3BB VDSL to Fibre - Worth It?

[Will27]

Gang

 

We currently have 3BB VDSL, with speeds of 50/3 for about 590 per month.

Been on it for about 18 months now.

 

It's been a huge improvement from TOT Wi-net where we lost the signal quite often.

 

The wife got a phone call yesterday saying they (3BB) were coming out to the village next week to install fibre.

I'm not sure if this means we automatically get it or have to apply for it.

 

The rates for fibre are  100/30 700 Baht

                                        150/50 900 Baht &

                                        200/100 1200 Baht.

 

The cost isn't a huge issue, I'm just after reliability really.

 

The questions are, will I be able to stay on my current VDSL or will I automatically get put on fibre?

Or, would I be better off just going for a 700 or 900 fibre package?

 

I use the net mainly to download and stream sports from Australia.

 

Thanks in advance.

[speedtripler]

Fibre all the way

It's like moving from a spinning hdd 

To an ssd..... 

[RichCor]

On 1/31/2018 at 2:52 PM, Will27 said:

The questions are, will I be able to stay on my current VDSL or will I automatically get put on fibre?

Or, would I be better off just going for a 700 or 900 fibre package?

 

Since the difference is 'copper' vs 'fiber' it requires running a new drop-cable from the connection on the pole so most likely only offered if you want to switch (and renew your minimum contract).

 

While I find 'fiber' more reliable over 'copper', the VDSL copper run is usually a very short 0.5 - 1.0 km (1,600 - 3,300 ft) drop line to a subscriber concentration point usually backhauled already by Fiber. So at the slower speeds, <75Mb, VDSL is very reliable and similar to what gets delivered by Fiber.

 

They'll probably serve both for a while, slower connections via VDSL and higher speed connections reserved for Fiber.

[Will27]

15 hours ago, RichCor said:

 

Since the difference is 'copper' vs 'fiber' it requires running a new drop-cable from the connection on the pole so most likely only offered if you want to switch (and renew your minimum contract).

 

While I find 'fiber' more reliable over 'copper', the VDSL copper run is usually a very short 0.5 - 1.0 km (1,600 - 3,300 ft) drop line to a subscriber concentration point usually backhauled already by Fiber. So at the slower speeds, <75Mb, VDSL is very reliable and similar to what gets delivered by Fiber.

 

They'll probably serve both for a while, slower connections via VDSL and higher speed connections reserved for Fiber.

Thanks for that.

 

Sometimes I get a bit of buffering when I stream from Australia.

Do you think fibre would alleviate that or is it something you can't really answer?

[speedtripler]

1 hour ago, Will27 said:

Thanks for that.

 

Sometimes I get a bit of buffering when I stream from Australia.

Do you think fibre would alleviate that or is it something you can't really answer?

It definitely wouldn't hurt..... Depends where the bottleneck is exactly.... 

 

But generally all popular content will work better over fibre because some have servers in Singapore and hk 

[Jeffrey346]

3BB will not automatically switch you to Fibre, you need to request the change.

IMO Fibre is the way to go. Last month 3BB changed my Router to their new model  AN 5506-04-DG as I complained about poor speed. The new router is a huge improvement. If you do opt for Fibre, make sure they give you the new router. The new router is white and the old is black in color.

[1337markus]

I have 3BB fibre at CNX, 200/100 is brilliant. Speed test often shows 240Mb download speeds.

[twizzian]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey346 said:

3BB will not automatically switch you to Fibre, you need to request the change.

IMO Fibre is the way to go. Last month 3BB changed my Router to their new model  AN 5506-04-DG as I complained about poor speed. The new router is a huge improvement. If you do opt for Fibre, make sure they give you the new router. The new router is white and the old is black in color.

 

That’s worth noting regarding the Router as we are changing/upgrading to the 3BB fibre next week.

Thanks for the tip

[johnjohn2]

You wont regret it. I had True ADSL before. Horrible speeds and disconnects. Im on 3bb fibre now and its was a dramatic difference. Download speeds are great and have not had any issues for about a year and a half now. 

[tweedledee2]

3 hours ago, Will27 said:

Thanks for that.

 

Sometimes I get a bit of buffering when I stream from Australia.

Do you think fibre would alleviate that or is it something you can't really answer?

