I Was Quite Happt With My Tot 2mb Connection

[apex2000]

Since June 2005, I have used TOT Broadband. In the beginning it was a 1Mb service for 1,000 baht a month. It worked fine (when you compare it with the dial-up service that I had been using before that, anything was fine!) Some time later, the service was magically upgraded, without anyone telling anyone, to 2Mb and for the same price. Hence we call it 'Amazing Thailand!' And so time passed, happily using the 2Mb service. My computer was connected 24/7/365 and I never had cause for complaint. And then someone told me about the new 4Mb service...

This was two days ago. I couldn't wait to try it out. And the price was now 790 baht. Yes, it was cheaper than before and twice the speed. Well, the first thing that I noticed (by checking in my modem/router through my browser) was that the speed was not even 3Mb. Next, the connection started dropping. At present, my modem has had to try to reconnect 148 times in the last 21 hours. Needless to say I was not happy this morning and I went to the TOT office. Before I even set foot in the door, I guessed what the answer would be. I sat down at the reception desk with some young Thai girl, obviously still wet behind the ears - and probably several other places too. I began explaining that there was a problem, and she immediately asked, 'Are you losing connection?' This was before I had even had time to explain in any detail whatsoever. So, she obviously knew that there would be a problem the previous day when I got the service changed to 4Mb. I then started to show her some evidence (screen shots of my router page in my broweser) and she promptly turned to another customer who had walked in behind me and started talking to him, completely ignoring me. I'm afraid I lost my cool a little then, and had to regain it quickly in order not to hit the ignorant little bitch.

In the end, she asked if I would like to switch back to the old 2Mb service. I refused and requested a 'chang' (service engineer if that's what you like to call them) to investigate what is wrong. I asked her about the 4Mb speed and she said, 'Oh, you can't expect to get the full 4Mb.' I replied, 'Then why do you advertise it as 4MB?' No reply was what I got.

So, if any of you are planning to upgrade... think again, or at least make sure that you can revert back to what was working.

Anyone else had similar problems?

BTW: 'happt' should be 'happy', of course.

Edited March 27, 2009 by apex2000

[Penkoprod]

Dont they always say "UPTO 4 meg" though?

The word UPTO is the important, but usually overlooked by the punter word in the short sentence above

Penkoprod

[webfact]

So, if any of you are planning to upgrade...

..you should check with your ISP first if your line is capable to transmit a higher bandwidth or not.

ISP's advertise higher connection speed than what you might possibly expect to get in regular use.

Downgrade was never a problem. I use CSLoxinfo.

[MKAsok]

I sat down at the reception desk with some young Thai girl, obviously still wet behind the ears - and probably several other places too.

I'm afraid I lost my cool a little then, and had to regain it quickly in order not to hit the ignorant little bitch.

I'm far more amazed at the amount of crass vulgarity and misogyny you've managed to jam into a post about internet connections than I am at the fact you can't get a reliable 4MB connection in Thailand.

[thailandlover]

Yes, the pointless name calling was rather surprising. Even more surprising is the fact that a line can only handle the traffic it was meant to handle. If the OP is far from the DSLAM box or is wired into old or inferior phone line then, as far as I am aware, it wouldn't matter what the advertised speed was, the line can't handle it so it will never reach those speeds. I was also under the impression that if the line is inferior and the speed higher then the line can handle then the user would see more line drops, but perhasp I am incorrect?

[spacefruit]

Yes, the pointless name calling was rather surprising. Even more surprising is the fact that a line can only handle the traffic it was meant to handle. If the OP is far from the DSLAM box or is wired into old or inferior phone line then, as far as I am aware, it wouldn't matter what the advertised speed was, the line can't handle it so it will never reach those speeds. I was also under the impression that if the line is inferior and the speed higher then the line can handle then the user would see more line drops, but perhasp I am incorrect?

Surely the OP hasn't lived here long? Or read any other Internet speed related items that seem to fill half this forum. Every sympathy for the Internet situation but really, cool down if you want a positive outcome.

[ernest1966]

Don't fix what aint broke

Be nice to the natives, we are the foreigners. The reason that she turned to another customer was she picked up on your hostility.

At the end of the day most people who work in service based industries who are customer facing get the sh1t end of the stick. Whatever they do is wrong. They get shouted at, abused mentally, physically sometimes and they get a sh1t wage for it. Can they fix the problem, no. The just follow the rules of the company.

It isn't there fault.

As previous posters have said, you should have thought about your decision, done some homework.

But greed took over, yeah, I got to have that 4mb.

And then you come on here and swear at the poor kid who was trying to help you. What in hel_l did she do to you apart from try and help ?

E

[apex2000]

I sat down at the reception desk with some young Thai girl, obviously still wet behind the ears - and probably several other places too.

I'm afraid I lost my cool a little then, and had to regain it quickly in order not to hit the ignorant little bitch.

