Pib

Typing in www can be pretty stressful.

Sometimes not typing in the www can be more stressful. I've seen cases where I have been directed to a rogue site.

Big 10-4....Amen Brother on that!

Additionally to the OP, True may not even service the area/moobaan you are moving to. The phone/DSL lines may be TOT's area, TT&T's area, etc. Do you have phone service setup at the new residence yet? If so, what phone company is it? For example, if it's True you can probably get True internet service even through the True service center/shops seem unsure.. If it's TOT, TT&T, etc., you probably can't get True internet service. Now, in some areas, True may be able to string an internet line to another phone company's area, but in most cases they can't/won't.

Typing in www can be pretty stressful.

The U.S.-based DSL Reports site I've been referencing above measures its speed in KiloBYTES per second, with 1000 kiloBYTES equal to 1 megaBYTE.

Thus, my test from home this evening on that site produced a speed test to L.A. result of 1,329 kiloBYTES per second, which is the same as 10.3 megaBITs (Mb) per sec or 1.3 megaBYTES (MB) per second.

S

The DSL Reports site reports in kiloBITS not kiloBYTES. 1329 Kbs is reported which is the same as 166KBs (as in Bytes). In these abbreviations, when the b is lower cases it means bits; when it upper case it means bytes.

When I run the DSL Reports test to LA on my TOT 4 Megabits/Second (Mbs) package I usually get around 1000Kbs (or 124KBs as in Bytes) which is consistent with other type speedtests.

If that 1000Kbs really meant KiloBytes/Second (which it don't...it means Kilobits/Seconds) that means I'm getting around 8000Kbits/seconds (or 8Mbs) speed to an international site on my 4Mbs package--NOT...I wish! (grin)

If you are talking "why do you get a higher speed when using the proxy," it's because a proxy server caches frequently accessed sites/data and this in turn makes the access/speed generally faster. And LAN Admin can definitely control most everything regarding your access, speed, etc.

To the OP, it's very common for Thai companies to ask for a map to deliver a product, install a product (like internet/phone line), since many Thai addresses are not that descriptive and in many cases house/moobaan numbers (or even sois) are not in good/expected sequence in many areas. And some roads/sois even have multiple names along the length of the road/soi. TOT many times asks for a map to install a new line/DSL, HomePro asks for a map to deliver an item, etc...etc...etc. Plan on drawing a lot more maps during your stay in Tha iland.

Yeap, you just gotta put www in front of some web site addresses to reach them. Guess it just how a website's address may be loaded in a DNS...maybe some websites are only listed the www as part of the address/name while others are listed both ways (with and without the www) so you can reach them with or without the www. I've generally been in the habit so long just typing the www when manually entering a web address (unless I know its a unique address like a mail server) that the with or without www issue rarely causes me any "can't find/reach that link" issues. Cheers.

That's part of the reason I know the DSL Reports speed test site is a reasonable accurate one...the facts you cite below...

When the couple other speed sites mentioned above show 33 and similar ms pings to the USA, clearly something is being gamed. On the other hand, the DSL Reports site likewise shows different ms results every time, and usually for USA tests in the 200 to 300 ms range... real world results...not faked ones.

And whereas the DSL Reports site gives different speed results every time you run the test (slow in the Thai evenings and better overnight, as you might expect) at different times of the day, the sites gamed by True tend to show consistently similar results... Like I get 10 mb pretty much every time on a supposed test to L.A., when I only have nominally an 8 mb True account... That just ain't happening in the real world.

And if I was getting 10 mb speed on my web browsing to sites in the USA, I'd sure as H notice it... And there isn't anything here that's responding that fast.

... a real world ping between BKK and LA is in the 200 to 300ms range--at least until we figure out how make the speed of light go a lot faster.

Please note that the DSLReport speed tests report "latency" to server which is a "one way trip" to the server; ping is round trip travel. Therefore, the latency test will reflect approx half the value of a ping test.

there have been problems with the TIG over the last few days but seems back to normal at the moment

Another false ping result.

