Tot Adsl - Horribly Slow - Anyone Else ?

[resrea]

Hi,

Our internet has been painfully slow at times - over the last few days.

Just wondering if anyone else has had problem ?

Cheers,

Phil.

[vagabond48]

over the last 3 to 4 week it has been sometimes comatose slow as well as down for 3 to 5 hours several times.

I have a neighbor in the same building who install his own TTT conection and his is just fine. I am using the building's wireless internet and even at 2 or 3 am, it is still slow and I am lucky to get up to 2% of the supposedly 2m/bps the landlord is subscribing to.

[Artamus]

Hi,

Our internet has been painfully slow at times - over the last few days.

Just wondering if anyone else has had problem ?

Cheers,

Phil.

Been poorer than usual up here in Pai. Intermittent service last couple of days and snails pace (especially late in the day).

[Priceless]

I'm getting very good speeds (1.75 Mbps/400 kbps on a TOT 2 Mbps/512 kbps line) as long as I stay within Thailand (and Singapore). Any international connection is however painfully slow. As far as I know TOT use CAT for their international connections and I would think they are the culprits.

I chuckle a little every time I read somebody suggesting that Thailand or a part thereof should become an 'IT hub' The latest I saw was somebody in the property business suggesting that Phuket should become such a hub. I wonder if s/he had thought about the cost for building a modern high capacity international backbone to serve the people working there (and how to by-pass the virtual CAT monopoly)

/ Priceless

[Paagai]

Agree with others, TOT has been attrocious last few days, and a couple of evenings virtually unusable to some sites.

Using TV speed test on a 2048/160 TOT line just now (N.B. I thought it was a 2048/512 line - TOT Goldcyber - but 160 upload is what the Modem is reporting):

Last Result:

Download Speed: 1033 kbps (129.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 124 kbps (15.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 325 ms

22 January 2009 13:09:17

Dunno where the test server to say how much is an international problem, but my practical usegae refelcts Priceless' comments that the pipe outta Thailand is the problem.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Paagai

[earlofwindermere]

Tot has been much slower at my house for the past few days as well. (Sansai)

[T_Dog]

If you go to this thread...

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Tot-Adsl-Sme...79#entry2480679

you'll find some background on what may be the problems. It is a pain! The internet is as slow as western Suthep Road and Canal Road today. (CMU graduation ceremonies.)

[Paagai]

Going into Geek mode I investigated...............

The Modem was set up with the TOT defaults (though its not a TOT modem, already discarded that peice of Xavi junk long ago) and G.dmt modulation. Changing to multimode, the modem recognises 512K uplink, has much better line margins and everything is noticably faster. TV Speedtest now:

Last Result:

Download Speed: 1721 kbps (215.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 395 kbps (49.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 265 ms

22 January 2009 13:35:24

Maybe TOT have been changing DSLAMs or reconfiguring them?

[vagabond48]

Just did 2 speedtests on ADSL line. The tests themselves took forever

Download Speed: 98 kbps

Upload Speed: 179 kbps

5 minutes later

Download Speed: 93 kbps

Upload Speed: 153 kbps

Getting less than 5% of the 2meg kbps.

[resrea]

I've just spoken to 3 people at TOT - (who have turned passing the buck into an art form) - the last guy got me to do a speed test while he was on the phone - (1789 down - 392 up), and he said that that was normal for the goldcyber 2 mb plan.

I patiently tried to explain that it might be 'normal' from where he is but it's just plain crap from where I am - he then said that a lot of people have this plan and I have to share packets with those people - I again told him that it was fine until 3 days ago but it's rubbish now - basically I got nowhere, it would have been a relief to me to have found out that there is a problem somewhere - at least that way I'd know it was going to be fixed, but they seem to be in total denial - (the last thing this guy advised me to do was to use the 'net during the middle of the night!).

I have an online business and this is getting beyond a joke - does anyone have any ideas re: some practical action ? - any hotline's to someone who's not as thick as two short planks ?

Any advice wuld be appreciated as I'm just beating my head against a brick wall here,

Phil.

[hill16]

Go into the TOT office responsible for your area and DEMAND (in a polite way) to speak to the manager. Bring a Thai speaker if needs be but make sure that they are not going to be their usual meek selves when it comes to complaining. Present your complaint exactly as it has taken place with the names of those that you have spoken to already and their responses and explain that you are a valued customer and wish to be treated as such. I would be very surprised if the big boss doesn't sort something out for you then.

I've just spoken to 3 people at TOT - (who have turned passing the buck into an art form) - the last guy got me to do a speed test while he was on the phone - (1789 down - 392 up), and he said that that was normal for the goldcyber 2 mb plan.

