Tot Adsl Experience Report

[chanchao]

As I heard that some people did not get the higher available speeds especially on international connections, I decided to go with a bottom-of-the-barrel plan to see if it worked as promised, and then perhaps upgrade from there, as needed.

So I got the 256kbps down / 128kbps up deal for 590 baht or so from TOT. The same girl who was behind the counter selling it also came to install it. It wasn't hard, typical case of plug and play.

I did some testing, and it works really quite nice. I downloaded some random stuff and got something like 29-30 kiloBYTE per second, so that (roughly) works out to be 30 x 8 = 240 kbps; given there's always some overhead involved, this is excellent!

So: cool! Not expensive, unlimited, always-on, easily sharable with several computers and bloody fast if you're used to dial-up!

Life is more complete.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[meadish_sweetball]

As I heard that some people did not get the higher available speeds especially on international connections, I decided to go with a bottom-of-the-barrel plan to see if it worked as promised, and then perhaps upgrade from there, as needed.

So I got the 256kbps down / 128kbps up deal for 590 baht or so from TOT.  The same girl who was behind the counter selling it also came to install it.   It wasn't hard, typical case of plug and play.

I did some testing, and it works really quite nice.  I downloaded some random stuff and got something like 29-30 kiloBYTE per second, so that (roughly) works out to be 30 x 8 = 240 kbps; given there's always some overhead involved, this is excellent!

So: cool!  Not expensive, unlimited, always-on, easily sharable with several computers and bloody fast if you're used to dial-up!

Life is more complete.

Cheers,

Chanchao

How long have you had it for?

Not to dampen your spirits, but one of my mates had to wait almost two weeks before they fixed his connection after a breakdown (they were kind enough to say "tomorrow" every time he called and asked them to come and fix it).

He didnt live out in the sticks either, just in the soi opposite the entrance to CMU from Thanon Suthep.

Anyway, I hope yours keeps functioning - if it does, it truly is a bargain.

[Dustoff]

~

Please treat me as clueless (everyone else does)..

Is this 590 baht (or so) a month? Installation? An hour? Do they cable this in or does it operate over conventional phonelines and if the latter, how dey do dat? If this particular adsl line goes down, is your normal dialup (I use Inet) still available?

Gotta admit that I am growing weary of the frequent glitches and sluggish behavior of Inet which I know is mostly because they sell more service than they can provide and BKK gets the priority for bandwidth.

What the hey, I am old and no longer have all that much time to waste, ya know?

da Dustoff

[briley]

500 baht a month for tot ADSL 'always on' internet access at the chaeapest level plus 1000 baht connection (but often offers waiving that). You also need to buy an ADSL modem for your computer.

No problems using any dial up if the ADSL fails provided you keep a modem in the computer.

Incidentally 2 months on TOT and I am very happy.

[Dustoff]

500 baht a month for tot ADSL 'always on' internet access at the chaeapest level plus 1000 baht connection (but often offers waiving that). You also need to buy an ADSL modem for your computer.

No problems using any dial up if the ADSL fails provided you keep a modem in the computer.

Incidentally 2 months on TOT and I am very happy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Excellent response Briley, thanks! Will hit the TOT office on Monday.

Am not familiar with an "ADSL modem"; I use a laptop with a built-in modem but have high speed USB and PCMCIA slots available.

Any recommendations as to what kind of ADSL modem to get and where to do my shopping for one?

Da Dustoff

[Thetyim]

Am I understanding this correctly ??

For 590 baht a month you get unlimited ADSL internet.

No hourly charges for internet time.

[chanchao]

> Am not familiar with an "ADSL modem"; I use a laptop with a built-in

> modem but have high speed USB and PCMCIA slots available.

ADSL modem is basically a network router. So it also acts as a network hub, with 4 (or more) LAN network ports on it. So on one ADSL modem/router you can connect 4 computers at the same time. You connect using a regular network cable. Or you could go for a wireless ADSL modem/router, this adds wireless networking.

So either your computer needs a network LAN port (card, or many notebook computers already have one), or a wireless LAN card (PCMCIA, or some notebook computers already have this built in).

Setup is VERY easy, easier than a dialup modem. This because the modem/router also runs your network and assigns all the settings to the computer(s) automatically. Mostly it's just a matter of plugging it in and it just runs.

> Any recommendations as to what kind of ADSL modem to

> get and where to do my shopping for one?

Well, the one thing I did seriously not want to risk in this ADSL endeavour was to have the TOT people blame the modem and the modem seller blaming TOT if something didn't work, so I just got the modem/router from TOT. The one I got is made by Billion (www.billion.com) Model 5100 without the wireless option.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[chanchao]

> Am I understanding this correctly ??

