Who's Using True Internet In Chiang Mai?

[Drew Aitch]

Hi forum

I see a lot of threads over time about internet connections, especially threads complaining about inconsistency with speed and downtime etc.

I've been using TRUE for the past 2.5 years, and I couldn't be happier. I also had TRUE when I lived in Bkk, and once again, there were no major problems to report ever. Perhaps I've just been lucky?

My advice with wireless networks in apartment buildings is avoid them like the plague if you need more from your internet then a bit of simple web browsing and email. Generally speaking, I've found wireless connections incredibly unstable, unsecure, unreliable, and slow to fix when there are problems, as they usually require an engineer's visit to reboot or repair issues with local servers.

The reason for my post is because I would like to move on later this year, but I really do need that TRUE internet to be available at my next home. I know they are not everywhere, and in some cases, it can be a case of just being in the wrong Soi (yes, it's that hit and miss!).

So is there anyone here living in a nice condo building somewhere around the city where TRUE internet is available? I've seen a couple of places/areas that I would like to live, but they don't have TRUE, so unfortunately, I dare not gamble with their alternative internet options.

Thanks in advance folks

Aitch

[Maccheroncini]

Good to know, using TOT at the moment and it is slower than the dialup era.

[alant]

agree, it is good to see 1 good news story about the internet, TOT have bombed so much for the last week i dont think they actually have any bandwidth nevermind "broad" and not only that you get the "another thick farang" type of answer when you call them.

i am not sure about your wireless aguement though, what is the technical reason why they are a problem?

cheers

good post

[rohitsuk]

Hi forum

I see a lot of threads over time about internet connections, especially threads complaining about inconsistency with speed and downtime etc.

I've been using TRUE for the past 2.5 years, and I couldn't be happier. I also had TRUE when I lived in Bkk, and once again, there were no major problems to report ever. Perhaps I've just been lucky?

My advice with wireless networks in apartment buildings is avoid them like the plague if you need more from your internet then a bit of simple web browsing and email. Generally speaking, I've found wireless connections incredibly unstable, unsecure, unreliable, and slow to fix when there are problems, as they usually require an engineer's visit to reboot or repair issues with local servers.

The reason for my post is because I would like to move on later this year, but I really do need that TRUE internet to be available at my next home. I know they are not everywhere, and in some cases, it can be a case of just being in the wrong Soi (yes, it's that hit and miss!).

So is there anyone here living in a nice condo building somewhere around the city where TRUE internet is available? I've seen a couple of places/areas that I would like to live, but they don't have TRUE, so unfortunately, I dare not gamble with their alternative internet options.

Thanks in advance folks

Aitch

I believe that True is only available in some parts of Hauy Kaew Road and there is also a waiting list, even there.  Why that is, god knows, but it is probably some several layers of the onion down and unlikely to change in the near future I fear.

We have True at our apartment in Bkk and like you our experience for several years now has been mainly trouble free, apart from the totally incompetent administration who clearly do not know arse from elbow.

Here in CM TT&T and TOT, I have tried both, are about equally useless and of course could not give a dam about their customers.  I greatly favour public beheadings, starting with the CEOs of both outfits.

[Maejo Man]

Strange that you should post this, as I have just had a visit from two True employees informing me that True is now available in my area, and would I be interested.

At least they are being more realistic in their claims than TT&T or TOT. They offered me the choice of two plans....8 Mbps national/2 Mbps international for 1,199 excluding VAT and 3 Mbps local/1 Mbps international for 599 baht.

I told them I have tried TOT, and am currently using TT&T, and if they want my business, I want a trial run before I sign up. They said they will get back to me

[rohitsuk]

Strange that you should post this, as I have just had a visit from two True employees informing me that True is now available in my area, and would I be interested.

At least they are being more realistic in their claims than TT&T or TOT. They offered me the choice of two plans....8 Mbps national/2 Mbps international for 1,199 excluding VAT and 3 Mbps local/1 Mbps international for 599 baht.

I told them I have tried TOT, and am currently using TT&T, and if they want my business, I want a trial run before I sign up. They said they will get back to me

Well that is good news indeed so let us hope that True will soon have complete coverage of CM and though 2megs is just about sufficient for international, better 2megs that work than 2,3,4 or even 10 now from TT&T that don't.

I did ask, yet again, last week in the True shop at AP Plaza and got the Hauy Kew Road reply but I will go back tomorrow and pray for a better answer.

Look forward to hearing about your trial run.

[Donnyboy]

Strange that you should post this, as I have just had a visit from two True employees informing me that True is now available in my area, and would I be interested.

