My level of frustration with my ISP, Worldcall (aka Go4B), has pretty much peaked. This morning, my internet connection was plodding along just fine till about 7am. Then, rather unexplainedly, the modem just died.

It's a Webstar DPX-2203, so it's a VoIP enabled device that has a battery pack attached to it. This appendage was the only thing that had a light burning. All of the modem's lights were off, including the one marked AC Power. This, inspite of the fact that the AC adapter was working fine.

I called their telephone support and explained that none of the lights on the modem were on and I think that the modem has a problem. The woman, kind as she sounded, proceeded to ask me to go to my computer and check the ethernet cable to my PC. Now, that would generally be the first course of action with an Internet problem, but, as I kindly repeated to her, THE MODEM IS NOT WORKING. IT HAS NO LIGHTS ON!

I think she figured out that it was a modem related problem, rather than something I had unwittingly done to my computer and put me on hold. She came back two minutes later and issued me a complaint number.

About four hours later, I got another call from Worldcall tech support. Another soft-spoken woman on the other end (is this a job requirement?) asked me what was wrong. I told her, just like I told the other woman, that the modem's lights are not turning on and my Internet connection is down. She said, "Thank you." and hung up before I could ask what was next.

I then commandeered my office modem and plugged that in at home. It was working great — even faster, by a precious few kb/s, than my own modem — but then my Internet died again an hour later.

Thankfully, this time around, it seems like a problem with Worldcall itself, rather than the modem, because its light are on and flashing like they're supposed to be when the ISP's down. I know this because Worldcall is down a lot. When things go south every other day, you get pretty good at figuring out what the status lights represent!

Anyway, I'm connected via Bluetooth to my cell phone and surfing along at whatever it is that Ufone's GPRS speed permits (it's not fast!). Thank God for that. At least something's allowing me to get work done (yes, getting "work done" includes posting to this blog).

I was reading on Worldcall's forum a few days ago that they've relaunched their 64kbps package for Rs.650 and I think I'm now going to downgrade to that and relegate this company to my secondary connection. A few of the other ISPs in Karachi, namely Maxcom, are well reviewed and probably deserve my custom because of their better service offering.

It's a pity that Worldcall is so bad, because we all had high hopes after learning that they've invested $40-50 million in their infrastructure. However, they still can't seem to get things right three years after launching in this city and I think, five years, if one was to include their Lahore operations.

Followed up by Bloody Worldcall… continued and Bloody Worldcall’s Been Kicked Out