Your experience with SIM card routers

Negita43 · October 4, 2022

Sorry bit late replying I have a Huawei B525 -sits in my flat in the UK controlling my WIFI enabled stuff. I can access it via mini PC attached using teamviewer and I can reboot it via a sim based switch if necessary. Hasn't put a foot wrong in 4 years!

Negita43 · October 4, 2022

Add to last post - I use Smarty sim 8GB (not really need that much) a month £7

Mickeymaus · October 4, 2022

On 9/28/2022 at 12:58 PM, roodujardin said:

I have a D-Link DWR-921 if you're interested. Used it with True for about a month. Very happy with the performance. TOT ran Fibre Optic soon after so had to buy a new one. Excellent condition, fully functional with manual and p/s.

You can have it if you have a method to get it. PM if interested.

It's just sitting in a cupboard here.

The SIM router arrived ????????????. It is the D-Link DWR-921. Has two antennas that can be removed. It looks similar to the one in this posting above.

No - it is it!

Roo wanted to give it to me for FREE. There was no way to convince him to take at least 500 Baht for it. After a long discussion I was allowed to transfer the money to the account of his daughter. Before this he sent the router to me already. But I also transferred the money before I received it. I still think 500 Baht is not enough... He had to pack it and bring it to Kerry. Dear Roo du Jardin ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

How does it perform? If I am honest I can't tell you yet. Attached some tests from testmy.net (YES!!!). The first 2 are from my True SIM card in my tablet. And the second 2 from the router. The tablet shows down/up 27.8 / 3 and the router 11.7 / 21.4. Both with True SIM cards and both with the 300 Mbps 1.5 GB package and both at the same condo window and both at about the same time. I would say the results are useless...

Of course I made tests with Ookla too. Swapped even the SIM cards between the devices. For a final verdict I need more time. I also need more "real world" usage experience and I also will update the routers firmware - there were some updates since 2016.

Much more tests will be done and an AIS SIM 30 Mbps unlimited data is on the way. Until now I tested with True and DTAC. So far I can tell you this project is very entertaining. You need to be a little bit a nerd...

scubascuba3 · October 4, 2022

19 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

The SIM router arrived ????????????. It is the D-Link DWR-921. Has two antennas that can be removed. It looks similar to the one in this posting above.

No - it is it!

Roo wanted to give it to me for FREE. There was no way to convince him to take at least 500 Baht for it. After a long discussion I was allowed to transfer the money to the account of his daughter. Before this he sent the router to me already. But I also transferred the money before I received it. I still think 500 Baht is not enough... He had to pack it and bring it to Kerry. Dear Roo du Jardin ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

How does it perform? If I am honest I can't tell you yet. Attached some tests from testmy.net (YES!!!). The first 2 are from my True SIM card in my tablet. And the second 2 from the router. The tablet shows down/up 27.8 / 3 and the router 11.7 / 21.4. Both with True SIM cards and both with the 300 Mbps 1.5 GB package and both at the same condo window and both at about the same time. I would say the results are useless...

Of course I made tests with Ookla too. Swapped even the SIM cards between the devices. For a final verdict I need more time. I also need more "real world" usage experience and I also will update the routers firmware - there were some updates since 2016.

Much more tests will be done and an AIS SIM 30 Mbps unlimited data is on the way. Until now I tested with True and DTAC. So far I can tell you this project is very entertaining. You need to be a little bit a nerd...

I found True to be pretty useless where i live in Pratumnak, it was very variable but mostly low speeds

Mickeymaus · October 6, 2022

Yesterday I received my AIS SIM card - 30 Mbps with unlimited data. My first experience with AIS. Until now I tested True Move and DTAC. So far I am impressed - see the data in the picture. Of course it depends on your location.

It seems to be perfect for me and I did not even look for a perfect location of the router in my condo yet - I get 100 % signal quality. But will check it more closely the next days/weeks. What counts in the end are not speed test results but the "real world" usage experience. Can it really replace my existing 3BB VDSL connection?

