Broadband Providers Suggestions/advice

[sonicdragon]

Greetings

I'll be moving back to thailand next month and would like some advice about a broadband net connection. I know there is trade-off between price and performance, but I would like some advice about which companies are considered most reliable, or least unreliable, in terms of both performance and customer service.

Thanks in advance

SD

[nidge]

where will you be staying? I live up country and only have 2 choices, using my mobile phone as a modem or satellite dish from TOT (ipStar). The phone i use at mums village but it is slow. At my house i have the dish and i have never had problems with it but it costs me 2200 baht per month for 512 speed.

If your in Bangkok or similar you will have more/cheaper options.

[sonicdragon]

I have a house in Samut Prakan (zip code 10280) and there is a TOT phone line there.

[sonicdragon]

Umm, not much advice forthcoming....

I've heard that TOT is to be avoided, and advised to change the phone line to True and get a true BB package.

Any comment ?

[sonicdragon]

Anyone ?

[SGDude]

I am looking for some advice on broadband internet too.

If the apartment I rent does not come with a direct telephone line, is it possible to get a cable internet connection if the apartment has cable/satellite tv?

I heard it is very troublesome for a foreigner to apply for a direct phone line to subscribe to broadband internet...

Which internet service providers are the best?

[sonicdragon]

I am looking for some advice on broadband internet too.

If the apartment I rent does not come with a direct telephone line, is it possible to get a cable internet connection if the apartment has cable/satellite tv?

I heard it is very troublesome for a foreigner to apply for a direct phone line to subscribe to broadband internet...

Which internet service providers are the best?

No one is answering my inquiry either ! Perhaps we can help each other I'm pretty sure it's hard to get a phone line in your own name, and consequently a BB connection, unless you have a work permit, but as for advice about an ASP (BB provider) no one seems to know, or at least no one wants to offer any advice or share their opinion.

[A_Traveller]

Problem here is that your choice may well, be restricted by building, location, existing set up. It is virtually impossible to offer relevant advice on this given the level of granularity required.

Regards

[sonicdragon]

But I have said that I have a TOT line, at my house in Samut Prakan. What more information do I need to give, in order to get some advice ?

[A_Traveller]

But I have said that I have a TOT line, at my house in Samut Prakan. What more information do I need to give, in order to get some advice ?

Example, I live in Sathorn, my condo is True, no choice, building next door has other options, same street even some phone numbers are sequential across buildings etc..

Try checking the provider's website, they used to offer a check your telephone number service which would identify if you could use their services.

If you asking for a qualitative question, all internet services in Thailand are poor at best. Frankly one provider is as good/bad as another. Equally if your requirement is international access a priori then you'll have problems irrespective of provider.

Regards

/edit typo/

Edited July 5, 2007 by A_Traveller

[monty]

http://www.ji-net.com/home/indexget.php?pid=9

http://www.csloxinfo.com/html/homeadsl_e.asp

I'm not sure, but it looks like ADC is actually TOT.

On the CSloxinfo site you can enter your phone number to check you can have ADSL or not!

Google is your friend!!!

[markwhite]

When I was looking for recommendations I looked at a lot of posts in here and on various other forums and got uniform advice:

TOT is terrible, except for the people that it's fine for. And it varies from one place to another.

True is terrible, except for the people that it's fine for. And it varies from one place to another.

Maxnet is terrible, except for the people that it's fine for. And it varies from one place to another.

IPStar is terrible, though convenient if you have no other choice. I think nidge's earlier post is the first positive one I've seen for IPstar :-)

It seemed to me that there was no consistency in 'one company is always great across the country'. So I spoke to people in my town (near Nakhon Si Thammarat) , and a local internet cafe, and the only recommendations I got was for TOT. So I went for TOT and am perfectly happy with it so far. 512/256 is 750 baht a month and I get about 490/210 in real money.

And the application was in my wife's name to avoid any complications with that side of it.

[SGDude]

I found this...

http://www.inet.co.th/inetweb/product.jsp?id=231

Is this good?

