Anyone using FarangBox?

[Dario]

2 hours ago, elfpattaya said:

The problem lies with TOT, not Farang Box. Your speedtest was within Thailand so means nothing. you need to do a speedtest to Europe with https://testmy.net/.

You will need at least a good 20Mb/sec to Europe, London or Frankfurt, for it to work OK.

I had the same problem with my IPTV service (not Farang Box), with AIS Fibre, just not enough international bandwidth and constant buffering.

Complained to AIS constantly and they did nothing. I have now changed to 3BB Fibre and so far so good.

What you tell us here, surprises me! When I make a test with testmy.net, I receive just about 15 MB/s. But how come that with the 12-hour trial it worked perfectly using the same TOT network??

 

[Dario]

6 hours ago, Thaitoknow said:

It just seemed to good to be true. Too cheap.

Ive used thaiexpat, 365sports, flawless, iviewhd and pulsetv since ive been in Thailand and when somebody is offering a service for half the price it makes me wary.

Been using pulse for a year now at tje end of the month. 

Best bit is that you can have it on 4 seperate platforms.

Great if you share internet with a friend or 2 and you can all share the costs.

 

 

Pulse is 10'000 Baht a year and the channel line-up is very limited. Plus you have to use their box. No value for money. Much overpriced. There must be cheaper solutions with a larger channel-line-up.

[Lite Beer]

1 hour ago, Dario said:

Pulse is 10'000 Baht a year and the channel line-up is very limited. Plus you have to use their box. No value for money. Much overpriced. There must be cheaper solutions with a larger channel-line-up.

You do not have to use their box.

You can use your android box.

 

Most of these operations are hit and miss.

The trick is to find one that works for you. Whatever the price.

[Dario]

1 minute ago, Lite Beer said:

You do not have to use their box.

You can use your android box.

 

Most of these operations are hit and miss.

The trick is to find one that works for you. Whatever the price.

 

Hi, good to see you.

OK, I can use my T95Z Plus Android Box, but the channel line-up is very limited, compared to what Farangbox offers. I have a Swiss friend in Lampang who knows a lot about this. At the time when everyone used the Dreambox(es) he had servers in operation and I was one of his customers. Over the years, the technology has changed and we have to use an Android box nowadays. I am busy to contact him. Apparently it is possible to program your Kodi or Perfect Player with FREE add-ons which give you lots of free HD channels from around the world. No need to pay a crappy service with a crappy support. I'm trying to find out more.

What I'm looking for is Swiss TV channles (to be able to watch now and then), all my favorite documentary channels in English, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel in English for my daughter and major news channels for me in HD like Fox News, ABC News, CNBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, etc. As I mentioned, apparently you can download add-ons to get all this for free. There are heaps of instructional videos about this on Youtube. I'll keep you posted.

 

Did I mention that I got a full refund of the 3'900 Baht annual fee from Farangbox, after I put quite some pressure on him and his gf? He had never thought it possible that I would find out all about him, so he must have gotten petrified.

[Mooner]

Pulse has all those channels plus French and German tv.

Free apps like mobdro an livetvnet will also have those channels

[elfpattaya]

3 hours ago, Dario said:

What you tell us here, surprises me! When I make a test with testmy.net, I receive just about 15 MB/s. But how come that with the 12-hour trial it worked perfectly using the same TOT network??

It gets worse at peak periods, in the evenings and at the weekends. It is usually best in the mornings, was that when you had your free trial? 15Mb/sec is borderline.

[janclaes47]

4 hours ago, elfpattaya said:

It gets worse at peak periods, in the evenings and at the weekends. It is usually best in the mornings, was that when you had your free trial? 15Mb/sec is borderline.

15Mbps is plenty. For Full HD 7Mbps is all you need,.

[janclaes47]

12 hours ago, Dario said:

Well, I can report that I have been refunded the 3'900 Baht, because Farangbox is not able to deliver what they promise.

Don't blame Farang box because you will have problem with every service, first of all because you have TOT connection and secondly because you have no idea about how these things work.

[Dario]

1 hour ago, janclaes47 said:

Don't blame Farang box because you will have problem with every service, first of all because you have TOT connection and secondly because you have no idea about how these things work.

So then, educate me and the community about how it works ... Why don't you subscribe then to Farangbox, because there is no better offer in TV watching around??? 

[Dario]

1 hour ago, janclaes47 said:

15Mbps is plenty. For Full HD 7Mbps is all you need,.

It was from 18/01/2018 at 17:07 onwards. At full peaktime.

