How to get the most out of your Sri Lanka Telecom Fibre Connection.
As Fibre To The Home (FTTH) is a pretty novel technology to many Sri Lankans, whilst there is still a significant population — in the country — without a reliable broadband connection, it can be understood that there are a few considerations to take in before jumping on the Fibre Optic bandwagon.
FTTH is not bad in itself, but poor delivery, misinformation or even outright withholding of information can lead people to make bad decisions on how they use their broadband services. Although, there is no perfect way to roll out FTTH, one can take head from industry leaders such as : Google Fibre and the Swedish FTTH networks (where the FTTH networks are owned by the respective council that their located in.)
1. The High Bandwidth/ Low Data Allowance Paradox.
One of the most common complaints that I have heard from customers of SLT’s FTTH services, is that all their data gets eaten up in less than half the time it took when they had ADSL services from the same ISP.
To get to the crux of the matter, one must take into consideration the speed of the service versus the monthly allocated data allowance. It is possible that you may not need the full bandwidth that the service offers. You could still keep your FTTH connection, if you consider using a Bandwidth Limiter. The role of the Bandwidth Limiter is to limit the bandwidth(both Upload and Download) to a user stipulated amount. Currently most TP-Link routers have bandwidth limiters added to them, but you may also find bandwidth limiters across other router models too.
2. Loosing Voice Services During a Power Outage.
If you may have not already known, voice services through SLT Fibre Optic is provided using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). VOIP is a technology where voice signals from Caller is packetized and sent over the internet to the Receiver; where the packets are converted to voice signals again. The rest of VOIP (at the user end, at-least) works like a normal telephone and you may have experienced this if you have used Skype (i.e. Skype to Mobile/ Landline calls).
So, YES: if your Fibre Optic router losses power, so does your voice services too. The key solution is to used a backup power supply with your router. Most SLT Teleshops have a battery power-pack (Normally LKR 2,200, but now its discounted LKR 1,500), which usually lasts for about 3 hours, but if you need anything longer than that, you can get your self a normal UPS.
Update: If you wish to get a UPS, that lasts for 9 hours or more, you can grab yourself the DCP Mini UPS (Link: https://www.hitad.lk/en/ad/1676121-Dcp-Dc-Mini-Ups). Visit the link and call the second number in advertisement.
3. Reboot Your Router a Couple of Minuites After Midnight.
Doing this will establish a new connection with SLT’s internet servers (i.e DSLAM unit for ADSL, GPON unit for Fibre Optic) and hence reset the billing from Day Data to Night Data. This way you don’t use up your day data during the night time.
Final Thoughts
I hope that with all these hacks, your Fibre Optic connection will be more pocket friendly.