Which Broadband provider should I use?

[Wallace]

Firstly, apologies if this has been covered in another thread, but I've searched for ages and can't find the exact answer.

Does anyone have a recommendation for the most reliable, value for money Broadband provider in Bangkok? I'll be mainly using it for international access (so I guess that rules out Buddy), but finding objective and accurate information on this isn't as easy as I expected.

Everyone seems to have different stories about the various providers, and there isn't a lot of consistency. I have a TOT line, which might limit my options. Buddy were here recently flogging their stuff for around 290 a month, but I get a feeling they're very weak on international access, and it's not unlimited.

All advice very gratefully received.

[NickA]

^Best to stick with TOT if you've already got a TOT line.

I've had no problems with TRUE, whereas my mate is getting very slow download on TOT, but changing to TRUE might be difficult if you haven't already got one of their phone lines.

[mrsquirrel]

T-Net.

10M/79 channel CableTV

[NickA]

^in Thailand???

[Wallace]

Thanks for this. I've also had mixed reviews of True, so maybe it's a local or regional problem.

MrS - Is that TT&T? What's your experience (usage, downtime, response time, etc.)?

Cheers

[Marmite the Dog]

Best to stick with TOT if you've already got a TOT line.

I used to have CSLoxinfo with my TOT line. Occasional problems, but a zillion times better than fucking Maxnet (TT&T).

[Wallace]

Cheers, Marmers.

Anyone know of other third parties who provide over TOT lines?

[NickA]

I've also had mixed reviews of True

I've never had any problems and my download speed has nearly always been what it supposed to be. I've got to say that the service was excellent when they set it up as well, but that may be just an isolated case

[Butterfly]

CSLoxinfo seems alright but a bit more expensive than other providers. A few slowdown but nothing bad.

[Marmite the Dog]

TT&T (Maxnet) and CSLoxinfo are the 2 that I know of who use TOT's lines.

[RDN]

...a zillion times better than fucking Maxnet (TT&T).

I have TT&T's MaxNet 1024/512 in Phuket. No problems now. It used to fade out for a couple of minutes between 2 and 3 am every morning. I guess they were resetting everything on a daily basis.

Here are some of my results I posted in this thread (Interesting Bandwidth Test Site):

[Pimp of the LOS]

Wow...those speeds really suck. I reckon a turtle could retrieve a file faster than that. Whatever you do don't get TT&T's MaxNet!

[Frankenstein]

The upper and lower speed displayed are actually quite good for a nominal 1024 line Thailand. Many people would be happy to get that kind of service here...

[RDN]

Wow...those speeds really suck. I reckon a turtle could retrieve a file faster than that. Whatever you do don't get TT&T's MaxNet!

The upper and lower speed displayed are actually quite good for a nominal 1024 line Thailand. Many people would be happy to get that kind of service here...

That's what I thought too.

The Pimp has a 10 Mbps link, I believe. One day, in Thailand, one day...

[danbo]

Has anyone experience with a satellite broadband connection? Is it IPSTAR??

[keda]

TT&T at your own risk. Am with them because I have a TT&T line though that's another long and sad story.

1 - Been with them long time, a while back got a call saying I owe them a month, just like they tried a few months before, told them to rearrange those popular words, and asked for a statement. No statement, we don't give statements but you owe us a month; complained to head office and had that confirmed, they don't give statements unless they have to, whatever that means. Well, that's the way it works in Thailand, if you don't have the receipt to make your case you're well and truly shafted, luckily mine was still in the 'might be useful one day' drawer, took mrs along, the girl checked it, made a computer entry and returned the chit, no apology, no smile, and no explanation when I demanded to know how the month she was trying to smack me for was not a one-off but midterm of several other months paid up front. There's a scam in there, somewhere.

2 - In January told mrs to pay for the year so she did, to Dec 31 and even got 7% discount, though the turds at Carrefor didn't tell her if she paid 12 months instead of 11.5 the discount goes to 15%. Went back, too late, complained, was given that sucker look.