[janclaes47]

6 minutes ago, Dario said:

So then, educate me and the community about how it works ... Why don't you subscribe then to Farangbox, because there is no better offer in TV watching around??? 

 

If you go through my post history you will find that I don't need to pay for any IPTV because it is all available for free.

 

By the way, I understand that you tested your speed with testmy.net AFTER you cancelled your subscription, because before your weren't even aware of that website, so you don't know what your speed was when you experienced the problems.

 

It is also not clear from your post if that speed test was on your PC or directly on the box.

 

As for your speed, 7Mbps is all you need for a full HD 1080P stream and everything above is an extra, but your problem is TOT, probably the worst ISP in the whole of Thailand and they throttle as hell.

 

Look up deep packet scan, and you will understand what throttling means, and a speed test means nothing in that case.

 

Many things can influence your streams, using WIFI is the major one, but it has to be looked at case by case.

 

I just settled a customer yesterday who had buffering when he shouldn't have, by unplugging the USB receivers from his PC mouse and keyboard he had in the box, and his buffering disappeared as snow for the sun.

[Dario]

49 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

 

If you go through my post history you will find that I don't need to pay for any IPTV because it is all available for free.

 

By the way, I understand that you tested your speed with testmy.net AFTER you cancelled your subscription, because before your weren't even aware of that website, so you don't know what your speed was when you experienced the problems.

 

It is also not clear from your post if that speed test was on your PC or directly on the box.

 

As for your speed, 7Mbps is all you need for a full HD 1080P stream and everything above is an extra, but your problem is TOT, probably the worst ISP in the whole of Thailand and they throttle as hell.

 

Look up deep packet scan, and you will understand what throttling means, and a speed test means nothing in that case.

 

Many things can influence your streams, using WIFI is the major one, but it has to be looked at case by case.

 

I just settled a customer yesterday who had buffering when he shouldn't have, by unplugging the USB receivers from his PC mouse and keyboard he had in the box, and his buffering disappeared as snow for the sun.

 

Very interesting what you write! Thank you for elaborating. You must be an expert descending from the Netherlands or the Belgian Flanders. I think I'm not far from the truth. Anyway, let me explain my situation. As you know, I have one of those routers from Thai State owned TOT company, indeed the worst Internet provider in Thailand. But this was the only choice offered to me in the god forsaken place I live right now in the deepest Isaan. (3BB has laid cables, but hasn't contacted us yet to connect). This router receives 100 MB down/ 20 MB down. From the router 3 connecting LAN cables go:

 

1   direct to my main computer

2   underground to my Android box T96Z Plus which re-surfaces right behind my LG 50" Flatscreen TV in the living room, about 2,60 m away

3   above ground (above ceiling) to another T95Z Plus Android box in our master bedroom, connected to our LG 50" flat screen in the master bedroom

 

On my daughter's TV I have installed a wifi antenna which collects the signal from the router but delivers only around 50 MB down/ 20 MB up. Farangbox code is installed on the T95Z in the living room. For some odd reason (I don't know why), the T95Z Plus in the master bedroom doesn't boot when connected. The TOT IPTV connected from a LAN splitter delivers as it should.

 

What is most interesting is the fact that you tell us that all those channels can be had for free . It confirms me what I already thought to be this way. I will contact you via PM to get to know more about. And yes, on both Android boxes KODI and Perfect Player are installed.

 

A question comes into my mind: do you use Mobdro?

 

Thanks in advance for your much appreciated help.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Dario

[Dario]

48 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

Many things can influence your streams, using WIFI is the major one, but it has to be looked at case by case.

 

I just settled a customer yesterday who had buffering when he shouldn't have, by unplugging the USB receivers from his PC mouse and keyboard he had in the box, and his buffering disappeared as snow for the sun.

 

I'm using a cordless mouse on my main PC fed directly via LAN from the TOT router. Does that throttle the signal by any chance?

In order to connect my Android boxes I'm using WIFI. But there is the LAN cable connected as well. Probably there I did something wrong!! Please be so kind and let me know. Thank you.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Dario

[janclaes47]

32 minutes ago, Dario said:

 

I'm using a cordless mouse on my main PC fed directly via LAN from the TOT router. Does that throttle the signal by any chance?

In order to connect my Android boxes I'm using WIFI. But there is the LAN cable connected as well. Probably there I did something wrong!! Please be so kind and let me know. Thank you.

A cordless mouse on your PC will probably not throttle anything, and also not every wireless mouse will throttle, it has to be looked case by case.

 

Some of those usb receivers interfere with the audio drivers on the box, others with the video drivers, and some have no issue at all.

