where I speak out my mind
product review
Streamyx vs UNIFI
1011 months ago
Prior to UNIFI installation posted earlier, I collected some data to be used as benchmark agains UNIFI, which includes speedstest result, and also pingtest result.
Let’s start with TM speedtest website(http://speedtest.tm.net.my).
Speedtest Result (Speedtest hosted by TM)
Streamyx
Unifi
Previous account (streamyx) was capped at 1.5Mbps to counter the overhead loss. Such configuration enabled me get the subsribed access speed, as advertised. As for Unifi, TM didn’t expect much of signal loss since it’s now on fibre, hence the speed is capped as per advertised. I’ve no complaint on this, and happily accept it 
This test is really important and should be done the moment they finished installing Unifi at your place. If you fail to secure good local access speed, one can start guessing what will be the international access speed would be. So always, do this as part of troubleshooting your internet problem. If you do not get the good speed, the start making some noise to TM.
Now, let’s check how Unifi performs outside Malaysia.. i mean, international traffic
We’ll start with our closest neighbour, Singapore.
Speedtest result to Singapore (Speedtest.net)
Streamyx
Unifi
It seems that Unifi still manage to maintain its access speed as per advertised to outside Malaysia; Singapore. Streamyx did some fair amount of job, considering it reached its possible maximum access speed. Now, let’s move a bit further to the east; Japan
Speedtest result to Japan (Speedtest.net)
Streamyx
Unifi
Suprisingly, Streamyx was still having a good connection to Japan, maxing out the access speed as advertised. As for Unifi, the download speed delivered as what promised by TM, however the upload speed seemed to suffer some minor setback. Let’s raise the challenge a bit by moving to the west; UK i.e. Manchester.
Speedtest result to UK (Speedtest.net)
Streamyx
Unifi
Speedtest to UK/US is really important as these are where most of the website contents are hosted. Having poor access speed to UK/US means that you are in deep trouble. Haha! Therefore, it is always good to know your potential limit/constraint so that you can carry out some optimization on your side to rebound and to get the maximum access speed during download
Based on the tests conducted above, Streamyx was looking quite good, however, Unifi did perform very well, attaining access speed close to advertised. Difference in access speed (1.18 Mbps vs 4.67 Mbps) is therefore the important decisive factor for Unifi to stand out in this test. Now, let’s move further west (US) before we can conclude the testing.
Speedtest result to US (Speedtest.net)
Streamyx
Unifi
Suprisingly, although the tested server was located about 8500 miles away, Unifi seemed to deliver consistent speed, as advertised. Such achievement must follow with great compliment. So double thumbs up to TM! Good job TM!
Fibre is the way forward for the digital communication
As additional analysis, I also did some Pingtest to local server, Singapore, US and also UK server. Typically, local connection to MY should be very LOW (less than 30), otherwise you will face connection drop issues and this is not good for gaming purposes. You may miss headshot dude!
Pingtest result (Pingtest.net)
EDITED: One final test, upload test! Just uploaded HD movie to Facebook. I was quite impressed with the speed. (417 KBps, or roughly about 4Mbps upload speed)
I’m UNIFI’ed!
211 months ago
As of now, I’ve been using Unifi for almost one month. How good is it so far? I would say AWESOME! 
For those who do not really understand what is Unifi, it is basically another broadband service offered by TM. As opposed to Streamyx which operates over copper, Unifi works over fibre. Therefore, technically less latency and higher access speed can be offered. Unifi is available two main packages; Home and Business package. For every package, they are three sub packages, namely VIP5, VIP10, VIP20 for Home, BIZ5, BIZ10 and also BIZ20 for Business. , Literally, VIP stands for Video, Internet and Phone, a triple play service that TM offers on their fibre line. As for business package, it is a dual-play service, therefore the VIDEO (i.e. IPTV) is not included. Plus, the local calls not chargeable and not free unlike VIP packages. Too bad! 
However, the difference becomes apparent when we start to discuss on the Fair Usage Policy. VIP packages come with quota, 60GB, 80GB and 120 GB, respectively for VIP5, VIP10 and VIP20. And as you can start guessing by now, the business package is UNLIMITED, with no data quota/cap and no FUP. Hence, being myself who usually consumes 200 – 300 GB per month, I choose BIZ5. If you feel that you can live with the the given quota, I suggest you to take the VIP package. Not only that you can get faster access speed, there are also added value services bundled together with the package; phone and hypp.tv service. As of today, the data cap/quota is yet to be implemented but rumors say it should be up by June/July 2011.
Next is on the installation part. I submitted my online application for Unifi on Monday, and managed to reserve the installation date 4 days after that. Frankly, it was quite fast since most of the forumers @ LYN were complaining on the late installation date. I was very excited considering that I have been waiting for it to reach this area since last year (you guys can ask my wife for the story, haha). Anyway, coming back to the story; on the D-day, I received a call from the TM at about 830 am in the morning, to confirm my availability. I was surfing the internet when suddenly my DSL light started blinking, sharp at 930 am. Just 2 minutes after that, I received another call from them that they already started working on the installation. Overall, the installation took less than 3 hours, since Im staying at high rise building. However, I was expecting shorter installation time since based on my understanding, only small modification and configuration are required at the telecomunication room in my apartment. Generally, for landed house, it usually takes up to 7 hours, depending on the difficulty i.e relative position of FDU unit to your house, where do you want to put the equipment, number of drilled holes, etc. In my case and also other high rise bulding installion, no drilling is required. In fact they will convert your current telephone jack to become the port for Unifi. However, in my case, they took slightly longer due to some small technical issue at the cabinet.
One and half hour later, they came to my house, with a medium-sized box. They later started unpacking the equipment and began the configuration. In terms of number of equipment, it is similar to Streamyx setup, where you require one DSL modem and a router. For Unifi setup, there are two main equipment; VDSL modem (Huawei HG655a) and wireless router (D-Link DIR-65). The pictures below could better describe the difference in setup.
My OLD setup (Streamyx)
My NEW setup (Unifi)
Referring to the Unifi setup (above), the black unit located to the left, is the Huawei VDSL modem and to the right is the Dlink DIR-65 wireless router. And the standing unit the cordless motorola phone
Since Im subcribing to the business package, TM gave the business card holder (as shown below) as the complimentary gift. I like it, thank you TM.
The configuration took less than half and hour. They showed speedtest result and also tested HD streaming from youtube. Both were running fine and smooth. Overall, the TM technicians were very warm and attentive to my enquiries. I would rate them 5/5 for the installation services. I didn’t manage to do much of testing since I promised my boss to come back right after the installation finished. Just managed to carry out one quick testing by downloading nVidia latest driver, and you may check out the download speed below:
Whoaaa!! It was downlading stable @ 570 KBps. My 1Mbps Streamyx can only do between 120 to 150 KBps (shown below), and I’m getting quadrupled speed with Unifi! Very satisfied, I am. Will do more comparison test and share with all of you later. Stay tuned!
p/s: Operation ‘download-the-internet’ begins…..