3BB versus Ais

[Captor]

Hi,

We have True fiber 200/200 internet and TV box in Nong Khaem (Bangkok) close to the Thairung factory. We did constantly having problem for the last 2 years with blurry and freezing picture and also lately sometimes bad sound when using video Skype. We have called them many times and they have fixed something that lasted 2-3 weeks and then back to the same not so good connection again. I understand there is a long way to Europe and many thing can happen on the way but we would like to try to eliminate the bad connection that we have influence over and that would be the operator.

So we have been looking at 3BB and Ais. They have both almost the same price level. 3BB has 1000/500 and Ais has 500/200 for very similar price. 3BB is the obvious choice here. But is it that really? Sometimes a certain operator can be very bad in a certain area and opposite. So I wonder if someone have an idea what should be the best/safe option here in Nong Khaem?  And what about all over Thailand which one has the best reputation of this two?

[pineapple01]

3BB for me,1000/500 works well

[dimitriv]

19 minutes ago, Captor said:

3BB has 1000/500 and Ais has 500/200 for very similar price. 3BB is the obvious choice here.

 

3BB is better because they offer double the speed for the same price ?

 

I have AIS 50/20 in Bangkok. I use voip for business calls to NL. Sound quality is great, I notice no difference compared to being in NL myself. Skype calls to Europe are perfect. I stream television from NL, it looks great.

 

The most important question is if your provider has 1 or 2 mbit on an international connection for you if you want to make a call. That is all you need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Captor]

19 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

3BB for me,1000/500 works well

Are you in that area as well?

[Captor]

8 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

 

3BB is better because they offer double the speed for the same price ?

 

I have AIS 50/20 in Bangkok. I use voip for business calls to NL. Sound quality is great, I notice no difference compared to being in NL myself. Skype calls to Europe are perfect. I stream television from NL, it looks great.

 

The most important question is if your provider has 1 or 2 mbit on an international connection for you if you want to make a call. That is all you need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds good. So it should be 2 Mbit then on the international connection? 1 is to little?

[dimitriv]

5 minutes ago, Captor said:

Sounds good. So it should be 2 Mbit then on the international connection? 1 is to little?

 

I googled. For voip calls: 

 

Does VoIP use a lot of bandwidth?

Typically, you will need anywhere from 85 - 100 Kbps per concurrent VoIP call. 

 

So with 1 mbit you can make 10 calls at the same time.

 

for skype:

 

Video calling (high-quality)400kbps / 400kbps

Video calling (HD)1.2Mbps / 1.2Mbps

 

You really do not need very much. But it is important that what you need is available 100% of the time, without interruptions.

 

 

[soi3eddie]

AIS in my Bangkok condo at 80/30 mbps never misses a beat with streaming Amazon, YouTube etc. I Skype call a lot to landlines and mobiles (have unlimited world package) as well as corporate VOIP app (RingCentral), also WhatsApp call and video. Never a problem. Also use AIS in a 4G router at 10/10 mbps when in Hua Hin and Buriram and that is always good too with all the above. I have friends on 3BB full fibre 300/100 in Hua Hin and Phetchaburi and they never have problems. No experience with True though.

[Captor]

16 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

 

I googled. For voip calls: 

 

Does VoIP use a lot of bandwidth?

Typically, you will need anywhere from 85 - 100 Kbps per concurrent VoIP call. 

 

So with 1 mbit you can make 10 calls at the same time.

 

for skype:

 

Video calling (high-quality)400kbps / 400kbps

Video calling (HD)1.2Mbps / 1.2Mbps

 

You really do not need very much. But it is important that what you need is available 100% of the time, without interruptions.

 

 

Dimitriv, very nice, thank you very much! I was not aware of this. Of course we always want to have the best quality when skyping so then maybe better aim high. We will call them both and ask what they have. 2 is a wish but if only having 1 that would be OK too.