Any way after checking out some sites... Here are some of my requirements:

1. Unlimited broadband speeds of 1000 kbps / 1Mbps

2. Monthly payment without long term contracts

3. Ethernet broadband modem (Does this come free or may I use my own broadband modem?)

4. 850 Baht or less per month

Any ideas?

Edited July 6, 2007 by SGDude

[ajarnmark]

If you have a valid visa then you can apply for a phone line and internet connection (if your condo allows you to do so)

I use true internet and very happy with the service. Dont listen to anyone and use it by urself to decide if it is good or not.

[monty]

1. Unlimited broadband speeds of 1000 kbps / 1Mbps

Manny providers offer these speeds

2. Monthly payment without long term contracts

There are providers offering this, most give you a free router/modem if you take on a 1 year contract

3. Ethernet broadband modem (Does this come free or may I use my own broadband modem?)

answer as above, if you don't sign for a 1 year contract you most often need to provide a modem yourself (or buy one from the ISP)

4. 850 Baht or less per month

The hard part! I reckon the average price of a 1mbps home package is more like 1000 Baht/month. And they rarely deliver their speed. The raw product (1 mbps of international bandwidth) costs the ISP's around 25,000 Baht/month, so even if they share your line with 25 other subscribers, they'll just be breaking even. I'd say on average the sharing ratio on homepackages is between 40 and 50 to 1. So there are 40 to 50 people all using the same 1 mbps connection...

You'd be lucky to get 10% of rated speed (100 kbps) during peak times, rated speed you'll only get for a very short time during the night if you're lucky!

[SGDude]

Hmmm 1000 Baht per month? That would make more expensive than the 3 Mbps internet connection I pay for in Singapore right now! And I still complain about my local speeds and stability.... hehehe.

[A_Traveller]

Hmmm 1000 Baht per month? That would make more expensive than the 3 Mbps internet connection I pay for in Singapore right now! And I still complain about my local speeds and stability.... hehehe.

Reality in Thailand, an alleged 1Mbps line shared over 20 + users is @ 1000 THB irrespective of provider. A corporate package will be twice that, {less contention}.

Regards

[sonicdragon]

I would be happy to pay 1000 baht per month for a reliable connection.

But which provider / package to choose ?

[SGDude]

THere are a couple of links in this topic but I am not sure if those companies are reliable or not and if they are the parent companies. I went to this site and clicked on the broadband info link and ended up on another site. Very confusing.

[lomatopo]

With an known telephone number you can check coverage/availability for many service providers. Go to www dot adslthailand dot com and scroll down to "Coverage Area". Most people here seem to agree that service levels vary too much to offer concrete and reliable recommendations. Personally I recommend talking with neighbors to get a feel for what's available, and how services perform for them.

I have CSLoxInfo ADSL (1,024/512: 1,070 baht/mo.) in Bangkok on a TOT fixed line and am satisfied.

[Sam125]

if you are willing to pay 2,000 or 3,000 baht per month are faster connections available?

[A_Traveller]

if you are willing to pay 2,000 or 3,000 baht per month are faster connections available?

To be a pendant, the connexions are not faster, but have greater capacity. To answer this, if you are able to purchase a corporate or SME package the advantage is primarily less contention {not so many users sharing} but you are bound by the poor international connectivity from Thailand to the big {according to the various Minsters here} bad world out there.

Reagrds

[Sam125]

if you are willing to pay 2,000 or 3,000 baht per month are faster connections available?

To be a pendant, the connexions are not faster, but have greater capacity. To answer this, if you are able to purchase a corporate or SME package the advantage is primarily less contention {not so many users sharing} but you are bound by the poor international connectivity from Thailand to the big {according to the various Minsters here} bad world out there.

Regards

Thank you.

So basically if a connection has a certain rating for 1,000 baht you do not receive the entire rated connection, however, with a more expensive plan you are more likely to get the full connection speed.

Correct?

[bkk_mike]

if you are willing to pay 2,000 or 3,000 baht per month are faster connections available?

To be a pendant, the connexions are not faster, but have greater capacity. To answer this, if you are able to purchase a corporate or SME package the advantage is primarily less contention {not so many users sharing} but you are bound by the poor international connectivity from Thailand to the big {according to the various Minsters here} bad world out there.

Regards

Thank you.