I patiently tried to explain that it might be 'normal' from where he is but it's just plain crap from where I am - he then said that a lot of people have this plan and I have to share packets with those people - I again told him that it was fine until 3 days ago but it's rubbish now - basically I got nowhere, it would have been a relief to me to have found out that there is a problem somewhere - at least that way I'd know it was going to be fixed, but they seem to be in total denial - (the last thing this guy advised me to do was to use the 'net during the middle of the night!).

I have an online business and this is getting beyond a joke - does anyone have any ideas re: some practical action ? - any hotline's to someone who's not as thick as two short planks ?

Any advice wuld be appreciated as I'm just beating my head against a brick wall here,

Phil.

[Bill97]

It is a local problem effecting some areas only because in Mae Rim it has been ok with speed tests showing the high end of the usual range. International is not bad either.

[Steve2UK]

I'm no geek nor is this the geeks' sub-forum, but using the TCP Optimise (and Firefox Optimise if appropriate) functions of the free Advanced System Care software may help a bit: http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html

It optimises various Windows factors to get the best out of a given connection. There are others that do similar things but they generally call for expert knowledge to use sensibly.

Certainly there are bottlenecks in the international connections (courtesy of CAT) as well as poor performance on some local/national circuits (courtesy of TOT). The above recommendation won't magically "fix" those issues, but could well help reduce the impact. Over the last few weeks, I have experienced more than usual of the "not available/connection broken/try again" error message (this is with Firefox - IE's equivalent is the 404 error message); given some of what we hear is going on with ISP's (TOT particularly) getting involved in blocking sites etc, this may also be a factor at the moment.

I have previously been told by a clearly knowledgeable TOT technician that it was typical to get only 50-60% of the claimed/advertised speed of the subscribed service - largely depending on how many other users are on your particular circuit at a given time (known as "contention ratio", I believe - basically that translates as "competition" for the traffic flow available). For sure, TOT (but I think most/all of the other providers, too) think nothing of cramming as many subscribers onto a circuit as they can handle the invoicing for - the technical provision of capacity/service comes way down the list after that. Cutting the price (from 1,000 to 590 baht p.m. for notional "2Mb") only adds to the congestion - and IMO is another sign that they're fighting for customers using price rather than performance as the attraction.

I've had other issues with my own TOT 2Mb adsl connection over the last few weeks - maybe now resolved after two technicians' visits that resulted in me getting a replacement modem from TOT........ and so far so good (1830kbps download and 303kbps upload just now).

Having said all that, my second (knowledgeable) technician also discovered that TOT had not switched the service from 1Mb to 2MB when I requested it several months previously (although the TOT accounts department had been super-efficient at increasing the charge immediately). A quick 'phone call from him to the exchange - and seconds later, there was the speed increase. With that in mind (plus the fact that he told me his work sheet for that day included 20+ other local subscribers with similar issues) and I think you may find it worthwhile to get TOT to check and confirm that they are actually supplying the 2Mb service - however notional that 2MB is.........

I've had pretty OK service (eventually) just by reporting problems to the 1100 call centre (good English-speaking operators), but I do agree with Hill16's approach - and do be able to make the case in Thai either yourself or through a Thai-speaker if you go to your local office

[FWIW, I'm in the Pa Tan area just north of the Superhighway]

Edited January 22, 2009 by Steve2UK

[Priceless]

I've just spoken to 3 people at TOT - (who have turned passing the buck into an art form) - the last guy got me to do a speed test while he was on the phone - (1789 down - 392 up), and he said that that was normal for the goldcyber 2 mb plan.

I patiently tried to explain that it might be 'normal' from where he is but it's just plain crap from where I am - he then said that a lot of people have this plan and I have to share packets with those people - I again told him that it was fine until 3 days ago but it's rubbish now - basically I got nowhere, it would have been a relief to me to have found out that there is a problem somewhere - at least that way I'd know it was going to be fixed, but they seem to be in total denial - (the last thing this guy advised me to do was to use the 'net during the middle of the night!).

I have an online business and this is getting beyond a joke - does anyone have any ideas re: some practical action ? - any hotline's to someone who's not as thick as two short planks ?

Any advice wuld be appreciated as I'm just beating my head against a brick wall here,

Phil.

As a matter of fact, what the man told you is absolutely true. I doubt that there is any provider in the world that will (consistently) give you much better than that. You are getting 80-90% of the maximum speed that you are paying for. ADSL is a shared service (as is indeed the whole global internet), so the actual speed will always depend on how many users are active at any given time. If you are absolutely dependent on getting a full 2048 kbps downstream, your (only) solution will be to get an end-to-end leased line at that speed. Expect to pay in the millions, though.

