Upcountry

In IE:

https://extranet.immigration.go.th/fn90online/online/tm47/TM47Action.do

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The security certificate presented by this website was not issued by a trusted certificate authority.

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Result:

Failure of Web Server bridge:

No backend server available for connection: timed out after 10 seconds or idempotent set to OFF or method not idempotent.

robblok, thanks for your reply.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I may be getting throttled even now, and with a faster connection (even after throttling myself) I may get "noticed" by whomever is tasked with stopping people from getting many types of things via torrents. The international trade agreements that may go into effect here in this nation might force ISP's to take a harder line on things like that. We've gotten the blind eye up to now, for the most part, but this could change. That is my concern. Some trackers can use https etc., but not all.

VPN on the router - new one on me! I assume you mean the one I set up behind the ONT. I do see how this could be done, though.

The thing about router setups is that the documentation is not always up to snuff - or the firmware does not behave as advertised for configurations beyond the most basic. As I said, I had a real hassle with a wifi router that I could not set up to work the my main router - actually it worked the "wrong way" at first before an error, but when i tried to set it up according to the user guide, I had to give up after a while. Router products are often released with imperfections or even major flaws.

So it is good that your setup was easy and works well! ;-)

I'm learning a lot from reading here.

If I set up FTTH with 3BB, I need to accept their full control of their box, so that they can do what I normally would do with my ADSL router.

If I want a level of privacy, NAT control, etc, I need to get something like the ASUS RT AC68U and figure out how to set it up once I get 3BB to set up their box to bit mode. I hope there is good documentation on setting up the RT AC68U as a client to the ONT. I've run into trouble setting up a wifi router behind an ADSL in the past.

The other thing I'm grokking is that I really do need to set up a VPN and give up on uTorrent, even with an RT AC68U.

I think I'll set up the VPN via my ADSL setup first, before getting FTTH.

Besides the hassle of getting the fiber setup installed, I do worry about that setting up and maintaining the additional router behind the ONT may be tricky. One good thing, the lady on the 3BB line didn't say no when I asked if it was okay to set up a second router.

Hopefully I can turn off the ONT wifi if I'm going to use my own.

I got that Thai script warning about missing Amphur and district too - took a picture and showed it to my wife. That's when I realized I couldn't just type the name of my city, I had to select form a list, and then the other two fields became active.

Using IE, I have been more successful this time any in earlier attempts. My 90 day due date is Sunday 22 Nov. and I did this today (Sunday, 15 Nov.).

I was able to fill in the rest of the required info and get a document to save and print out with "PENDING" in the top right corner. I logged in later with my TRN and saw that the status is also "Pending" on the website.

I haven't gotten any email confirmation yet, which would be nice, but I hope I'll get a status update later in the week, or I'll have to go to the office after the deadline.

Now one disconcerting thing happened during this process. After the process of gettng the PENDING document I was not longer able to see the original page which might or might now show me more info and/or allow me to officially close out of the transaction. This might have been due to the following:

I clicked on the "i" help button for one-stop while trying to figure out why I was not getting to the next page, and this opened up a PDF.

Maybe because of that, I lost the main IE page. Or maybe that was supposed to happen after saving/printing the doc with my transaction details.

So, I'm left a little unsure whether the process went through 100% successfully. Sorry if this has been mentioned in earlier parts of this thread. I couldn't get through all 62 pages! LOL

Anybody missing channels in ThaiExpat.tv "UKTV" player on Friday, 9 October?

I found Al Jazeera missing in the program for recording programs. I can't find it in the "Channel selector" either. It has just disappeared on every computer where I have the program installed.

I do see it in the streaming software so the channel hasn't been removed from the service.

So far I haven't been able to get confirmation that this problem is just with my account or the software at the server.

MR-L710E/EG: 710 Litres

Thai L70EH: 635 litres

For our needs, and based on not seeing many negative comments about this brand, we decided to get a Mitsubishi fridge.

The model you can look up below it their largest model.

Fridge - 710L L4 Grande French Door
http://www.mitsubishielectric.com.au/mr-l710eg-l4-grande-french-door-refrigerator.html
(actually MR-710L or LG)
http://www.productreview.com.au/p/mitsubishi-mr-l710e-l4-grande.html

Well, word to the wise: That is the international model (made in Thailand), but the one for sale here is sneakily named the MR-L70EH. It is the same width and height, but the depth is 802 vs 820 (2 and zero reversed). The size is about 10% smaller inside. As I write this, there is a promotion going on, but I wonder if it is a good idea to buy a shallower version of the original design. One wonders if the smaller version will work as well. It is also annoying that they are sneaky about the model number, etc. Most people would not realize this unless they compared the specs with what can be seen in the Internet.

I guess that getting good a larger fridge in Thailand is still a challenge. Any suggestions for an alternative would be appreciated.