The results are with the SIM card router. Thank you Roo for it again ???????????? I didn't test it with the tablet.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Mickeymaus

scubascuba3 · October 7, 2022

8 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

Yesterday I received my AIS SIM card - 30 Mbps with unlimited data. My first experience with AIS. Until now I tested True Move and DTAC. So far I am impressed - see the data in the picture. Of course it depends on your location.

It seems to be perfect for me and I did not even look for a perfect location of the router in my condo yet - I get 100 % signal quality. But will check it more closely the next days/weeks. What counts in the end are not speed test results but the "real world" usage experience. Can it really replace my existing 3BB VDSL connection?

The results are with the SIM card router. Thank you Roo for it again ???????????? I didn't test it with the tablet.

You've made schoolboy error no.1 by using speedtest, now try testmy.net and you should get 30mbps or less

Mickeymaus · October 7, 2022

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

You've made schoolboy error no.1 by using speedtest, now try testmy.net and you should get 30mbps or less

Please stop this discussion. testmy.net was completely useless in my experience. Perhaps my opinion does not count that much. But look what cnet.com says

https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/best-speed-tests/

scubascuba3 · October 7, 2022

44 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

Please stop this discussion. testmy.net was completely useless in my experience. Perhaps my opinion does not count that much. But look what cnet.com says

https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/best-speed-tests/

so you think AIS is giving you 45.8mbps on a 30mbps max sim? it's not accurate, ignorance is bliss and all that, I'll leave you to it

Mickeymaus · October 7, 2022

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

so you think AIS is giving you 45.8mbps on a 30mbps max sim? it's not accurate, ignorance is bliss and all that, I'll leave you to it

To make you happy. I just did a test for you with testmy.net. Here is the result.

scubascuba3 · October 7, 2022

25 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

To make you happy. I just did a test for you with testmy.net. Here is the result.

Weird, i just checked mine which is AIS max 10mbps

Mickeymaus · October 7, 2022

7 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Weird, i just checked mine which is AIS max 10mbps

It depends on many things. The location. On the router (it seems to be great and perhaps I will not risk to upgrade the 2016 firmware...). On the WiFi speed. On the 4G signal strength. How many users are connected to this 4G antenna and what they do. The weather and whatever.

I have no final verdict yet. So far the router and the AIS SIM work great . The router has CAT 4. My high-end tablet might show much better speeds. But I want to use the Internet with the router.

What surprised me is I didn't even look for a good router location in my condo. Tests with True Move and DTAC I did next to the window. There was the best signal and speed. At the moment the router stands in the middle of the condo.

But again. This is not my final verdict yet. I will report my "real world" Internet experience here later. There is for instance the Fireworks Festival pretty soon with many thousands of people in Central Pattaya. Will I still have Internet then? So let's wait and see...

NanLaew · October 16, 2022

This will be in my Christmas stocking after I get back from work.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i3974129935-s15376608395.html

fdsa · October 16, 2022

9 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

This will be in my Christmas stocking after I get back from work.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i3974129935-s15376608395.html

LTE cat6... pretty old stuff.

NanLaew · October 16, 2022

2 minutes ago, fdsa said:

LTE cat6... pretty old stuff.

Yes. And I am even older!

Mickeymaus · October 16, 2022

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

This will be in my Christmas stocking after I get back from work.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i3974129935-s15376608395.html

A nice router but not really cheap. Perhaps an overkill. You will not get better speeds than with a modern phone. So test this first.

My router is ???????????????? CAT 4. The maximum 4G speed it can handle is 150/50. The highest test values down/up I got so far was 61/46 with AIS 30 Mbps. This very early in the morning. The speeds go down during daytime and even more in the evening. I am still gathering experience. Will write my final verdict here after 1 month usage at about November 6th. Still have my 3BB VDSL as backup.

Attached a 4G CAT overview. On the right side the maximum parallel antenna connections.

Edited October 16, 2022 by Mickeymaus

Mickeymaus · October 25, 2022

Just an update. Always expect the unexpected...

