using speedtest.net I just tested my True connection. Testing to a site in Bangkok I got around the 1mb up/down I pay for. At this moment the speed to the US is in the 150-250K range. Is this a factor of True or is it the backbone in and out of Thailand? Where's the bottleneck and is there a way around it. Per another thread on this forum I'm trying to sort out some decent broadband for my business. Does any ISP have a better connection out of the country versus another or do that all end up with TOT or some backbone?

Maybe I confused things, this picture should help

using speedtest.net I just tested my True connection. Testing to a site in Bangkok I got around the 1mb up/down I pay for.

General misconception.

I know many people will disagree but you do not pay for 1Mbps dedicated bandwidth.

You pay for 1Mbps shared bandwidth with a number of other people. This is called contention ratio, a ratio like 1:20 means you are sharing this bandwidth with 19 other people.

At this moment the speed to the US is in the 150-250K range. Is this a factor of True or is it the backbone in and out of Thailand? Where's the bottleneck and is there a way around it. Per another thread on this forum I'm trying to sort out some decent broadband for my business. Does any ISP have a better connection out of the country versus another or do that all end up with TOT or some backbone?

An ISP can only guarantee bandwidth till their border gateway. Usually a border gateway is connected to an internet exchange (IX) where traffic is handed off to other ISPs or one of the major world backbone providers (like C&W and Level3). The amount of traffic sent over these connections are partially determined by technology. Agreements between ISPs (and the payments!) determine the actual path (peering contracts).

Whatever agreement has been made, all the available bandwidth is shared.

In theory the 1MB is not shared up to some router or stitch box of True's - not sure where that is. At least they sell it as a 1BM dedicated, fixed IP line. However, your point is very good that really all the bandwidth on the planet is shared at some level. Unless I guess you want to have a network just for yourself - but what what's the point of that??

It does appear based on research we've been doing that the interconnect agreements you refer to can have an impact on the end-to-end performance. It looks like one of the solutions is load balancing with several ISPs. It appears that Loxinfo has 155 M for their direct interlink whereas True only has 45M - and because that's shared we're back the the same old "your mileage may vary..."

Thanks for the comment.