[Captor]

6 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

AIS in my Bangkok condo at 80/30 mbps never misses a beat with streaming Amazon, YouTube etc. I Skype call a lot to landlines and mobiles (have unlimited world package) as well as corporate VOIP app (RingCentral), also WhatsApp call and video. Never a problem. Also use AIS in a 4G router at 10/10 mbps when in Hua Hin and Buriram and that is always good too with all the above. I have friends on 3BB full fibre 300/100 in Hua Hin and Phetchaburi and they never have problems. No experience with True though.

Thank you very much for the information, Eddie. Where are you located in Bangkok? I have noticed that Skype uses more bandwith. When Skype start to have "bad connection" then Line still work well. But I think I do not get the same quality video and sound as Skype. So because of that I prefer Skype. I hve never try Whatsapp or other app for videocall. Maybe worth a try.

[Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai]

Like soi3eddie no problems ever with Skype unless connection shows weak.

I used world unlimited package for 8 years now, when in Aust got it so my wife could call back for hours to Thailand. My speed there was only old adsl quite slow always worked.

At our house here in Chiang Mai we have 200/200 TOT works well if reaching router strong. Works fine on DTAC mobile data.

I have a Skype number in Adelaide so anyone in Australia can call for free these days with their national phone plans.

Sounds like not speed problem but poor router connection.

 

 

 

[Susco]

26 minutes ago, Captor said:

Dimitriv, very nice, thank you very much! I was not aware of this. Of course we always want to have the best quality when skyping so then maybe better aim high. We will call them both and ask what they have. 2 is a wish but if only having 1 that would be OK too.

 

You do realize that 2 Mbps is 0.2% of the 1 Gigabit package 3bb delivers?

 

However your international speeds will not be 1 Gigabit, they most likely will be 20 fold of the 2 Mbps

 

And therefore, I suspect that your issues are not with your provider, but with your device instead,  as in the last 20 years I have not known of any isp that doesn't deliver 2Mbps to the other end of the world

Edited May 12, 2020 by Susco

[Solinvictus]

Personally, I think TRUE-Thailand sucks. But hey, I'm not into HBO, or the 'football.'  Kinda interested in HBO.

 

3BB has much better serivce IMO. They seem to be a bit cheaper also.

 

Notice how TRUE always mentions doing a 'survey' but theres not much change...yeah..

Edited May 12, 2020 by Solinvictus

[Captor]

7 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

You do realize that 2 Mbps is 0.2% of the 1 Gigabit package 3bb delivers?

 

However your international speeds will not be 1 Gigabit, they most likely will be 20 fold of the 2 Mbps

 

And therefore, I suspect that your issues are not with your provider, but with your device instead,  as in the last 20 years I have not known of any isp that doesn't deliver 2Mbps to the other end of the world

Yes I am aware of that and actually I wonder if the 1000 Mbit they deliver is that for real? I have seen many times that in real life it can be much less than stated. Same in Europe.

 

We have tried several phones and 2 PC's and 2 routers so I don't know feels more like the device from the isp?

[Captor]

1 minute ago, Solinvictus said:

Personally, I think TRUE-Thailand sucks. But hey, I'm not into HBO, or the 'football.'  Kinda interested in HBO.

 

3BB has much better serivce IMO. They seem to be a bit cheaper also.

 

Notice how TRUE always mentions doing a 'survey' but theres not much change...yeah..

I see, OK good to know. I always hear from my wife that 3BB is the most expensive. Which was not true this time when checking price. The service is important too!

[Susco]

17 minutes ago, Captor said:

Yes I am aware of that and actually I wonder if the 1000 Mbit they deliver is that for real? I have seen many times that in real life it can be much less than stated. Same in Europe.

 

We have tried several phones and 2 PC's and 2 routers so I don't know feels more like the device from the isp?

 

You may not get 1000 Mbps, and you will for sure not get it international, but 2 Mbps is a big difference from 1000Mbps.

 

If you tried several phones, that mean you must have been able to use it on the 4G mobile network, which is unrelated to your home network.

 

If it also didn't work on the mobile network mean that there are other issues.