When my fried was here some weeks ago I tested her iPhone with Dtac 30 Mbps with 30 GB. I got very disappointing speeds - 5 Mbps down and up. Two days ago she was here again and I tested again and got again very disappointing results. But this time I saw that her phone was switched in the settings to 3G (see picture). I set it to 4G and we got download speeds of almost 70 Mbps (at her phone, didn't test with the router).

As a result I ordered the Dtac 30 Mbps unlimited package and will include it in my tests. The packages I tested will then be True Move 300 Mbps using a 24 hours package. Then AIS 30 Mbps unlimited and Dtac 30 Mbps unlimited both from Lazada (see pictures).

So far I can say that the router performs great. True Move wasn't good at my location. In respect of the AIS package there are clear speed changes during the day depending on the time of the day. Dtac I will receive tomorrow. More after the 6th of November. Then 1 month of testing will be over.

scubascuba3 · October 25, 2022

31 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

When my fried was here some weeks ago I tested her iPhone with Dtac 30 Mbps with 30 GB. I got very disappointing speeds - 5 Mbps down and up. Two days ago she was here again and I tested again and got again very disappointing results. But this time I saw that her phone was switched in the settings to 3G (see picture). I set it to 4G and we got download speeds of almost 70 Mbps (at her phone, didn't test with the router).

So although that's restricted to 30mbps you got 70 mbps, how did you test the speed?

Mickeymaus · October 25, 2022

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

So although that's restricted to 30mbps you got 70 mbps, how did you test the speed?

Please not this discussion again. I showed you already that my AIS 30 Mbps package got 41 Mbps at your preferred "testmy.net" . I included the picture here in this thread before already. And this wasn't even the highest speed that I got at testmy.net. It was the first test result that I got after I saw your complaint and tested with testmy.net.

From my experience until now these 30 Mbps packages are not blocked at 30 Mbps. But the speed will go down even below 30 Mbps in the afternoon and in the evening. More about this after the 6th of November.

scubascuba3 · October 25, 2022

1 hour ago, Mickeymaus said:

Please not this discussion again. I showed you already that my AIS 30 Mbps package got 41 Mbps at your preferred "testmy.net" . I included the picture here in this thread before already. And this wasn't even the highest speed that I got at testmy.net. It was the first test result that I got after I saw your complaint and tested with testmy.net.

From my experience until now these 30 Mbps packages are not blocked at 30 Mbps. But the speed will go down even below 30 Mbps in the afternoon and in the evening. More about this after the 6th of November.

Yeah weird, when I've tested my set speed sims the speed is always same or below, never more, unless using speedtest, but fair enough yours are different

Mickeymaus · October 25, 2022

19 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Yeah weird, when I've tested my set speed sims the speed is always same or below, never more, unless using speedtest, but fair enough yours are different

Perhaps they limit the packages below 30 Mbps. Somehow they have to limit them otherwise the limit wouldn't make any sense at these slower and cheaper packages. And perhaps the 30 Mbps is their max speed what these 2 companies don't offer. True Move does.

But don't worry - you will not get these high speeds the whole day. At least with AIS at my location. Dtac I will check too when I will receive it hopefully tomorrow. I tested a lot with different speedtests. My major speed test is YouTube and videos at 2160p resolution in the evening. 3BB has no problem but...

By the way - can anyone explain to me why the fonts is changing to bold in the middle of the text? I didn't press anything.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Mickeymaus

fdsa · October 26, 2022

@scubascuba3 @Mickeymaus

https://aseannow.com/topic/1174821-dtac-unlimited-internet-data-plan-12callais-unlimited-internet-data-plan-true-mobile-unlimited-internet-data-plan/?do=findComment&comment=17668348

Mickeymaus · October 26, 2022

29 minutes ago, fdsa said:

@scubascuba3 @Mickeymaus

https://aseannow.com/topic/1174821-dtac-unlimited-internet-data-plan-12callais-unlimited-internet-data-plan-true-mobile-unlimited-internet-data-plan/?do=findComment&comment=17668348

Thank you for the information. In respect of the speeds with AIS I see a clear pattern depending on the time of the day. Dtac didn't arrive yet and might come tomorrow. I will test both and report my experience after the 6th of November (then I had the AIS SIM for 1 month).

