Problem with AIS SIM

[bradiston]

I've had an AIS SIM for my phone for many years. Everything ok. But I bought another one for my router and loaded it with the same package I use on my phone, 12 months 100 Gb per month, 1890 THB. I've had intermittent problems with the router SIM, which is 250 km away, and is used to send motion detect triggered photos to me from my house's CCTV cameras. It seems to lose its internet connection, ie, no photos, which is fixable by rebooting the router. At least, temporarily. But I have to pay someone to go round and do that.

 

I went to the AIS shop in Central in Pattaya and asked them if they could check the SIM. Useless. After about an hour they came up with nothing. But after talking to their 1175 number it turns out the SIM is registered with a completely unknown passport. They gave me the last 4 digits. I bought it in the AIS shop in Central. They say I have to bring in the SIM to the shop as I can't prove I "own" it. Huh? How does taking it into the shop prove ownership, especially if it doesn't appear to be registered to me.

 

So I'm jumping to all sorts of conclusions, like, did they register it to a dummy passport when I originally bought it? I had/have no way of checking, though I showed them my passport, and assumed they used the details on that. I got mad at them and started ranting about 10,000 SIM cards being sold to Chinese call centre scammers etc etc. To no avail.

 

I'm going to buy a new SIM (they're only 70 odd THB) and watch every move when they register it. I'll replace the one in the router, but take it into the shop later and get them to check it there and then.

 

It just came as a bit of a surprise that the original was registered with an unknown, to me, at least, passport. Any ideas? Similar experiences? It's like I'm the one who's the possible scammer if I can't produce it in court, so to speak

Edited June 7, 2023 by bradiston

[Digitalbanana]

I bought an AIS SIM off Shopee, that came registered with someone elses ID and after a while had to go to an AIS shop with my pp to register it - otherwise they would shut it down. Since then works fine, not sure it helps your router problem tho as mine worked fine before ID check.

[Mickeymaus]

"It seems to lose its internet connection, ie, no photos, which is fixable by rebooting the router. At least, temporarily. But I have to pay someone to go round and do that." 

 

Perhaps a timer that switches it off and on at a certain time every day? 

[scubascuba3]

The passport has nothing to do with the intermittent problem. Just update passport details, of course they need the sim, they will put it in their phone. New sim with same number was 50 baht when i lost my phone at AIS

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, Mickeymaus said:

"It seems to lose its internet connection, ie, no photos, which is fixable by rebooting the router. At least, temporarily. But I have to pay someone to go round and do that." 

 

Perhaps a timer that switches it off and on at a certain time every day? 

The router's plugged into a decent fairly new UPS. That cured the problem for quite a while. Now the problem has returned. My house is on a fairly remote island, and the AIS signal seems to vary a lot. I've reported it numerous times, but I'm never there long enough to monitor it. I could try other SIMs but travelling down there and back is a real pain. Maybe I could try a True/DTAC one for maybe 3 months. 

 

 

[Mickeymaus]

1 minute ago, bradiston said:

The router's plugged into a decent fairly new UPS. That cured the problem for quite a while. Now the problem has returned. My house is on a fairly remote island, and the AIS signal seems to vary a lot. I've reported it numerous times, but I'm never there long enough to monitor it. I could try other SIMs but travelling down there and back is a real pain. Maybe I could try a True/DTAC one for maybe 3 months. 

 

My idea was if you reset the router by switching it off (perhaps for a minute) and on with a timer at certain intervals then perhaps you don't need to ask someone to go there and do it if it doesn't work again. 

[NextG]

15 minutes ago, bradiston said:

The router's plugged into a decent fairly new UPS. That cured the problem for quite a while. Now the problem has returned. My house is on a fairly remote island, and the AIS signal seems to vary a lot. I've reported it numerous times, but I'm never there long enough to monitor it. I could try other SIMs but travelling down there and back is a real pain. Maybe I could try a True/DTAC one for maybe 3 months. 

 

 

To ‘fix’ the issue, you need to go into the router settings in order to set the AIS connection to just a single band. i.e. LTE Band 1 or Band 3 or…

 

[bradiston]

25 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

My idea was if you reset the router by switching it off (perhaps for a minute) and on with a timer at certain intervals then perhaps you don't need to ask someone to go there and do it if it doesn't work again. 

You may have a point. I will investigate.

