Maxis wireless sucks, use Celcom instead

Before I signed up for Maxis Wireless Broadband, I've heard of stories that their service sucks and you should go for anything beside Maxis. I didn't give that much thought though because first I remembered Maxis' package was much cheaper (starting from RM68 per month) and the registration was quite hassle-free. All we needed to do was show up at any Maxis branch or reseller, fill up the form, pay 100 ringgit and then they give us a modem on the spot. 24 hours later we were surfing the Internet at home.
We chose the Advanced package (684 kbps at 78 ringgit/month. At first the Maxis wireless Internet connection was okay lah. Not as fast as Streamyx but quite acceptable. After all our house is not covered with 3G or HSDPA according to the coverage map. Then after about 2 years of using it, it started to turn from bad to terrible. The connection is super-slow and sometimes I get disconnected every 5 to 10 minutes. It was truly frustrating. So late last month we've decided that we had enough of Maxis snailband and we canceled our subscription altogether.

We planned to apply for Streamyx but the people at TM said they cannot install a fixed-line to my house because there's no telephone line yet on the street that we stayed. The row of houses behind and in front of us have telephone line but nope, not on our side. I thought after 51 years of independence most if not all part of Malaysia should be accessible to a land line. I guess not. Oh well, it's your loss. Here I am living just 22 kilometers from the capital, right inside the MSC but no telephone line. Totally unacceptable.

That's when I seriously thought of applying for Celcom wireless broadband instead. I didn't get the chance to visit any real Celcom branch so last weekend we went to the Blue Cube store at The Mines instead. Blue Cube sells all kind of mobile phones, Blackberries and they also accept payment and registration for Celcom Broadband. Just our luck. When we got to there, they've ran out of modem so we cannot register for the free modem package. The earliest the modem will arrive is next year. So unless we're willing to fork out 500 something for the no-free modem package, we're stuck without Internet for now.
Then yesterday I stumbled into this store at Jusco nearby which sells wireless broadband modem for just RM400. 400 is still a lot of money but since everything feels lighter when shared, we decided to buy it anyway. Then we went straight to the Blue Cube store in Sunway to register for the 384 kbps /RM68 per month package and after 2 hours we're back online at home. And after using Celcom wireless broadband for two days I can say that they're much much faster than Maxis, even at 384 kbps.

So moral of the story here, if you want a good wireless Internet connection, go for Celcom. Avoid Maxis at all cost. Even if they offer you a free Dell notebook with the subscription. The notebook is overpriced anyway. What's more even with the free-modem package, you can keep the modem after subscribing for 18 months unlike Maxis where the modem will not be yours, ever. And you had to pay a whooping 600 ringgit if you loose it.

Here's a summary of the wireless broadband packages offered by Celcom

1. RM69/month up to 384 kbps, no modem, no contract

2. RM98/month up to 3.6 Mbps, no modem, no contract

3. RM99/month up to 384 kbps, free modem, 18 months contract

4. RM129/month up to 3.6 Mbps, free modem, 18 months contract

For package 1 and 2 you also have to pay the first month's bill (either RM68 or RM98) on the spot during registration. For package 3 and 4 you have to pay 3 months bill in advance (RM 297 or RM387) on the spot. If you register at Celcom or Blue Cube, you can take home the free modem right there and then but if you register at an agent or a reseller, you'll have to wait for a week or so for your registration to be activated and then you go back to the reseller to collect your modem. A hassle, I'm sure.

So my advice is, go for the 1st or 2nd package, minus the modem. You can always save up to buy the modem (ranging from RM350 to RM700) but you won't be tied to any contracts and you can terminate the service anytime you like. But if you go for the 3rd and 4th package, that's okay too. You pay extra for 18 months then you get to keep the package or terminate the service if you want. Either way, they're much better than Maxis.

p.s: Celcom didn't pay me to write this

Related links:
Battle of the wireless broadband