Speedtests are one thing. What is important to me is for instance to be able to watch YouTube videos at 2160p (for this you need at least 25Mbps). The reason for this resolution is my 3D TV. But this is a completely different story and has to do with the 2D to 3D conversion of the TV. The higher the resolution the better the results and my TV does an excellent job then. Okay - in the worst case you could use for instance TubeMate to download the 4K video and watch it then.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Mickeymaus
Removing the bold text

D2Pipes · October 28, 2022

I am avidly following your comments on the AIS 30Mb/s Unlimited annual SIM because this is the one that I opted for to use in my tablet.

Let me add my ha'penny worth to speed tests:-

You did NOT make a schoolboy error and TestMy.Net is NOT useless.

FAST.COM may give a more reliable test result than Ookla but I use the Ookla app on both my phone and STB. The app also has a video test that streams video from SD up to 4k and presents the results in a simple report.

I use Testmy to test the IIG (International Internet Gateway) to assess the likely performance of my IPTV stream. With Testmy it is easy to select speed test servers in Europe whereas this is rather difficult with Ookla.

I have used Testmy for around 8 years in Thailand and I can assure you the 3BB IIG has improved out of all recognition during that time period ????

BTW: One of the IPTV stream sources has the Testmy speed test on their website and the reason they use Testmy is simple; Testmy gives realistic IIG results.

Both Ookla and Fast are running local (internal to Thailand) speed tests. These results are realistic for YouTube who have servers in Thailand but not for my IPTV who only have European servers.

In a nutshell, you did not make a schoolboy error as each speed test has its use depending on what info you require.

BTW: You said you were old but I bet I am older than you and I'm an old git to boot ????

Keep up your reports as I am sure others are also finding your comments useful.

userabcd · October 28, 2022

Hehehe, how much time wasted opening a web page, press start to test internet speed to whatever location, then wait for it to complete and get result, then press again, wait get result etc... Maybe sometimes try a different one.

The results are most always up and down or reaches the desired result and one finally closes the application.... satisfied or not satisfied. Usually not satisfied generates a post on this forum asking about internet speed and then making contact with the ISP to improve something.

Edited October 28, 2022 by userabcd

Mickeymaus · October 28, 2022

26 minutes ago, D2Pipes said:

I am avidly following your comments on the AIS 30Mb/s Unlimited annual SIM because this is the one that I opted for to use in my tablet.

Let me add my ha'penny worth to speed tests:-

You did NOT make a schoolboy error and TestMy.Net is NOT useless.

FAST.COM may give a more reliable test result than Ookla but I use the Ookla app on both my phone and STB. The app also has a video test that streams video from SD up to 4k and presents the results in a simple report.

I use Testmy to test the IIG (International Internet Gateway) to assess the likely performance of my IPTV stream. With Testmy it is easy to select speed test servers in Europe whereas this is rather difficult with Ookla.

I have used Testmy for around 8 years in Thailand and I can assure you the 3BB IIG has improved out of all recognition during that time period ????

BTW: One of the IPTV stream sources has the Testmy speed test on their website and the reason they use Testmy is simple; Testmy gives realistic IIG results.

Both Ookla and Fast are running local (internal to Thailand) speed tests. These results are realistic for YouTube who have servers in Thailand but not for my IPTV who only have European servers.

In a nutshell, you did not make a schoolboy error as each speed test has its use depending on what info you require.

BTW: You said you were old but I bet I am older than you and I'm an old git to boot ????

Keep up your reports as I am sure others are also finding your comments useful.

Speed tests are not really important. They give me an idea for instance how the speed changes during the day. The user experience is important. And my main test for me is YouTube 2160p. Good peak performance doesn't help here. You need a sustained download rate over a long period of time to avoid buffering. 3BB VDSL has no problem but the 4G packages need to provide the same if I want to replace 3BB completely. I don't like a compromise in this regard.

