05/b3918096.htm?chan=mz
* ‘An open letter to all Pakistani ISPs’:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/computing/2004_12/an_open_letter_to_all_pakistani_isps.html
* “south-asian.com”:http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Awww.the-south-asian.com%20pakistan%20broadband has a number of very informative articles on the telcom/broadband industries in Pakistan. All the articles are worth reading, though some are a bit dated now.
* “Pakistan’s broadband policy”:http://ispak.org/docs/Broadband%20Policy%20for%20Pakistan%202004.pdf :: recommended reading.
* ‘Internet links in Pakistan’:http://ko.offroadpakistan.com/pakistan/2005_07/internet_links_in_pakistan.html
_this page is updated about once a month. The recommendations are current as of the date below, and will change over time. Please use the ‘forums here’:/forums for discussion of internet services in this country._
KO – You have surely been a source of tremendous information, in this post here today I now am able to defend an argument (which I had previously with a couple of friends on the unreliablity of the GOCDMA 144K speed) I also argued that CDMA hopes to reach 144 but never does. But now I have the knowledge to back it up 😉
I had a little bumpy ride on the CyberDSL installation but a month from that day I am proud to have made the switch. I would recommned DSL hands down to anyone considering a switch. Tech support is way way better than World Call and the speeds is good, not blazing fast but way better then Dial-up. DSL is the way to go
cybernet sucks big time.
Ya, and we seem to be settling for what ever we have. What are the choices?
I have tried several ISPs and have found that Gerrys sucks less. I am using gerrys to provide browsing and email connectivity to 4-5 computers in my office and its doing pretty well.
Thanks for the information KO, this is good stuff.
Has anyone tried using GOCDMA to connect to dialup providers like cybernet, fascom or supernet? I want to know what kind of connection speed on should expect to see using GO as the telephone line.
Thanks!
There are no good internet connections available in Karachi. I have never heard of anyone satisfied with his connection.
And yes, GoCDMA is a horrible, stupid name.
_I have never heard of anyone satisfied with his connection._
Well, now you have.
_And yes, GoCDMA is a horrible, stupid name._
Imagine if Mobilink and Ufone switched their names to GOGSM and MeraGSM!! Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes… I couldn’t have imagined such a stupid name… or their prelaunch advertisments for that matter.
yes i agree with all GO CDMA is a bull shit , connection speed is slowest and yes it is also not compatable with every laptop.dont invest in this.
I don’t know what you people are talking about! GO CDMA works perfectly well for me. No outages. Plus, I just got my monthly bill for it. I have actually had to pay around 25 – 30% less than what I was normally paying for my landline from ptcl before.
I have also started using GO CDMA PCMCIA card with my laptop and am quite pleased with it. Sure, there ARE slow times… but normally I get an average of around 10k download speed. Plus I guess the real benefit for me and users like me is the wireless connectivity. I have used it all over karachi now, and it works fine.
I had the time this morning after doing a google search for “Multinet DSL Pakistan Karachi”:http://www.google.com/search?q=Multinet%20DSL%20Pakistan%20Karachi to discover the extensive dialogue going on here about Internet connectivity. I have lived in Karachi since 1998 and traveled back to the U.S. four times as I have monitored the evolution of the computer/IT/internet industry in both places. I’ve had Worldcall for about 1.5 years now and thought until a week ago that there WAS no DSL in Karachi. Since then I visited the PTCL Clifton Exchange to learn a little about plans for DSL in my area as well as ISDN. It is difficult to keep track of the options for Internet connectivity let alone compare the pros and cons and weigh all the comments of various users in this forum. You almost have to make a career out of it. I had many laughs as I read different posts on KO’s site, especially complaints about Worldcall and computer stores. I have spent many an hour down in Uniplaza!
