Internet Issues

[HardenedSoul]

I'm staying in a small apartment block in Bangkok. I'm pretty much the only long term tenant here (there are only three 1 bedders and 6 studios) and the owners really look after me. I'm having a nightmare with the wi-fi connection though. I've done several speed tests of the True Internet connection (admittedly on the True Internet home page) and the results swear blind I'm getting 2953kbps. Thing is, when I try to download file, say, 4MB in size, the dam_n thing takes an age. I've installed network monitoring software and there's no one hijacking/stealing the bandwidth.

What's worse is that, come 7.30pm, I repeatedly lose the connection entirely. This lasts until around 11.30 or so and I'm inclined to believe that everybody gets home and gets online but it's doubly frustrating for me since I trade forex and commodities online when New York opens . . . at 8pm . . . potentially disastrous.

I've asked the owner to put in a service call but just wondered if anyone's had a similar situation and, if so, whether the ISP was able to do anything meaningful to improve the service ?

Appreciate any thoughts . . .

[youngkiwi]

The speed test offered on the True Internet site only tests the connection speed between your computer and True's gateway in Bangkok, and not the international bandwidth True has to the outside world. True have on-going intermittent issues with international bandwidth which have been discussed many times. I have also found True's DNS servers to be unreliable at times, often timing out when attempting to look up a domain. If you are looking for a premium connection, I would recommend KSC who I also have a connection with. Never have any of these problems with them.

[wasabi]

I have True. Within Thailand their speed is fine but how many websites do you browse within Thailand? Internationally the speeds are horrendous. i have paid for 2.5 megs and I am lucky if I get 300 Kbps.

I will be in the market for a more reliable provider but I still have some time to go in my contract.

[Wolfie]

If your staying at the apartment long-term, ask the landlord to help you get a land line installed to your room and then get your own independent internet. You can get some fairly inexpensive deals and the land line will only cost you 107b per month (excluding set up costs) and presuming its only used for internet and not calls

[HardenedSoul]

If your staying at the apartment long-term, ask the landlord to help you get a land line installed to your room and then get your own independent internet. You can get some fairly inexpensive deals and the land line will only cost you 107b per month (excluding set up costs) and presuming its only used for internet and not calls

Thanks for the responses.

I'm not going to be there long term - 3 months max - but I don't mind paying a fine for breaking a contract as my livelihood is dependent on a net connection. The KSC option sounds interesting - heard good things about them - but their website doesn't mention monthly cost or leaving the contract early. I think with True, you get fined 2000THB if you cancel before 12 months. I'll give them a bell . . . .

[youngkiwi]

KSC don't publish their pricing online for mainstream broadband anymore but they have regular promotions. You can email them at [email protected] and request their latest packages, but I warn you KSC is substantially more expensive than True. I would highly recommend them though.

[wasabi]

By the way I have a direct line, it is better than wifi as it never disconnects but the speeds are often sucky. For some reason today it's been great but that seems to be the exception.