Agree...the ping test of 33ms round trip from Bangkok to LA is definitely a false result. This is probably reflecting just the ping between the residence and True's Bangkok server/international gateway and nothing beyond that.

Preaching to the choir I know, but the laws of physics/electronics are still bound by the speed of light. To the best of my knowledge we haven't mastered traveling faster than the speed of light yet. Let's see, per the ping test it was 8,300 miles to LA....or 16,600 miles round trip....speed of light in a vacuum travels at 186,000 miles/second....light traveling in a vacuum takes 89ms to travel 16,600 miles...but since internet connection is via fiber optics, microwaves, and copper the electrons/light are not traveling in vacuum and actually traveling slower/getting slowed down....lets say the internet connection is traveling via fiber optics all the way (which it really ain't)...fiber optics has a speed of propagation of approx 1.5 (i.e., transmits light/electrons slower than in a vacuum)..therefore 89ms times 1.5 is 133ms....now take in account the actual internet connection does not follow a straight line between Bangkok and LA but instead hops here, there and definitely not in a straight line and it would not surprise me if the round trip distance traveled is at least 20,000 miles....also add in the unknown added delay caused by the relay circuits/amplifiers/routers transmitting the signal along the way, how fast servers respond, and other misc delay factors, a real world ping between BKK and LA is in the 200 to 300ms range--at least until we figure out how make the speed of light go a lot faster.

I think Thailand must be on the top of the list when it comes to "Destination Getaways for Crooks on the Run."

Gosh, when you google "vimeo blocked" about every link that comes up talks about Vimeo being blocked in various countries. May be something about the creativity of videos on Vimeo.com.

The OP, #2 and #3 posts didn't mention what ISP and/or DNS server they are usng. Could be ISP/DNS specific problem. No shortage of "what is causing my problem" when it comes to internet connections.

I'm on a TOT internet plan here in Bangkok using the TOT DNS server as my primary and Google Public DSN as my secondard.. No problem in opening up either one Gmail or MSN. And actually my speed over the last 3-4 days has increased. I have a Gmail account and have no problem doing a POP3 download or accessing via webmail.

There are still so many expats mostly living in locations like Bangkok, Pattaya, highrises/condos, etc., (civilization in their minds) who just don't understand the fact that most of Thailand has poor phone/DSL line infrastructure. This poor and costly "copper line" infrastructure is one reason cell phone usage became so wide spread in Thailand and similar 3d world nations, and "wireless" internet in Thailand will also probably take off over the coming few years as it's a way to expand revenue growth for communications companies/the government since cell phone growth has basically plateaued in Thailand.

I hope the government's goal to have the plan widespread comes true within 2 years, but it will probably take 5 or more years if things go well and they don't swap out governments every year or two.

Comparsion of your and my results on the same TOT plan but at different locations is probably a good example of "where you tap into a ISPs internet backbone" can make a big difference.

I expect you are making another hop or two than me just to reach the Bangkok based TOT internation gateway server and the portion of the TOT backbone in Chang Mai is weaker/slower than the portion of the TOT backbone in Bangkok. And even within Bangkok there are wide differences in speeds achieved by people on the same plans. Generally, I think the folks who live in the highrises/condos in Bangkok and Pattaya get the best speeds since TOT, True, 3B, etc., have invested more in their internet capability/backbones/DSLAMs/etc., in those areas. Location, location, location.

Pib, just wondering what all these speeds mean. So say the "3.5mb" rate you mentioned. What kind of actual download and upload speed would that be? Download speed of maybe 100 KB/s or so? How long it would take to download 1gb?

To convert from Bits as in Megabits/Mb to Bytes as in Megabytes/MB you divide by 8.

So, 3.5Mb (as in bits) is 437KB (as in bytes)

You can do the math on the 1gb download, but be sure to determine whether you are talking Bits or Bytes. Normally, file size are quoted in Bytes and Internet package speed and speed results in Bits.