However, I think that you and the service guy were probably not talking about the same thing. I would imagine that you were experiencing slow international speeds, whereas he was talking about your connection speed (or at best including the national network). The international link is firmly outside what an individual TOT technician can possibly influence, so he would not even consider that, I would imagine. It appears that our lovely ISPs in this country are not aware that there are customers who want/need international connectivity. Furthermore, as long as CAT have a virtual monopoly on international circuits, I don't think anything will change. It is certainly the experience from other countries that competition is the only remedy to poor customer service. If you're waiting for that to arrive in Thailand, don't hold your breath

/ Priceless

Edited January 22, 2009 by Priceless

[Bill97]

[FWIW, I'm in the Pa Tan area just north of the Superhighway]

Know right where that is, I will get the cloths pegs to you there as soon as I can find some clean skivvies.

[palander]

I've just spoken to 3 people at TOT - (who have turned passing the buck into an art form) - the last guy got me to do a speed test while he was on the phone - (1789 down - 392 up), and he said that that was normal for the goldcyber 2 mb plan.

I patiently tried to explain that it might be 'normal' from where he is but it's just plain crap from where I am - he then said that a lot of people have this plan and I have to share packets with those people - I again told him that it was fine until 3 days ago but it's rubbish now - basically I got nowhere, it would have been a relief to me to have found out that there is a problem somewhere - at least that way I'd know it was going to be fixed, but they seem to be in total denial - (the last thing this guy advised me to do was to use the 'net during the middle of the night!).

I have an online business and this is getting beyond a joke - does anyone have any ideas re: some practical action ? - any hotline's to someone who's not as thick as two short planks ?

Any advice wuld be appreciated as I'm just beating my head against a brick wall here,

Phil.

Do yourself a favour and cancel your 1 year (?) contract immediately, it will cost you probably around 4000 Baht for installation costs. Then sign up for a contract with TT & T, and take the Premier package. I have been with TOT for 1 year and reading your topic does remind me of the same kind of frustration you describe.

Edited January 22, 2009 by palander

[rrose070]

Mine's been miserable too, in Chiang Kien. But can't just cancel as we just set up a month ago!

[palander]

Mine's been miserable too, in Chiang Kien. But can't just cancel as we just set up a month ago!

Yes, you can !

[ASHTONITE]

TOT is know for problems in Thailand... not only Chiang Mai... but I have done some research and they have larger problems in certain MOO BAAN's in Chiang Mai. For example they have a known bandwidth issue in SEE WA LEE on Canal Road. I have contacted TOT many times... and they admitted they have a line problem from CM to BKK... they have been working to fix the issues for 4 months :-) So they say.

It is hit or miss with TOT... TT&T is better... but as mentioned in another thread... it is hard to get TT&T lines.

Been arguing with them for 4 months... Engineer has been to my house 3 times and I have replaced the lines to the switch... they have major issues. :-)

[helloall]

hi everyone

we had 3 tot lines into the condo building and they were all cutting out, being off for hours at a time and nothing like the claimed speed.so we disconnected 1 and installed tt&t's new cafe service 5megs down, 512 up (designed fior internet cafes) with a contention ratio of 1. It was brilliant never cut and costs b2300 per month plus you have to get a new line/number at a cost of b100.

as soon as the other 2 cotracts reached their 12 months with tot we cancelled and got 2 more cafe connections

i have never got less than 3.8 megs testing to usa

vote with your feet

[Greenside]

My TOT line is at a crawl and has been for about two days. I can't even get Yahoo to load today for some reason. TV and other Asia based services seem to work OKish

[Mapguy]

Folks, there is no easy answer to this. The BIG problem is the "pipe." It is only so large.

Every country in the development of the internet has undergone (or continues to undergo) such growth problems with its infrastructure. Want speed? Live in Korea.

I do agree that a competitive environment is the healthiest answer to the quickest solution.

By the way, the speed test data require further analysis. The numbers you get there are not the numbers you get at your computer. Beyond that observation, the situation gets awfully hard to explain. Just be happy if you get a nominal 10% read. That is, for 2MB/s download service, you get 200KB/s.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Mapguy

[elektrified]

Something has happened recently and the connections have deteriorated severely. We're out close to Ruam Chok Market on the way to Mae Jo and for about the last 4 days, the connection has been absolutely terrible. Sometimes we are unable to use the Internet for an hour or two at a time. thaivisa.com seems to be the least problematic. I can't check Yahoo email for sometimes 2-3 hours.

[T_Dog]

Everybody back to normal speed? Things are working well here in CM again.

