Bayantel DSL Recurring Disconnection Issue

I have been experiencing time out and internet disconnection for maybe seven days straight now. I don't really know what is wrong and so do Bayantel DSL technicians.

The intermittent connection is a part of my Bayantel DSL internet since they became my ISP but it was tolerable. I've been very patient. But it's been getting worse the past weeks. I call several times a day and almost everyday Bayantel technicians visit our house to check why we are having disconnection problems. My husband already removed the router to isolate any problem. It's still intermittent.

I appreciate the three Bayantel technicians which visited the house on Sept. 16. Along with their supervisor on the phone, they tried their best to locate the source of the problem and fix it.

They have checked all possible areas where the source of the disconnection was coming from. They have changed the cable inside our house on Sept. 15 because it was bleeding. They have checked the cable in the area where our connection is coming from which they call OPAC. They have changed the cable from the post to our house on Sept 16. We all thought the problem might be coming there since according to one technician, there was a soft part which seemed to have a broken wire.

I was not supposed to agree when they asked me if they can close the job order because for the past days our experience was after the technician leaves, the modem blinks again and the terrible (dis)connection occurs again. But since the technicians were very nice and the problem seemed to have been addressed, I said they can close it.

The connection went well. I was thinking at last, we'll have a disconnection-free internet now. But the following day, the modem blinked again and so I have to call their customer support for the nth time.

Another issue I want to raise to Bayantel DSL is their posting of customer complaints. This happened thrice to me already. The exact time I called was not the time they posted my complaint.

I called on Sept. 17, Thursday, at 9AM but the customer agent told me the complaint was posted at past 12 noon. I asked why. She said maybe they waited for one report to be closed. What?

There were other two similar incidents. One was I called at around 10AM but report was posted an hour after. The second one was worse. I called in the morning but it was posted around 3PM.

As I type this I just reset my modem and it signaled I am connected but when I check the ping, it said "request timed out" again. That was less than a minute.

Bayantel DSL technicians went at the house again yesterday but what else can they do but monitor the connection since they have already exhausted all means to check what could be the problem. They did not bring any modem with them even if I requested through their customer support so they have to leave and go back two hours after which really inconvenienced me because I have a six o'clock appointment.

Anyway, they went back, changed the modem to the one they brought but we still have the same problem. It's still blinking and gets disconnected. The modem even lost its power so we decided to just retain the old modem. Of course I can't let them close the report so they put "for monitoring" in their remark.

I called customer support twice today, Sept. 19, first at 10am and the second time at past 12 noon. Just please address my disconnection problem once and for all. The technicians were saying it could be the distribution port structure which is causing the problem since it's very old. But they don't have the authority to touch it. It's with the Bayantel linemen already.

I don't have the energy anymore to get angry to Bayantel DSL. Either I endure this kind of poor connection service or leave Bayantel after more than two years. I have been asking around which is a better choice. The consensus was to just get PLDT DSL because they have better connection. A neighbor has a PLDT DSL and he said for the past five or six months, they only had one issue but it was resolved immediately. Same feedback with a colleague. They have been using PLDT since January this year and there was only one incident about a disconnection issue and was fixed in no time.

I hope Internet Service Providers will not only focus in generating sales but also on how to cope with the maintenance of their hardware. I do not blame the technicians since they have shown responsibility in addressing the problem. I just don't want to comment on their competence but obviously, this disconnection problem has not been addressed. I do not shoot the messenger as well as most customer agents are very accommodating.

I'm a customer very easy to please you see but my patience is running very low with the terrible connection Bayntel DSL is giving me. Maybe Bayantel's facilities need thorough rehabilitation.

I hope the National Telecommunications Commission and the Department of Trade and Industry also conduct regular audit on the kind of service ISPs provide. Just a thought, who knows, a senate inquiry might do the trick.

All I can do now is wait again for their technician and pray that the problem will be resolved today and I won't get disconnected anymore.