At least they are being more realistic in their claims than TT&T or TOT. They offered me the choice of two plans....8 Mbps national/2 Mbps international for 1,199 excluding VAT and 3 Mbps local/1 Mbps international for 599 baht.

I told them I have tried TOT, and am currently using TT&T, and if they want my business, I want a trial run before I sign up. They said they will get back to me

in what year?

[Maejo Man]

I want a trial run before I sign up. They said they will get back to me

in what year?

Shit...I never thought to ask them, excellent point DB

[Drew Aitch]

I believe that True is only available in some parts of Hauy Kaew Road and there is also a waiting list, even there.  

I'm in Nimanhaemin Road and have been with TRUE for a good while now. I believe they have an ever changing map in the office indicating where they are currently available around the city. It's a bit vauge though and like i said in the opening post, you could literally be just a Soi or even a few meters away from having access or not. This is why i'm interested to know which condo buildings are currently connected to their service.

Btw, installation with TRUE is free for the first 100M of cable. I'm on the 7th floor and made the free installation by about 3 feet

Regarding the wireless networks in apartment blocks, if they go wrong they usually have to be fixed locally not remotely, so the whole block can be waiting for an engineer to come over. If there are issues after 18:00 and there is no one in the office trained on the basic maintenance of the local server, you might be without internet until the following day

They also tend to have a big list of banned sites, not so much for illegal content but to ease the load on the local machines. Fore example, i once lived at a place where they banned every single domain that had the word 'music' in it for fear of people wanting to download music files and disrupting the entire network. They probably setup similar filters for video, who knows.

Cheers

Aitch

[Donnyboy]

They also tend to have a big list of banned sites, not so much for illegal content but to ease the load on the local machines. Fore example, i once lived at a place where they banned every single domain that had the word 'music' in it for fear of people wanting to download music files and disrupting the entire network. They probably setup similar filters for video, who knows.

Cheers

Aitch

torrent sites as well? not that i do any of that of course

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Drew,

Glad to hear you're having a good experience !

My experience with MaxNet (I'm in the Railway Station - Gymkhana club area) has been a roller-coaster ride from abysmal to good, repeated too many times over, and, to my great surpise, has been consistently excellent now for three months ! I'm getting regular download speeds now of 340-360k, and international internet response is quite snappy.

My sense is that a lot of your experience depends on what neighborhood you are in with TTT/MaxNet.

best, ~o:37;

[Bates]

Does anyone know if TRUE might be available outside CM city? I'm living in the area of Saraphi (Don Kaew, Ban Pak Muang)

[elektrified]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Drew,

Glad to hear you're having a good experience !

My experience with MaxNet (I'm in the Railway Station - Gymkhana club area) has been a roller-coaster ride from abysmal to good, repeated too many times over, and, to my great surpise, has been consistently excellent now for three months ! I'm getting regular download speeds now of 340-360k, and international internet response is quite snappy.

My sense is that a lot of your experience depends on what neighborhood you are in with TTT/MaxNet.

best, ~o:37;

orang37 may have a point there. I'm not sure really. I have noticed that many of the chronic complainers about TTT/Maxnet (myself included) reside in the Sansai/Mae Jo area and of course those who reside in the old city. The connection has been horrendous for about two weeks now, same as others have posted in this forum and in the Internet forum.

One thing I noticed that has been slowing down the connection even more is something new and I wonder how many other TV members are getting this problem too. When I try to go to a website (any website), the site is first re-directed to http://w3.mict.go.th/ I posted this in the Internet forum a few days ago and it seems as though the government is monitoring and/or censoring our Internet usage. The full debate is here ----> http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Royal-Thai-P...20#entry3000720

[ChiangMaiFun]

AIS 3G is a very good service - stick the card into your port within CM area and it will give you a pretty good service and no need for cables, routers etc.

[Drew Aitch]

AIS 3G is a very good service - stick the card into your port within CM area and it will give you a pretty good service and no need for cables, routers etc.

Someone was asking me about that ChiangMaiFun. I see they have the AIS 3G USB Modem at 3,990 Baht and the AIS 3G Wireless Router at 5,900 Baht. However, the brochure they gave me was all in Thai. I guess the above cost is for the hardware, but i can't see anything on there about monthly subscriptions. I assume they'll have an unlimited connection option? Not too sure how this is billed. Any advice that i can pass on about this service?

Thanks in advance

Aitch

[baahjun]

when I had a True connection in Bangkok (about a year ago) they were blocking VOIP (skype), they still do that ?

[ChiangMaiFun]

AIS 3G is a very good service - stick the card into your port within CM area and it will give you a pretty good service and no need for cables, routers etc.