After returning to Karachi a few weeks ago, I increased our Worldcall package from 64 to 128 for the sake of using a Vonage VoIP phone account with a US-based local number, and since then been shopping around for a faster internet connection or a better price. Worldcall told me that even on a 128 connection, VoIP would not work, but I have found that to be untrue. Especially mornings here, I can get a good quality phone connection over broadband. (I learned after talking to friends that I am sharing the 128 connection with 10 other home users.) I have so many questions, I don’t know where to start. I am just telling you my experience I guess. Someone told me about Multinet, HRI, and Paktel for DSL, so the easiest thing to do was drive down to the Clifton exchange, since the only way to find out anything is to talk with someone face-to-face, even if what they tell you is not always reliable. The guy at Paktel told me that an ISDN connection is the way to go, rather than wait for DSL in our area (Ph. V), which may come in a month or two. (After reading at this site, I wonder if CyberNet can provide DSL here. I can’t find any info about home DSL at their website.) The Paktel guy also said that DSL is all controlled from a central office, whereas ISDN is a direct connection from home, so no one can control or monitor the connection. But I talked to a friend in Egypt, who said:
“ISDN happens on two channels. If a phone call comes in, it drops to one B channel, i.e., 64 kbps (which is really not much faster than dialup). I would recommend DSL over ISDN any day, even if it is hosted by the govt.”
Someone in this forum posted that they are satisfied with ISDN. KO on the other hand argues for CyberNet DSL.
We are renting, so it would not be so easy to replace our phone line with a DSL cable (?). Our landlady is from the previous era and would probably never give us the permission or even understand what I am asking for, and if we move out we can’t take the cable with us. Then again it only costs Rs. 431.
Another disadvantage of ISDN/DSL is that unless we pay an arm-and-a-leg for continuous connection, our broadband phone is only useful for MAKING calls, not receiving.
Finallly, I can sympathize with the complaints about Worldcall customer service, but the advantage in WC for us has been the 24/7 connection and cable plus internet all in one. We lived through the whole era of Shaheen antenna to satellite dish to Cosmovision cable (what a nightmare) to broadband.
Sorry this post is so long – it will take me a while to get up to speed on this topic – this is a place to start.
Dear Jaffer
i am using ISDN connection for the last 2 months. As i am not a heavy internet user the package from supernet suits me i.e. 50 hours for 1100Rs.
you mentioned that the ISDN drops 1 channel when someone calls you. Yes it is true but if you configure your ISDN modem to Bandwith on demand it can re establish 2 channel after you finish with the call.
Getting an ISDN connection is very easy. It took me 10 days to get my normal telephone converted. it costs around 500Rs. You also get the ISDN modem for free.
basically if you are a heavy internet user then ISDN is expensive.
What exactly makes an ISDN connection different from a dial-up connection? How fast is your connection? Are their different speeds you can get, or just one-size-fits-all?
Dear Jaffer
ISDN is basically a 2 way digital connection. the handshaking between your modem and the internet provider is very fast. no more weird noises when the modem handshakes. you press the connect button on dialup and it connects in 1-2 seconds literally. if you use one channel then the connection is always 64K as their is no line noise. on using 2 channels the connection is always 128k. if you use bandwith on demand then you get 64K connection jumping to 128K depending upon your internet use.
download on 64k connection is always 7-8kb/sec and on 128k is always 14-16k/sec.
their is no speed in between.
my question to you guys out there is whether it is possible to have a DSL on an ISDN line.
I’m sure the guy at Paktel Clifton Exchange told me this, but isn’t it true you can either get a dial-up ISDN line or an always-on package? How much does the always-on pkg cost? Do they replace your phone line? How can they guarantee a no-noise line without replacing the faulty phone line and making a new connection themselves? Other questions… I have a VoIP phone and want to be able to make or receive calls while connected. Can ISDN drop back from 128 to 64 during a call and then ramp up to 128 again afterwards?
I recommend you read the ‘wikipedia entry on DSL’:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Subscriber_Line.
