Musklinked (Checking In Sunday 14 December 2025)

Just over a year ago I posted about the major upgrade that we had gotten to our internet here, even though price-wise we were still getting fleeced - US$45 for a 1 Terabyte data package (and this was the basic package!) that offered 1Mbps speeds maximum. At some point this year those fine folks at the mobile network that was providing this service (which they named SmartBiz) decided to change tactics by getting rid of that and introducing the new and much more ridiculous sounding SmartSuite service, which is just another collection of small data bundles tagged with ridiculous prices. Same speeds too: 

SmartLite - 50 Gigabytes US$30
SmartPlus - 75 Gigabytes US$40
SmartMax - 100 Gigabytes US$50
SmartFlex - 200 Gigabytes US$70
SmartPro - 400 Gigabytes US$99
SmartUltra - 800 Gigabytes US$170

Not even their top tier package sniffs terabyte territory, haha. So for a couple of months we were using that SmartFlex package, 200GB was enough to cover us. Then the old man had the idea of wanting to switch to Starlink and give it a try, with all the hype that it has built up since last year. The switch meant that we had no internet at home, that's why you didn't see any uploads from my end. A couple of guys showed up last week to set everything up and install the device on the roof.....aaaaand I'm still getting pretty much the same speeds as the ones that SmartBiz/Suite were dishing out, even though according to Starlink we should be experiencing double digit stuff, with a max of 100mbps (for the basic package). Explain this one for me. Granted, the Starlink basic package is cheaper than SmartBiz ($30 vs $45) but for that amount of money I was expecting much, MUCH more than what we got. So for the time being we're back to square one, back to being stuck with an internet service which should be an upgrade but in reality isn't that much of an upgrade, just slightly better. Could've been avoided a looong time ago if our local service providers had smartened up (pun may or may not be intended) by offering decent, affordable internet instead of chasing after money and desperate people who willingly throw money at them because it's either that or no internet access. 

Anyway, the good news I am back online again and the content releases should be resuming this week with Queen Val's music sets and WWE 2K16 Universe Mode on the weekends. I'm pushing off TinTin Episode 4 to January because I'm still reading Cigars of the Pharaoh, then once that's done there's putting together notes for the podcast, putting together the Show Notes links, recording the audio, editing and release. Updating the walkthrough for Pokémon Adventure Red Chapter Vol. 1 is in progress as well, so it's going to be a busy holiday season. I'll break for Christmas and New Year's.

Thanks for reading, take care.