[bradiston]

14 minutes ago, NextG said:

To ‘fix’ the issue, you need to go into the router settings in order to set the AIS connection to just a single band. i.e. LTE Band 1 or Band 3 or…

 

I will investigate next time I have to visit. Thanks.

Edited June 7, 2023 by bradiston

[bradiston]

5 hours ago, Digitalbanana said:

I bought an AIS SIM off Shopee, that came registered with someone elses ID and after a while had to go to an AIS shop with my pp to register it - otherwise they would shut it down. Since then works fine, not sure it helps your router problem tho as mine worked fine before ID check.

It amazes me AIS would sell a SIM registered with someone else's passport or ID card. How can they do that? I bought mine in the AIS shop in Central and presented my passport etc. So how come it's ended up being registered with another passport? It's really a problem when you try and add it to your main profile on the AIS app, as you'll get an error message saying can't add as it's registered to a different ID. If you're able to add it, you can then top up etc without having to receive an SMS on that number, which obviously you can't in any case as it's in a router. And unavailable for phone insertion.

[Mickeymaus]

59 minutes ago, bradiston said:

It amazes me AIS would sell a SIM registered with someone else's passport or ID card. How can they do that? I bought mine in the AIS shop in Central and presented my passport etc. So how come it's ended up being registered with another passport? It's really a problem when you try and add it to your main profile on the AIS app, as you'll get an error message saying can't add as it's registered to a different ID. If you're able to add it, you can then top up etc without having to receive an SMS on that number, which obviously you can't in any case as it's in a router. And unavailable for phone insertion.

I tested 2 SIM card routers. They both could send USSD codes and receive SMS. But I can't guaranty this for all routers on the market.

[bradiston]

12 hours ago, Mickeymaus said:

I tested 2 SIM card routers. They both could send USSD codes and receive SMS. But I can't guaranty this for all routers on the market.

Sorry, you've lost me. What kind of routers are we talking about? There's no way my router(s) can dial out. And there's no display. They hold just standard SIMs. And getting an OTP on a device 300km away isn't of much use.

 

I used to have remote login set up, but it was ages ago and involved port forwarding. I've forgotten how to set it up, but I guess it's another possibility.

Edited June 8, 2023 by bradiston

[Mickeymaus]

4 minutes ago, bradiston said:

Sorry, you've lost me. What kind of routers are we talking about? There's no way my router(s) can dial out. And there's no display. They hold just standard SIMs. And getting an OTP on a device 300km away isn't of much use.

 

I used to have remote login set up, but it was ages ago and involved port forwarding. I've forgotten how to set it up, but I guess it's another possibility.

Here a picture of the D-LINK SIM card router I tested as an example. You can send USSD codes and receive SMS. 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

17 hours ago, bradiston said:

It amazes me AIS would sell a SIM registered with someone else's passport or ID card. How can they do that?

Did you read the post you quoted?  AIS did not sell the SIM

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Did you read the post you quoted?  AIS did not sell the SIM

The poster I was quoting bought one from shopee, but his SIM came pre-registered. I bought mine from AIS. AIS appear to have registered mine with an unknown passport number, despite my handing mine over at the time of purchase.

Edited June 8, 2023 by bradiston

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, bradiston said:

3 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

you read the post you quoted?  AIS did not sell the SIM

The poster I was quoting bought one from shopee, but his SIM came pre-registered.

My point thank you.

 

1 hour ago, bradiston said:

I bought mine from AIS. AIS appear to have registered mine with an unknown passport number, despite my handing mine over at the time of purchase.

A different situation, different problem. It certainly needs addressing but is not probably not relevant to @Digitalbanana

[patman30]

On 6/7/2023 at 4:08 PM, bradiston said:

I could try other SIMs but travelling down there and back is a real pain.

i would also test a new router
just to cover all bases
but before travelling anywhere first check everything is working where you are now
you should also be able to set the router to reboot daily

[bradiston]

40 minutes ago, patman30 said:

i would also test a new router
just to cover all bases
but before travelling anywhere first check everything is working where you are now
you should also be able to set the router to reboot daily

I never saw that as a settting in any router. Somebody suggested using a timer which might work.

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

My point thank you.

 

A different situation, different problem. It certainly needs addressing but is not probably not relevant to @Digitalbanana

It was a comment on the registration of SIMs with passport numbers unrelated to the buyer.