So basically if a connection has a certain rating for 1,000 baht you do not receive the entire rated connection, however, with a more expensive plan you are more likely to get the full connection speed.

Correct?

Your connection within Thailand should be fine. It's just the non-Thai bandwidth...

Also, depending on your distance from the exchange, they may tell you that you can only get 512K...

[Sam125]

if you are willing to pay 2,000 or 3,000 baht per month are faster connections available?

To be a pendant, the connexions are not faster, but have greater capacity. To answer this, if you are able to purchase a corporate or SME package the advantage is primarily less contention {not so many users sharing} but you are bound by the poor international connectivity from Thailand to the big {according to the various Minsters here} bad world out there.

Regards

Thank you.

So basically if a connection has a certain rating for 1,000 baht you do not receive the entire rated connection, however, with a more expensive plan you are more likely to get the full connection speed.

Correct?

Your connection within Thailand should be fine. It's just the non-Thai bandwidth...

Also, depending on your distance from the exchange, they may tell you that you can only get 512K...

That is not good news for me as most of my email will be outside of Thailand, Also my business website is based in the US and I need to upload photos and text all the time.

I am thinking about moving to a suburb like Minburi will that area be a problem as it is not in the city-center?

My current speed is: 1.5 Mbps up and 8.2 Mps down is that possible In Bangkok and if so what would that cost?

Edited July 7, 2007 by Sam125

[monty]

My current speed is: 1.5 Mbps up and 8.2 Mps down is that possible In Bangkok and if so what would that cost?

These speeds are not available in Bangkok AFAIK, especially the upload speed. Fastest upload on ADSL packages is 512 kbps.

For faster uploads leased lines or DSL is needed and expect to pay in excess of 50000 Baht/month for such packages!

Fastest available at the moment in Bkk is 4mbps/512kbps. On csloxinfo this would cost 2400 Baht/month (+vat), but don't expect 4mbps internationally apart from maybe 1 or to hours/day in the middle of the night when everybody else is asleep...

[Naam]

need assistance. my present subsription is Maxnet Premier 1024/512, monthly cost 3,638 Baht (VAT included). speed and reliability generally acceptable EXCEPT that during the whole month of may i was "switched off" at 19.00 hrs and "on" again between 06.00 and 07.00 hours. june was OK but in july the same game started again.

any queries made to the call center results in receiving ridiculous bullsh*t information

several months ago i paid through my nose to have besides the TT&T line a TOT line installed. i am now planning to try out TOT DSL parallel to my Maxnet connection.

TOT website is in thai only. does anybody know what TOT is offering in Pattaya as far as speed/price normal/business packages are concerned?

thanks in advance!

[macb]

Well it all depends on whether you can get a hard line into your house for ADSL if not I suggest TOT Ipstar there are different packages, but I have no problems with mine:

I have the 256/128 package 1605 bht per month ; Installation Fee 3750 bht this may have gone up :

I have not had problems with TOT

[Firefoxx]

In case anyone's hoping against hope, a corporate 1mbit package does *not* cost just 2,000 baht/month. It's more around 20,000 baht/month, but you get around 1:5 contention (or no contention at all). I think it's being confused with the SME packages, which are indeed just a bit more than the consumer packages. However, depending on who you call at the ISP (same ISP), the SME package may or may not have a different sharing ratio (contention) from the consumer package, simply that it can be registered under a juristic person.

For high upload speeds (anything above 512k) you can't use ADSL in Thailand. CAT has G.SHDSL packages that offer 2mbit up/2mbit down speeds, but that requires a new copper cable separate from your existing phone line. It's not that expensive, around 2,850/month, and the speed is good, better than some ADSL packages. http://www.cat.net.th/hinet/promotion.html

[ajarnbill]

Hi

Here are my answers. The only choice I had offered to me was Maxnet from TT&T I have 1024/512 service for 1000 baht a month. Testing it comes up as about 800 kbps down and 384 up. This is not bad considering I am far from the local CO. I am in Ubon Ratchathani. I received a nice 4 port router when I started this process a year ago. When the technician came to hook it all up he produced a one port modem and asked for the old one back. As they say, your mileage may vary

Bill