Converge Internet Review 2020

Since the lockdowns started in March this year, many of us have been staying home. Of course, that means more internet use, especially in terms of binge watching streaming shows!

Not only that, students have now been doing online classes, meetings are now done on Zoom or MS Teams.

There have been many complaints about slow internet, so I guess it is time for an updated review of our internet service provider, Converge.

Old reviews here and here and here.

CONVERGE INTERNET REVIEW 2020

THE GOOD

We have been lucky that we have not experienced any big disruption in our internet connection since this all began.

Internet access has been up, and we are very grateful. I have seen many people complain online about not having any internet at all.

THE BAD

It’s not a good thing to be thankful just to have internet because that means that our expectations are so low that we count ourselves lucky just to have a connection. But I also understand that these things are limited by the infrastructure that we have. This is a reality that we all wish would improve as soon as possible.

So, while we did have internet connection, it was slow.

We are paying for 35 Mbps internet speed. However, speedtests show us only getting from 5 up to 14 Mbps (daytime). Check out the difference versus last year’s Speedtest.

Speedtests done late at night yield only slightly better results, as expected. The speed results at night range from 11-18 Mbps — still far below the 35 Mpbs that we are paying for.

For the speedtests, I try connecting to different servers, but mostly to Converge’s own server. I don’t have full trust in speedtest results that connect to a PLDT server because I have heard some rumors that PLDT prioritizes the connection when it identifies it as a speedtest, making the speed seem faster than what it actually is.

I only watch Netflix at night, usually 10pm and later, after finishing up my tasks, so I have not noticed any slowness or buffering problem during these times.

But during the day, internet is slow. Web browsing is slow.

Video conferencing is slow. It has reached a point where if someone needs to get on a video call during office hours, they have to tell everyone else at home not to watch Youtube or do any sort of streaming during the duration of the video call. If not, the video meeting gets choppy! This shouldn’t be happening on a supposedly 35 Mbps internet connection.

Social media is generally still acceptable, although uploading lots of videos and photos does take longer than usual.

YouTube, etc… During peak hours (daytime), YouTube resolution sometimes drops to 144p! I often re-watch some cooking videos to follow for what I am cooking for lunch or dinner, that’s why I noticed this.

Torrent is cycling. I have not downloaded anything through torrent for a while, ever since we got Netflix, but there was this very popular live action thing that everyone was talking about a few weeks ago that almost everyone in the country found a way to watch. ?

So anyway, I opened up my BitTorrent client and watched it go. The speed cycles from a low of 100 KiB/s, goes up to 3 or 4 MB/s then goes back down again, then up again, consistently. Seed connections remained in the same range though, and did not fluctuate proportionally to the download speed.

I have only noticed this with Converge. Back when I was still using PLDT DSL, torrents start slow, but once it reaches its peak, it usually stays in that range. It did not fluctuate this much cyclically. Oh, wait. It did. I just remembered that it also happens on PLDT DSL when torrenting before 6pm / 10pm. But after 6pm or 10pm (sometimes it was different), the download speeds would be consistent and not fluctuating like with Converge.

Does anybody know the technical term for what they are doing? I’m not sure if it’s throttling, bandwidth shaping or something else.

So that is how our Converge internet connection has been this year – it got worse around August / September. That was when I started taking more notice and doing speedtests.

I don’t even try to call their hotline anymore since we’re not experiencing any “major” problems. There are far more people who need to talk to a Converge phone agent more than we do so let’s just let them have that and don’t clog up the hotline. I have seen a lot of complaints about how difficult it was to call them, etc… etc…

Also, it just seems like everyone else is experiencing the same internet slowdown.

I just hope that things improve soon! Also, 3 to 7 Mbps average internet speed in the country is not “not bad” – it’s terrible!

I am also not happy with that recent controversy regarding how certain high-ranking employees of Converge treated actress Liza Soberano.