Gadzooks! It’s Alive!

There several things that have gone _live_ as I write this. But let me just talk about one of them (the others deserve some major noise, so I’ll announce them later when they’re already running smoothly). Remember I recently applied for SkyDSL’s DSL+WiFi package? My account is active now, but not without some hitches.

I applied at the BayanCenter by filling up a form (just my name, telephone number and signature, actually). I was an existing DSL subscriber, after all. After a day I got a call from Sky DSL’s technical staff and they gave me the username and password to my account. Username was actually my telephone line’s account number, and the password, a randomly-generated number. They advised me to wait for activation, but I tried and tried logging in via the airborneaccess.net Horizon account manager, to no avail.

So I called up Sky DSL’s customer service (411–2000) to follow up. They said I should click the *Blast WiFi* link on the airborneaccess.net homepage to sign up. I realized that the username/password combination they gave me was for registration and not for WiFi access itself. They should’ve told me that in the first place! I guess the same process goes for PLDT DSL and Smart BRO subscribers.

(Incidentally, did you know that you can access Airborne Access using Blast prepaid internet cards? Just append @wifi to the username.)

So after activation, I tried checking my account via the *Horizon* link. Still, it wouldn’t accept my username and password. I was increasingly becoming frustrated. But then I tried checking using the *Wingspan* link (for prepaid), and lo and behold — I was able to gain access. Apparently, Airborne Access treats SkyDSL subscribers as something similar to pre-paid accounts rather than the unlimited Horizon accounts. I just got confused, since my previous _promo_ account with SkyDSL was a Horizon account.

I was able to use my account at a public Airborne Access hotspot this afternoon, and I can say I’m glad to have an unlimited account again — without having to pay the regular Horizon rates. Boo yah!