 

I hope you will report back after the switch.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Susco

[Captor]

29 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

You may not get 1000 Mbps, and you will for sure not get it international, but 2 Mbps is a big difference from 1000Mbps.

 

If you tried several phones, that mean you must have been able to use it on the 4G mobile network, which is unrelated to your home network.

 

If it also didn't work on the mobile network mean that there are other issues.

 

I hope you will report back after the switch.

When I said several phones I meant the wifi on the phones. Both 2,4 and 5 Ghz. I have not tried the mobile network because when In Thailand I do not have that and my wife as well. The fiber internet is there so we want to use that in order to save the money for a mobile network. I believe we have tried a Samsung tab as well. That was the reply to when you said there must be wrong with the device. So i mentioned that we have tried several devices and 2 phones among that devices. Others has been 2 PC's and the Tab with the 2 routers in the True network. The connecting link for all this devises has been True. So I think it is not about the device. I more think it is about True.

 

[dimitriv]

Problems with providers can also be very local. Where I lived before I also had AIS 50/20. I wanted 100 mbps but they said that it was not possible in that condo because the lines were old. Usually it worked ok, but on saterday and sunday (when a lot of people are at home and use internet) the connection was really bad. Even watching youtube was sometimes impossible without interuptions. I think the quality of the line in our soi to the condo building was just very bad and couldn't handle much traffic.

 

I moved to another condo and now everything is fine. Even in the weekend I have a very good connection.

 

 

[Captor]

2 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

Problems with providers can also be very local. Where I lived before I also had AIS 50/20. I wanted 100 mbps but they said that it was not possible in that condo because the lines were old. Usually it worked ok, but on saterday and sunday (when a lot of people are at home and use internet) the connection was really bad. Even watching youtube was sometimes impossible without interuptions. I think the quality of the line in our soi to the condo building was just very bad and couldn't handle much traffic.

 

I moved to another condo and now everything is fine. Even in the weekend I have a very good connection.

 

 

Yes I think so too. Or maybe the provider has to many "customers" for the net in that place. So it is tricky to pick the right provider. Nice to hear that you are in the right location for your provider.

[soi3eddie]

11 hours ago, Captor said:

Thank you very much for the information, Eddie. Where are you located in Bangkok? I have noticed that Skype uses more bandwith. When Skype start to have "bad connection" then Line still work well. But I think I do not get the same quality video and sound as Skype. So because of that I prefer Skype. I hve never try Whatsapp or other app for videocall. Maybe worth a try.

My condo is near BTS Sanampao and AIS installed fibre to the cabinet in the basement and then copper lines to the condo. AIS started this service in 2016 and I joined them then. My service is the VDSL (not fibre to the property). As Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai said it could be a router connection/problem. In my experience, the routers supplied by the ISPs are usually totally <deleted>. I always substitute a top spec modem router such at ASUS DSL-AC68U (RT-AC68U if routerr only) or Netgear Nighthawk or TP-Link (cheaper) which usually has more features, available settings and power/range.

Edited May 13, 2020 by soi3eddie

[KhunBENQ]

Dumb question:

do you use Skype video to the same partner in Europe or different ones in different countries?

Asking because the problem could well be on the other side.

I have 3BB 1000/500 and can do excellent video calls to German folks (although Germany is a developing country in terms of internet bandwidth).

If I call a friend in Jomtien with a terribly bad ToT connection it is close to impossible to do video.

 

Another approach could be using a VPN with server being in the target country.

[abrahamzvi]

I can't say anything as far as AIS is concerned, but I have nothing but praise for 3BB. The connection works fast and very well and when interruptions occur (due to storms etc) their service is absolutely first class and fast. I can highly recommend them.

[stouricks]

14 hours ago, Captor said:

Thank you very much for the information, Eddie. Where are you located in Bangkok? I have noticed that Skype uses more bandwith. When Skype start to have "bad connection" then Line still work well. But I think I do not get the same quality video and sound as Skype. So because of that I prefer Skype. I hve never try Whatsapp or other app for videocall. Maybe worth a try.

