Best birthday present ever

Having Internet connection at home have always been one of my wettest dream since forever. I was first introduced to the Internet exactly 10 years ago and only today that I finally got myself one at home.

After learning that my application for Maxis Wireless Broadband was unsuccessful, my dear wife went there and applied for one herself. Of course I'll have to foot the monthly bill meself but that's okay, the important thing is I've got Internet at home baby! 100 ringgit and 24 hours later my Maxis Broadband is up and running smoothly.

We selected the Advanced package (640 kbps / RM78 per month) instead of the Starter package which is 10 ringgit cheaper but half as slow at 384kbps. In the package we get the standard ZTE MF600 WCDMA modem, network cable (CAT5e), power adapter plus a home phone thrown in as well. I can return the phone should we decide not to use the Home Voice service.

Set up is pretty straightforward. I just plug on the network cable to my pc, turn on the modem and (usually) I'm connected to the Internet in less than a minute (though sometimes it took me up to 4 minutes to get connected but that rarely happens). Be sure to clear all your tcp/ip setting on the network card because the modem will automatically assign IPs for you. I also recommend you place your modem near doors or windows for best reception. Although the package stated up to 640kbps, I rarely get past 140kbps for download and less than 100kbps for upload. Understandbaly my home (Taman Universiti) is without HSDPA or 3G coverage so I'm guessing the above speed is by using GPRS reception only.

Well GPRS is good enough for me. Like I said before I only want to read/update a few blogs and check my e-mails at home. Forget about online multiplayer games or torrent downloads, they're not available in GPRS reception. Nevertheless I expect Maxis to expand their 3G or even HSDPA reception here sometime in the future. It could only get better right?

Internet at home. The possibilities are endless .Expect more great things to come.

Thanks honey, it's the best birthday present ever! Okay I'm off to change my pants.