Since I conceptualized this blog to be all about everything fast, it's kinda ironic to start it off with something i find really slow - our internet connection. But since it's such a relevant topic, I don't mind talking about it. In fact, it's recently been such a controversial issue in the house that I just have to blog about it.
REWIND: My story started slightly more than a year ago, back when andrea (my beautiful and dearest wife) and I found out that we're having a baby. We agreed that she'd give up teaching for a while so she could take care of our child. Unfortunately, after computing, we realized we would need more than what I get from work to make ends meet especially when the baby comes. So my resourceful wife thought about working while staying home - a way to take care of the baby while still earning additional income. The catch is - we needed to have a fast internet connection at home, so we got one
- the SmartBro. (A wireless Broadband Connection from a Telecom company in the Philippines).
FAST FORWARD: At first, I thought it was cool - I mean, not having a phone line and yet having a broadband connection. But then a few weeks after, we noticed the downsides - like the loss of signals particularly during times when aircrafts would be passing above us. There was also this time when we lost connection for more than a week simply because the tree growing at a neighbor's place was preventing the antenna from getting any signals. Not to mention the occasional troubles brought about by times when their base stations would suddenly bug down (which are not at all rare occasions). Still, we learned to adapt with these irksome times.
What really started this whole post and the reason that made this topic a hotly-debated controversy at home is this recent incident we experienced. You see, not more than 48 hours ago, we lost our internet connection. But this time it's not because of the base station nor the antenna. It was because of an unpaid bill.
Around 24 hours before our connection was cut, SmartBro sent as a notice of disconnection saying we haven't settled our dues yet. Then the morning after the notice came, our connection was cut. Now, how in the world do they expect us to pay that quickly? We didn't receive any bills in the mail. And they haven't even addressed our concerns about an adjustment we requested. Still, we felt that we had no choice so we rushed to a Smart Telecom center in Megamall right after work to settle the bill.
Now, to give you the technical details, we lost connection at around 6 am (Saturday) and we got to pay the fees at around 6:40 pm the same day, so we expected the same quick response from them. They're so amazingly fast in cutting connections, right? So they should be real fast in restoring them too. But unfortunately, they're not. In fact, it took almost 48 hours (we got reconnected Monday morning), a whole lot of arguments, and a whole bucket of heartaches and frustrations to get our connection back.
Fast huh? Yeah right!
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