Alternatives To Tot Adsl In Chiang Mai?

[MartinBKK]

My TOT ADSL connection has been unstable for months. I live in Sansai, Chiang mai and work online. I need a stable service, one that is capable of running real time data applications like stock trading.

I have made enquiries about TRUE, CSLoxinfo and TT&T Maxnet. I have been told i cannot have ANY of these services. TRUE is not available 7kms outside the city, CSLoxinfo is full and TT&T cannot provide me with their own line for some reason (i have a TOT line now).

Apparently KSC might be possible. If its not i dont think i have any alternative but to move house?

If anyone could offer me any help or share their experiences of the internet in Chiang mai i would be very grateful.

Thanks.

[Priceless]

My TOT ADSL connection has been unstable for months. I live in Sansai, Chiang mai and work online. I need a stable service, one that is capable of running real time data applications like stock trading.

I have made enquiries about TRUE, CSLoxinfo and TT&T Maxnet. I have been told i cannot have ANY of these services. TRUE is not available 7kms outside the city, CSLoxinfo is full and TT&T cannot provide me with their own line for some reason (i have a TOT line now).

Apparently KSC might be possible. If its not i dont think i have any alternative but to move house?

If anyone could offer me any help or share their experiences of the internet in Chiang mai i would be very grateful.

Thanks.

Judging by TOT's performance at this very moment, I'd suggest carrier pigeons as a high speed aternative

/ Priceless

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

I haven't found any provider in Chiang Mai that offers quality service. In the past I have used TOT. It was often unusable particularly in the afternoon when school is out. The standard excuse was we have a lot of new customers and don't have the equipment set up yet. In Thailand you get the customers then worry about the service quality later. For a time we used another provider whose name escapes me. They were just as bad. We currently use True. It works though we have more problems than we should. With True and probably the others as well customer service stops at the end of the work day or about 8pm. If there is a system problem after 8pm and there have been several, it isn't handled until after 8:30 am the following day. Service techs don't work at night at least in Chiang Mai. They also don't appear to understand backup systems. Once when the internet was down for much of the day we were told they had a hardware failure and the parts had to come from Bangkok. Keeping spares so that uninterupted service can be provided is not a priority. The concept of 24/7 quality service is alien to the providers here. Since there is little government regulation and foreigners are not allowed to compete with Thai ISPs there is no incentive to change. Had I known this before we located our business here we would have set up in Malaysia.

Edited May 19, 2008 by ChiangMaiAmerican

[Mapguy]

I have 2MB TOT goldcyber. Download/upload speeds near Kad Suan Kaew have routinely been below 50kb/s. Did a speed test on the Bangkok server. It ran up to 950/300 kb/s, but generally was in the 200-300/120-150 range. TOT technician visited. Nothing wrong with my setup. His simple comment: "Too many people." He also said that TOT was working on improving its Chiang Mai connection with the Bangkok. "How long," I asked, "to reach any reasonable speeds?" He said that hios boss told him "one week."

[FlatOut]

Has any of the above changed in the last 3 years? Can you use TRUE more than 7kms out of the city? Does anyone know the procedure for 3BB - I've been in to the office and they said there aren't any 'connections' near my house but I could pay for it to be installed....obviously, this being Thailand there was no idea of cost or time frames involved.

I'm gonna refuse to pay this month's TOT bill as I'm paying for a service I'm simply not getting.

[sent from a cafe nearby]...............

[MartinBKK]

Has any of the above changed in the last 3 years? Can you use TRUE more than 7kms out of the city? Does anyone know the procedure for 3BB - I've been in to the office and they said there aren't any 'connections' near my house but I could pay for it to be installed....obviously, this being Thailand there was no idea of cost or time frames involved.

I'm gonna refuse to pay this month's TOT bill as I'm paying for a service I'm simply not getting.

[sent from a cafe nearby]...............

Since i posted that my TOT has seen an improvement. However, this month has been the worst i've had for a long time. I have read that all isp's seem to be suffering though so i'm not sure there is much point in changing. My options in Sansai are TOT, 3BB and KSC as far as i know. There is also a signal for AIS and TRUE 3G services but i believe TRUE DSL is not available this far out.

[nikster]

True still doesnt go outside the city - but in the city they have cable with up to 100Mbit - or so they claim.

3BB goes everywhere. It's just as bad as TOT though, sometimes better, sometimes worse, seemingly at random. TOT saw a big improvement last year, and simultaneously 3BB went to sh*ts. But these things change often.

I tried both TOT and 3BB in my moo baan, both showed a tremendous slowdown at certain high traffic times - DSL traffic jam every evening.

Now I've switched to 3BB Premier. It works fine and costs 2,500 / month for 5Mbit. You get what you pay for....

[a99az]

Pidgin

[MartinBKK]

True still doesnt go outside the city - but in the city they have cable with up to 100Mbit - or so they claim.

3BB goes everywhere. It's just as bad as TOT though, sometimes better, sometimes worse, seemingly at random. TOT saw a big improvement last year, and simultaneously 3BB went to sh*ts. But these things change often.

I tried both TOT and 3BB in my moo baan, both showed a tremendous slowdown at certain high traffic times - DSL traffic jam every evening.

Now I've switched to 3BB Premier. It works fine and costs 2,500 / month for 5Mbit. You get what you pay for....

2500 is a lot of money for 5mb internet. That is far more than we would pay in UK or USA. What intl download speeds are you getting for that?

I used to have 3MB premier but switched to TOT because i thought it was better value for money. Even after the disruption this month imo TOT has made a lot of improvement in the last 3 years.

[infernalman7]

True's domestic connection is great. I'm subscribing 50/5Mbps and domestically it's what they promised. Internationally is ... a little bit of a let down (both ping and speed).

I've used 3BB Premier before and believe me it's probably the best option for anyone who wants to the most reliable connection abroad. The ping is great as well as they put you on their prioritized network. Too bad 5Mbps isn't enough for streaming HD contents, so I decided to move to True.

Oh, and it's not that much money if you compare what you can pay and get in Australia.

Edited July 22, 2011 by infernalman7

[Artamus]

I live in San Sai. When I originally moved here two years ago TOT would not even connect the service - "too many connections in the San Sai area because too many farangs live there" was the reason I was given. I bought, and still use a CAT mobile modem (one of those USB sticks with "high speed" modem). Service is OK and costs 835 Baht/month. Speed is supposed to be 3MB but it's variable, but certainly not good enough for large downloads. This solution is good though as it allows me to use the Internet pretty much anywhere in Thailand (but not Bangkok).

I also have a 3BB cable now (installed about 4 months ago), which is the standard 6MB connection at 631 Baht/month. Pretty reliable and much better speed (about 4x greater than the CAT solution).