3BB Hua Hin

[Lancelot01]

I have subscribed to the 3BB 30 / 10 broadband  for over a year now and in the past few months I have noticed a huge slowing down of the speeds that I was expecting.

In the past few weeks I have had average download speeds of 4.58 and upload speeds of 1.98 even when there is only one device connected i.e tablet, phone or TV. 

I spoke with 3BB via their 1530 help line and after one week the engineer arrived today. He asked me the whereabouts of the 'box' tower I wasn't sure but as the wiring was installed by 3BB last year they should know. After a brief chat and a call to the office in Hua Hin it transpires that my house is about one kilometre from the 'box' and I probably would never achieve the 30/10 speeds that I had subscribed to and possibly the recent slowness was due to new subscribers being added via the box.

The chap in the office said that I could upgrade to their 'faster' fibre optic connection which would require an additional B1,800 per annum and the new system could take up to two weeks to 'install'.

My questions to the TV learned members threefold and being a total novice in broadband connections are;

 

firstly is this a norm for broadband anywhere;

 

secondly is this just a scam to sell a more expensive product and

 

thirdly would it make much difference between fibre optic and the usual copper wire connection. 

 

Your wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

[Rimmer]

Moved to IT and computers for best advice

[RichardinHuaHin]

I can't find where you moved it to.  Shouldn't there be a link here to where the post was moved?  Anyways I moved from 3BB over a year ago as the speeds dropped too much.  Hard to get anyone here that knows anything of course.  Even True technicians do not know what "Ping" is.  Currently I have True and AIS fiber and switch to whatever is better on a given day.

[JKfarang]

I'm no expert but since you have not received any other replies I'll share my experience with 3BB in Hua Hin.  I also had a 3BB 30/10 annual subscription and started watching more internet based tv (primarily iflix) as I was getting fed up with Truevisions.  After failing to resolve consistent buffering problems I ran a speedtest and was only getting about 11mb download speed.  I then took a photo of my 3BB router (rental house with router install prior to my move in) and went to the 3BB shop at Blue Port.  They told me I needed to upgrade the router (at my cost of 700B) and needed to pick it up myself on Petchkasem Rd.  I did that and it only improved the download speed to 13mb.  They also told me at Blue Port that fiber was not available in my area.

 

Fortunately, my contract was up for renewal and I have a Thai gf so I decided to try G Internet (located north of downtown on the northbound side of Petchkasem Rd.).  It's the same company as G Cable, I believe they're only available in the Hua Hin area and my impression is they don't speak English (which is the only thing good about 3BB IMO).  However, G Internet does provide fiber in my area (soi 88), the annual cost is much cheaper than 3BB (7000B vs 12000B), the speed is consistently 50mb download, they come out to the house promptly when called and I've had no significant problems (at least until the flood 2 weeks ago).

 

Unfortunately, my post is probably only of any value if you have a Thai wife, gf or friend since I don't think they have many or any staff who understand English.  Hope this helps in some way.

 

[BigT73]

Hi mate,  what you have been told from the phone company is correct,  the longer the phone cable from the connection the more noise or degradation in the connection.  Fibre optic doesnt suffer this issue and will give you a stable faster connection.   3bb have 'inter' packages for international broadband use and is faster.  These issues do happen in other countries too, its just a shame they dont check how far you live from the exchange before jumping in too sign you up and give you better advice initially,  I guess that would require proper training.

[portroyal]

I have 3bb fiber for Thb 1284/month

Today (as measured by speedtest),

download = 11,54

upload = 13,48

which is ok for video streaming

3BB works well generaly

For sure, when fiber is available, it’s much more efficient

[robcar]

I upgraded to 150/50 (with 3BB) a couple of months ago and am constantly hitting higher d/l speeds than 150mbps.

http://beta.speedtest.net/result/6842904775 I live in Hua Hin on Soi 88 so no complaints here with speeds. Not sure how far away my 'Box' is though.

