Tech And Leisure..

A very common problem error for internet user worldwide. The connection is there but when certain web page opened in a browser, it will shows this error.

Root Problem:
1. ISP service provider is down;
2. Webpage server is down/insufficient bandwidth or congested

Solutions:
1. open command prompt and do PING to the website
e.g: ping google.com (enter) : If the PING reply is OK meaning that the connection to the web server is OK. If the data packet reply is incomplete (usually command prompt will send 4 sets of data packets, connections is OK if the PING reply displayed exactly 4 sets. However if there is a degradation of the packets received, that means the internet connection got a problem)

2.Clear your browsers cache and reset your LAN connection (Tools>Internet Options> Connection> LAN setting> tick automatically detect setting and untick the other options).

3.Some sites require 128-bit connection security. Click the Help menu and then click About Internet Explorer to determine what strength security you have installed. If you are trying to reach a secure site, make sure your Security settings can support it. Click the Tools menu, and then click Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, scroll to the Security section and check settings for SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, PCT 1.0.

4. Try to use different browsers due to different browsers process HTML files differently.

Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd posted a double-digit growth in its pre-tax profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2008, increasing by 24.4 per cent to RM1.755 billion compared with RM1.410 billion in 2007.

The mobile cellular telecommunication company's revenue surged by 10.1 per cent to RM5.606 billion from RM5.093 billion previously.

Chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly said the year 2008 saw the best ever financial results in the company's history as a result of its turnaround plan and an aggressive marketing strategy.

"We are also the only mobile operator that recorded 11 consecutive quarters of revenue growth," he said during a media briefing on the company's performance, here today.

He said the slowdown in the economy has not had any major impact on the company's business.

"Hence, we are still experiencing growth in subscriber base and usage, all of which are positive indications to drive our revenue base," he added.

Celcom's earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 10.5 per cent to RM2.5 billion in 2008 from RM2.3 billion in the year before, contributing to the improvement of its EBITDA margin to 45.2 per cent from 44.6 per cent.

The company's subscriber base grew by 22 per cent to 8.76 million, of which 6.996 million were pre-paid users and the balance 1.765 million were postpaid users.

It also recorded a year-on-year growth in broadband subscribers to 228,000 subscribers as at the end of 2008.

Celcom's market share had also improved to 32.5 per cent in 2008 from 30.9 per cent in 2007.

On the outlook for 2009, Shazalli said the company hoped to maintain its growth momentum this year and would continue to adapt a proactive strategy tomitigate the impact from the global economic turmoil. - BERNAMA

Seems that Celcom once again on a right path to regain its status as the number #1 cellular provider in Malaysia. Currently Celcom are the leader in Mobile Broadband segment due to its extensive UMTS/WCDMA and HSDPA coverage. To maintain this status, Celcom must upgrade thier ISP backbone systems in order to accomodate the ever increasing number of subscribers.

1. Previously Celcom offers two types of internet connections which are based on Circuit Switch (CS) data and the recent one is based on Packet Switch (PS) data. Since last year, the CS connection was abandon and there is no more available support for the system. The current PS connection applied through 4 different networks i.e: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS/WCDMA and HSDPA.

2. The speed of your internet connection is based on location, what type of signal available and the device/modem you are using.

3. Basicly, there are 5 types of Celcom Mobile Broadband offerings:
a. D68 coupled with voice plan (CEP or minutes plan) -up to 384Kbps
b. D98 coupled with voice plan (CEP or minutes plan) -up to 3.6Mbps
c. Stand Alone D68 -up to 384Kbps
d. Stand Alone D98 -up to 3.6Mbps
e. Daily Unlimited RM6 per day -up to 3.6Mbps

4. Celcom offer widest UMTS/WCDMA and HSDPA coverage in the country.

5. Dont expect to get full 384Kbps or 3.6Mbps. It`s almost impossible. That is the maximum speed of the system under maximum conditions. Usually you will get around 200Kbps-300Kbps for D68 package and around 800Kbps-3Mbps for D98 package. Determine what type of signal is available in your area before deciding to subscribe.

6.Your internet speed will be reduced if there are a lot of Celcom subscriber attached to a certain cell tower. If there is a lot of voice call transmitted to the tower which your connection is hooked, it will also decrease your connection speed due to the tower will prioritize voice call over data transmission.

7.Celcom impose 5GB limitation as a fair usage policy for each subcriber. Once your download exceed 5GB, for D68 subscriber, your speed will be throttled from 384Kbps to 64Kbps. For D98 subscriber, your speed will be throttled from 3.6Mbps to 128Kbps. Your connection speed once throttled will be reseted on your next billing cycle.

8. The connection using mobile networks is much inferior compared to fixed line networks in term of stability and speed. So dont expect you Mobile broadband to replace your Streamyx connection. Mobile Broadband intended for those who are always want easy internet connections while on the move. For heavy downloads and online games, stick to fixed line broadband.

9. Celcom use dynamic IP shared by all subscribers. Dynamic IP is considered as unsecured connections, thus it may restrict you from accessing certain websites which require personal IP such as rapidshare and MIRC. However there is no problem if you want to use Celcom Broadband to access Internet Banking website and perform online transactions.

10. You can share your Celcom broadband internet connections with other computers using dedicated routers.

Recently I managed to test the speed of my Celcom Mobile Broadband D98 Advance at 2 different locations. The first one is at Section 27, Alam Megah Shah Alam and the second one is at Sri Gombak near the Crytal Heights Apartment.

Yes, avoid using or upgrading to Windows XP Service Pack 3 specially if you are a heavy user or rely mostly on the wireless internet connections such as wifi and cellular based ISP. Recently a Celcom Mobile Broadband subscriber consult me with regards to his internet problem. He live somewhere in PJ and he said that he suffer a very unstable and slow download. The problem is that he was able to connect to the Celcom 3G/HSDPA network, but whenever he try to access to a website error "page cannot be displayed" will pop up on his browser`s screen. He said that this is the case since a few months already. He even try to PING yahoo website but it seems that the connection was timed out.
Since this subscriber already face this problem quite a while, I suspect that this is not the normal Internet service failure. However I did asked him since when he realized that he faced this problem, and he said that previously his internet connection was OK. However a few months back he upgraded (Operating Systems) his laptop and his PC from Windows XP SP2 to Windows XP SP3. According to him since that day, he can only surf the internet by logging into his company VPN network from his computers.

A quick search on the internet reveals a shocking discoveries. This is not an alienated incident. There are many other cases out there similar to this unlucky Celcom Mobile Broadband subscriber. XP SP3 installation will not only install the upgrades to your Operating Systems, it will also install unnecessary system registry which will create havoc on your root system. For the time being, it is confirmed that the unwanted registry only effect wireless internet connections. Meaning that Fixed Internet Connections got no problem with XP SP3.

If you are one of the unlucky one who upgraded to XP SP3, the solutions available are; 1st by further upgrading your OS to Vista or downgrade your OS to XP SP2, which in the case of our friend here form PJ, duly solved his problem. 2nd continue using XP SP3 and wait untill Microsoft provide a patch, which most of us will love to hate ;)

Have a good surfing day!!