Hi all,
I am tired of using a modem, yeah I know that goes back to the dinosaur age, but anyway I’d like to know what companies to go with and the approximate cost for installation and monthly fees. Are any companies currently holding any specials?
Thanks,
Jeff
jeff@oriented.org
Guy a work just got a so-net connection,
he got a choice of free gift
Flat screen monitor
or Playstation 2
I think the monthly fee is about 800-1000 NT
Not sure if there is a download limit though ?
I will check with him …wait here
Hi Jeff,
I currently use HiNet’s ADSL. I’m OK with it. I’ve only had it for three weeks, but it’s never been down … yet.
BEWARE: I’m not saying that So-net is a bad way to go. They were very pleasant people. But … typically Taiwanese when it comes to service. They came to my company to promote their service. Had the suffed animal give-away. They had the special pricing on computer peripherals, like a monitor or Logitec wireless keyboard/mouse. They even had great pricing on the service, espcially for a dedicated IP. THE PROBLEM is that it took them 4 weeks to finally discover that they couldn’t provide me service to my area. I specially asked them if my area was covered, and AS USUAL, they said “yes” without doing their homework (get money first, ask quetions later). So, they set me up an account, called Chung Hwa to set up the line and then forgot about me. Chung Hwa never came out to install since their service doesn’t connect to them yet, and I wasted four weeks. I had to do my own research and prove to So-net why ‘they’ could not connect to my house. Not the brightest outfit, but as I said before, “very nice” with plenty of “bu hao yi si” to go around.
The next day (Friday), I went down to Chung Hwa, applied for HiNet ADSL. They installed the next Tuesday. It works.
So, this doesn’t mean So-net is not right for you, it just means that you are probably much smarter than their sales people.
NOTE: From what I have heard, Hinet ADSL may be more expensive, but you’ll get faster overseas connections (regarless of whether it is 56K or 512K). You don’t get something for nothing in this game. If someone else here can back this up or refute it, I’d be happy to hear it.
I got the same thing from Seednet. Took them almost 6 weeks to discover they couldn’t connect in my area. They also said the guy had called several times to instal the line and I wasn’t there blah blah blah. Eventually got cable from EThome, have had no problems, so haven’t had to deal with customer service. If you want to upload a lot of data, cable is the way to go as you’re not limited to 64K upload. Also if you do a lot of file sharing, Kazaa etc, you can get huge download speeds from other users in taiwan.
Thanks for the help guys, I am still curious about the so-net ADST\L, I’d love to have a flat screen, but I am worried about the speed. Subway 52 let me know the real cost per month and how much for installation.
Jeremy there are several internet cafes close to my home so I think providing service shouldn’t be a problem. How much is Hinet going for right now? And what about installation charges?
Thanks!
Jeff
jeff@oriented.org
Observation: If you ask a Taiwanese salesperson a question, “I don’t know, let me find out.” will never be an answer. However, you may find later on that they had no idea what they were walking about…especially in regards to technology.
The speed (theoretically) depends on how much you want to pay and whether you want a static IP or PPPoE. Static IPs are better for servers and also more convenient because you don’t need additional bloated software. However, PPPoE is generally cheaper.
Something to note is that there are two parts to the ADSL cost. 1)ISP connection fee 2)Chunghwa Telecom Line Usage Fee. The cost of both of these will depend on the speed you want. So-net’s connection fee is 888nt and 399nt for 1.5/384 and 512/64, respectively. CHT Line Usage is 899nt and 595, bringing your total cost per month to 1787 or 994. Installation is 500nt. If you’re not downloading heavily, I would say 512/64 is fine. Of course, you’re talking to a guy who is paying through the nose for one-way cable(after hearing “we’ll have dual-way next month” for the past 3 years).
Hi folks:
Definitely cable modem is not the way to go,
sorry about that, but based on the technology trend in Taiwan eventually cable modem will dissapear due to too many problems
Of course that’s totally different from US which
the cable modem market dominate over ADSL
I suggest you to try Sparq OffNet ADSL, they give
you a fixed IP without extra charge and the connection speed to everywhere is pretty good
Cheers,
Wherever you’ll go, total cost will be NT$1.1-1.3k/Mo. for unlimited.
CHT charges around $600 for the “connection”
and Giga/Hinet/Seednet/Apolo/Yahoo/Kimo/So-Net/etc. charge additional $500-700 for making the ADSL comes true…
You will have to pay some deposit for the modem, which is returnable.
It’s great, though, and adicted…
Good luck…
Hinet has an offer running until the end of June. I don’t have the details, but you get a lot of stuff cheaper or even for free including the registration of a new telephone line, the internet router etc. You can pick up the application forms in any 7Eleven, but you can also apply directly at ChungHwa. I applied for telephone and ADSL in the office and at home 10 days ago, and they had managed to install everything 4 working days after I had applied. It’s a flatrate for using the internet, and for 512K, you pay something like 1350 NT for the first month (including installation), 850 NT for the second to sixth month and 1094 NT after that. The contract runs for two years, that might be a drawback, but the fine is something like 2000 to 4000 NT, if you want to finish the contract ealier. My first week with ADSL and Hinet proofed quite efficient, toi, toi, toi. For the office, I am thinking of upgrading to 1.5M because it is part of the same offer. It is awfully hard, though, to find somebody at Chung Hwa who speaks enough English to go into details (my Chinese works okay for everyday stuff, but with this sort of technical stuff, I’m lost), so I’ll probably try to all the famous Alan who has been mentioned in other threads before.
Iris
I have the ulimited 512/64K plan from Chung Hwa that Iris is talking about. After the promotion, the total monthly cost won’t exceed 1100NT. And yes, I’m in a two-year contract which is 2000 to break. If I want to switch to a different resdience, they said something like 1700NT service charge.