 

My complaint at the moment is that I am still waiting to be refunded for my old modem which they said would take 2 months (WHY?) but has so far not happened. I feel a trip to the office coming on next week.

 

[paul406]

JKfarang
Could you please give more detail as to the location of G Cable?
Near what intersecting soi?

Any landmarks nearby?
I will becoming to Hua Hin in about a week and I am interested in switching from 3BB if I can get the results you have been getting.
Thank you
Paul

[Autonuaq]

Not worry has nothing to do with you 3bb connection just 3bb has problems and blames the customer as they did in my cases.

 

There are people at 3bb willing to help you and with them we came far to a possible solution. Only not to the final solution due to the way billing acts and interacted.

 

We have the same problems with fibre optic as with vdsl or adsl.

Several different locations. All that same problems connection speed, drops and slow as you saym

 

The performance or stability issue is not in your connection

As well the sites unable to load also not in your connection or the problems with the credit card or bank.

 

3BB and Jasmine are aware of the problems for a about more then a year and  after deny they have seen the cause of the problems and if all is well they will have a solution i hope for you.

 

Due the the Thai law we are unable to complain in the media or tell what is going on. We are on Thailand and have to respect this.

[tweedledee2]

 

 

I have had 3BB for 18 months, I live about 10 km NE of Surin and about 1-1/2 km from the nearest village. They strung the cable from the village to my home and completed my connection. Total was1500 baht deposit for the router and the first month's fee. This was the original 20/4, 590 baht package and I was the only subscriber in my area. About 6 months later, 3BB was offering a 30/10 package for the same price. I called 1530 and spoke with tech support about being upgraded. He brought up my account on his computer, input some data, told me to turn off and unplug the router. wait 15 minutes and turn it back on. I ran Speedtest and it displayed 30.3/6.5. About 1 month later, I started experiencing an occasional dropped connection, which became more frequent over time. I would call 1530 to report the problem, a local tech would come, use his test equipment and tell me internet good. Next time out, they replaced the LAN cable to my gaming console, thinking it could be the problem, but couldn't comprehend that my laptop was wireless. Next time, too many devices using the wireless connection, which didn't make sense because it also occurred with only one in use. Eventually, they replaced the router but a few days later the problem returned. All along I had suspected and suggested that there could be something wrong with the cable, but was always told "cable good". So I started recording the times it would drop the connection, I then called 1530. I voiced my dissatisfaction over the continuing problem not being resolved and told them I believed the cable is bad. Two days later in mid-Oct, they replaced the cable from the village to my home. That has fixed the problem and my speeds are better than before, over 33 down and 13 up. My advice is to be persistent in having your issue fixed and don't accept anything less. 

[BigT73]

8 hours ago, robcar said:

I upgraded to 150/50 (with 3BB) a couple of months ago and am constantly hitting higher d/l speeds than 150mbps.

http://beta.speedtest.net/result/6842904775 I live in Hua Hin on Soi 88 so no complaints here with speeds. Not sure how far away my 'Box' is though.

You have fiber it wont degrade in quality as adsl/vdsl, so your distance from the box is irrelevant.

[HHTel]

I've had 3BB for many years and in general it's been okay.  Upgraded a year or two ago to 30/10 at no extra cost and worked well.  However, in the last few months I experienced some instability which required turning off the router which fixed the problem for a short time.  The engineers that came were hilarious.  When I pointed out that it's fine in the daytime (they only visit in daylight) but late at night it becomes unusable.  "That's because it's hot in the day but doesn't work very well when it's cold!!".  I half expected him to tell me that the signal can't find it's way in the dark.

However, I upgraded to 150/50 with a free router.  It took most of the day and 5 engineers to lay half a kilometre of cable.  I now get around 130 down and around 60 up which is fine for a cost of 800 baht.

I've always had good response from local engineers.  A call to 1530 usually results in an engineer visit the same day or the day following.

In general, I'm quite happy with the service.

I live in Hua Hin by the way.

