Chiang Mai: Who Has The Best Adsl Service?

[clokwise]

We're moving to Chiang Mai (near Wat Phra Singh) in a couple weeks and I'm curious if there is any definitive best ISP for ADSL service in Chiang Mai. Cost is not so important as the overall speed and up-time. I realise that in Bangkok it's an ongoing debate as to who's best, but I presume Chiang Mai has fewer ISP choices and thus a more easily determined market leader.

BTW, is Chiang Mai's int'l net connection the same or worse (or better???) than Bangkok?

[meadish_sweetball]

For that location, a good choice should be TRUE cable instead of ADSL. You will get a dedicated fiber optic cable installed in your house/apartment, which has nothing to do with the phone line. I used that service when it was all new a few years ago, and it was excellent, hassle-free broadband.

Not entirely sure what the service is like these days but I would by all means research it more if I were you.

TRUE have their Chiang Mai office close to Chang Phuak Market.

is Chiang Mai's int'l net connection the same or worse (or better???) than Bangkok?

Depends on so many factors so it is impossible to give a simple answer. Different people within Chiang Mai have different experiences, not necessarily depending only on the ISP either. As far as my experience goes, it is pretty much the same.

[Fantasteak]

I can't comment on True as I know nothing about there service. However I use the TTanT maxnet 1 meg premier package. Its just over 1100 baht a month. I have used it for 5 months with no problems what so ever. On a speed test it showed very fast speeds to the UK. For torrents it is excellent. It would run the latest episode of Lost at 95kbs until it finished downloading. About an hour in all. Do not be tempted to go for the Indy package! This is for people who want to nothing very fast at all. If you use your own modem with Maxnet you will not have to sign a years contract.

Good Luck.

[clokwise]

Just a follow up, I checked out True, Maxnet and TOT.

Although I don't have UBC, True will still provide me a fibre internet connection, however the speed is capped at 780! Such an odd number so at first I thought she said the price was 780 baht, but no, that's 780 Kbps. Apparently that's the fastest they sell in Chiang Mai. <deleted>?

Ok, next I called TOT. The agent said they have a great offer of 2Gbps for 1000 baht, but then the agent said that's not including Chiang Mai, and I'd have to call their local office to get the dirt. So I did and they informed me that the fastest they can sell me is 512Kbps !! I asked her to confirm, and she said, at my address, which is about one block away from Wat Phra Singh, they can only give me 512/256 service.

Have not called Maxnet yet but based on the prices on their website, there's no way I can justify the Premier option price. The price Fantasteak mentioned, 1100 baht, would be fine, but that's for a 256/128 package. 1024/512 is 3,400 baht!! So it'll have to be Indy if I go with Maxnet.

I've lived in Bangkok long enough to know that I'm never going to get the full speed I pay for, but jeez, is Chiang Mai such a backwater that they can't even get away with lying and offering the 'faster' packages? This really sucks. I'm tempted to call True and TOT again, half expecting to get a totally different quote.

Can anyone offer any additional advice?

[cmsally]

I am in central Chiang Mai area and use both True cable and Maxnet Indy.

Both are fine. Some of my neighbours use TOT which apparently is not so fine!

True has 1gbps for 970Bt/month. This has nothing to do with their UBC service which I don't have.

TT&T, I have 2Gbps for just over a thousand baht/month (1,070? I think)

The speed on True Cable is probably more consistent as TT&T does have its slow days but no complaints about either.

[clokwise]

True has 1gbps for 970Bt/month. This has nothing to do with their UBC service which I don't have.

TT&T, I have 2Gbps for just over a thousand baht/month (1,070? I think)

The speed on True Cable is probably more consistent as TT&T does have its slow days but no complaints about either.

Thanks for the tip. I just spoke with Maxnet, they tell me I have to switch my phone from TOT to TT&T before I can use their internet service. Well, more money down the drain. They offer the 2Gbps Indy package for 1070 baht, which is ok I suppose, but they specifically point out that with Indy they filter VOIP and bittorrent. The sales agent not surprisingly could not shed any additional light on this however. Does anyone know to what degree they filter? Like, totally 100% blocked? Can the torrent filtering be circumvented using commonly known methods? Do they block the VOIP RDP packets or just specific ports?