My Dtac SIM arrived yesterday and compared to the AIS SIM it gives me a very different experience. But I will continue to test until November 6th and then share my results. And if you use IPTV you have to test IPTV and also not with a speed test server. You really have to test with things that you use.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Mickeymaus

D2Pipes · October 28, 2022

You wrote "And if you use IPTV you have to test IPTV and also not with a speed test server. You really have to test with things that you use." and I agree. I tell those I support with IPTV stream buffering issues that quote speed test results to me that a speed test is only an indicator which is why I said:-

I use Testmy to test the IIG (International Internet Gateway) to assess the likely performance of my IPTV stream. Maybe you missed the importance of my formatted text ????

I can assure you 'Buffering' whereby the IPTV stream stutters from one frame to the next is one of the most difficult IPTV issue to diagnose and resolve as there are so many potential causes without a one fix all solution which is only made far worse with an op who has buffering issues failing to report the complete picture.

Speed tests are just a tool that provide useful information but should never be used as a diagnostic.

My response being applicable to both your and the previous op's comments ????

Edited October 28, 2022 by D2Pipes

NanLaew · October 29, 2022

On 10/28/2022 at 5:39 AM, Mickeymaus said:

Speed tests are not really important. They give me an idea for instance how the speed changes during the day. The user experience is important. And my main test for me is YouTube 2160p. Good peak performance doesn't help here. You need a sustained download rate over a long period of time to avoid buffering. 3BB VDSL has no problem but the 4G packages need to provide the same if I want to replace 3BB completely. I don't like a compromise in this regard.

My Dtac SIM arrived yesterday and compared to the AIS SIM it gives me a very different experience. But I will continue to test until November 6th and then share my results. And if you use IPTV you have to test IPTV and also not with a speed test server. You really have to test with things that you use.

Revisiting this thread. Have you bought a SIM router yet or still evaluating data packages via a smartphone?

I am down in Australia at the moment and there's a better choice of SIM router but I would need to burrow deep into the specs to see if they're totally compatible with the Thai networks.

Mickeymaus · October 30, 2022

11 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Revisiting this thread. Have you bought a SIM router yet or still evaluating data packages via a smartphone?

I am down in Australia at the moment and there's a better choice of SIM router but I would need to burrow deep into the specs to see if they're totally compatible with the Thai networks.

If you scroll up a little bit you will see my router and the nice story behind it. I got it from

https://aseannow.com/profile/141067-roodujardin/

on the 4th of October. Thank you Roo again for it ????????????

I test the SIMs at beginning with phone / tablet and then only with the router. This is what I want to use in the end. Regarding the Dtac SIM - the router had even a better download speed than the other devices but only a fraction of the upload speed. Tested many times but will test again...

Let me use this occasion to talk a little bit about the router. Outside pictures of it are here enough already.

It seems to be a European model (see languages in picture 1). The only country specific firmware that I could find was for GB. Perhaps there are others but I did not find them. The firmware of this router is still the first version (2016). There were some updates but so far it works perfectly. This router has the advantage that it is impossible to brick it (it has a recovery mode for such a problem). So perhaps I will upgrade it later.

On this first picture it shows 100 percent signal quality with the AIS SIM (I don't get this with Dtac).

It has 2 antennas. Here my experience in regard to the antennas. I tried an external antenna. But it did not change anything. Then I took away both antennas - it still had 80 % signal quality and the speed suffered a little bit. If I take away only the right antenna there will be no speed loss. If I take away the left antenna then the upload speed will suffer a little bit. Obviously the antennas don't seem to be THAT important ???? But the location of the router in my condo makes a difference.

In Picture 2 you can see that you can send and receive SMS. You also can send USSD codes. These are codes like *121# to check the usage and balance for instance.

https://help.mobiletopup.com/knowledge-base/what-are-some-free-keypress-codes-for-dtac-1-2-call-and-true-move/

The last picture shows you a performance test on my TV - a 2160p YouTube video and the technical data (in this case with 3BB). But more on this after November 6th.

Mickeymaus · November 7, 2022

One month 4G SIM router usage is over and here is my experience. This is at my location with my devices.

I also compared the same Internet packages at the same time with the same speedtest server at different locations here in Pattaya - a friend of mine had the same packages. About this experience the next days.