Edited December 4, 2017 by HHTel
Addition

[Lancelot01]

5 hours ago, HHTel said:

I've had 3BB for many years and in general it's been okay.  Upgraded a year or two ago to 30/10 at no extra cost and worked well.  However, in the last few months I experienced some instability which required turning off the router which fixed the problem for a short time.  The engineers that came were hilarious.  When I pointed out that it's fine in the daytime (they only visit in daylight) but late at night it becomes unusable.  "That's because it's hot in the day but doesn't work very well when it's cold!!".  I half expected him to tell me that the signal can't find it's way in the dark.

However, I upgraded to 150/50 with a free router.  It took most of the day and 5 engineers to lay half a kilometre of cable.  I now get around 130 down and around 60 up which is fine for a cost of 800 baht.

I've always had good response from local engineers.  A call to 1530 usually results in an engineer visit the same day or the day following.

In general, I'm quite happy with the service.

I live in Hua Hin by the way.

Many thanks for this info. I too have had to take the 'upgrade' however, I still feel cheated as somebody at 3BB should have told me how dismal the signal would be when the engineers came to install it in the first place.

[tweedledee2]

Was your internet any better before the upgrade?  Here is why I ask. Back in the US, I have internet with AT&T. It was originally broadband (mid-teens download) and worked fine. But 2 years ago I was forced to subscribe to AT&T Uverse, which combines your phone and internet service through a modem with Dish Network optional.  The package they set-up gave me a download of 25mbs. It worked fine for 2 days, but then I started having dropped connections which left me with no internet or phone service. After about the 3rd time in as many hours, I reported it to customer service who scheduled a tech to come the next day. The tech that showed up and after using his test equipment found nothing wrong but did installed a different brand modem. That night the dropped signal again. Next day different tech arrived who found nothing wrong but did replace the cable from the Uverse junction box (60 feet away) to my house. That night same-same. Next day a third tech came. He asked me a few question then connected my cable to a piece of test equipment. After about 30 seconds he told me the dropped signal was because the speed I was set-up for could only be pushed through about 4,500 feet of cable and my cable connection was over 6,000 feet. The remedy was to lower my internet speed to below 20mbs. This fixed my internet issue. Having this previous experience is why I thought the cable was why my internet signal started dropping after the speed was changed from 20/4 to 30/10. That could be why your internet is slow. There are different cable grades and specs used for installations and 3BB can upgrade the cable and fix your issue, but it's all about money.

[Lancelot01]

On 04/12/2017 at 5:36 PM, tweedledee2 said:

Was your internet any better before the upgrade?  Here is why I ask. Back in the US, I have internet with AT&T. It was originally broadband (mid-teens download) and worked fine. But 2 years ago I was forced to subscribe to AT&T Uverse, which combines your phone and internet service through a modem with Dish Network optional.  The package they set-up gave me a download of 25mbs. It worked fine for 2 days, but then I started having dropped connections which left me with no internet or phone service. After about the 3rd time in as many hours, I reported it to customer service who scheduled a tech to come the next day. The tech that showed up and after using his test equipment found nothing wrong but did installed a different brand modem. That night the dropped signal again. Next day different tech arrived who found nothing wrong but did replace the cable from the Uverse junction box (60 feet away) to my house. That night same-same. Next day a third tech came. He asked me a few question then connected my cable to a piece of test equipment. After about 30 seconds he told me the dropped signal was because the speed I was set-up for could only be pushed through about 4,500 feet of cable and my cable connection was over 6,000 feet. The remedy was to lower my internet speed to below 20mbs. This fixed my internet issue. Having this previous experience is why I thought the cable was why my internet signal started dropping after the speed was changed from 20/4 to 30/10. That could be why your internet is slow. There are different cable grades and specs used for installations and 3BB can upgrade the cable and fix your issue, but it's all about money.

It was ironic that within an hour or so of contracting to the fibre optic service the (very slow speed) more than doubled for both the download and the upload.