Tag Archives | idm

So Did Your DSL Speed Improve?

It’s been three days now since the new plans recently announced by Ogero became effective, and with them came the “open speed” packages which allow subscriber to benefit from the maximum speed their phone lines can handle.

All other ISPs have updated their existing plans well, and the most flexible ones are offered by IDM and Cyberia. Others like Sodetel and Wise have less options, but no matter what provider you are subscribed too you can get a decent plan for ~$20.

I  have tested the speed upgrades at a friend in Achrafieh who is now getting ~3.5Mbps instead of the 2Mbps he was originally subcribed too, and at my parents in Kaskas area who are now getting ~6Mbps (The latter spoiled my kid by the way because YouTube videos were loading pretty fast on is iPad! 😛 ). On the other hand, people who live relatively far from the exchange offices will be limited to 1 or 2Mbps.

I personally was quite excited when the plans were originally announced in May, but unfortunately shortly after that I started experiencing disconnection with my home connection that lasted several hours everyday, and extremely low speeds whenever I get lucky and my modem connects. So I followed up with IDM (my ISP) and Ogero to troubleshoot the problem for over a couple of months until I was recently informed by Ogero that the problem is due to a defected cable in my area which cannot be replaced anytime soon, and that I have to deal with my current connection until further notice.

This is quite frustrating to be honest since the monthly subscription we pay for our landlines is at minimum supposed to cover the technical failure that might occur on the network, and that should of course include main cables feeding a whole area…!

Anyway, until a miracle restores my connection, I am currently considering switching to a wireless solution such as Connect which recently updated their plans with higher data caps.

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ISPs started rolling out their new DSL plans

idm dsl plans

I’ve been waiting for the new DSL plans to come out ever since the ministry of telecommunications announced the price reductions last month, and I finally got an e-mail from IDM this morning informing me that my subscription has been upgraded from 1Mbps / 10GB to 2 Mbps / 50GB for the same price ($27.5).

This was indeed some great news since my speed has doubled and my quota has increased five times, however, I found it odd that users were not given the liberty to choose among the offered plans but will instead have to wait till the 1st of July to place their change requests. For example, I could have chosen to settle for the same quota I had before for $12 only, but IDM and other providers definitely look to keep their revenues the same so they are subscribing us to the plan that matches whatever we’ve been usually paying.

A friend of mine is also subscribed to IDM’s 4Mbps / 25GB plan at $77 and was upgraded to the unlimited 4Mbps plan at $82, whereas he could have simply chosen to settle for the same quota he previously had at $27.5 and spared a whole $55 a month!

So make sure not to proceed blindly with whatever your ISP gives you next months, but rather take a look at all their offered plans to choose what suits your needs, and chances are you’ll definitely end up saving some good money.

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Free night traffic decree posted in official gazette

The decree stating that internet night traffic from 12AM to 7AM should be free has be published in the official gazette last Thursday. But it looks like it is currently exclusive to Ogero subscribers only as I’m subscribed to IDM and still get the following message each time I log in to my account:

Note that your telephone line is NOT Unlimited nights enabled since your line did not pass the feasibility test done to support such service enhancement.
We would like to assure you that we intend to offer this service for all our subscribers and will be working on enabling your line with Unlimited night traffic , and whenever such change will take place we will inform you accordingly.

Almost all IDM subscriber in Beirut get double the speed and unlimited traffic at night, while others outside Beirut get the message above. If a subscriber’s phone line cannot handle more than 1mbps, why can’t they just enable the unlimited night traffic alone for them while keeping their speed as it is?!

Anyway, you may click here to read the full text of decree as shared by minister Nicolas Sehnaoui on twitter. I hope it doesn’t take too long until all ISPs abide by it!

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Free internet quota at night for everyone?

Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui announced on twitter yesterday that unlimited internet quota from 12AM to 7AM has been approved by the government and will be activated as soon as the decision is published in the official gazette.

Some ISPs already have the unlimited night traffic offered to some of there users depending to which telephone exchange office they’re connected. My parents subscription with IDM in Beirut for example gets double the speed and unlimited traffic at night, while my IDM subscription in Aramoun doesn’t because they claim it didn’t pass some “feasibility test” that was performed.

Anyway, I hope it doesn’t take too much time before we get that feature activated for everyone!

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