Ah, 2013 —a time when smartphones were getting smarter, the Harlem Shake was taking over the internet, and I made a questionable life decision: signing up for P1 Wimax as my internet provider. If you're not familiar with P1 Wimax, congratulations—you dodged a bullet. For the rest of us who fell for their grand promises, we have war stories to share.

The Rise and Fall of P1 Wimax

P1 Wimax was one of Malaysia's first wireless broadband providers, offering an alternative to the more traditional wired options like Telekom Malaysia's Streamyx (ADSL). The idea was simple—plug in a device, get wireless broadband anywhere, and experience the "future of internet connectivity." Sounds fantastic, right? In theory, yes. In reality? Well, let's just say it turned out to be a beautifully crafted marketing fairy tale.

P1 Wimax aggressively marketed itself as a superior alternative to TM's existing broadband services. Their famous tagline, "Potong!", encouraged users to "cut" their TM connections and switch to P1. The best part? They would cover one month's bill if you made the switch. Free internet for a month? Where do I sign up?

The Honeymoon Phase... Was Short

I took the bait. I switched. I even proudly placed their modem-looking UFO in my living room, ready to embrace the wireless revolution. At first, things seemed promising. During non-peak hours, the internet was fast, stable, and smooth—just like they advertised. But then came the dark side of the deal.

The nightmare started at peak hours, when people got home from work and decided to use the internet. I'd sit down, ready to browse, stream a video, or (heaven forbid) download something, only to find that my internet speed had taken a vacation to another dimension. Web pages refused to load. Videos buffered endlessly. Even sending a simple email became an extreme sport.

The "Move Your Modem" Olympics

Frustrated, I called P1's legendary customer support. Their advice? "Try moving your modem to another location." Apparently, the solution to my misery was a game of modem hide-and-seek. Move it near the window. Move it to the balcony. Maybe hold it above your head and do a little dance. Spoiler alert: nothing worked.

But here's the kicker—I used to work at DATACOM, an outsourced technical support center that handled P1 Wimax support. That meant I knew their script inside out. Every call, every complaint—same answer. Customers were told to move their modem, but the real problem? The network was overloaded because P1 had oversold their service without the infrastructure to handle it. They had marketed their product so aggressively that their base stations couldn't keep up, leading to extreme bandwidth throttling during peak hours.

The Breaking Point

At some point, I gave up on calling support because I already knew what they would say. I started timing my internet usage to 3 AM, when most normal people were asleep, just to experience speeds that didn't make me want to smash my modem. But let's be real—what's the point of having broadband if you can only use it at vampire hours?

One night, after an especially frustrating session of watching a loading screen for eternity, I snapped. I looked at my P1 modem, and in that moment, I knew it was time. I unplugged the device, walked over to my beloved aquarium, and dropped it in. My fishes swam curiously around their new futuristic home, and for the first time, the P1 modem actually served a purpose.

Lessons Learned

Looking back, P1 Wimax was a classic case of overpromising and underdelivering. Their marketing was loud, their sales pitch was convincing, but their infrastructure just couldn't keep up with demand. Eventually, the company struggled, and by 2014, it was acquired by Telekom Malaysia—the very company it once told people to "Potong" from. Oh, the irony. As for me? I went crawling back to TM's UNIFI. It wasn't perfect, but at least it didn't require me to relocate my modem every 10 minutes. And my fishes? They thrived with their new high-tech sunken treasure.

Moral of the story? Never trust an ISP that tells you to "Potong" before proving they can actually "Sambung".