> For 590 baht a month you get unlimited ADSL internet

I think I was wrong, it's actuall just 500 baht:

http://www.tot.co.th/broadband/isdn/adsl.html

Look where it says 'SuperCyber', SilverCyber and GoldCyber.

I got the most basic SuperCyber for just a purple one per month...

Also note that while they have a separate 'Corporate' pricing, they don't mind if you install their promotion thingy at a company... So excellent deal if you have some kind of shop or SOHO setup..

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Maka]

> Am I understanding this correctly ??

> For 590 baht a month you get unlimited ADSL internet

I think I was wrong, it's actuall just 500 baht:

http://www.tot.co.th/broadband/isdn/adsl.html

Look where it says 'SuperCyber', SilverCyber and GoldCyber.

I got the most basic SuperCyber for just a purple one per month...

Also note that while they have a separate 'Corporate' pricing, they don't mind if you install their promotion thingy at a company...  So excellent deal if you have some kind of shop or SOHO setup..

Cheers,

Chanchao

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I just signed up for it, the 500 bht one also. They said two weeks to hook up.

They will come to my house 1st to check out what I have.

If my modem dosent work I can buy one from them for 1,000 BHT that lets me use phone while connected to internet.

I also asked about my conection problems that the ISPS have been blaming on phone Co. TOT said that some times they do have problems but no reconect fee if I am on this program.

Right now I pay 3 bht per connection up to two hrs. I only use this line for internet and my phone bill averages between 1,000 and 1500 Bht. per mo. So I figger I'll save 500 -1,000 bht a month by using them.

I'll keep you posted on progress

Thanks for the thread

[Dustoff]

~

My fault for not learning Thai... Checked out the links provided and got gibberish.

Will visit the local CM TOT office to see if my computer is compatible. I seem to have a network card installed but... Duh...

Thanks for the recommendations!

da Dustoff

[Thetyim]

OK I have just read that link.

Below the pricing options there is a list of seven ISP providers.

Presumable I can choose the one I want the modem connected to.

Now, who pays the ISP ?

[sabaijai]

Very glad to hear you're happy with TOT, Chanchao. Do you know how many users are sharing your hookup?

On Thursday I stopped by a TT&T office and asked about their broadband programs. They had a long list of servers, everyone but TOT (which I assume I can't have, since I have a TT&T line). KSC, Hi-Net, Ji-Net, CSLoxinfo, T-Speed, maybe 10 others.

The plans offered ranged from 256K to 1M+ download speeds, with sharing from 5 users to 20 users. The cheapest plan (I forget the server) was about 700B/month but the connection was shared by up to 20 users.

I opted up for Ji-Net's plan with a 256K download shared with 10 users, for 1500B/month unlimited. It was the best price available for a 256K/10-user connection.

They say they'll install within one week. I'll report later on the results.

Aside: I originally wanted True since everyone I know who has broadband in CM seems to agree that True has the best service and best connections. But True isn't available in my condo - they say they need at least five users to make it worthwhile and there have been only two of us on the list for the last 6 months or so.

[meadish_sweetball]

Very glad to hear you're happy with TOT, Chanchao. Do you know how many users are sharing your hookup?

On Thursday I stopped by a TT&T office and asked about their broadband programs. They had a long list of servers, everyone but TOT (which I assume I can't have, since I have a TT&T line). KSC, Hi-Net, Ji-Net, CSLoxinfo, T-Speed, maybe 10 others.

The plans offered ranged from 256K to 1M+ download speeds, with sharing from 5 users to 20 users. The cheapest plan (I forget the server) was about 700B/month but the connection was shared by up to 20 users.

I opted up for Ji-Net's plan with a 256K download shared with 10 users, for 1500B/month unlimited. It was the best price available for a 256K/10-user connection.

They say they'll install within one week. I'll report later on the results.

Aside: I originally wanted True since everyone I know who has broadband in CM seems to agree that True has the best service and best connections. But True isn't available in my condo - they say they need at least five users to make it worthwhile and there have been only two of us on the list for the last 6 months or so.

Is this TRUE ADSL or True Cable Modem, sabaaijai?

[Puwa]

If I set up an ADSL account with TOT, do I also need to pay an ISP monthly? I had read somewhere that one needs both (and pays both): the phone company for the use of a high-speed line, and an ISP for internet access. The latter was quite expensive. Maybe this info is out of date. From reading these posts I understand that with TOT you install and are ready to go. With TT&T you need a provider. Do I have this right?

[sabaijai]

Is this TRUE ADSL or True Cable Modem, sabaaijai?

I dunno, I just asked if they could do broadband in my bldg and they said no. Should I have asked about cable modem then??