Technically speaking, ISDN is DSL, though a much older type. I don’t think there should be any problems with using DSL on an existing ISDN line, it is done so abroad already, but you should check with an existing DSL ISP if they do so here. Your ISP should be able to fix ‘noisy’ phone lines along with PTCL.
Whats up people. I have been living mostly out side of Karachi for the past 10 years. I had 256 kb cable really loved it everything came to an easy click. My bad exp. here is that everyone tells me its 128kb I say okay its cool but mostly at traffic time i get 40Kb. Isnt their a decent company out their than can traffic its clients correctly ?
Whats up people. I have been living mostly out side of Pakistan for the past 10 years. I had 256 kb cable really loved it everything came to an easy click (NEVER WENT UNDER THIS). My bad exp. here is that everyone tells me its 128kb I say okay its cool but mostly at traffic time i get 40Kb. Isnt their a decent company out their than can traffic its clients correctly ?
Jaffer: yes if you configur your modem to bandwith on demand then it can switch from 128K to 64K and viceversa depending upon your use.
for line noise try to get hold of your lineman. give him 200Rs. tell him to bring a new PTCL cable(heavy black wire) from the pole to your computer. the modem cable should be soldered to your PTCL line because if you don’t then within a month or two there will be line noise.
when you replace your telephone to ISDN they basically rewire at the exchange and nothing is disturbed from your side. your telephone number is changed.
As ISDN is digital, it cannot tolerate line noise. if there is line noise your internet connection will break.
i am using ISDN for the last 2 months. there was line noise when it rained. i complained and same day the people at the exchange called me and told me that they are trying to rectify the problem. they called again and again to see if everything is allright. they give you VIP treatment because they think that ISDN is only used by a bigshots.
for always on connection you have to pay from 5000-12000 Rs per month.
About Go-CDMA…
Use at your own risk. These people are incompetent cheats. I just got their connection and though it works great for voice, its toilet as far as the internet is concerned. Oh, the speed is fine, btw…. about the same as Worldcall 64k at its best. But…. the driver is UNSTABLE. It works with my older computer (Intel motherboard, P4 1.8, 512 ram, xp pro sp1) but WILL NOT WORK with my new computer (intel, P4, 3.06, 256 ram, XP-pro-sp2).
The problem is the cable and driver. The USB driver is for Win2000. They do not have any other drivers. The moment the phone connects, the computer crashes and I get a “blue screen of death”. I have always had a computer since 1982, so I’m pretty sure I know more than the Nincompoops at GO do.
The problem will be solved if they provide me with the SERIAL cable that connects the phone with the rs-232 port.
They WILL NOT give that cable to anyone, even though when you take your computer to their service people, they ALWAYS use the serial-cable, never the USB cable. Of course the internet connection works at their place….LOL. And they say, “hey whats wrong, its working fine…see?”. What a bunch of cheaters.
It sez in their PDF (on the CD they give with the phone) that we have the option of getting the phone with the serial-cable instead of with the USB-cable. But when anyone asks to have their cable exchanged, they just lie and tell you “but we recommend USB to everyone..”.
Well, you can see for yourself, the number of people with newer computers, standing in line inside their office. It doesn’t work with anyone. I’m not alone. 7 out of 10 people are having major problems.
All they are doing is taking my (and everyone else’s) phone number and promising to call us “when they get the cable”. And that will happen in 15 days. Actually more like 2 months….
Even with older computers (as I said earlier, it seems to work with my older computer), the internet driver will produce unstable behaviour. For example, once I log on, I can not disconnect by clicking on the modem icon. I have to REBOOT.
The serial connection doesn’t need a driver, but they are keeping the serial cable for themselves and will not give them to anyone.
Screw them. I wasted my money.
I did ask them (GO CDMA), what about the internet card I wasted? I mean, your bloody cable isn’t going to be in my hands for a month at least… and the internet card expires in a month. How about a REFUND?
No answer.
