Is "true" - True?

[CosmicSurfer]

When TRUE first started their Broadband service I contracted for 2560/512 Service...

Before I paid them even one thin Satang I quickly discovered that I wasn't getting anything even close to that speed... I started to document my Speed tests... Never more than 350... with one test recording as low as 9.8 kbps.. The overall average was around 100, give or take a few.

I freaked out and started a War with TRUE until they changed my contract to a more realistic 256/128. If I was going to get nothing more than Glorified Dial-Up speeds, then I didn't want to spend more then I had to.. Besides, having the phone line free, plus unlimited access was a bonus over the dial-up.

Now I'm wondering if I Up-Grade, will I "TRUELY" get anything close to what I would be paying for???

NOTE: I don't have UBC, True-Move or any other True service, so I don't qualify for any of their promotions... and though I do have an Orange SIM, their Network doesn't work in my Condo room, so it's usless to me.. I hold onto it only to maintain the number, which I like. I pay a minimum amount on a promotion plan to maintain it.. But I have over 500 Baht credit which I'll never use, as I have 2 mobiles runnning DTAC Sims already.. and I'm not going to carry a 3rd phone.

So.. the question is.. Should I Up-Grade... and which Service level really gives the closest thing in REAL TRUE value for money????

If a neighborhood is important to evaluate services... I'm on Patanakhan Rd.. in the Condo Building, right beside TRUE TOWER 2.

(Not that this helps my Mobile service... )

Does ANYBODY get what they Pay for ????

Or anything even close?

I might settle for a Steady 50/50 - 50% of paid-for Speed - 50% of the time.

Feedback is kindly requested,

CS

[Guest Reimar]

CS, if you ever read about the Internet Speed in Thailand you should get your answer already. If not, just search the forum for that and you will need days, or even weeks to read all post about the Internet speed in Thailand.

It's quite a bit boring to reply many times with the same infos which was done hundreds if not thousand of times before.

Cheers.

[sniffdog]

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It's quite a bit boring to reply many times with the same infos which was done hundreds if not thousand of times before.

=============================================================

Exactly. One of the major problems of TV ... BTW Where get a get a double entry visa?

[CosmicSurfer]

CS, if you ever read about the Internet Speed in Thailand you should get your answer already. If not, just search the forum for that and you will need days, or even weeks to read all post about the Internet speed in Thailand.

It's quite a bit boring to reply many times with the same infos which was done hundreds if not thousand of times before.

Cheers.

Reimar...

I know all about TRUE speeds suck.. I'm not asking or complaining about that....

I'm just trying to finds out from people that are paying more than I am if they are getting anything like real value for the extra cost....

I've reached the point where I'd be willing to pay more if I would really get increased speeds... I can't check that if I don't ask those people that are paying more...

Does anyone consistently get at least 50% of what you pay for???

Some responses from users would be appreciated?

CS

[Crushdepth]

So.. the question is.. Should I Up-Grade...

Suggest you downgrade to whatever the 'typical' speed you observe is and don't pay for stuff you aren't getting. It worked for me :-)

[learnthaipodcast]

Don't blame just True, they are all bad. We have been with several ISPs and all of them didn't give us the bandwidth we paid for.

[Guest Reimar]

Without to want to start a new discussion about it, once again:

Read the contract's you have with your ISP in Thailand while all of them stating that the Speed you applying for is the MAXIMUM Speed you can get for your money or for the money you have to pay every month! and at the same moment you apply for their service while signing the Order, you sign that contract.

From my understanding that means nothing more than that you have accept any speed between 0 kbps and the speed you paying for. And that speed is even more limited to the connection from your computer to the Main Server/Gateway of the ISP!

I had that kind discussion at the time I was sue CS-L about their IP-Star Services. And as bad as the IP-Star Service is, you have more rights for to get a better speed than for the "normal" Land line. I won the court case against CS-L and if I had any chance to win against TRUE for the Land line, I had started that Case as well.

Or let say it on an other way: the IP-Star Contracts are much more customer friendly for to deliver their service than any Internet Contract for Land lines.

Personal, I'm ok let say 80% of the time with the speed I get from TRUE. I would never get the same from TOT or others.

And again, I don't want to start a discussion about that again because that will escalate very easy and all answers could be found here at Thaivisa already, just start a Search.

Cheers.

[opalhort]

Reimar is correct in not wanting to open this discussion again, but I hope he allows me to add some comments:

The question the OP asked was: "do you get what you pay for"

This can not be answered in general terms because it depends very much on the telecoms infrastructure in the area where you are located. Some people get what they pay for and others don't.

