Is P1 throttling YouTube?

Ok before all the P1 haters out there take out their pitchforks, we’re making it clear, we have no conclusive evidence but based on our own use of the service and from feedback we’ve been getting from other P1 users, the YouTube streaming has been choppy of late.

Everyone knows that with P1, when it’s good, its really good but when it’s crap, you can’t do jack online. But we can’t help but notice that we’re getting consistently slow streaming on YouTube when on the P1 network. It’s been happening almost all the time in the past couple of weeks.

We noticed that we had no problems whatsoever surfing almost every other sites and even downloading torrents is as smooth as butter. So is P1 throttling down YouTube streaming? It doesn’t make sense for them to, if they want to curb data hoggers and network abusers, then they should go straight for the throat and clamp down on torrent downloading.

But so far, it has been the other way around, we’ve been getting good download speeds but very bad streaming on YouTube. Anyone else going through the same thing? Comment us.

P1 WiMAX new DX-230 modem, reduced 2.4Mbps plan pricing

P1 has introduced a new modem, the DX-230 which features 802.11b/g/n WiFi, 2x LAN ports and 2x phone ports. Design wise it looks more aesthetically pleasing as their current DV-230 has a separate WiFi module sticking out from the back.

We also noticed that the older DS-300 has been dropped from the website and the DV-230 is offered for its lower 400kbps package. With the DS-300 phased out, WiFi sharing is now standard on all P1′s desktop offering.

Existing users can purchase the new modem at RM399 at P1 P@ddock and P1tstop outlets.

Apart from the new modem, there’s also a revision of WiMAX pricing.

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P1′s WiMAX 1NSiDE Plan revealed for WiMAX Inside 4G laptops & netbooks

The WiMAX Inside plan for WiMAX embedded laptops and netbooks have been revealed, which is called 1NSiDE and it goes for RM89/month with 15GB monthly data.

Download speeds are uncap which allows you to download up to 10Mbps. However they are quick to point out that the average download speed is between 1-3Mbps and upload 300-500Kbps which is roughly what we got for average speed during our Road Test.
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WiMAX-Inside roadtest complete, results on Monday

We have just completed our road test with the upcoming Intel based WiMAX embedded laptop that is going to be introduced by P1 next week. These new range of what P1 calls, WiMAX-Inside laptops is said to be able to deliver a simillar level of convenience offered by WiFi but with the advantages of better performance and coverage of WiMAX all without the need for external dongles.

To find out if what P1 says is true or not, we acquired a test WiMAX laptop and took it on “end to end” LRT ride and the a long drive along LDP highway. The test results are interesting and we have a lot to share in terms of ease of use, connectivity, download speeds and power consumption.

Watch this space on Monday to read all about it.

UPDATE: Our road test post is up, read all about it here.

EXCLUSIVE: WiMAX-Inside review coming!

We’re pretty sure that you’re seeing this first right here on SoyaCincau.com. We’ve just gotten our hands on a WiMAX-Inside laptop ahead of the full on launch next week and this one is specced to the gills with kit!

As you can see, its an engineering unit so the specs might have not been finalized yet, which means we can’t really talk much about what this baby is packing.

But we we’re informed that the WiMAX chip inside and the connection manager is the final build and is the same version as what consumers will get when this unit and units from the other five manufacturers hit the market on June 29.

Over the weekend, we will be looking specifically into the WiMAX performance of this unit and how it fares against external WiMAX modems.

In the meantime, as always, if you have anything you’d like to know about WiMAX-Inside devices, hit us up with a comment.

First Impressions: WiMAX-Inside laptops from P1 and Intel

Intel and P1 organised a media and blogger sneak peak yesterday to show off their range of WiMAX embedded laptops that will be hitting the Malaysian market next week. We got a first look of what these WiMAX-Inside devices have to offer.

Intel and P1 reckoned that these WiMAX-Inside laptops will offer the same ease of connectivity as WiFi but with the added performance and coverage advantage of WiMAX. We had some time fiddling around with the range of notebooks and netbooks they’ve put out during the sneak peak and we have to agree with that statement.

The WiMAX connection manager looks very much like the WiFi connection manager that you get on your computers right now and it allows seamless and easy management of all the wireless connectivity features built into the laptop. This mean you can toggle WiFi, WiMAX and Bluetooth with relative ease. From what little time we had with the WiFi-WiMAX laptops, connecting to the internet with WiMAX built-in is definitely heaps easier and faster than fiddling with a USB dongle. That is a convenience that we can really get use to.