[Thetyim]

If I set up an ADSL account with TOT, do I also need to pay an ISP monthly? I had read somewhere that one needs both (and pays both): the phone company for the use of a high-speed line, and an ISP for internet access.  The latter was quite expensive.  Maybe this info is out of date. From reading these posts I understand that with TOT you install and are ready to go.  With TT&T you need a provider.  Do I have this right?

Thanks Puwa, thats the same question that I have just asked twice.

Anyone gonna answer ?

[chanchao]

> If I set up an ADSL account with TOT, do I also need to pay an ISP

> monthly?

No. TOT is your ISP.

> From reading these posts I understand that with TOT you install

> and are ready to go.

Yes.. Applied one day and was surfin' high the next.

Thetyim wrote:

> Thanks Puwa, thats the same question that I have just asked twice.

I apologize for not being online the whole weekend.

Sabaijai wrote:

> Very glad to hear you're happy with TOT, Chanchao. Do you

> know how many users are sharing your hookup?

No clue.. I don't really care either on 500 baht a month which so far has worked as advertised.. Downloaded OpenOffice (almost 100 MB) on Saturday afternoon and got 26 kb per second (international download), so.. I don't really mind how many users are in my area. Also, given all the possible bottle-necks along the way I'm not going to fuss over the details as long as things keep working. Even with no users in your own area you may run into bottlenecks if your provider as a whole has too many users for their overall bandwith.. so... no worries be happy I suppose, but your mileage may vary.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[meadish_sweetball]

Is this TRUE ADSL or True Cable Modem, sabaaijai?

I dunno, I just asked if they could do broadband in my bldg and they said no. Should I have asked about cable modem then??

I should think you don't need to; then again there are always people who ONLY respond to your questions literally, and do not try to interpret what your basic intention may be.... even in such a case, "broadband" should be clear enough. I dont know how far TRUE's cable modem network has advanced so far, I am only 500 meters away from the moat so that is as almost as central as you get. But I seem to remember you saying you are close to Wat U Mong which is not very far from anything, either.

If TOT works as smoothly as it has for Chanchao, there is no reason to bother with TRUE - even though I am satisfied with their service for Cable Modem as well.

[Puwa]

Thanks, Chanchao. I'll let everyone know how TOT works for me. Should be surfing fast by Wednesday...

[sabaijai]

Is this TRUE ADSL or True Cable Modem, sabaaijai?

I dunno, I just asked if they could do broadband in my bldg and they said no. Should I have asked about cable modem then??

I should think you don't need to; then again there are always people who ONLY respond to your questions literally, and do not try to interpret what your basic intention may be.... even in such a case, "broadband" should be clear enough. I dont know how far TRUE's cable modem network has advanced so far, I am only 500 meters away from the moat so that is as almost as central as you get. But I seem to remember you saying you are close to Wat U Mong which is not very far from anything, either.

If TOT works as smoothly as it has for Chanchao, there is no reason to bother with TRUE - even though I am satisfied with their service for Cable Modem as well.

On True's website they mention two choices, "hi-speed Internet" and ADSL, so I assume the former is cable modem.

I don't have to pay for Ji-Net till it's installed, so have time to cancel if True is a better option.

Most of the reports on tv.com on TOT DSL have not been so good. How many users share the connection is relevant, too. I have a business acquaintance who started out with a 1/20 program, and it worked fine until his 'hood was fully subscribed. Then it performed like molasses at all hours save the middle of the night. He upgraded to a 1/10 plan, which only cost another 500-1000B a month (I forget the exact amount, no more than 1500B/month total though) and was much happier. The more expensive plans reach 1/5 and even 1/2. I'll happily pay 1500B/month for unlimited 1/10 -- still a huge time and money savings over my current dial-up bill.

My understanding is that True has an added advantage of having its own international 'pipe' but that's scratching at the outer limits of my tech knowledge. Perhaps someone else here can shed light on that notion ...

[JXXXL]

Does anyone know what the geographic restrictions are on the TOT service? I live in Hang Dong and last time I checked, there were no ADSL providers in my neck of the woods.

Anyway, congratulations to all who have good broadband service. I miss it

[briley]

Can I sum up a little? This post is going the right way, but via Chaing Rai at times!

TOT's ADSL is 500 baht per month for 256Kb/s download (128Kb/s upload). They subscribe you to a company that gives you the service. You pay TOT and nobody else but if you have a problem you can phone this other company to get it fixed.

With ADSL you do NOT pay to dial up - it is an always connected service. Even if the connection fails it re-connects itself and you do not pay - not even 3baht. This makes it very competative in Chaing Mai, after all dial up for half an hour a day and you spend 100 baht on calls and about 200 baht for the card - to have always on for 200 baht more and (even if theoretically) fast service is a bargin. There are no time limits or data limits at all on the TOT service - the only limit is the speed. Compare this with say the UK, many connections only give 1 Gig of data month and charge 150 baht a Gig over that limit.

