18 June 2014

Ha Ha Ha! Now you know why I call my blog "IT.Scheiss"

The proverbial "shit" has hit the proverbial "fan" sooner than I thought with regards 1BestariNet, a Minsitry of Education project to provide broadband services to Malaysia's over 10,000 schools using Yes4G WiMAX wireless broadband connectivity from YTL Comms and the Frog Virtual Learning System by a British company which YTL had acquired.

Below, The Malaysian Digest carries a press release by disgruntled teachers.

===============

1BestariNet Service Is Poor And Inconvenience For Malaysian Teachers
Published on Tuesday, 17 June 2014 13:10

Press release from Suara Guru-Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) Taskforce Chief Mohd Nor Izzat bin Mohd Johari

I feel that the Ministry of Education (MoE) has been made the scapegoat in the 1BestariNet issue. 1BestariNet was introduced by MoE to help ease Malaysian teachers’ online activities. However, the service is poor and burdened more than 300,000 teachers nationwide.

1. 1BestariNet which only offers 1Mbps cost the ministry more than RM200 or maybe even higher.

2. 1BestariNet only provided 300mb monthly for each school.

3. (Did) 1BestariNet use the same antenna post in school compound which is also used for Yes 4G services?

4. 1BestariNet has burdened more than 300,000 teachers with it sluggish server. Evidently showed by the repealing of Sistem Pengurusan Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah (SPPBS).

I urge MoE to reconsider using YTL’s service 1BestariNet or even terminating the service altogether since it’s only humiliating the ministry.

I also urge all teacher associations to voice out their stands on 1BestariNet which is troublesome for teachers and students.

I am confident that MoE wanted to provide the best service in line with the PPPM 2013-2025 by maximising the ICT usage. However, MoE shall pick a better service provider than the current one.

Mohd Nor Izzat bin Mohd Johari
Taskforce Chief
Suara Guru-Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM)

http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/29-4-tile/505272-1bestarinet-service-is-poor-and-inconvenience-for-malaysian-teachers.html

================================


Here's some background to the 1BestariNet project.

"Will 1BestariNet really benefit all school students?"


http://www.enterpriseitnews.com.my/connectivity/item/2134-will-1bestarinet-really-benefit-all-school-students?.html

Now here are some fairly recent press releases on 1BestariNet.

"YTL Communications and Red Hat Transform the Way Students are Educated in Malaysia with E-Learning"

http://www.redhat.com/about/news/press-archive/2013/9/ytl-communications-and-red-hat-transform-the-way-students-are-educated-in-malaysia-with-e-learning

AND

"YTL Communications and Intel Malaysia Collaborate to Help Improve Education in Malaysia"

http://www.ytlcomms.my/EN/news_details.aspx?id=137

Look! Wireless broadband may be fast but it has a relatively high latency - i.e. long response time to requests, compared to fibre.

Like where I am, the latency (PING response time) indicated with with my U Mobile HSPA+ modem is about 107 ms with U Mobile's own SpeedTest.Net server, whilst with Unifi fibre broadband it's from 1 to 9ms depending on Speedtest.Net server selected.

Don't believe me. Here's the test result at 4 pm on 18, June, 2014 with using Speedtest.Net, hosted on a REDTone.com server over my 5Mbps Unifi fibre line.

Click to Enlarge


And here's the test result at about 4.30pm on the same day using a U Mobile HSPA+ USB-modem dongle.

U Mobile HSPA+ is supposed to have a download speed of up to 42Mbps but I only get 5.84 Mbps download and 0.7Mbps upload.

Click to Enlarge


Also note the 107ms PING latency compared to 1ms with Unifi.

This latency adds up with the multiple handshakes (interactions between client and server) which take place in any packet-based Internet communications so the lower the latency, the faster the response time.

Also, with Unifi fibre, I more or less get the 5Mbps speed I pay for but whilst the download over U Mobile may be a bit faster, it's far short of 42Mbps.

I can assure you that it will be the same old story with the much touted LTE.

Wireless broadband is great for mobility, with anytime and anywhere Internet access but not so great for statiionary users in homes, schools, offices, etc.

I mean like wireless broadband would be great for this guy below.



If the Ministry of Education wants to provide broadband Internet access to every student in a school, then provide each school with enterprise-grade gigabit per second fibre connectivity with UNLIMITED quota FREE OF CHARGE.

Otherwise, all this talk about distance learning and online education is just a load of scheiss.

I'm still waiting to see a PC on every desk in Malaysian schools. I've been waiting since the late 1990s.

I guess like the title of that led Zeppelin song, The Song Remains The Same, we'll be hearing more and more of these complaints, whether it's 1BestariNet, 2BestariNet, 3BestariNet, ....... 1000BestariNet ......

Now you see why I call my blog "IT.Scheiss" !

Yours truly

IT.Scheiss
http://itsheiss.blogspot.com

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.