Someone was asking me about that ChiangMaiFun. I see they have the AIS 3G USB Modem at 3,990 Baht and the AIS 3G Wireless Router at 5,900 Baht. However, the brochure they gave me was all in Thai. I guess the above cost is for the hardware, but i can't see anything on there about monthly subscriptions. I assume they'll have an unlimited connection option? Not too sure how this is billed. Any advice that i can pass on about this service?

Thanks in advance

Aitch

Hi - the card is 3,990 but you do not need a router of course - and you can use the card on ANY laptop or PC (it self-installs the software). I have a 900 Baht a month package - sorry cannot remember the exact amount I can download but I come nowhere near it! - there are 3 levels - I have the middle one. Never had a problem and TONS faster than TT&T/TOT etc. and portable - I can slot the card in at ANY pub/bar/cafe/park etc. I want - only works in CM though - with reduced speed outside CM. Im getting 2794 download speed tonight and 279 upload.

[Drew Aitch]

AIS 3G is a very good service - stick the card into your port within CM area and it will give you a pretty good service and no need for cables, routers etc.

Someone was asking me about that ChiangMaiFun. I see they have the AIS 3G USB Modem at 3,990 Baht and the AIS 3G Wireless Router at 5,900 Baht. However, the brochure they gave me was all in Thai. I guess the above cost is for the hardware, but i can't see anything on there about monthly subscriptions. I assume they'll have an unlimited connection option? Not too sure how this is billed. Any advice that i can pass on about this service?

Thanks in advance

Aitch

Hi - the card is 3,990 but you do not need a router of course - and you can use the card on ANY laptop or PC (it self-installs the software). I have a 900 Baht a month package - sorry cannot remember the exact amount I can download but I come nowhere near it! - there are 3 levels - I have the middle one. Never had a problem and TONS faster than TT&T/TOT etc. and portable - I can slot the card in at ANY pub/bar/cafe/park etc. I want - only works in CM though - with reduced speed outside CM. Im getting 2794 download speed tonight and 279 upload.

Thanks for the update ChiangMaiFun

At 900 Baht i would think the online time would be unlimited. I pay less than that and i have 24/7 access if i need it. AIS certainly sounds like a viable option though and the idea that you can take your internet with you also seems like a nice touch. I see at the bottom of the promotional brochure there is the 1-2-CALL icon. I wonder if this service is somehow tied into mobile phone services too. I'll see if there's an English brochure, but i somehow think not.

I did find a bit of info in English though, but not much for the end user

Thailand's AIS Launches 3G Network in 900Mhz Spectrum

I know this thread is about TRUE, but going by all the disgruntled posts on other internet services on Thai Visa, it might be a good idea to start a new thread on AIS 3G options if it gets some positive feedback.

Aitch

[hml367]

Is anyone using the AIS Super 3G with Windows Vista?

I just bought the aircard and it works wonderful on my XP laptop. However, on my laptop in the same room with Vista 32, I keep getting dropped from 3G to GPRS.

As far as I can tell, there is no "unlimited" option for the Aircard. I don't have the router, so I don't know about that one.

Coverage with what they call 3G speed is very limited outside of Chiang Mai. There is a coverage map on their website.

MSPain

[ASHTONITE]

I use true now... for one month. As with ALL the providers... it is UP and DOWN. I pay for the 8 MB connection... and only get that in Thailand early in the morning when nobody in CM is online :-)

Upload... sucks.... fastest is 50k upload... at least with TOT I got up to 150 KB/s upload.

the modem they gave me did not work... they tried 2 times. I use my own ...

Bottom line there is no reliable connection in CM... speed fluctuate with all of them.... and you NEVER get what you pay for... and for international sites... speed always SUCKS!

[thaimiller]

I use true now... for one month. As with ALL the providers... it is UP and DOWN. I pay for the 8 MB connection... and only get that in Thailand early in the morning when nobody in CM is online :-)

Upload... sucks.... fastest is 50k upload... at least with TOT I got up to 150 KB/s upload.

the modem they gave me did not work... they tried 2 times. I use my own ...

Bottom line there is no reliable connection in CM... speed fluctuate with all of them.... and you NEVER get what you pay for... and for international sites... speed always SUCKS!

CAT telecom is very reliable, if you pay for the premium package, you get exactly what it says. Im am very very impressed with the service.

[SM7WGP]

True works also around Maejoo

But I am using 3G from AIS and the 3G Router, have 2 computers and 1 satellite receiver plus 1 hose phone connected to it .

thats the best I had so far and very god speed .

Edited September 15, 2009 by SM7WGP

[K2K]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Drew,

Glad to hear you're having a good experience !

My experience with MaxNet (I'm in the Railway Station - Gymkhana club area) has been a roller-coaster ride from abysmal to good, repeated too many times over, and, to my great surpise, has been consistently excellent now for three months ! I'm getting regular download speeds now of 340-360k, and international internet response is quite snappy.