And Jeff, it is likely that So-net DOES connect to your area. Just remember, there are Internet access companies like Seednet, Sparq and So-net that do not connect to certain regions of Chung Hua’s ADSL coverage. This means that I can have ADSL with HiNet, but not with So-net. So, my advice is to make sure they really really really really prove to you that they can connect to Chung Hwa in your area before getting involved.
Thanks for the help. Here are the two programs that So-Net has.
飆速型 ADSL
1.5M / 384K 888 無限時數 899 20MB 去瞧瞧 網路申辦
都會型 ADSL
512K / 64K 399 無限時數 595 20MB 去瞧瞧 網路申辦
Pretty cheap, but I worry if I will have problems with overseas speeds. I asked them, and they said no no there is no problem. They are using Chung-Hwa lines. I cannot understand how they are doing it so cheap. And they still have the LCD monitor and stuff for free. Seems they only require a 6 months deposit and if you move so what… At least that is what I understood from them. Costs $500 for installation, should go to Chung-Hwa.
subway52 how is the ADSL running for your friend?
Well any other advice I’m open.
Thanks,
Jeff
jeff@oriented.org
Don’t know for sure. Make sure that the montior, keyboard, etc. is totally free. It might be that it is at a reduced price. Check that out:
Don’t know for sure. Make sure that the montior, keyboard, etc. is totally free. It might be that it is at a reduced price. Check that out:
Seems the monitor is not totally free, but seems the keyboard is…
Jeff
quote[quote]Pretty cheap, but I worry if I will have problems with overseas speeds. I asked them, and they said no no there is no problem. They are using Chung-Hwa lines. I cannot understand how they are doing it so cheap. [/quote]Make sure you remember the “Line Usage Fee” because that doesn’t make it quite so cheap any more. Back to my observation, they will NEVER tell you, “yeah, overseas speeds are slow” so you really have to rely on other people’s experiences.
The prices are pretty much standard with the rest of the market. I would say that it’s “cheap” simply because of competition.
One thing I don’t understand is why CHT insists on putting in a new phone line specifically for ADSL. This is really strange since it’s not done in US. Profit motive?
I really don’t know if this is an “overseas speed” problem or not, but I’ve got Chunghwa’s ADSL service and it’s fine EXCEPT I can’t call anyone in the US using MSN phone calls (yes, I have an account with somebody or other providing the phone service). I CAN do so using the Hinet Dialup cards. I thought dialup was supposed to be slower than ADSL…???
The Chunghwa guy spent 3 hours here looking at everything. When he came in the door, he told me, “This problem couldn’t possibly exist.” When he left, he told me, “OK, this problem does exist, but I don’t know why and I don’t know how to solve it.” Meanwhile I’m still paying for the service. (Mostly that’s my fault because I haven’t gotten over to the Chunghwa offices to complain more.)
Oh well.
Terry
Hi:
I just checked and found out that Sparq cover more than 75% of the whole Taiwan area, but of course it’s always good to call to make sure
About the oversea connection speed I think Hinet really got a big problem, as I mentioned before they have too many high speed (ADSL) users and their international links just can’t handle it
Why dialup can handle it? because it’s a low speed connection and they have another dedicated international link which offer your better quality
and the bandwidth consumption is very low because you are limited to 56k compared to 512k for ADSL…
Cheers,
quote:
Originally posted by answerer:One thing I don’t understand is why CHT insists on putting in a new phone line specifically for ADSL. This is really strange since it’s not done in US. Profit motive?
Well, they did not have to put in a new phone line for me. I hadn’t registered any line before. So I registered for two city lines and two ADSL lines at Chung Hwa, and the guys from Hinet came, installed the ADSL boxes to the plugs I preferred, helped me set up my computer and left. I was really surprised. And they were quick, too. I had been told that it would take ten days to two weeks, but I applied on Friday, and on Tuesday, they came to install everything.
As I understood, you can also switch from a normal registered telephone line to ADSL. It seems to be a bit more expensive, though. That probably really is a profit move to get more customers. But it is included in the 7Eleven offer as well. You can just pick up the form there (it’s bright orange), fill it in and hand it back to the 7Eleven staff who will tell you that it probably takes ten to fourteen working days before the Hinet people will contact you. I tried that before, and they really contacted me. But as I had no ARC, they told me to get one and then apply again.
BTW, a guy who lives in my building and has been to Taiwan for ages told me that all the other providers rent their lines from Chung Hwa and that those are the first to get shut-off when Chung Hwa encounters any problems because Chung Hwa wants to keep as many lines as possible for their own customers.
Iris
Just to share with everybody, now Yahoo Taiwan is offering free ADSL access powered by CHT/Hinet, so what this means?
You only need to pay the NT$700 for the ADSL line and that’s it
You won’t have any coverage problem as they are provided by CHT/Hinet and the quality is still the same
Check this out (info in Chinese):
http://tw.adsl.yahoo.com/promo/
If you still don’t have Internet access you should apply fast, this promo seems to expire
at the end of this month
Cheers,
Make sure you understand the terms of the Yahoo! deal. It looks good for the first six months. However, starting the seventh month, they will be able to ding you on the telecom charge up to 499NT a month, which cancels out not having to pay for the internet access. Pretty sneaky. Read the fine print:
http://tw.adsl.yahoo.com/adsl/price1.html
Analysis: It is a good deal, but after six months reverts to just about what Hinet charges now. So, again, what you have to consider is this: Do you want Yahoo! as some sort of third party in the mix? Are you still locked in for two years? Remember that Yahoo! is not, from what I can tell, doing jack here excpet using their name for Chung Hwa/Hinet promotion, so you have to wonder what’s in it for Hinet.