1

I live in a rural area about 10 km NE of Surin. I have had 3BB internet since June 2016, originally 20/4 speed which was upgraded to 30/10 in April 2017. I consistently get Speedtests of 32+/ 11+ and stream video from the US daily and the UK several times a week. I stream my content by way of a HP laptop with an I-7 processor, 12GB memory and Nvidia graphics card. It is quite possible, that your buffering issue may be the result of something else and not your current 3BB speeds and upgrading may not make any difference. 

[natway09]

Sometimes the buffering has nothing to do with your speed but is the overloaded or inferior 

servers some providers use

[speedtripler]

2 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

I live in a rural area about 10 km NE of Surin. I have had 3BB internet since June 2016, originally 20/4 speed which was upgraded to 30/10 in April 2017. I consistently get Speedtests of 32+/ 11+ and stream video from the US daily and the UK several times a week. I stream my content by way of a HP laptop with an I-7 processor, 12GB memory and Nvidia graphics card. It is quite possible, that your buffering issue may be the result of something else and not your current 3BB speeds and upgrading may not make any difference. 

If you can steam local media sources and the buffering only happens on the Australian football stream then it's unlikely to be a hardware problem on your side.... 

But it you have fibre all your other stuff so be faster as well for an the devices on your home network , there isn't really any downside and the costs are very reasonable thesedays, almost the same as adsl/vdsl 

[metisdead]

A post using ALL CAPS has been removed, please turn off your Caps Lock when posting. 

[Tapster]

Fibre is the waaaay!!!

I changed from 3BB VDSL to 100/30 fibre last year and it's amazing! I still grin at the speed.

 

Last week I was downloading at 10MBps.....................that's megabytes per second!!!

 

It's very well worth doing. The fastest I've seen (bear in mind I'm on 100/30) is 180/100.

 

The service is very stable and it's really a no-brainer.

 

If you can easily afford to go higher than 100/30, it will probably be even more amazing.

 

I was in Edinburgh for Christmas and the internet speed was a total downer at 60mbps!!!

 

 

 

 

[Will27]

I don't know anything about routers.

 

Currently have a Huawei HG630 v2.

Would this be sufficient for fibre?

[Tapster]

I went into the router issue in great detail as soon as I decided to get fibre.

 

The router supplied with the 3BB installation is a wireless modem-router. The fibre plugs into the router and there are ethernet sockets on the back to distribute the internet via hardwiring. Also there's a wireless option for internet access. The wireless on this router is the slower 2.4G band, as is your current modem, making it less than optimal.

 

I think that to use fibre to the max you need a dual-band router (2.4G and 5G) allowing greater internet speeds to your devices.

 

You use a network cable to take internet access from the modem-router to your new wireless router and then the new router can provide the fastest speed available, bypassing the slower wireless network of the modem-router.

 

The article below explains the speeds.

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/222249/whats-the-difference-between-2.4-ghz-and-5-ghz-wi-fi-and-which-should-you-use/

 

In a nutshell, the best router for cost/performance at the time I changed, six months ago, was the TP-LINK "Archer C9" Dual-Band router.

It is an "AC1900" class router (very fast) and is pretty much the cheapest in its class while being very reliable. Twelve thousand reviews on Amazon give it a overall total of 4 stars.

 

I got mine from Invade IT in Hua Hin. http://www.invadeit.co.th/ 

These guys are very clued up with everything tech, and I have had consistently great customer service from them.

 

Getting such a router will give you a larger area of effective wireless service in your home, it'll be faster than the 3BB modem so long as your devices support 5G (anything from the last 2 or three years will) and you will have three wireless networks to choose from, in case that becomes an issue: your 3BB modem is one network and the 2.4G and 2G bands from the new router are separate networks (though obviously both of these will be affected if there's a problem with the dual-band router).

 

 

Edited February 4, 2018 by Tapster

[RichCor]

9 hours ago, Will27 said:

I don't know anything about routers.

 

Currently have a Huawei HG630 v2.

Would this be sufficient for fibre?

No. Sorry. 

"Internet" can be delivered using several conveyance mediums using different signaling technologies, using different physical connector types:

 

Copper Pairs (multiplex over POTS: Plain Old Telephone Service, or multiple twisted pair wiring)

Coaxial Cable (cable tv + internet)

Fiber Optic (special glass tube)

Wireless

Satellite

Point-to-Point radio or microwave relay

Mobile Broadband 3G/4G/5G/LTE 

via Mobile Phone

via AirCard or 3G/4G/LTE via WiFi Hotspot

ISP multiple-location fixed WiFi Hotspots as a subscription service

 

Signaling Technologies

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
Leased lines

ATM and Frame Relay

DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification)
xDSL (Digital Subscriber Line: DSL, ADSL, SDSL, and VDSL)
FTTx (Fiber to the Home, Curb, 
Power-line Internet
 

These are all different techniques and technologies that require their own specific hardware.

