I Hate Tt&t

[monty]

DrNaam,

Looks like you are on the distance limit for fast ADSL.

In short, attenuation should be below 65db (the lower the better) and the noise margin should be stable and over 12db(the higher the better)...

The noise margin is the most important, it indicates how good your modem can distinguish between the actual adsl signal, and the noise which gets picked up along your phone line. A faulty high tension transformer somewhere can render your ADSL completely useless for example!

The higher the speed, the lower the noise margin will drop (at higher speeds/frequencies, the real signal gets harder to distinguish from the noise), this is the reason why the numbers on the upstream are always better as the upstream is half the speed of the downstream!

So a very good upload speed is not always a guarantee for your phoneline to give a good download speed.

With your line quality it definitely would be a waste of money to try the faster package since your modem never is going to sync at a speed that high on your phoneline...

My guess is that your slow speeds at 4am are a result of to low a noise margin (the 13db is cutting it real close), which can be caused by cold/condensation during the colder pre-dawn hours...

Some modem/routers are better with iffy phone lines, my D-link is pretty good giving stable speeds with los noise margins, sometimes as low as 6db!

[Naam]

So a very good upload speed is not always a guarantee for your phoneline to give a good download speed.

With your line quality it definitely would be a waste of money to try the faster package since your modem never is going to sync at a speed that high on your phoneline...

My guess is that your slow speeds at 4am are a result of to low a noise margin (the 13db is cutting it real close), which can be caused by cold/condensation during the colder pre-dawn hours...

Some modem/routers are better with iffy phone lines, my D-link is pretty good giving stable speeds with los noise margins, sometimes as low as 6db!

thanks Monty! i didn't know that the data supplied by my modem/router can be used to diagnose my line quality.

as far as the modem is concerned i use a Zyxel P660H after lightning fried my Surecom several months ago. with the Zyxel i realized a considerably better performance.

would you advise that i buy a D-Link, if yes what exact model?

i think that a "cold/condensation" problem does exist in my case as exactly at 06.30 plus/minus 3 minutes my noise margin jumps from 13 to 22 (presently 18db).

[girlx]

In GirlsX's case, it more seems like a line problem. I don't know anybody on Maxnet where the service goes down for more then an hour or so on a regular base.

it's not my line, they tested it once when they came out and it is fine. it is their servers/phone lines. almost always when i lose ADSL i lose my phone as well. it does happen at least once or twice a week- SBK if it isn't happening to you in ban khai then perhaps it has something to do with the lines on the route to my side of the island. very frustrating.

PS I called to ask if I could upgrade to the Premier package and got the same "a technician will call you back". The technicians do not speak English- argh, and shouldn't their main call center be able to upgrade? I am fed up with their lack of service.

Edited March 26, 2007 by girlx

[girlx]

because my business is on the internet I have a GPRS backup - you can get it from AIS prepaid 350 Baht for 100h/month, less for fewer hours - I sometimes use GPRS all day when in an area without DSL

Sorry, I am stupid about this sort of stuff, but are you talking about using your mobile phone as a modem? How does this work? Is it fast enough to bother with?

[monty]

Girlx, your problem is with TT&T (the phoneline provider), not with Maxnet, the ISP!

BTW, your "line" and "phoneline" are one and the same, provided by TT&T.

If your phone doesn't work, you've got a line problem, and when their engineers come out and check your "line" at a time when that's happening your line won't check out at all.

My guess is that you better complain to TT&T about your phoneline dropping out, making you unable to place phonecalls.

When they can solve that problem, your internet connectivity will be solved as well...

As long as TT&T doesn't get your phone to work properly (not drop out) your internet won't work properly either.

Changing to another ISP won't work since it'll still have to come through your faulty phoneline!

GPRS indeed comes through a mobile phone used as a modem, or you can use a dedicated gprs modem in which you put your simcard.

It's not fast, but as back up to shoot of that all important e-mail it'll work.

I'm not sure if you have Edge (faster version of gprs) on the island.