In fact, the way you connect to WiMAX is very similar to the way you would on WiFi. We’d go as far to say that it is almost the same, which makes it very easy for everyone.

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UNCOVERED: P1 WiMAX embedded laptop teaser site and video

It’s no secret now that P1 and Intel are going to launch what appears to be Malaysia’s first range of WIMAX embedded laptops very soon. We know that both brands will be organizing a media briefing on 23 June but have revealed little else. But the media invite that we’ve seen gives a great lead to start our snooping.

With some blind guessing and a load of luck we found a teaser site highlighting WiMAX laptops. The site doesn’t give much details either but we now know that there’s a “guess and win” contest where you can win yourself a WiMAX laptop apparently worth RM2599. You’d probably be one of the first Malaysians to win a WiMAX laptop and we also know one of the WiMAX laptops is priced at around RM2599.

We still don’t have much details on what the specs of these devices will be, how much they will cost and what kind of subscription plans will P1 offer together with the laptops. Will subsidies be offered? We don’t know and will have to wait until P1 or Intel gives the official word.

In the meantime, have a look at the teaser site. P1 has also set up a Twitter account, a Facebook page and a series of teaser videos to promote the WiMAX laptops.

Prominent on the teaser site is a countdown timer that shows what appears to be about 230 hours till the launch of the WiMAX laptops (at the time of us writing this post). 230 hours equates to about 9 and half days to the launch date. Nine days from today (20 June) is 29 June. This will obviously be the launch date of the WiMAX laptops, not on 23 June as some have thought.

P1 have yet to make any official announcement about this teaser site.

Not the first time we’ve uncovered something like this from P1.

Take a look at the first teaser video after the jump.

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WiMAX embedded laptops coming to Malaysia?

We’ve just gotten word that P1 together with Intel will be organizing a media briefing on what could possibly be the country’s first range of WiMAX embedded laptops next week.

Not much details has been given, except the fact that P1 together with Intel will be launching WiMAX embedded laptops that offer both WiFi and WiMAX connectivity very soon.

This is not the first time P1 has mentioned WiMAX embedded computers out in the open, we recall reading reports early in the year that P1 was working on a WiMAX embedded netbook but didn’t hear much of it after that.

Michael Lai, P1’s CEO was quoted saying the his company promised to bring into the market “Malaysia’s first WiMAX embedded devices this year”. He added that P1 will deliver as pormised, saying that WiMAX embedded devices will become game changers in the local wireless broadband industry.

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P1 gives 1 month free Internet in exchange for positive testimonials

We don’t know about you, but we think testimonials are lame.

Don’t get us wrong, we don’t mind the genuine article from people who are really happy with a product or service. But in most cases, testimonials are so obviously fake. Fluffy, made up statements coaxed out of strangers in a feeble attempt to convince other strangers to buy or like something. It just doesn’t work.

Let’s say a stranger stopped you in the middle of the street and started babbling about how good some cockamamie product is, would you believe that person? We don’t think so. So why do companies trying to sell us stuff still think that these kind of things work on consumers?

Perhaps it’s wishful thinking or maybe it’s the marketeers that lack creativity and have no clue on how to engage their customers. Whatever it is, the real reason why testimonials are still a persuasion tool of choice is something we will never know.

That’s why when P1 started a program where they offer one month free Internet to anyone who gives positive testimonials about their service, we were like, what were they thinking!

No one is going to buy into this crap! It’s not even a real testimonial. It’s more like a “say-something-nice-about-P1-in-the-most-creative-way-possible-and-win-a-free-month-of-Internet” contest. From the get go, anyone who’s going to give a testimonial about P1 is only doing it to get free stuff, so why bother?

We seriously don’t know what the people at P1 hope to achieve with this. Anyways, if you’re interested to give your own testimonial, check out the details here. There’s a video of dude telling you how good P1 is for him, but man what a waste of bandwidth!

P1 confirms strategic alliance with SK Telecom

This is very interesting. After much speculation, Green Packet, the owners of P1, have confirmed that P1 and SK Telecom of Korea will be going into a strategic partnership with the Korea giant taking about a 25% stake in P1.

In a statement issued by Green Packet today, the purchase will pump in US$100 million (about RM330 million) investment money into P1. Though, the statement says that the proposed agreement between the two companies is subject to “certain closing conditions to be confirmed in June“.

In the telco game, RM300 million is considered chump change but it would be interesting to see what other injections in terms of knowhow and technology expertise that SK Telecom can offer to Malaysia’s leading WiMAX operator.

Looking forward to see what P1 can and will offer once this deal is confirmed.

[source, source]