 

There are even times when two services use the same type of technology in their equipment but you still have to swap it out for the same or compatible 'branded' equipment due to the way they 'authenticates' each valid subscriber on the network. This goes doubly when switching Internet Service Providers.

[Will27]

I've got a feeling that we've got no option to upgrade.

Maybe VDSL is going to be discontinued?

 

Team from 3BB arrived today and semi-installed lines

to out house. TBH, the line doesn't look that much different

from what we already have. For some reason, I imagined it would be a lot thicker.

 

They left a router Huawei EchoLife HG8145v and said someone would be around later

to connect it.

 

Left a contract saying modifying our package to from 50/20 to100/30 speed

and the router for 4672 Baht was no cost.

 

Will wait and see what happens when the new router is installed.

[speedtripler]

10 hours ago, Will27 said:

I've got a feeling that we've got no option to upgrade.

Maybe VDSL is going to be discontinued?

 

Team from 3BB arrived today and semi-installed lines

to out house. TBH, the line doesn't look that much different

from what we already have. For some reason, I imagined it would be a lot thicker.

 

They left a router Huawei EchoLife HG8145v and said someone would be around later

to connect it.

 

Left a contract saying modifying our package to from 50/20 to100/30 speed

and the router for 4672 Baht was no cost.

 

Will wait and see what happens when the new router is installed.

Fibre cable  on the main road will be thicker than the old phone cables but the one that goes into your router will fit into an ethernet port

 

 

[phuketrichard]

just signed up for ais fiber optic here in Phuket,  50/20 ais serenade customer pay 699 /month + 650 installation +free modem and Free ais playbox,,,http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/en/package_homeplus.html
they then sent me a sms saying that they would upgrade me to 100/40 for the same price and FREE installation

looking forwards to huge improvements over my BBB 30/10 speeds  :-) for only 99 baht more

[Will27]

On ‎5‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 1:22 PM, Will27 said:

I've got a feeling that we've got no option to upgrade.

Maybe VDSL is going to be discontinued?

 

Team from 3BB arrived today and semi-installed lines

to out house. TBH, the line doesn't look that much different

from what we already have. For some reason, I imagined it would be a lot thicker.

 

They left a router Huawei EchoLife HG8145v and said someone would be around later

to connect it.

 

Left a contract saying modifying our package to from 50/20 to100/30 speed

and the router for 4672 Baht was no cost.

 

Will wait and see what happens when the new router is installed.

Well gang, so far so good.

 

The 3BB crew came and installed the new router and cables.

A speed check last night and this morning has 130/30.

 

My VDSL speed was 65/20.

 

So, as long as it has the same reliability, I'll be happy.

 

Thanks to all who contributed.

[Jeffrey346]

On 2/3/2018 at 8:48 AM, Jeffrey346 said:

3BB will not automatically switch you to Fibre, you need to request the change.

IMO Fibre is the way to go. Last month 3BB changed my Router to their new model  AN 5506-04-DG as I complained about poor speed. The new router is a huge improvement. If you do opt for Fibre, make sure they give you the new router. The new router is white and the old is black in color.

UPDATE

 

3BB came by and upgraded my router the their new Huawei HG8145V  2.5 & 5G router.

Firstly, the router is quite large. 10.5" x 7" almost the size of a sheet of computer paper.

It has 4 gigabyte ports, a USB and Telco port. Most people will have no use for the later but it's there for those that have a use for them. 

The speed is outstanding. I have no buffering on my Nvidia Shield or my 2 Zidoo TV boxes.

If you are a 3BB Fibre customer, I highly suggest you get them to swap your modem..

[wgdanson]

On 2/3/2018 at 8:48 AM, Jeffrey346 said:

If you do opt for Fibre, make sure they give you the new router. The new router is white and the old is black in color.

They charged me Bht 1800 for a new fibre router, which is white the same as my ADSL one.

[Formaleins]

On 2/4/2018 at 11:06 AM, Tapster said:

I went into the router issue in great detail as soon as I decided to get fibre.