They know exactly what is wrong and that they have messed up. But they wil give you the impression, you are the only one with problems.
Talk to the people you see coming into their office. You will get a different picture.
I know some of their staff are hoarding the cables and selling them on the market. I have just had it confirmed. Go-CDMA are selling the Serial-Cable for Rs.1500 (it should come FREE with the Rs.5000 phone). According to a cable guy in Saddar, if they have to sell it the parts in the cable only cost Rs.450, no more.
I will try and get these creeps’ phone numbers.. including those of their shops.
Is this a dhanda or what???
This page has really impressed me. I am now more aware of the cheating going on around us by the so called big names. There is a great need to develop a consumer rights group and take them to their graves / courts etc.
There is a lot of information you have summarized and conclusion would be to wait till the happy days arrive !!
I am also exploring different option for intenet connectivty, like wireless, DSL, ISDN,,DXX and E-1.
To use internet, it depends upon—
1- Your own setup
2- Your ISP
3- Number of exchanges coming in way.
4- PTCL Backbone
5- International Link (SME cable through see)
6- Availability of site which you are accessing.
and some more…and if all goes well then you get 6-8k on 64k link and so on.
Bottom line is that you cannot blame a single element for internet. The problem can be sorted out with coordination and integration of different element and of course educating end users about the infrastructure.
thanks
I do not have proper words to express my feelings upon the blackmailing of communication companies in Pakistan , nearly all of them arelooting the public specially the mobile phone operators and now GOCDMA , they advertize some exagerated claims about their services , sell once , take money and then they do never care for the client , service or the follow up . For an example I bought a PCMCIA card for my laptop from GOCDMA upon their claims of best service and this and that etc for Rs. 10000 , just after purchase of this gadget I came to know that there is no installation guide or instruction is provided with an instruments of Rs. 10000 , upon inquiring they advised to get it installed by their staff deputed for such services , I went to them and all six of available people said ” Oh laptop I do not know about this I am expert in desktops , and you better go to the next friend , finally all of them directed me towards another adjecent building where they thought would be someone ready to help me . Reached there and same process of switching started several people tried all the day and asked me to come again next day , this was a practice of four days and finally they asked me to format the hard disk of the computer , reinstall the windows and then come again . Having no option formatted the hard disk , reinstalled the windows went again and they asked to uninstall a few programs and antivirus before installations , did it and fortunately it installed . It was a break of just 15 days and it refused to work again , now I am in the same process again for last 6 days , all the day at GOCDMA and no success , again an order to format the hard disk .
Do you think it is wise to format your hard disk and install windows every 15 days for GOCDMA to work ?????????
I am sick of it , now niether GOCDMA helps me using the instrument nor takes it back .
Where is reliabilty , customer support , professionalism , good service , and follow up .
Fazal Ahmed Khilji .
901 Uni Center I I Chundrigar Road Karachi 74000 Pakistan .
Cell :- + 92 300 8280528 .
Ph :- + 92 21 2411909 .
I LOST MY MONEY JUST FOR NOTHING AND HAVE SPENT SEVERAL DAYS OUT OF MY BUSY SCHEDULE TO DISCOVER THAT GOCDMA IS A MAFIA OR A JOINT VENTURE OF OLD TIME CRIMINALS WHO INVENTED THIS NEW TECHNIC TO ROB THE PEOPLES MONEY .
SCREW THEM
FAZAL AHMED
GoCDMA: Caveat Emptor
I purchased a PCMCIA card with the GoCDMA service. Or, one might say: I am still going thru the pains of purchasing it.
I called them up for a demo. They asked me to come over, which I did. There wasn’t a single demo unit available in the Telecard headoffice! So I grabbed the salesman by the collar and dragged him over to my office to wait for the other salesman who had a PCMCIA card that could be demonstrated. Why there is a single demo unit, I fail to understand. While waiting for over an hour for the second guy to show up, the first extolled the virtues of this service and how I would be able to use it in Lahore and Islamabad. He was prattling on about this when the second guy showed up and gave a flat negative to this; roaming is not allowed. So, I asked, where do I use this card while in my hometown? In the car while on the way to Bolton Market? Because I, and most other people who need Internet service, already have connections at home and at work.