I'm far more amazed at the amount of crass vulgarity and misogyny you've managed to jam into a post about internet connections than I am at the fact you can't get a reliable 4MB connection in Thailand.

So sorry to have offended your sensibilities. In any further posts, I will label them WARNING: Your sensibilites will be tested if you read further.

***flame removed***

[apex2000]

Yes, the pointless name calling was rather surprising. Even more surprising is the fact that a line can only handle the traffic it was meant to handle. If the OP is far from the DSLAM box or is wired into old or inferior phone line then, as far as I am aware, it wouldn't matter what the advertised speed was, the line can't handle it so it will never reach those speeds. I was also under the impression that if the line is inferior and the speed higher then the line can handle then the user would see more line drops, but perhasp I am incorrect?

Surely the OP hasn't lived here long? Or read any other Internet speed related items that seem to fill half this forum. Every sympathy for the Internet situation but really, cool down if you want a positive outcome.

Actually, I've lived here nearly 18 years too long, and I had my suspicions about what would happen after the speed-up. However, we can all dream that one day, just one good thing might happen in the amazing country, can't we?

[apex2000]

You know, when I wrote the original post, my intention was to try to help others not fall into the same 'trap' that I fell into.

Instead of that, it's turned into a 'let's slag off the OP' type of post.

Well, if that's what you want, f u all. At least if you are slagging me off, someone else is getting a few minutes peace.

Take care one and all.

[dotcom]

Holy Krap.

[sbk]

Lets not get personal here, posts have been edited for flaming and responses have been deleted.

And tothe OP, if you had perhaps left out the rather sexist commentary from your informative post you might have been taken more seriously and not had your thread hijacked by people who find it offensive.

[jackspratt]

Actually, I've lived here nearly 18 years too long, and I had my suspicions about what would happen after the speed-up. However, we can all dream that one day, just one good thing might happen in the amazing country, can't we?

Would your departure fit into that category

[ernest1966]

sarcasm is the lowest form of wit

dam_n, but that was good ;-)

E

[PattayaDavid]

I've been wondering how the new TOT 4MBPS TOT service would perform as I was thinking of upgrading myself, but felt reluctant to upgrade until I heard some feedback from those who have already upgraded. I for one appreciate the fact that the OP took the time to warn us unsuspecting users who may have considered making the upgrade.

We've all read threads that have displayed negative comments in relating their message, but I find it quite easy to read through the post and separate the meat from the potatoes, the positive from the negative. I don't understand why so many people have to take offense and hang on every word or phrase that displays any negativity and feel they are obligated to attack the OP. Has anyone considered that the OP just might have been a little pissed off when he started this thread, however had good intentions by posting his warning to other TV readers.

Yeah, he probably could have left out much of the storyline and highlighted only the poor quality of service he had experienced after making the upgrade, but what's done is done. I still appreciate the information. When I first opened this thread, I thought to myself,13 posts; now I'm going to receive some good feedback on the the new TOT upgrade service. The OP was the only one who provided any valuable information, all other post were useless as far as I am concerned, but if your responses give you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside that you have done your civic duty in the name of political or social correctness, so be it.

[NHJ]

what are the values of your line? i suspect signal attenuation is too high aswell as too small noise margin.

[jaiyenyen]

I live between Saphan Mai and Lam Luk Ka. I heard about this new 4MB offer, so got myself over to the TOT office at Future Park, Rangsit, yesterday.

I pay around 1000 baht for 2MB at the moment. I spoke briefly to the guy on the desk, and he explained that the lines in our area are old, and 4MB was not possible, but he could change my monthly payment to 560 baht for the 2MB.

All in all, good service, in and out the shop within 10 mins.

Good service needs to be reported, when it happens

[wxpwzrd]

what are the values of your line? i suspect signal attenuation is too high aswell as too small noise margin.

Ah yes, the 'norm' in Thailand DSL service. I know both are true in my case.

[webfact]

It doesn't help if someone has a state of the art PC connected to the best modem/router/hub (i.e. Cisco 18.000 Baht+) ...

as long as the line is cra_p. IMHO 80% of all phone lines in Thailand are cra_p. I trust the majority of the members on this board will not

use leased lines except a few. Thats why I asked my provider this question "is my line capable to transmit xx mb, is the signal swinging or stable?"

You will get an answer if you come up with such questions but don't expect an answer from a sales girl...

Tweaking will bring nothing, at least not the results someone expects. And someone has to deal with the user RATIO which is very high on home packages.

It's shared bandwidth!!! How fast can you run your car if it is overloaded with people???

/edit technical terms

Edited March 28, 2009 by webfact

[PattayaDavid]

It doesn't help if someone has a state of the art PC connected to the best modem/router/hub (i.e. Cisco 18.000 Baht+) ...

as long as the line is cra_p. IMHO 80% of all phone lines in Thailand are cra_p. I trust the majority of the members on this board will not

use leased lines except a few. Thats why I asked my provider this question "is my line capable to transmit xx mb, is the signal swinging or stable?"