 

The router supplied with the 3BB installation is a wireless modem-router. The fibre plugs into the router and there are ethernet sockets on the back to distribute the internet via hardwiring. Also there's a wireless option for internet access. The wireless on this router is the slower 2.4G band, as is your current modem, making it less than optimal.

 

I think that to use fibre to the max you need a dual-band router (2.4G and 5G) allowing greater internet speeds to your devices.

 

You use a network cable to take internet access from the modem-router to your new wireless router and then the new router can provide the fastest speed available, bypassing the slower wireless network of the modem-router.

 

The article below explains the speeds.

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/222249/whats-the-difference-between-2.4-ghz-and-5-ghz-wi-fi-and-which-should-you-use/

 

In a nutshell, the best router for cost/performance at the time I changed, six months ago, was the TP-LINK "Archer C9" Dual-Band router.

It is an "AC1900" class router (very fast) and is pretty much the cheapest in its class while being very reliable. Twelve thousand reviews on Amazon give it a overall total of 4 stars.

 

I got mine from Invade IT in Hua Hin. http://www.invadeit.co.th/ 

These guys are very clued up with everything tech, and I have had consistently great customer service from them.

 

Getting such a router will give you a larger area of effective wireless service in your home, it'll be faster than the 3BB modem so long as your devices support 5G (anything from the last 2 or three years will) and you will have three wireless networks to choose from, in case that becomes an issue: your 3BB modem is one network and the 2.4G and 2G bands from the new router are separate networks (though obviously both of these will be affected if there's a problem with the dual-band router).

 

 

Got to go along with you on both points - you have to have the 5GHz. band to get the most out of it, and if you are in an area of high density wireless, there will be a lot less interference using the higher frequency, just remember to check out which channel to set it to as well as this will help.

I have to agree with you on Invadeit too, those guys are excellent. If you buy anything and have a problem they will go out of their way to sort it for you. I bought a WD 4GB "Black"  HDD a few weeks back, would you believe it, DEAD on arrival! - Invadeit had a new one shipped in to their office and trans shipped to me in about 4 days, which was really good considering  the faulty drive arrived late on a Friday evening.

[vogie]

We went 3BB fibre last week, I haven't noticed a lot/if any difference on my IPTV, but on Kodi I can get movies in better quality. 

We were on 3BB 50/?, for 700 + tax = 790baht, now with fibre 100/30 it is still the same price plus they gave us a 1000baht back on our old router, a no brainer really.

[Jeffrey346]

13 hours ago, wgdanson said:

They charged me Bht 1800 for a new fibre router, which is white the same as my ADSL one.

They just changed my router again. [2 months ago] The new one is white and the size of a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. Quite large. They have never charged me to change a router. Did they give you a reason for the charge?

Edited August 21, 2018 by Jeffrey346

[wgdanson]

20 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

They just changed my router again. [2 months ago] The new one is white and the size of a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. Quite large. They have never charged me to change a router. Did they give you a reason for the charge?

They said 'For new router'. I shall ask for refund on old one when they come. Cheers.

[johnjohn2]

I saw this thread yesterday and right after I emailed 3BB asking about the new router and how do I get one. A few hours later they replied that a tech would call to set up an appointment. They came today with the new router. Didnt charge me anything. I have to say the new router is much better than the black one. My range and speed is significantly better. The thing is pretty large. 

[4evermaat]

I was on Adsl for so long as if it aint broken, dont fix it. When they got rid of ASDL modems and went to VDSL (1.5-2 years ago??), the plans for adsl was maxed out at 20Mbps/2. Never upgraded to VDSL...But looks like now they only push the fiber plans.  

 

I saw a promotion at the local booth and did the FREE fiber upgrade.  They just switched it on yesterday 50/20, with a large Huawei HG8145V fiber modem.  Has 2.4Ghz + 5Ghz dual band frequencies and they set up both.  Impressed that they've done away with the garbage modems and just give you a high quality one up front. 

 

WOW.  The speed difference is fantastic.  Even on the 2.4G band (caps out at 50Mbps down), it is pretty good. Not regretting it yet. 

 

Seems like they are letting me test 100/30....although internationally, i doubt the real world speeds will go over that. But you can get 200 or 300/100 plan for 1200baht or so. 

 

Q: the Huawei HG8145V doesnt come with any antennas.  Can you buy any? 

 

Signal range is pretty good, but an antenna may boost the signal a few meters.