I think that 3BB VDSL is too expensive for what you get for 631 Baht a month. The first picture shows the connection speed that I could get and what I really get with VDSL (at my location in Central Pattaya). The next picture shows a 3BB fiber package with much higher speeds. With taxes both packages cost the same amount - 631 Baht per month.

My VDSL download connection speed shown in the first picture is 70410 Kbps what is about 69 Mbps. The fiber package promises 1000 Mbps. My upload connection speed is 24508 Kbps what is about 24 Mbps. The fiber package promises 100 Mbps.

Now not everyone can get fiber especially in condos. But for me VDSL is overpriced compared to the fiber package. Also in respect to 4G SIM packages - the 4G packages with unlimited data and 30 Mbps that I used are only 235 a month (at Lazada). And MUCH cheaper options are available at Lazada if you have no problem with certain data or speed limits (you will not get these offers at the shops of the service providers).

But my question was can 4G replace 3BB VDSL? Therefore now to my usage experience in respect of 3BB VDSL, AIS 4G and Dtac 4G.

At normal Internet usage I did not see any difference. Only when playing very high resolution videos the situation was different. It gets a bit technical now - sorry.

First a quick explanation of 2160p, 1440p and (the here not used) 1080p video resolution. 2160p is 4K or UHD - Ultra High Definition. 1080p is Full HD - many older TVs use this or even less. And 1440p - QHD or Quad HD - is a compromise between both. In YouTube you can select the quality that you want. The higher the resolution number the higher the Internet speed needs to be.

YouTube videos with resolution of up to 1440p were (mostly) no problem. Where the problems started was with 2160p (4K) videos with 24 and especially with 60 fps (frames per second). Here you have to understand how video compression works. In simple words - the more pixel changes you have from frame to frame the more data will be needed. This is why I selected mostly videos with many pixel changes. Here an example:

https://youtu.be/ofUOATVjKF0

To summarise it. 3BB VDSL had no problems at all. The same wasn't always the case for AIS and Dtac especially at night time (but again - all this at my location). So if I like to watch 4K videos without any problems then 3BB VDSL would be my choice. Next would be Dtac with buffering sometimes at 4K and AIS with much more buffering. But in the end there is no other way than to test the 4G packages at your location with your equipment and the things that you use on the Internet - Netflix or whatever.

Now it gets very technical. If you don't watch 4K videos there is no need to continue reading.

First a brief explanation of the important data in the following pictures explained with the help of picture 3. In the 3rd line you see the current resolution 3840x2160 @24 (frames per second). Then you see the current Connection Speed - 59884 Kbps (at this moment). Then you see the Network Activity. Whenever data needs to be downloaded you will see the downloaded KB (here 0 at the moment). Black in the graph means no data were downloaded for this period of time - so other additional Internet usage will be no problem. And then there is the Buffer Health. This means for how long the video could be played if no data is downloaded - at this moment 17 seconds. Shown here for 3BB - so no problems.

Picture 4 shows an example for Dtac. The current connection speed is 14907 Kbps. At this moment it downloaded 805 KB and in the graph you see constant downloads. The buffer health is only 3.58 seconds. This means that you are close to a possible video stop and the following buffering.

Picture 5 shows AIS. The buffer health is only 0.04 seconds and the video stopped and is buffering - you can see the dots that show this.

Picture 6 shows AIS with a video resolution of 1440p (the next lower resolution value at YouTube but much higher than the 1080p HD resolution). An amazing change happens. There is no problem at all anymore. The buffer is even 39 seconds. Mostly there were no problems with this resolution.

The last picture 7 shows Dtac buffering at a 4K video but this time at a video with 60 fps instead of 24 fps.

So what does this mean? If I didn't switch to 2160p (4K) there were at least at my location (mostly) no problems with YouTube videos. This might not be the same with other streaming networks like Netflix and others. As far as I know YouTube has servers in Thailand to avoid problems.

I've tried to give you an idea of what to expect. And I've been trying to figure out if I can replace 3BB VDSL with 4G. And again - yes, but with sometimes (Dtac) and often (AIS) problems with 4K videos.