Interesting. What's your newsgroup downloadee? ;-)

Today I was able to either watch news feeds live (Al Jazeera news for instance) and pause them as necessary, and after an hour I could select the program and download it to a .mp4. That process takes about half the time of normal viewing I think. So, in the neighborhood of 30 minutes for an hour long program. That's with a recording-optimized software tool rather than the normal viewer.

Getting any complete program might be faster in Thailand with FTTH if the IPTV server can respond.

I'm still confused about why the international gateway is supposed to be better with the Premier package than the FTTH setup. That makes sense with the ADSL options, but you'd think that the FTTH configs would be set already for maximum throughput to the international gateways. I wish I could get an explanation form 3BB about this.

It would be interesting to see speed tests between Thai and overseas testing locations (Singapore, UK, etc.) to compare single-connection speeds.

Well, the IPTV I'm using now uses servers in Thailand.

The multiple connection scheme you refer to must involve more than the 3BB FTTH service then, right?

In other words would you agree that 3BB is technically correct that Premier is better if you compare just a simple ONT/FTTH setup as they would provide?

I don't really understand how people are using multiple connections with FTTH. I've heard about multiple ADSL connections in the past. Is this the same sort of thing?

Just got an interesting call from 3BB regarding my request about the ONT.

Via text message, they said that our current "Premier" package has a better international connection than the FTTH service as currently configured. That implies that this new setup is not fully integrated into ATM and other hardware and protocols for international cables.

Of course that is likely to change in time. But since the terse message was all I could get from the tech team, backed up by comments from the English support person, it seems like it is to early for me to jump into this.

It's rather sad, but it looks like another trip to the 3BB office is in order to undo the sign-up.

My use is currently balanced between local IPTV and international access, but I guess it is not worth downgrading the latter for faster local service right now.

Well, I expect the ISP to have it ways, but I don't know if they can or should be able to change EVERYTHING in my router setup.

But the backdoor I am referring too is something that anyone on the Internet can use to get into any Huawei HG8245 unless HTTP and Telnet remote access is specifically disabled by the user. There is an admin and a "root" login that can be used unless you block it. And most people have no clue about this.

I guess this is Chinese router tech at its best.

Again, at least I can change the password for the admin account on my ZyXel, but you can't change the admin account passwords on the Huawei HG8245. Check out the links I posted.

I'm talking about 3bb changing my ssid and ssid wifi password remotely. When the install team came they didn't have a computer and they asked for my user name and password. they called the office and all was programmed. I'm sure i can change it but not sure if i can lock them out of remote access.

If I understand the situation correctly, anyone who knows the default admin passwords can change your wifi user/pass and anything else they want to change, including DNS servers, as long as http and telnet remote access is not disabled.

fertilzer,

I think you're proving that the 30mbs is good in Thailand, but overseas links are not "fiber" yet ;-)

But at least the "last mile" is being updated for the future.

yankee99, there are different user/pass pairs. You may be referring to the one needed to make your router connect your account to 3BB.

I'm talking about admin accounts for modifying settings in the router. By default they are open to hackers everywhere, and they can't be changed.

I found the pages in the manual where it shows how to disable http and telnet remote access.

Pages 283, 284.

I hope that this is allowed by 3BB. Should be, but it is bummer that they sell people a router that is so insecure by default.

For anybody using the fibre 30mb service from 3BB, what router did they install for you?

I will be getting this soon. The company told me the following router would be used:

Huawei HG8245

http://huawei.com/en/products/fixed-access/fttx/ont/hg8245/index.htm

Manual

https://www.cyberbajt.pl/download/Huawei/GPON/Manual.pdf

but this is scary:

Huawei HG8245 backdoor and remote access

http://websec.ca/advisories/view/Huawei-web-backdoor-and-remote-access

The Huawei HG8245 ONT, firmware version V1R006C00S100 which provides cellular services, contains 3 severe vulnerabilities:

two administrator accounts enabled by default and

a public administration interface exposed to the Internet.

solution: Disable WAN-side HTTP and Telnet access.

It is not possible to change the default web administrator's password for the user admin.

Now, the solution above might be good enough, but it is not confidence-inspiring that the admin account passwords can't be changed.

I haven't found out yet if a different firmware version takes care of this or not.

At any rate, I don't think that 3BB needs admin access to my router in this way except when necessary based on a request. They can get just about all the information they need without taking over the router.

My current ZyXel router will not let me change the admin account name, but I can change the password.

The 3BB phone rep indicated that there might be more than one router that they use. If this is true, it would be interesting to see how that one compares with the Huawei.

Pib, thanks for your response.

This is interesting. I always assumed that digital TV's and fiber cable services would be compatible the way analog cable works with regular TV's. For me, the benefit of cable has been that my DVR can change channels with the recording timer.

But if the cable digital system requires a separate set top box even for digital TV's, then it is the same, in that sense, as satellite. I guess the only difference might be that cable signals are a little more dependable during a rain storm.

