[In Review] PTCL Broadband

PTCL is Pakistan's biggest provider of data services. Their broadband reach spans the complete country and they are an indomitable force in ISPs with over 1 million subscribers nationwide. Despite this, they come under fire numerous times due to their lackluster customer services and rickety infrastructure.

Installation:
Installation was a hassle. I had to wait for nearly 1.5 week before the installation guy came and that too after tons of phone calls to the customer service representative. Apparently, there is zero coordination between the organization - every-time I called them they said a man was on the way.

Quality Metrics:

The speed of my connection is fairly good for a PTCL connection. Then again this might be due to the fiber availability in my area and my connection's proximity to ONU (gray boxes on the roadside with a PTCL logo on them). I normally get around 490 kbps+ for direct download and 98 kbps+ for upload. Top speeds in torrents remain the same, however they are prone to inexplicable drops but recover soon afterwards. You might need some tweaking to get to those speeds because an unoptimized P2P connection won't take you beyond 250 kbps. If you haven't forwarded a port for your torrent client then it is even worse - you will get abysmal download speeds (less than 15kbps) but superlative upload speeds (greater than or close to 100 kbps). On the other hand, the ping remains pretty excellent at between 30-50 ms within the country. (There was no good PingTest server close to my location.)

Uptime:
I used to experience a lot of downtime with PTCL. The connection sometimes suddenly goes down without any

A PTCL customer should
get used to this symbol.

 reason. I found that most of these connection drops are related to PTCL's shitty and sluggish DNS servers. Changing my default DNS servers to OpenDNS (208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220) fixed almost all downtime problems but still every now and then I get a "No Internet Access" logo.

Device quality:
I have the standard-issue FiberHome AN 1020-25 modem-cum-router. The device is pretty good and its WiFi signal strength is quite awesome. The coverage are is greater than my TP-Link WR740N router which impressed me.

Customer service:
PTCL's customer service is very shoddy. It seems like their is no coherence among the different levels of the organization and in general it feels like they care little about us customers. Complaints aren't resolved until you go down to your respective exchange or utilize the influence of some higher authority. Unlike Wateen, their selfcare portal is more like a framework than something functional. It has never worked for me however I have read that it was functional for some period in 2011. With the new transfer caps in effect, there is no way to check your bandwidth usage apart from calling 1236. Two years and they still can't fix a damn portal - speaks volume about PTCL's commitment to customer satisfaction.

The PTCL portal is as rudimentary as portals get. No stats or data except for account info are accessible.

Caps:
PTCL's unlimited packages from 1 mbps to 8 mbps are not unlimited in the true sense of the word. A 300 GB download+upload limit is applicable on all such connections. Exceeding this limit will incur a penalty of Rs. 5000. This fair usage limit is justifiable for low bandwidth connections like 1-2 mbps but slapping this on high-speed internet beyond 4 mbps is unwarranted. The PTCL people should at least increment it with the increasing download speed.

The Bottom Line:
PTCL's speeds vary across the consumer spectrum plus their customer service isn't all that great. So, I would recommend that before getting rid of your previous connection do a test run of PTCL. Your experience in the first week will tell you how they will shape-up for you. If you are acquiring broadband for the first time then it is advisable to ask around your neighborhood about PTCL's standard of service in your area.
All in all, PTCL will turn out great for a few but worst for many. It is, however, fairly good for me. I know many would disagree but I am giving them 4/5.

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[In Review] Wateen Broadband

Pakistan is going through an Internet boom and there are a lot of internet service providers [ISPs] available for buyers. However, I have seen a lack of reviews for these ISPs which would have helped people weigh-in the pros and cons of each connection before actually acquiring it. I have seen people blindly delve into endeavors they tend to regret later on so I have taken an initiative in providing Pakistan's Internet community with some unbiased ISP reviews - fromm the viewpoint of a customer.

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Wateen has been a major player in Pakistan's broadband scene for quite some time now. It has the distinguished achievement of rolling out the first commercial WiMAX network in the world and this has been a cornerstone of its success. My experience with Wateen is a fairly good one since I acquired their 1 Mbps Unlimited connection in October 2010.

Installation:
Installation was done pretty quickly. My external Motorola CPE and the wiring were affixed on the same day that I placed the order. Internet services started later that evening.

Quality Metrics:

The speed of the connection remains close to the one advertised. I normally get around 130 kbps+ for direct download and 28 kbps for upload. Top speeds in torrents remain the same however recently there have been instances where I feel my P2P traffic is being throttled. Torrents with seed/peer ratio of even greater than 1.0 tend to hover between the 20-30 kbps range during download. This speed even goes down to 1 kbps on some occasions. Upload speeds are unaffected. The connection regains its lost torrenting touch after 1 am in the night and continues like that till 12 pm in the afternoon. On the other hand, the ping remains pretty good at between 85-120 ms within the country. (There was no good PingTest server close to my location.)

Recently, Wateen has resorted to throttling torrent speeds.

Uptime:
During my stint with Wateen I haven't experienced any drastic downtimes. Once or twice only I guess. Although, some times you would have to bear with a barrage of DNS lookup failed errors.

Device quality:
I have an external Motorola CPE which is fairly sturdy and weather-resistant. However, these have been discontinued and Wateen now offers the trendy looking Bolt devices. I haven't tried these yet.