No reply was given.
Anyways. He plugged it in, set various settings, and off we went. Wow! I’ll find a use for it somewhere, I thought.
So, early the next morning, I called Telecard and gave them my order.
Waited.
Waited.
And waited some more.
The guy finally called me at 5pm and said that he would be right over.
Waited.
Waited.
Called back the next day and he said he thought of coming over, but as it was already 8pm, he decided not to call. Reverse logic?
I pulled some strings and got a hold of the cell number of the sales manager. He promised action at once, if not sooner.
Waited.
Waited.
A new salesman sauntered in at 1:20pm with the card. But, he demanded cash on the spot. I pointed out that companies don’t pay by cash, only by crossed cheque, and that being Friday, the banks had closed in any case. He didn’t seem fazed by it and kept a firm grip on the thingamabob.
It took another call to the manager to get him to release it.
Happy with my new connection, I plugged it in and …
waited…
waited…
Finally, after a long time of watching “Searching for network…”, I phoned him again. He brought yet another guy with him. The two whispered among themselves and tried out various mantras and finally came up with the conclusion that the card was at fault.
They’ve taken the card AND MY MONEY and here I am posting my frustrations on this blog.
Thanks gawd I did not sign-up with the GoCDMA mafia. I was *this* close, man. I visited their Boating Basin office the other day. Took them 45 minutes to produce a (non-technical) salesman who handed us a brochure.
There were half-a-dozen, very angry and ‘had-it-up-to-here’ guys sitting outside, waiting for their turn to get their phones examined. None of them had a working connection to the internet. The guy in-charge of ‘trouble-shooting’ looked pale as a ghost, cold sweat dripping down his forehead, as he tried to pacify the angry mob forming around him.
There was no order to the madness inside that office. But most importantly (just like at WorldCall), the people working at GoCDMA couldn’t care LESS, how the customer was being served (or not) in their office. To me, that signifies administrative rot, over and beyond the technical shortfalls.
Somebody in our company tried trying GOCDMA for the data connectivity needs of franchise operations. We were going to committ 40 franchises in Karachi on the spot if it worked flawlessly and another 50 in Lahore and Islamabad. The guy didn’t even SHOW UP with the device. We waited for days on end.
we were in talks with dancom for unlimited dial up for 999 but now the new cyber highspeed? hispeed? with accelerator thing has arrived. We got a demo account just yesterday and tried it.
it was unbelievable! the fastest dial up Ive seen. they seem to have invested in some servers and software from some high flying techno wiz company who also designed and customized the software.
one note to keep in mind though tho. initially some high quality images appeared very slightly distored. apparently the accelerator does lossy compression to save time with downloading . but you can reduce the amount of compression and they will appear just fine (selectable from the accelerator settings).
honestly though id leave the setting and tolerate the slight distortion for the hours for waiting filler images than reduce the compression and increase the download time.
hey ppl well u got lots of gud information here i live in lahore the things i faced are alot more messy i gave an application for isdn/bri line lyke it took almost a month or more these guyz kept on sayin dat its not here yet well the person next to my house was using it strange…
after a long loooooong time one day they finally came and installed it
hey dudes again n again the problem waz up to its toes .. noise in the terrible line the isdn connection link dropped every minute or hour or so well i got it fixed by giving line man sum cash !
thanx now i get enough 128k bandwidth but its way to expensive ! 5000 to 1200 a normal student cant afford ..dang anehow i m satisfied now!!
ane 1 whu can tell me abut isdn cheapest rates do reply thanx!