My sense is that a lot of your experience depends on what neighborhood you are in with TTT/MaxNet.

best, ~o:37;

orang37 may have a point there. I'm not sure really. I have noticed that many of the chronic complainers about TTT/Maxnet (myself included) reside in the Sansai/Mae Jo area and of course those who reside in the old city. The connection has been horrendous for about two weeks now, same as others have posted in this forum and in the Internet forum.

One thing I noticed that has been slowing down the connection even more is something new and I wonder how many other TV members are getting this problem too. When I try to go to a website (any website), the site is first re-directed to http://w3.mict.go.th/ I posted this in the Internet forum a few days ago and it seems as though the government is monitoring and/or censoring our Internet usage. The full debate is here ----> http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Royal-Thai-P...20#entry3000720

Useful link as was getting the same nonsense - thanks very much.

[ChiangMaiFun]

True works also around Maejoo

But I am using 3G from AIS and the 3G Router, have 2 computers and 1 satellite receiver plus 1 hose phone connected to it .

thats the best I had so far and very god speed .

Dumb questions time... why do you need a router for an aircard service? is it faster? same contract?

[SM7WGP]

True works also around Maejoo

But I am using 3G from AIS and the 3G Router, have 2 computers and 1 satellite receiver plus 1 hose phone connected to it .

thats the best I had so far and very god speed .

Dumb questions time... why do you need a router for an aircard service? is it faster? same contract?

Try to connect the things above to a aircard dumbo

[ChiangMaiFun]

True works also around Maejoo

But I am using 3G from AIS and the 3G Router, have 2 computers and 1 satellite receiver plus 1 hose phone connected to it .

thats the best I had so far and very god speed .

Dumb questions time... why do you need a router for an aircard service? is it faster? same contract?

Try to connect the things above to a aircard dumbo

OH WHOPPEE! a nice polite reply - just what I needed

[hml367]

True works also around Maejoo

But I am using 3G from AIS and the 3G Router, have 2 computers and 1 satellite receiver plus 1 hose phone connected to it .

thats the best I had so far and very god speed .

Dumb questions time... why do you need a router for an aircard service? is it faster? same contract?

Try to connect the things above to a aircard dumbo

It sounds like you know what you are talking about... Maybe you can help me... First off, though, how would someone connect more than 1 item to an aircard if the aircard is "one man user" ?

MSpain

[el jefe]

when I had a True connection in Bangkok (about a year ago) they were blocking VOIP (skype), they still do that ?

I have no problem using Skype with True in CM.

[mallmagician]

True works also around Maejoo

But I am using 3G from AIS and the 3G Router, have 2 computers and 1 satellite receiver plus 1 hose phone connected to it .

thats the best I had so far and very god speed .

Dumb questions time... why do you need a router for an aircard service? is it faster? same contract?

Try to connect the things above to a aircard dumbo

OH WHOPPEE! a nice polite reply - just what I needed

Hi,

Basically, if you want to set up a wireless internet connection in your house, and connect multiple items to the same internet service, you would use a router. Simply put, the router connects to the net, and then acts the same as a wireless router. THis means you can connect your laptop, home PC, friend laptop, Wi-Fi enabled mobile, Wi-Fi digital picture frame, Wi-Fi enabled Satellite decoder box etc etc to the same router, and access the internet through it.

If you only need to use the net on one computer at a time, then you would simply opt for the USB 3G modem thingy-me-bob.

Im very tempted to switch to AIS, as its available in my area.

Phil

[hml367]

Hi,

Basically, if you want to set up a wireless internet connection in your house, and connect multiple items to the same internet service, you would use a router. Simply put, the router connects to the net, and then acts the same as a wireless router. THis means you can connect your laptop, home PC, friend laptop, Wi-Fi enabled mobile, Wi-Fi digital picture frame, Wi-Fi enabled Satellite decoder box etc etc to the same router, and access the internet through it.

If you only need to use the net on one computer at a time, then you would simply opt for the USB 3G modem thingy-me-bob.

Im very tempted to switch to AIS, as its available in my area.

Phil

Hello, Phil.

Are you sure the router connects to the internet? Doesn't the "router" have to have a "modem" to connect to the internet? Of course there are "router/modems" or "modem/routers" available.

The way I understand it, a router does just that.... route information from to the correct address. I know people that have routers that do not have a modem and so cannot connect to the internet with the router itself.

There are also routers that are not wireless... Probably not many for personal use in these days. However, in a business environment, sometimes cabled routing is better.

Am I correct with any of this?

MSPain

Edited September 16, 2009 by hml367