I just started using Google Duo for UK calls = perfect, better than Skype, Messenger, Whats App, Zoom.

[Captor]

4 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

My condo is near BTS Sanampao and AIS installed fibre to the cabinet in the basement and then copper lines to the condo. AIS started this service in 2016 and I joined them then. My service is the VDSL (not fibre to the property). As Bruce Aussie Chiang Mai said it could be a router connection/problem. In my experience, the routers supplied by the ISPs are usually totally <deleted>. I always substitute a top spec modem router such at ASUS DSL-AC68U (RT-AC68U if routerr only) or Netgear Nighthawk or TP-Link (cheaper) which usually has more features, available settings and power/range.

Yes, changing the router to a top router will be my next step if 3BB or Ais not work with the standard router that comes in the price for free. I myself use Asus and I have a AC68u at the moment. It start to get old now but it has always worked perfect. I have not tried Netgear ot TP but I think they are good as well. I have fiber to my home, to the building here in Sweden. But inside the building it is copper. I think it use to be that way. Copper inside the building.

But I still wonder which one of 3BB and AIS has the best reputation about having the fastest net in Thialand.

[Captor]

4 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Dumb question:

do you use Skype video to the same partner in Europe or different ones in different countries?

Asking because the problem could well be on the other side.

I have 3BB 1000/500 and can do excellent video calls to German folks (although Germany is a developing country in terms of internet bandwidth).

If I call a friend in Jomtien with a terribly bad ToT connection it is close to impossible to do video.

 

Another approach could be using a VPN with server being in the target country.

No not dumb at all. I only use skype when calling my wife in Bangkok from Sweden were I have BBB 200/200 and that is very reliable.

Good to know that you are using 3BB 1000/500 and it is working fine. Exactly that is the one we have been looking at instead of True. That or AIS.

So good to know that it work flawless for you to Europe.

I have not thought about VPN. Maybe that can be a way out if not the change of provider helps.

[Captor]

1 hour ago, stouricks said:

I just started using Google Duo for UK calls = perfect, better than Skype, Messenger, Whats App, Zoom.

Very good info, thanks! Also that the service works very well. That is important as well.

[Captor]

1 hour ago, stouricks said:

I just started using Google Duo for UK calls = perfect, better than Skype, Messenger, Whats App, Zoom.

Really? Never heard of that. I will check that out. Thanks!

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, stouricks said:

I just started using Google Duo for UK calls = perfect, better than Skype, Messenger, Whats App, Zoom.

Until recently my friend in Jomtien swore on it.

But his latest desperate turn is Facebook messenger

Edited May 13, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[stouricks]

19 minutes ago, Captor said:

No not dumb at all. I only use skype when calling my wife in Bangkok from Sweden were I have BBB 200/200 and that is very reliable.

Good to know that you are using 3BB 1000/500 and it is working fine. Exactly that is the one we have been looking at instead of True. That or AIS.

So good to know that it work flawless for you to Europe.

I have not thought about VPN. Maybe that can be a way out if not the change of provider helps.

You do not need a VPN for 'phone' applications, Thailand allow them. Now if you were in Dubai or UAE, you must have a VPN.

[Captor]

17 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Until recently my friend in Jomtien swore on it.

But his latest desperate turn is Facebook messenger

????

[stouricks]

1 hour ago, Captor said:

Yes, changing the router to a top router will be my next step if 3BB or Ais not work with the standard router that comes in the price for free. I myself use Asus and I have a AC68u at the moment. It start to get old now but it has always worked perfect. I have not tried Netgear ot TP but I think they are good as well. I have fiber to my home, to the building here in Sweden. But inside the building it is copper. I think it use to be that way. Copper inside the building.

But I still wonder which one of 3BB and AIS has the best reputation about having the fastest net in Thialand.

What does the 'fastest' matter. 3BB give me 1000/500 but that is only within Thailand. International connections are slower and even more so via VPN. BUT, you only need about 10Mb/s to view HD telly.