Just had TrueOnline installed: Wifi faster than LAN?

[Keyser Soze666]

On 5/14/2020 at 8:25 AM, Kerryd said:

I'd start with confirming what package you have with True. (You can register online with them as well: http://truevisionsgroup.truecorp.co.th/?ln=en)

Under Bills & Usage you should see a drop down box - select True Online (https://iservice.truecorp.co.th/bills-usage)
That will show you what your current package is.

I have the "True Smart Choice" plan (300/100mbs). 1 modem which feeds 3 computers now by LAN cable (and 1 telephone by WiFi). I was not liking the lag I was seeing on the laptop when it was on WiFi, even though it's barely a metre away from the modem so I put it on a cable connection as well.

I used to cast to the LG Smart TV but moved that device to a different TV in my "den" (2nd bedroom). I notice that when I cast from the laptop, there is quite the lag but it's the laptop lagging, not the TV. (And it's just the audio - I can see the same show on the monitor and TV at the same time, but the audio on the laptop is 1-2 seconds behind the TV for some reason. No big deal as I normally mute the laptop when I'm casting anyways.)
I don't use the internet features on the TVs as I don't watch them a lot (unless I'm casting something from my computer).

If your speeds are half of what was expected, I'd think that maybe someone put you on the wrong package. Or set up the wrong type of modem ?

My modem is a "True Gigatex Fibre" modem. Much fancier than the old black box. This one is white with 6 little antennae sticking up. (Note, I am not on a "fibre" connection, just the standard co-axial cable. Maybe they anticipate putting fibre on the Darkside one day in the future.)

Note: my main desktop and my main laptop are both "gaming" rigs, designed for playing online games with a lot of graphics like EVE Online. With this modem and internet package, I can run 4 copies ("clients") of the game at the same time without any noticeable lag and if I run 6 clients there is a tiny amount of lag (sometimes).
(Not as good on the Wifi though.)

Also, our IT guys explained how speed tests worked when we were in Afghanistan. Usually, download and upload speeds are what you might expect under ideal circumstances (i.e. clear weather and very low usage by other customers, on an optimized machine with an excellent connection). However, your connection is shared, a lot, and with every other active connection on your trunk line, the amount of bandwidth available shrinks. At a certain point (i.e. "prime time" for internet usage in your area) it can affect your DL/UL speeds (and speed tests) considerably.
(Whenever I start noticing some significant lag, the first thing I do is look at the clock and think about what day of the week it is to determine if 10,000 kids just got out of school and were firing up their tablets/phones/etc.)

Another issue, much harder to detect and correct, could be the connection between your modem and the ISP. This is Thailand of course and you've seen the nasty mess of wires hanging from almost every power pole in the country. One of them is the one carrying your connection.
Junction boxes all along the route. Some possibly with "less than quality" work done when installing new connections.

I tried 3BB a few years ago. They ran a new co-ax (of course) to the house from Soi Khao Noi, set everything up, tested it, worked great, they left.
Every day after that, I couldn't stay connected for more than 5 minutes. I'd be doing something and "blink" ! The modem would drop connection, then reboot (taking 3-4 minutes each time until I could access the internet again). 1-5 minutes later - same thing again. (12 times an hour on average.)

3BB even noticed the problem and they called me. Came out and changed the modem. Same problem. Then I noticed something. When the modem would "blink" and reset, I'd look out the window while I waited. I noticed that almost every time it happened, there was a light breeze blowing the leaves on the plants. Went outside and looked at the wires swaying in the breeze and it struck me that the problem was probably a bad line connection between my house and wherever they connected the line to.

Couldn't get them to come out and check it though. They didn't want to believe that it could be something like that apparently. I gave up on them, cancelled the service and switched to True.

True came in, ran a new co-ax (of course) and everything has worked fine ever since, regardless of how windy it gets (at least until there's a power outage or one of those rat's nests of cables catches on fire somewhere and knocks out service for a few hours). (And now 3BB's cable is another one of those "dead" cables hanging from the poles.)

So it's rare that a speed test will ever show what you think you should be getting, however, it should be way closer than ~50% of the expected result. Even on a rainy day at prime time.

It's like reading a foreign language, literally.