One of the new Wateen devices. These devices are USB powered and Wi-Fi capable.

Customer service:
Their internet service was of a very good standard so I didn't have many encounters with their customer service reps before I contacted them a couple of times for the purpose of this review via email. All my queries were answered within a 24 hour period and comprehensively as well. Wateen's selfcare portal is inclusive and you will find everything regarding the management of your connection right here.

The well-rounded self-care portal of Wateen.

Caps:
Wateen's unlimited packages are not unlimited in the true sense of the word. One would expect an implementation of a fair usage limit of around a couple of hundred gigabytes but Wateen are very thrifty in this matter and their fair usage limit is set to 40 GB. This is very low when it comes to today's multimedia heavy 'net usage.

The Bottom Line:
Wateen comes highly recommended from my side based on experience. There standard of services is fairly satisfactory although their torrent throttling and transfer caps won't satiate the avid downloader. 4/5 stars.

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[In Review] Coke Studio: Best Songs

Season 5

Coke Studio is back with was bang this summer and once again Rohail Hyatt knocked us all out with some killer tunes. Coke Studio really is proving to be a benchmark in Pakistani music, and further still in subcontinental music.

The first episode of this season of Coke Studio premiered on more than two dozen TV and Radio channels nationwide on Saturday, May 12th, and the season ended this July 7th. Here we will be looking at the best Coke Studio had to offer this season.

1. Charkha Nolakha

Atif Aslam collaborated with the upcoming rock band Qayaas to churn out a classic. This song is based upon Bulley Shah's kalam and with the level of Punjabi that exudes from it, captions come in real handy. Basically the track is about the preciousness of a dedicated life. Charkha means a spinning wheel while nolakha means priceless. Here charkha is figuratively used as life.
Atif Aslam carries the song really well and does justice to it. His co-vocalist, however, finds it difficult to carry this heavy Punjabi and sometimes fails to pronounce the word correctly. However, the music on the track is absolutely brilliant, especially the unique undertone of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir. Also, the track's tempo changing is impeccable.
This song can be termed as a fusion in the true sense as Atif Aslam's smooth tones are amalgamated with Jaswal's brazen vocals. The latter really adds great highs to the song with his rock screams. A must listen and I am not hesitant in saying this that it just might be the Alif Allah of this season.

2. Ishq Aap Bhi Awalla

The ultra-modern Meesha Shafi and the provincial Chakwal Group came together to give an enchanting performance in the second episode of the season. The group from the Salt Range give a haunting chorus of an account of a woman in love that is down by the stream to fetch some water. Add to it the contrasting style of Shafi's and you have a number that you can listen to repeatedly. This song is omnipresent at weddings in the region and Coke Studio's presentation aims at widening its popularity circle. I couldn't help but notice the group's ability to sing in an incessant unison, with nuances of each member's own distinct timbre.
For someone raised and educated in a city, Shafi does great justice to the Punjabi verses of the song and sings with just the right amount of ebb and flow.

3. Khabaram Raseeda

The acclaimed qawal duo of Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad returned these season and gave another rollicking performance. They sing with great verve and emotion and impart a physical meaning to this Persian kalaam of Amir Khusro's. The kalaam revolves around a worldly imagery of the beloved that is juxtaposed against the love for God. It is mesmerizing to listen and the alaaps manage to penetrate your soul, leaving you begging for more. A good part of the qawalli conjures up psychedelic images, speaking volumes about the singing prowess of the duo. Also the fact that the qawalli is 16 minutes long doesn't weigh on a listener. It's so soothing that it draws you into a cocoon of it's own, a cocoon where you temporarily severe your connection with the outside world. True sufism.
This kind of treatment of qawalli will do wonders in bringing its lost fame back as it is more geared towards the inclinations of the younger generation.

4. Pere Pavandi San

This was one of the most refreshing and interesting track of this season. It is based upon Shah Abdul Latif Bithai's poetic rendition of  the famous Sindhi folk tale of Sassi and Punno. The poem talks about the frantic and painstaking search of Sassi for her newlywed groom, Punnu, who is intoxicated and taken away by his brothers to his abode in Makran, Baluchistan. The chorus is about Sassi's plight and how she is beseeching Punnu's brother to let him stay a night with her in Bhambore, Sindh. The piece of poetry can be thought of as a symbolic search of God.
Tahir Mithu's voice really adds to the beauty of this work and he syncs flawlessly with the funky tunes that are infused in this song. This song also speaks volumes about the sweetness and richness of the Sindhi language.

5. Nindya Ke Par

Uzair Jaswal, in recent months, have skyrocketed to the forefront of Pakistani music. The center piece of this achievement was his soulful number Tere Bin which has garnered over 2 million views on Youtube. A Coke Studio call seemed imminent and he didn't disappoint. Blending his romantic number with NFAK's evergeen, Tere Bin Nayi Lagda Dil Mera, proved an ultimate winner.
Jaswal's vocals, though a little on the higher side, complimented both tracks rather well. Especially, the last couple of minutes of Nindya Ke Par really reach out to the soul. I am sure a lot of wretched hearts will relate to the longing in Jaswal's voice.

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