If the cable TV box doesn't come with a timer, recording will be more of a pain. It would require a 3rd device to change channels at specified times. Time to dust off the thing that helped me with "UBC" when I had it.

I don't know how many readers of this forum get their TV from MSS Cable in Phitsanulok, but I have some news to share.

I found out today that they have segregated all English language channels (except for FOX) to a block that requires a B1,400 digital set top box. From what I could gather via translation, only the box they provide will work; other digital boxes won't. This flies in the face of the Thai digital initiative. Maybe they want to emulate True Visions.

The local Home Pro store, which might not know about their new digital offering, said their boxes would not work with MSS - analog perhaps.

From what I can tell, the local/national Thai TV news channels (3,7, etc.) may not have done a good job of informing people about the coupon offering, because no one in my family is aware of it, even though they watch TV every day. I guess it won't be available in our province until next month anyway.

At least the cable guy said that the 690 coupon will be applicable to their box.

I hope it turns out to be wrong that a digital TV (or adapter) would not work with their service. That would be sad.

I'm still using Leopard on my old Mac Mini, but I found that SoundFlower works nicely for getting audio from a web page into Audacity. Hopefully it works in the latest setups.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14067/soundflower

or google it. ;-)

It worked for audio I can get by clicking on the web page icon. But I was less successful getting streaming audio and video from a TV streaming site.

I'm thinking about getting a new mac now, and to see how to record audio/video from a website to my hard drive. I want to set up a program with timer to get the BBC because my local cable company saw fit to cancel it, so I need to cancel them! Ha.

Any advice about that would be appreciated.

Good news, so there's hope! I hesitate to ask too early, though, because it might arouse suspicion. Normally one would not be in too much of a hurry.

My wife and I applied for a consideration about 3 weeks early and, as mentioned above, got a stamp to get my extension on the date that I would have gotten if I had come in at the usual time. That makes my consideration period about 7 weeks instead of about 4.

I had hoped they would set it for 30 days from the day we came in, but I understand why they didn't.

What I'm wondering now is this. If I come in 30 days from our extension request, is there a good chance my extension will be ready (i.e., about 3 weeks before the stamped consideration date)? If so, I expect that they would then stamp my passport for the following year, usual time.

I'll be going in for a re-entry stamp, and if I time it right (just a few days before the trip) it will be 30 days after we applied for the extension. I know I can get the re-entry during the consideration period. But for reasons related to my marriage extension requirements, I'd really like to get things done early.

I might be forgiven for asking if my extension is ready 30 days after the app date - not sure if they'd check unless I do so.

If there is no appropriate way to ask if my extension is ready, or if the policy is to not renew the extension until close to the stamped date (i.e., not processing early) then I might as well get the re-entry earlier. This is because waiting until just a few days before the trip is risky (Murphy's Law)!

Thanks, I'm glad I asked.

Regarding the 400k for two months requirement. It seems to me that the spirit of this requirement is that we should keep this amount in an account at all times (for emergencies, I suppose).

I'd like to find out unequivocally if anyone has gotten into trouble for going below this amount AFTER the extension renewal was accepted (with bank letter for 2 months balance) but before the final stamp was issued.

It's been an expensive year for me, so I'd really like to dip into this money now that I've we've submitted my papers for marriage visa renewal. In previous years, I've waited 30 more days for the stamp before accessing the money for any reason.

I wonder if there is any check made by Thai authorities on the account during the consideration period, even though the requirements only call for the money to be documented for at least 60 days prior to renewal application. No one has posted about such a calamity, so I would guess it's not an issue.

Just want see if there is any reason to be paranoid about this.

I actually called the Imm. Bureau directly today and they told me that the bank letter could be done today for Tuesday.

Of course, the local office might feel differently.

Anyone know about the official bank statement date, relative to the date of visa renewal?

I'd like to get my statement today, a Friday, and go the the immigration bureau on Tuesday next week.

Hopefully that's okay, or does the statement have to be the same day or the day before?

G'day,

My wine bottle vacuum pump has failed me, and I need to get a new one. But in my Thai town they don't know about such things. Not even at the CW mall.

I've looked up a few wine sellers that mail purchases to customer (one will only do so to Bangkok and suburbs) but I don't know if they'd have what I need.

I decided to start this thread to see if anyone can recommend a store that sells a good quality vacuum sealer, and is willing to send it to me after a cash transfer payment.

Thanks!

Yeah, I read about the Vernal Equinox but only AJE was showing bad distortion for the last few weeks.

I had to have the cable guys come to my house of other reasons today, and when I showed them AJE's troubles, the communicated with the home office.

This evening for the first time the picture has been back to normal.

Now I know that I can't just call and try to explain the problem over the phone. I have to have people come to the house and witness the problem for themselves.

It was bad this morning before they came, but now it seems fixed. Glad that's over.