[bradiston]

44 minutes ago, patman30 said:

i would also test a new router
just to cover all bases
but before travelling anywhere first check everything is working where you are now
you should also be able to set the router to reboot daily

I'm talking intermittent unexplained as yet untraceable disconnects. What workstoday won't necessarily work tomorrow. Of course it's working when I leave the house. 3 days later, gone.

[Liverpool Lou]

On 6/7/2023 at 4:08 PM, bradiston said:

My house is on a fairly remote island, and the AIS signal seems to vary a lot.

Maybe you shouldn't blame AIS, nor give them the "Chinese" rant, for your choice of where to live?

Edited June 8, 2023 by Liverpool Lou

[patman30]

55 minutes ago, bradiston said:

I never saw that as a settting in any router. Somebody suggested using a timer which might work.

most routers have this advanced setting
but most people would never need to care to look for it
image was just taken from my Tp-Link sim router

How to Automatically Reboot Your Router for Better Internet Connections

 

[bradiston]

28 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Maybe you shouldn't blame AIS, nor give them the "Chinese" rant, for your choice of where to live?

You're missing the whole point. The SIM was registered by AIS to another passport number. Geddit? Is that not their fault? And possibly the quality of the signal also, but I'm not on about that. If you've nothing useful to say best say nothing. Why come in with comments like that?

[bradiston]

2 minutes ago, patman30 said:

most routers have this advanced setting
but most people would never need to care to look for it
image was just taken from my Tp-Link sim router

How to Automatically Reboot Your Router for Better Internet Connections

 

Now that IS useful! Thank you @patman30 I am extremely grateful.

[patman30]

56 minutes ago, bradiston said:

I'm talking intermittent unexplained as yet untraceable disconnects. What workstoday won't necessarily work tomorrow. Of course it's working when I leave the house. 3 days later, gone.

LOL sods law
is the CCTV run by a PC or DVR?
can you remote access the dvr/pc after it reconnects?


 

[bradiston]

3 minutes ago, patman30 said:

LOL sods law
is the CCTV run by a PC or DVR?
can you remote access the dvr/pc after it reconnects?


 

The cameras are POE so they get their power from cat5 cables that network them. They don't store anything, just upload photos to a third party mail server which forwards them to one of my Gmail accounts. As with the router, I used to be able to run maintenance on them remotely using port forwarding, but it was way back when and I haven't got round to it for a very long time. These cameras are Chinese, and have a downloadable remote management app. Hooray for Huawei! ????

 

Just have to add... Even though your much appreciated possible solution will hopefully at least restore the connection, the fault is still there somewhere for the router to keep disconnecting. I will for sure take a new SIM with me on my next visit, registered to my pp so I can add it to my AIS app profile, and try out some other suggestions kindly made here.

 

[Liverpool Lou]

18 hours ago, bradiston said:

You're missing the whole point. The SIM was registered by AIS to another passport number. Geddit? Is that not their fault? And possibly the quality of the signal also, but I'm not on about that. If you've nothing useful to say best say nothing. Why come in with comments like that?

Er, it's a forum..."Geddit"?   

[bradiston]

23 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Er, it's a forum..."Geddit"?   

Yeah, and this forum has rules and conventions about staying on topic, and not baiting. If AIS's signal is questionable I've every right to bring it to their attention. I've done it several times in the past having compared noted with others in the vicinity suffering poor signal.

 

As for the "Chinese rant"... I'd like to see your reaction if you found out your SIM was registered to an unknown entity who could take control of it anytime they pleased.

 

There is an article in the BP which I can't link to, but if you Google "Illegal SIM cards 'integral' to scams" you'll see what I was on about regarding Chinese scammers and 1000s of SIM cards illegally registered.

 

I don't know what it is with you, Lou. You treat people with complete disdain on occasion. I'm not happy with AIS's current service provision, so I should move elsewhere? I've been living there on and off for 18 years. I've had problems in the past which they've fixed. Others confirmed there was a problem with their service, Thais and foreigners. We should all up sticks? We're not all just entitled-acting idiots.

Edited June 9, 2023 by bradiston

[NextG]

23 hours ago, bradiston said:

I never saw that as a settting in any router. Somebody suggested using a timer which might work.

It’s been in every 3G/4G router that I’ve used. 

[NextG]

22 hours ago, bradiston said:

Now that IS useful! Thank you @patman30 I am extremely grateful.

Would have been even more useful had you named your router…