3 - Last week got fed up with overall speeds/downtime but stuck till end of year, thought twice as fast is prolly faster even in LoS so went in for upgrade, took everything they might possibly need, went back yesterday with the rest and was told no plobrem but no discount, can only use current credit at the new rate till it expires, and then enter new contract for the next 6/12 months if so desired. Did the calc, expected 7.75 monthsworth (now to end-year) of remaining credit, wasn't one bit surprised their figure was around 500 less, asked why, explanation given in Thai to mrs because too complicated for farangs to understand but she's an easy touch, loves being able to make decisions because it makes her look important so she nods acceptance which pleases lady but sets me off because she can't explain it to me but to her sounded ok (like there's a light in the moon that's switched on each evening), so after a private spat told lady she was a crook but go ahead...then complained about speed vs what I actually pay for, and learned they use a 20:1 user/line ratio on all Indy packages, but if I care to upgrade to premier this comes at 10:1 though it costs 2 - 3.5 times the Indy rate according to package. I think if a UK firm tried that they'd be burned to the ground.

Anyway, got that off my chest and will be on 1024/512 from first of next month, fingers, legs and eyes crossed that it'll be faster than 512/256.

[Marmite the Dog]

Anyway, got that off my chest and will be on 1024/512 from first of next month, fingers, legs and eyes crossed that it'll be faster than 512/256.

That's what I've got. I manage to get about 20% of the speed that I'm paying for. I think there might be a problem with the phone line, but GoW won't phone them up in case she looks stupid or something (though she'll tell her boss to go fuck himself).

[ChiangMai noon]

^
sounds like a problem with the phone line Marmite.
I have been very pleased with my speeds since I bumped up to 1 mb.

[Thetyim]

Anyone know of other third parties who provide over TOT lines?

Have you seen this one ?
:: Ji-NET - Beyond Internet Solution ::

I have a TOT line and use the TOT ADSL 512 package.
Service and speed is OK

[RDN]

Sorry to hear about your problems Keda. I always get a Maxnet bill every month and keep the receipt when I pay at a 7/11. About 3 months ago the bill showed that I hadn't paid the previous month so I took the last few bills and receipts to their office. Before I even showed any papers the girl said "Sorry, computer problem." Sounds like their whole system glitched that month and everyone had been querying their bills.

I hope you have a better service with the 1024/512 deal. Mine's not that bad in Phuket, but then I could be on a line with not many other users. In bkk, it may be a different story.

ToT is popular here, and I was quite disappointed to find out my line was TT&T. I went to ToT and they told me it wasn't their line and that they would install a new line for me for free, but couldn't guarantee it would work because I was so far south in the island. TT&T, however, said "no problem". I thought that was very strange since all lines go back to the same exchange (central office).

When you get the 1024/512, post some speed test results. It'll be interesting to see what you get.

[DrB0b]

I've got TT&T Maxnet 1024/512. It's not too bad, main problem was that they block bittorrent downloads, renumbering ports and encrypting bittorrent traffic fixed that. They also have a nasty habit of dropping the connection when it rains.

[ChiangMai noon]

They also have a nasty habit of dropping the connection when it rains.

I know.
It's very annoying indeed.
What's the science behind that?

[lom]

I went to ToT and they told me it wasn't their line and that they would install a new line for me for free, but couldn't guarantee it would work because I was so far south in the island. TT&T, however, said "no problem". I thought that was very strange since all lines go back to the same exchange (central office).

That is weird, ToT has a concession so they own the cables and exchanges.
My TT&T line was installed by ToT staff, and I get a separate monthly bill of around 100 Baht from ToT for the line.

[Butterfly]

What's the science behind that?

I have a very valuable tip for that when it rains or when you have a faulty land line. A bit extreme but it seems to work all the time.

When it rains, pickup your phone handset (the line which has ADSL) and let it rest, and never hang up again. It works all the time. After a while, the tone will be gone, but still leave the handset next to the telephone.

I found this to work even when there is no rain and there are some strange interuption. Apparently the signal when you pickup the phone, seems to maintain the integrity of the ADSL connection.

The downside is that nobody can ring you as the telephone is always busy, but at least ADSL works. Who care about land lines anyway these days.

Try it and let me know.

[RDN]

What's the science behind that?

I have a very valuable tip for that when it rains or when you have a faulty land line. A bit extreme but it seems to work all the time.

When it rains, pickup your phone handset...

If you pick up the handset, you're putting 600 ohms (approx) across the line and drawing some extra current from it. This tells the exchange that you want to make a call, so it puts dial tone on your line, which times out eventually.

The extra current may be fusing together a bad (high impedance) connection somewhere, repairing the problem, albeit temporarily. Bear in mind this is an ex-software - rather than ex-hardware - engineer speaking, so this may be a load of cock.

(There is also something called "wail tone" which is a horrible loud noise that some exchanges put on the line to warn you that you've left the handset off the hook. But I've never heard that in Thailand. )