 

You should avoid WIFI, because regardless of how good your WIFI signal is, the speed will always be lower and a radio signal is prone to many interferences. Even your tv can influence the signal.

 

Better use Powerline adapters, which can be had for 1280 Baht for a set on Lazada, and use the electrical wires in your wall as a network.

 

Switching to a better quality router will also improve your connection, and rebooting the router frequently as well, especially when you use WIFI.

 

Mobdro isn't bad for live tv but runs at low picture resolution ( read low bandwidth), to serve as many people as possible.

 

There are many better.

 

My main thing is Kodi.

 

Your speed tests to Bangkok servers mean nothing, in Bangkok are temple and bars, and they don't run IPTV servers. And even then they are all fake results because they use multithread like a torrent to get you the maximum speed. With a video stream you have only 1 connection.

 

Testmy.net to European server is your only reliable speed test there is

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by janclaes47

[SirBuwanaDogbossKing]

On 21/01/2018 at 11:51 AM, janclaes47 said:

Don't blame Farang box because you will have problem with every service, first of all because you have TOT connection and secondly because you have no idea about how these things work.

This is exactly what I told "Dario" as well, TOT is useless for international streaming. Have had Farangbox nearly a year now with AIS super fibre and virtualy no issues.

[Thaitoknow]

I have TOT for a year with Pulse and virtually no issues.

[Dario]

20 hours ago, SirBuwanaDogbossKing said:

This is exactly what I told "Dario" as well, TOT is useless for international streaming. Have had Farangbox nearly a year now with AIS super fibre and virtualy no issues.

 

Hi, I just called the 3BB Service Center and explained my situation. Here is what I have been told: If you want International Internet for streaming, we only have one option and that is fiber optic cable with 200 MB down  and that costs you 1'498 Baht/month. So, you guys all have 200 MB down? I sincerely doubt that.

[janclaes47]

Just now, Dario said:

 

Hi, I just called the 3BB Service Center and explained my situation. Here is what I have been told: If you want International Internet for streaming, we only have one option and that is fiber optic cable with 200 MB down  and that costs you 1'498 Baht/month. So, you guys all have 200 MB down? I sincerely doubt that.

 

I have 3BB vdsl 30/10 and get about 10Mbps london. Another customer in Pattaya got the same package and get 22Mbps to London.

 

Someone with 3BB 150Mb Fibre get between 6 and 10 Mbps.

 

The fact is that they can't guarantee any international speeds as they are depending on many factors.

 

With the 200Mb Fibre package they have a " inter " option you can purchase.

 

The best would be if you have a neighbour with 3BB and can run a test on his PC, otherwise nobody can tell you what you actually gonna get, but 3BB will definitely better quality for the money.

[SirBuwanaDogbossKing]

3 hours ago, Dario said:

 

Hi, I just called the 3BB Service Center and explained my situation. Here is what I have been told: If you want International Internet for streaming, we only have one option and that is fiber optic cable with 200 MB down  and that costs you 1'498 Baht/month. So, you guys all have 200 MB down? I sincerely doubt that.

Dario I have AIS Super Fibre 200/100, however i can only get that speed in Thailand, my international speed test results show between 80-100 download and 40-50 upload. But as i explained to you before the latency speed is the most important element for streaming, if you have high latency speed then you will get buffering no matter what your download capability.

[Dario]

50 minutes ago, SirBuwanaDogbossKing said:

Dario I have AIS Super Fibre 200/100, however i can only get that speed in Thailand, my international speed test results show between 80-100 download and 40-50 upload. But as i explained to you before the latency speed is the most important element for streaming, if you have high latency speed then you will get buffering no matter what your download capability.

 

Thanks. Where can I see how much latency I have?

Edited January 23, 2018 by Dario

[janclaes47]

1 hour ago, Dario said:

 

Thanks. Where can I see how much latency I have?

You need to create a free account with testmy.net then it shows the latency in the top right corner.

 

between 200 and 250ms to London is normal.

 

[SirBuwanaDogbossKing]

1 hour ago, Dario said:

 

Thanks. Where can I see how much latency I have?

https://www.nperf.com/en/

This site is independent with no influence by any of the Thai ISP's 

[Dario]

7 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

You need to create a free account with testmy.net then it shows the latency in the top right corner.

 

between 200 and 250ms to London is normal.

 

 

Thank you. I just made the test after registering. Result down 8.9 MB/s, latency 213 ms. Latency seems to be OK. Anyway 8.5 MB is too low for streaming. Provider Farangbox states minimum should be 16 MB/s.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2018 by Dario

[SirBuwanaDogbossKing]

11 hours ago, Dario said:

 

Thank you. I just made the test after registering. Result down 8.9 MB/s, latency 213 ms. Latency seems to be OK. Anyway 8.5 MB is too low for streaming. Provider Farangbox states minimum should be 16 MB/s.