You will get an answer if you come up with such questions but don't expect an answer from a sales girl...

Tweaking will bring nothing, at least not the results someone expects. And someone has to deal with the user RATIO which is very high on home packages.

It's shared bandwidth!!! How fast can you run your car if it is overloaded with people???

/edit technical terms

I agree with pretty much everything you said; that's why I have been hesitant to upgrade my TOT account.  I have had the TOT 2MB GoldCyber account for about 4 years now and have seldom, if ever, received the maximum speeds touted in my contract.  Throughout most days and nights, there are periods where I hardly have any bandwidth connection at all.  The only way I know that I am still connected is by looking over at my router to see if the green light or the red light is illuminated.  I am located very close to a TOT DSLAM on Soi Khaw Noi, but I still don't get that great of a signal even on good days or during off-peak time periods.  I fear that these upgrades and price drops will only encourage more to sign up and increased the number of subscribers sharing the bandwidth.

I have been trying for years now to switch over to TT&T, can't say that they are any better because I have never used them, but I have heard some good things about MaxNet in my area.  Every time I check with TT&T, they tell me that there are no available lines (phone numbers) in my area.  This is also troubling by the fact that this indicates to me that TT&T coverage in my area is very saturated so I suspect that there is or will be a problem with shared bandwidth.

I would have expected that TOT would have done something similar to TT&T by way of separating packages by need such as the INDY and PREMIER packages offered by TT&T.  The INDY package has more subscribers sharing bandwidth than that of the PREMIER package.  I would think that in order to upgrade an account to a higher speed, it would have to coincide with some type reduction in shared bandwidth to achieve these speeds with any kind of reliability.

I will continue to monitor the TV threads for some positive reason to choose an upgrade.  UBC satellite internet, where are you?

[webfact]

It doesn't help if someone has a state of the art PC connected to the best modem/router/hub (i.e. Cisco 18.000 Baht+) ...

as long as the line is cra_p. IMHO 80% of all phone lines in Thailand are cra_p. I trust the majority of the members on this board will not

use leased lines except a few. Thats why I asked my provider this question "is my line capable to transmit xx mb, is the signal swinging or stable?"

You will get an answer if you come up with such questions but don't expect an answer from a sales girl...

Tweaking will bring nothing, at least not the results someone expects. And someone has to deal with the user RATIO which is very high on home packages.

It's shared bandwidth!!! How fast can you run your car if it is overloaded with people???

/edit technical terms

I agree with pretty much everything you said; that's why I have been hesitant to upgrade my TOT account. I have had the TOT 2MB GoldCyber account for about 4 years now and have seldom, if ever, received the maximum speeds touted in my contract. Throughout most days and nights, there are periods where I hardly have any bandwidth connection at all. The only way I know that I am still connected is by looking over at my router to see if the green light or the red light is illuminated. I am located very close to a TOT DSLAM on Soi Khaw Noi, but I still don't get that great of a signal even on good days or during off-peak time periods. I fear that these upgrades and price drops will only encourage more to sign up and increased the number of subscribers sharing the bandwidth.

I have been trying for years now to switch over to TT&T, can't say that they are any better because I have never used them, but I have heard some good things about MaxNet in my area. Every time I check with TT&T, they tell me that there are no available lines (phone numbers) in my area. This is also troubling by the fact that this indicates to me that TT&T coverage in my area is very saturated so I suspect that there is or will be a problem with shared bandwidth.

I would have expected that TOT would have done something similar to TT&T by way of separating packages by need such as the INDY and PREMIER packages offered by TT&T. The INDY package has more subscribers sharing bandwidth than that of the PREMIER package. I would think that in order to upgrade an account to a higher speed, it would have to coincide with some type reduction in shared bandwidth to achieve these speeds with any kind of reliability.

I will continue to monitor the TV threads for some positive reason to choose an upgrade. UBC satellite internet, where are you?

You might want to consider a SME package. Lower Ratio (but you pay a higher monthly price for that) and a fixed IP address. It is not the holy grail but an opportunity you should try. Ask your provider for a 2-3 day test run. Most providers will agree. Talk to a supervisor! Don't trust the blah blah blah about "how difficult" to set-up technically. It's not! Your ADSL signal is already 4MB, that's what I guess. Ask for a trial! That's my recommendation based on my experiences!

[SoMeOnEnUlL]

You are lucky to get 2Mbps with TOT. I live in the most central place in Bangkok and the highest speed I could get with TOT is 1Mbps.

But, luckily, I was able to get a TRUE line last month and now using 2Mbps. I don't know what're the differences between the two phone line providers but the line quality is way better. And, I am thinking upgrade to 8Mbps if it's possible