You can go to the Speedtest.net web site and run its speed test. The results also tell you how long it should take to download certain file sizes/types. Like just now I went to speedtest.net and ran a speed test to their Bangkok server and got a download speed results of 3.52Mb...and in the little chart next to the speed result it said a 800MB movie should download in 30 minutes. You can also use Speedtest.com to run speed test to various servers around the world.

Now, the actual file download speed you get for a 1GB file will depend on many factors such as your internet plan speed (i.e., 2Mb, 4Mb....16Mb, etc), download server location on planet Earth, what speed you get to that download server, server capability/capacity, file type, whether you are using a Download Manager or not, etc.

Cheers.

Not everybody has a separate modem in which case they have to get the SNR figures from their router.

True, basically an integrated/combination modem and router. Cheers.

30db attenuation

That is not that great to be honest. Your SNR is ok tho. I am on 20db SNR and 10db Attenuation and getting the full 16mb on true 16mb premium.

I think its your distance from the exchange that is your speed issue judging by your attenuation.

No, it not great but its still very good. 30-40db attenuation falls within the category of being Very Good. And the 32db SNR ratio is Outstanding. Below is a cut and paste from one of the posts in the TV ADSL Help topic which gives a summary of SNR and Attenuation readings in general (and actually this info was taken from a web site that I've seen before).

And the info is the chart below is in sync with the DSL speed calculator at below web site. Since, my TOT 4Mb package uses the plain jane ADSL standard (versus ADSL2+ like your True package), 30db attentuation would limit me to just below or right at a 8MB ADSL plan. But if/when TOT replaces the ADSL DSLAMs in my area (the DSLAMs are approx 2 kilometers away which is well within the approx 5 kilometer max for a DSL line) with ADSL2+ DSLAMs, I should be able to almost support a 16Mb ADSL2+ package...probably be safer with a 10-12Mb ADSL2+ plan. But if they put a mini-DSLAM for ADSL2+ on a pole/in a junction box closer to my home, which is probably what you are hooking up to initially versus a DSLAM at a central office/station, I would be able to go at 16Mb and higher.

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/max_speed_calc.php

As mentioned earlier, I'm getting "full" 4Mb sync speed and the full resulting IP speed of approx 3.5Mb which takes in account DSL control bits. It's just my international speed is limited to around 1-2Mb simply because of how TOT limits it's international bandwidth on its international gateway. True has its own international gateway and is apparently more generous with international bandwidth.

****************************************

For S/N Margin Readings:

6bB. or below = Bad and will experience no line synchronisation or intermittent synchronisation problems.

7dB-10dB. = Fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions.

11dB-20dB. = Good with little or no synchronisation problems

20dB-28dB. = Excellent

29dB. or above = Outstanding

Attenuation Rates:

20bB. and below = Outstanding

20dB-30dB. = Excellent

30dB-40dB. = Very Good

40dB-50dB. = Good

50dB-60dB. = Poor and may experience connectivity issues

60dB. and above = Bad and will experience connectivity issues

Pib, I too have a Linksys router at home, and I've been into the setup settings many times for passwords and other things, including upgrading the firmware...

But I don't recall ever seeing menus in my Linksys router software those show me the readings/measurements for the techie stuff like SNR and the rest...

Where, menu-wise, do those kinds of things reside once you've logged onto one's Linksys router...

Right now I'm using a WRT160N, but it's software interface looks pretty much the same as the prior WRT54GS I was using until recently...

No, you get the SNR and Attenuation values from the modem, not the separate router. I have the TOT issued Billion 5210 RC modem which hooks to the DSL wall socket and then it's RJ45 port hooks to my wireless Linksys WRT 54G series router.