[fred2007]

I'm getting very good speeds (1.75 Mbps/400 kbps on a TOT 2 Mbps/512 kbps line) as long as I stay within Thailand (and Singapore). Any international connection is however painfully slow. As far as I know TOT use CAT for their international connections and I would think they are the culprits.

I chuckle a little every time I read somebody suggesting that Thailand or a part thereof should become an 'IT hub' The latest I saw was somebody in the property business suggesting that Phuket should become such a hub. I wonder if s/he had thought about the cost for building a modern high capacity international backbone to serve the people working there (and how to by-pass the virtual CAT monopoly)

/ Priceless

well I am using CAT ( not in your area ) and I decided to change my job ( I will start growing grass ) this is faster then I can connect to any web site no matter in Thailand or overseas.

[heybruce]

Folks, there is no easy answer to this. The BIG problem is the "pipe." It is only so large.

Every country in the development of the internet has undergone (or continues to undergo) such growth problems with its infrastructure. Want speed? Live in Korea.

I do agree that a competitive environment is the healthiest answer to the quickest solution.

By the way, the speed test data require further analysis. The numbers you get there are not the numbers you get at your computer. Beyond that observation, the situation gets awfully hard to explain. Just be happy if you get a nominal 10% read. That is, for 2MB/s download service, you get 200KB/s.

Why did the "pipe" work for Maxnet at my last condo and works fine for the WiFi here at Hillside 3 (what I'm using now) but it won't maintain a connection for TOT?

[resrea]

Everybody back to normal speed? Things are working well here in CM again.

Yup - Thank Goodness, CM here also and things are back to normal - *touch wood* - I keep reading horror stories about TOT - I have to say that until the debacle of a couple of weeks ago which my original post was about, my connection has been fine, no complaints whatsoever, it's been fast - and in about a year I've only had a couple of short lived instances of 'down time'.

Anyway - all good now - thanks to everyone for advice and input, a special thanks to Steve2UK for the info' re: some remarkable free software; Advanced System Care - great stuff,

Cheers,

Phil.

[Steve2UK]

Everybody back to normal speed? Things are working well here in CM again.

Yup - Thank Goodness, CM here also and things are back to normal - *touch wood* - I keep reading horror stories about TOT - I have to say that until the debacle of a couple of weeks ago which my original post was about, my connection has been fine, no complaints whatsoever, it's been fast - and in about a year I've only had a couple of short lived instances of 'down time'.

Anyway - all good now - thanks to everyone for advice and input, a special thanks to Steve2UK for the info' re: some remarkable free software; Advanced System Care - great stuff,

Cheers,

Phil.

Happy to have helped.

My connection seems also to have stabilised - though my trouble hasn't been speed so much as unbelievably frequent dis-connects/attempts to re-connect. After a day of OK performance, the replacement modem repeated the same sorry history of dis-connects as the previous one. 'Phoned the Call Centre again (at least I no longer have to give them all the details again - the operators seem to have a screen full of me and my problems); no technician visit - but the service became stable again. TIT.

[john b good]

Folks, there is no easy answer to this. The BIG problem is the "pipe." It is only so large.

Every country in the development of the internet has undergone (or continues to undergo) such growth problems with its infrastructure. Want speed? Live in Korea.

I do agree that a competitive environment is the healthiest answer to the quickest solution.

By the way, the speed test data require further analysis. The numbers you get there are not the numbers you get at your computer. Beyond that observation, the situation gets awfully hard to explain. Just be happy if you get a nominal 10% read. That is, for 2MB/s download service, you get 200KB/s.

Why did the "pipe" work for Maxnet at my last condo and works fine for the WiFi here at Hillside 3 (what I'm using now) but it won't maintain a connection for TOT?

If the "pipe" in your particular area is overloaded that's it.

Also Maxnet has nothing to do with TOT

[heybruce]

Folks, there is no easy answer to this. The BIG problem is the "pipe." It is only so large.

Every country in the development of the internet has undergone (or continues to undergo) such growth problems with its infrastructure. Want speed? Live in Korea.

I do agree that a competitive environment is the healthiest answer to the quickest solution.

By the way, the speed test data require further analysis. The numbers you get there are not the numbers you get at your computer. Beyond that observation, the situation gets awfully hard to explain. Just be happy if you get a nominal 10% read. That is, for 2MB/s download service, you get 200KB/s.

Why did the "pipe" work for Maxnet at my last condo and works fine for the WiFi here at Hillside 3 (what I'm using now) but it won't maintain a connection for TOT?

If the "pipe" in your particular area is overloaded that's it.

Also Maxnet has nothing to do with TOT

The "pipe" for TOT at my condo is overloaded but the "pipe" for WiFi at the same condo isn't???

I know Maxnet is TT&T, and I assume they use the same pipes once data traffic leaves my immediate area.