[chevykanteve]

Other than not being able to download P2P files with my TT&T-provided router --a minor problem-- I for one DO NOT hate TT&T. I have subscribed to 1,000 K ADSL speed for about a year now at my home in Roi-et Province. Most of the time I've gotten speeds of at least 600+ and often 800+. The few times I've had speed and/or connection problems, the issues have always been resolved rather quickly via the 1103 TT&T toll free number. But I should add that I can speak Thai, which probably helps. Anyhow, I am in my opinion getting what I'm paying for from those people.

[jackr]

...checking my router i saw indeed a "124...." IP and i am sure the chap who installed my connection told me that my IP is static...

Well, as a matter of fact, I just happened to remember where I stuffed TT&T's Maxnet brochure and dug it up and checked the Maxnet 4 Life feature parameters. I can confirm that you indeed have a dynamically-assigned IP.

The static IP offering (Maxnet 4 Biz) for that speed is a whopping 13,000B/mo! Big difference. Yes, it is a little different in that it's a symmetric connection (512/512), but still a joke as far as speed is concerned in the modern world. And definitely way overpriced by current western standards (in fact, I believe T1 lines are going for even less than that in the States right now...).

IMO, for home users, there is NO difference between the Maxnet 4 Home and the Maxnet 4 Life offerings except the price. It certainly isn't bandwidth.

If you are the only one using the account, you might as well revert back to Maxnet 4 Home at the same speed and save yourself some money. They are ripping you and others off with this phony Maxnet 4 Life deal, advertising it as if it were something faster when it is not. They're charging more for it because you agree upfront that you will be downloading more and can get you to agree to pay more. The reality is you get the same speed! Period.

Heck, I regularly download a total of 1 GByte (or more) per day and they haven't asked me to "upgrade" to Maxnet 4 Life. Unlimited is unlimited, regardless of account type.

The only other option is the one next up the line from Maxnet 4 Life called Maxnet 4 SME, but, again, it is dynamically assigned and, for the same speed, it is more than twice as much as what you are paying now (5400B/mo). IMO, A further insult.

Granted, maybe they allot slightly more bandwidth with the more expensive offerings, but judging from all the complaints I've heard both here and on other expat discussion boards, they're probably lying. They're working with a limited amount of bandwidth to begin with (it's a Thailand-specific issue) and probably "cut corners" all the time...

Caveat emptor!

It has to be said that while the advertised speeds will be the same between various packages, the contention ratio for the pricier packages will almost certainly be lower... ie, less customers sharing bandwidth at exchange. Ask to see this information before signing for a different package.

[girlx]

hey all, wanted to come back on here and post that since i upgraded to a tt&t premier account my system is more dependable and a consistent speed. hopefully it will stay like that!!!!

[kevc]

My recommendation would be to switch to another provider. You have obviously tried all you could with the TT&T, they can't help you. Another provider won't be any worse. I have a feeling that the more expensive lines also get better service. I have GoldCyber, 1000 bht/month and TOT service was generally pretty good. The phone reps - of course - will talk you through some stuff like turning on/off the modem, but if you have already done it, just say, yeah, did that. In my experience, whenever I had a problem, it was never my modem - it was always something on TOTs end. But the customer reps have to follow the protocol. One reason is that some DSL routers really are CRAP, and don't work...

We have also upgraded to goldcyber and so far no real problems and of course we do not use their router as we were told they were rubbish, one thing to consider is when we got goldcyber in it didn't work well TOT came out and said the problem was with the computer so we got a Pantip guy in to clean the drive and re install since then no problems. I read on another thread that if you have a dodgy copy of Windows and try to install the on line upgrades they send back something that fouls up your computer, maybe this might be causing some of the problems everyone seems to be having as once ours was cleaned we've had no problems, needless to say I never click on the on line upgrades now.

[Naam]

hey all, wanted to come back on here and post that since i upgraded to a tt&t premier account my system is more dependable and a consistent speed. hopefully it will stay like that!!!!

that's what i did 10 days ago and my service is