 

 

You only need 16Mbps for HD streaming, 6Mbps is fine for SD

[janclaes47]

47 minutes ago, SirBuwanaDogbossKing said:

You only need 16Mbps for HD streaming, 6Mbps is fine for SD

Don't know where you get it that you need 16Mb for HD streaming, but isn't that the same number Farangbox recommends, which you have been defending all along here? Wink wink nod nod.

 

Half of that 16Mbps is plenty for HD streaming.

 

https://www.lifewire.com/internet-speed-requirements-for-movie-viewing-1847401

 

Oh and by the way, since you consider Nperf a credible speedtest, take a look here. It get an even higher speed to UK as the package the TV member pays for. There are more examples from the fake results of Nperf in that thread.

 

 

[SirBuwanaDogbossKing]

4 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

Don't know where you get it that you need 16Mb for HD streaming, but isn't that the same number Farangbox recommends, which you have been defending all along here? Wink wink nod nod.

 

Half of that 16Mbps is plenty for HD streaming.

 

https://www.lifewire.com/internet-speed-requirements-for-movie-viewing-1847401

 

Oh and by the way, since you consider Nperf a credible speedtest, take a look here. It get an even higher speed to UK as the package the TV member pays for. There are more examples from the fake results of Nperf in that thread.

 

 

Not defending anything, just telling it as it is. Depends on quality of HD resolution I have Mag 265 set at 1980x1080 which requires ideally 16Mbps you're obviously running at much lower resolution probably 720p. As for nperf I would not take seriously any comments that are posted on TV saying its results are fake, but rather take note of specialist website recommendations. Try doing some research rather than just following the pack on here.

[janclaes47]

1 hour ago, SirBuwanaDogbossKing said:

Not defending anything, just telling it as it is. Depends on quality of HD resolution I have Mag 265 set at 1980x1080 which requires ideally 16Mbps you're obviously running at much lower resolution probably 720p. As for nperf I would not take seriously any comments that are posted on TV saying its results are fake, but rather take note of specialist website recommendations. Try doing some research rather than just following the pack on here.

 

 

I don't talk about people on Thaivisa, I had the 3BB technicians at my house using the Nperf website to show me that everything was fine with my connection, and indeed they managed test results of 150 Mbps to the 3BB server in Bangkok.

 

Only thing is that I have a 30Mb VDSL package, and that the maximum capacity of copper wire is around 100 Mbps.

 

You obviously obviously also didn't read the link I posted, which notes the  speeds for video streams of different resolutions as recommended by the big streaming companies, or do you think there are 2 different kinds of 1080P?

 

 

Minimum Speed Recommendations for Streaming Movies

In order to have smooth standard definition video, it's usually recommended to have a connection that is more than 2 Mb/s. For HD, 3D, or 4K, that speed is much higher. It's also different depending on the service that's dishing out the videos.

Netflix:

• 1 Mb/s for viewing standard definition on a laptop computer. While you can stream Netflix at speeds of 1 Mb/s, the quality will be grainy on a large screen, much like watching an old VHS movie
• 2 Mb/s for viewing standard definition video (480p) on a TV
• 4 Mb/s for viewing high-def video (720p, 1080p)
• 5 Mb/s or more for the best audio and video experience
• 15 Mb/s for 4K streaming (but 25mb/s is preferred). Also recommended is a 4K Ultra TV with an HEVC decoder

 

[BelieveMe]

Don't buy this Farangbox.  It doesn't work.  You won't be able to complete a movie because it will freeze.  There are a lot of buffering and a lot of broken channels.  The trial is good but once the subscription paid, it is bad. Waste of money.

[Bowring]

A huge package of over 5000 world channels (not all of them actually working, a number with buffering issues no matter how powerful your network) an loads of VOD ruined by scammers. This Hong Kong based "company" is quick to cash in and activate your subscription but goes AWOL for any customer service requests. If you have a subscription but it's not working properly or you want to change your plan they do not care. They only reappear if you buy a new package (even if your original subscription is still running but not working)

[somo]

I think this discussion has been about using andriod boxes. I have got one and use HDprime which is ok but not fully reliable but like the fact that you can watch on their website too without a box so handy for when away in hotels etc.

From what I understand the linux ones like MAG 254 and 256 give much better viewing.

Altogether different experience??  Anyone got one of those and know where to buy them in Thailand?

They cost about 70 quid in UK but there may be a customs problem importing one.