just get cyberhispeed dial-up till dsl comes out in full form
Hey Guyz,
I think its a very good idea of commenting about different services, none of u guyz have heard any good thing bout GO CDMA, i guess i am a luck customer..i done have any issues as far as voice is concerned, internet!! yes there was a problem but got it solved finally..if u compare GO and PTCL…then the best thing about GO is customer services..atleast they listen and try to solve issues..pls comment
where do get dat cyber high speed dialup i mean does it work on dialup or isdn/bri line anehow ppl wish pakistan best ov luck cuz its way to behind dang internet speed sucks well again the go cdma thing ive heard alot abut it but still gocdma is best for wireless cheap usage of voice comm rather than using a regular phone line in other words its not gud for data communication well this cuz of sum dang fraud thing being said 144 kbps dude this can nver happen if it wuld happen evry one will b using broad band and dat all
adios
inam: no idea about cyberhighspeed working on ISDN. I think it could but not sure about rates. I think ISDN rates would be only slightly higher??
techno dude well does this thing as i asked back works on normal phone line abut how much connectivity it gives well the standard is 56k
7.2 kbps while isp give us abut 5.8 to 6 kbps at about48 k connectivity wat abut this cyber thing does it alots 7.2kbps of bandwidth if so .. do tel me
majorly sumtimes i do online gaming which requires heavy upload these damn copper phone lines allow only 2 to3 kbps simultaneously dat sucks does cyber thing also fullfills dat
……man this internet is pakistan i alot of trouble sumtimes the downlink to pta is down
the ping which v get is minimum 250ms to 999ms this causes alot of trouble
do u knu the fibre optic cable given to pakistan via webcloud via singapore is damaged and it wuld take years to repair it
well ahem ahem atleast v have sumthing thank God..
well if sumone culd hepl me with this isp thing it wuld b my honour cuz im facing ping trouble thanx all adios.
in my humble opinion, I think you’re confusing Kbps and KBps (kilobits and kilobytes. 1kilobyte = 8 kilobits)
all isps quote their bandwidth in kilobits. Therefore with 56kbps you get at max 56/8 = 7kilobytes (that’s the theoretical maximum). and this is what your browser quotes (kilobytes)
With 64K ISDN you’ll reach 64/8 = 8 kilobytes only (actually I think its pointless to go for 64kbps ISDN or even DSL because you can pay MUCH less and get unlimited dialup with packages like cyberhighspeed).
There’s no point paying so much just for constant connectivity (as in the case of DSL).
right now I think only micronet and cybernet have the most international bandwidth (cybernet is the first with around 300mbps – I think – and micronet second with 45mbps – 60mbps – again these are numbers that I’ve heard from my contacts. I am not sure about wol or gerry’s or multinet – but I expect multinet has 45 atleast).
the more the bandwidth the lower the latency. with cyberhighspeed we get about 330 milliseconds to the US and Canada.
Fuck you GOCDMA , all of you GOCDMA are bullshit , liers , cheaters .
I never heared about such a big corporate level cheat like GOCDMA . Once they’ll be great and generous would respect you to grab your money and then no body would care for you . Bullshit all their claims of customer care and this and that . No technicians with them all the trainess who love to play with your PC’s and to spoil your computer before passing the comment that GOCDMA is heavenly but your computer is defected .
If ever on earth had some time will try to go for some legal action against that organized looters .
Fazal Ahmed Khilji
Fazal: what happened? i’d love to hear your experiences.
Dude I tried to get GOCDMA for testing – and the technician didn’t even show up! It was an almost confirmed order -had it worked- for many of our franchies.
For more on Go-CDMA, see the stories here:
http://wccforums.com/forum/upload/index.php
After free registration, go into “Internet” section, and read the thread called “Go-CDMA nightmare”. I have also cross-posted my above story there. There are other people with even nastier experiances. read all about it..
http://wccforums.com/forum/upload/showthread.php?t=5631
Comments on this entry are closed. Please use the ‘forums’:/forums for any further questions regarding Cybernet DSL.