Example:

We have been with TRUE ADSL since they started with 1Mbps at 890+Baht, then they reduced the price to 590+Baht and offered 2Mbps for 890+Baht. We called them that we want to upgrade to the 2Mbps and were told honestly that technically it is possible but because of to many subscribers in our area we probably would hardly ever get much more than 1Mbps.

So we stuck to our 1M at the reduced price and are quite happy with it.

Apart from a few rare hick-ups we get 85-90% domestic AND international of what we pay for.

Compare this to what two of my sisters (one in a big city the other in a small town) in Germany get: They subscribed for 6Mbps and hardly ever get more than 2.5Mbps.

The only way to find out what you can get is to subscribe (make sure you don't sign a one year contract!) and test it. You can always downgrade later.

opalhort

[Guest Reimar]

Reimar is correct in not wanting to open this discussion again, but I hope he allows me to add some comments:

The question the OP asked was: "do you get what you pay for"

..............................

opalhort

You get what you pay for because you pay in the real for the 0 kbps til the max speed you can get, let say 1 Mbps or whatsoever. There is not any minimum classified what you should get only a maximum!

Unfortunate you'll just get what you signed up and pay for! Or as one of the Management Members of TRUE told to me: you just get what came out of the line at your end and that will not exceed the maximum.

You get only one Service which has to give you what you sign up for: Leased Line! And that speed is even guaranted between you and the Service ISP only, but NOT the Internet.

By the way, I was meaning not to start a new discussion just for myself because all answer already on the Board!

Cheers.

[opalhort]

Yes, what you sign up for is only the max. speed, min. is 0!

And, as Reimar said, the speed only applies to 'you <-> ISP' not the Internet. We all know that the international bottle neck is the CAT.

In fact we get more than we pay for when it comes to speeds from us to TRUE.

Whatever happened to the direct link TRUE had to Korea?

For anybody who doesn't know it yet you can check quite a few things regarding TRUE speeds and links here:

Network status

or

True Internet home page

opalhort

Edited June 8, 2008 by opalhort

[cali]

You get only one Service which has to give you what you sign up for: Leased Line! And that speed is even guaranted between you and the Service ISP only, but NOT the Internet.

The way I read that is they are totally free to screw you just the same as they do for home/business packages.

By the way, isn't the CAT monopoly over? Looking at recent internet connectivity charts shows other providers. And yet prices have not dropped and people are still dogged by performance woes (not from user to ISP, but from ISP to international). Maybe thinking CAT was the problem was a misplaced notion?

So looking at the state of things now in 2008, why aren't ISPs offering full speed international to their subscribers on a consistent basis? We only have to look at threads in this forum to know how short they are falling from what seems like such a reasonable expectation.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hello

A bit of advice that i received from ISSP who provides the leased line at my office. I also complained there that we pay a royal amount of money for a 1M/1M line and, according to various speed tests, don't even get half that.

They told me to try it with Bit Torrent.

And so i did and lo and behold - 1M/1M, without fail, 24/7, international bandwidth.

Those speed test sites have their own problems..........

And about TRUE, i myself can't complain - i pay for 1.5M/512k and that is exactly what i get, tested by Bit Torrent again.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[THAILIBAN]

I wouldnt spend 25 satang on upgrading with TRUE. you should rather downgrade and would probably still have the same speed, or they would offer a better deal than before, paying less for the same speed you have now.....

I pay 1230 Baht and its annoyingly slow. in my old place, I had the basic version at 635 Baht a month, and the speed was about the same. As soon as my landlord is back from her sommer-vacation, I will ask her to downgrade to the 635 Baht-version.

Not much difference between very slow and very very slow.... and I am not a big downloader anyway..... i feel stupid that, in the past 18 months, I paid almost 10.000 Baht more than the basic version would have costed..... never again

Edited June 9, 2008 by THAILIBAN

[CosmicSurfer]

I wouldnt spend 25 satang on upgrading with TRUE. you should rather downgrade and would probably still have the same speed, or they would offer a better deal than before, paying less for the same speed you have now.....

I pay 1230 Baht and its annoyingly slow. in my old place, I had the basic version at 635 Baht a month, and the speed was about the same. As soon as my landlord is back from her sommer-vacation, I will ask her to downgrade to the 635 Baht-version.

Not much difference between very slow and very very slow.... and I am not a big downloader anyway..... i feel stupid that, in the past 18 months, I paid almost 10.000 Baht more than the basic version would have costed..... never again

As you can see in my O/P I'm already at the cheapest level... I thought the same as you.. but did it long ago....

But now that I'm starting to download torrents I'm discovering just how defficient my speed actually is, and I've noticed that some other posters (in other threads) have mentioned receiving higher speeds than I get... so that has me wondering if upgrading makes any financial sense.

Just where is the "SWEET Spot" ??? What is the optimun SCR???? (Speed Cost Ratio)???

CS