For my Billion modem, you access it's setup menu structure (not the router's) at 192.168.1.1 In its menu/setting structure this is where you enter your ISP issued User ID, Password, can make a various modem settings, and get device info/stats such at SNR, Attenuation, Sync Rate, etc.

I'm with TOT...I was only posting my TOT results for comparison.

My DSL line SNR attenuation and SNR are excelllent... 32db SNR download and 30db attenuation download on a 4Mb sync package...and these SNR/attn values stay within 1 to 2 db of aforementioned values whether rain or shine. I get the 3.5Mb "IP" speed as advertised by TOT. My modem sync speed is 4096Kbps down and 512Kbps. I have a stand alone DSL line...no phones/faxes/etc hooked up...and where my modem hooks to the line is right where this standalone line enters the house. Speeds don't change whether I'm hooked directly/RJ45 cable from computer to modem or going wireless with my Linksys wireless router.

The TOT 4Mb Basic Fit package is providing the service advertised. I get the 3.5Mb in-Thailand speed 24/7...rain or shine. It's just TOT's international speed is not the greatest as I've heard they use a contention/user ratio of 50 to 1 and they throttle international bandwidth usually to the 25-50% range of max sync speed. TOT focuses towards the routine Thai user, who do the great majority of their browsing on in-Thailand sites.

Wish TOT had a "premier" type package that offered higher international speeds at a little higher price, but they don't to the best of my knowledge. They offer the Power Fit package but the only difference between a Basic Fit and Power Fit package is the upload speed is 1Mb vs 512Mb. I would have got the Power Fit package but it's not offerred to my little part of western of Bangkok/moobaan....expect it has to do with the DSLAMs they have in the central office/station serving our areas. Supposedly sometime next year (in Thai time that probably means in two years) they will start providing higher speed service to my area...but I'm not holding my breath.

Cheers.

Around two years ago when I signed up with TOT on their 2Mb Goldcyber plan, I canceled after 6 weeks since the service was so s......l.....o.......w with many disconnects....gave the modem back to TOT. Switched to JINET over the TOT line for over a year...service was great but the JINET plan was a little pricey. Decided to give TOT another try with their Basic Fit 4Mb plan (still at my same residence)....been with TOT about 4 months on this 2nd go around...have had good results...super consistent in-Thailand speed of 3.5Mb and international speed that averages around 1Mb 24/7...and the international speed seems to get a little better each week...been averaging closer to 2Mb internationally for the last 3 to 4 days. Using the TOT issued Billion 5210 RC modem.

Your problem is probably DSL/phone line related (i.e., high attenuation/low SNR). Have you checked your line's/modem attenuation and signal to noise ratio?

BeST NeWS eVAh!

I suppose Lenin, Stalin, and Mao would agree with you.

Thai govt is getting good in perfecting the art of price controls, especially when it affects the fees/taxes they receive on a serivce/product.

I'm on the TOT 4Mb/512Kb plan in western Bangkok. Just for FYI, here's my ADSLThailand.com speeds results (locally and to USA) as of today/Saturday/1:30pm

http://speedtest.ookla.com/result/903165405.png

http://speedtest.ookla.com/result/903164569.png

Seems we are beginning to see more True customers report less than stellar results. By less stellar, I mean reports which seem much closer to other ISPs (e.g., TOT) versus reports along the lines of, "I have the 16Mb True plan and get 16Mb in and out of Thailand!" I have no doubt some folks who live in just the right location/soi/building/etc., get some high speeds and proudly report them. But for the True customer who don't get these stellar results but something more ho-hum they are probably not being reported as much.

I'm on the TOT 4Mb/512Kb package in a western Bangkok moobaan and my in-Thailand speed is always right at 3.5Mb and my international speed averages real close to 1Mb 24/7; although, for the last 3 to 4 days I''ve been averaging closer to 2Mb internationally with some results right at 3Mb....don't know what happened or how long it will last so I'll just enjoy it while it lasts. Here is some mid day/Saturday/around 1pm results to the west coast of the U.S.