To connect you use a different modem than for dial up and it costs more. The choice is either a USB modem (cheapest option) or a Router Modem that plugs into your LAN socket on the computer, looks like a telephone socket but has 8 instead of 6 wires. There are technical advantages to a router. Both types work virtually automatically under windows XP. A USB modem has to be told to conect when you switch the computer on in the morning, a router automatically connects and allows you to use more than one computer on the ADSL link - ie they are networked together.

You do not use a cable modem, that is a different beast all together.

If TOT have the equipment they will sell you either a USB or router modem at a very reasonable price.

Instalation for some reason takes a week. One visit to check that your line is suitable and then they come back a week later to actually install. May be possible to short cut if you speak Thai!

Contention is a very contentious issue. Almost certainly many people will disagree with me BUT

My understanding is that the ISP has a pipe out of Chiang Mai that can carry 100 Meg of data. They sell you links that can carry up to 1 meg of data. Now if they sell 100 links it is possible for every person to connect at once and get full speed. But most of the time you're reading e-mails so not using your full 1 Meg. To save money the ISP sells 1 meg links to 2,000 people. Now if everyone comes on at once and tries to use their full 1Meg they can't - they can only have 1/20th of that. This is a contenction of 1 to 20. Of course it is unlikely that all 2000 people are trying to download the latest block buster at the same time so normally you get all the speed you want.

Often people think that 20 to 1 means you share with 20 other people and if one of those people are greedy you suffer. In fact you share with a few thousand people and if only a few are greedy then there isn't a major problem. Most ISP's look out for greedy individuals and force them onto mosre expensive links.

What you should find is that direct file downloads from a site, say McAfee updates, come at almost top speed. But getting web pages does depend upon how fast the web page server sends you the information. Some are very slow. Listening to the radio over the web is the same, often the server sending you the information is overloaded so you get stuttering on the sound. I find that web pages don't come any faster on ADSL than dial up. Radio is normally better quality and less interuptions. File downloads fly along.

Useful?? I'm not going to read it all through again so I hope there are no errors............

[ozzydom]

Does anyone know what the geographic restrictions are on the TOT service?  I live in Hang Dong and last time I checked, there were no ADSL providers in my neck of the woods.

Anyway, congratulations to all who have good broadband service.  I miss it

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

same area,same result. T O T keeps telling ,available in 3 months, thats since jan 2004, now they tell me this area will access through SAN PATONG exchange and it is not ready yet.

[Steve2UK]

Can I sum up a little? This post is going the right way, but via Chaing Rai at times!

TOT's ADSL is 500 baht per month for 256Kb/s download (128Kb/s upload). They subscribe you to a company that gives you the service. You pay TOT and nobody else but if you have a problem you can phone this other company to get it fixed.

With ADSL you do NOT pay to dial up - it is an always connected service. Even if the connection fails it re-connects itself and you do not pay - not even 3baht. This makes it very competative in Chaing Mai, after all dial up for half an hour a day and you spend 100 baht on calls and about 200 baht for the card - to have always on for 200 baht more and (even if theoretically) fast service is a bargin. There are no time limits or data limits at all on the TOT service - the only limit is the speed. Compare this with say the UK, many connections only give 1 Gig of data month and charge 150 baht a Gig over that limit.

To connect you use a different modem than for dial up and it costs more. The choice is either a USB modem (cheapest option) or a Router Modem that plugs into your LAN socket on the computer, looks like a telephone socket but has 8 instead of 6 wires. There are technical advantages to a router. Both types work virtually automatically under windows XP. A USB modem has to be told to conect when you switch the computer on in the morning, a router automatically connects and allows you to use more than one computer on the ADSL link - ie they are networked together.

You do not use a cable modem, that is a different beast all together.

If TOT have the equipment they will sell you either a USB or router modem at a very reasonable price.

Instalation for some reason takes a week. One visit to check that your line is suitable and then they come back a week later to actually install. May be possible to short cut if you speak Thai!

Contention is a very contentious issue. Almost certainly many people will disagree with me BUT

My understanding is that the ISP has a pipe out of Chiang Mai that can carry 100 Meg of data. They sell you links that can carry up to 1 meg of data. Now if they sell 100 links it is possible for every person to connect at once and get full speed. But most of the time you're reading e-mails so not using your full 1 Meg. To save money the ISP sells 1 meg links to 2,000 people. Now if everyone comes on at once and tries to use their full 1Meg they can't - they can only have 1/20th of that. This is a contenction of 1 to 20. Of course it is unlikely that all 2000 people are trying to download the latest block buster at the same time so normally you get all the speed you want.

Often people think that 20 to 1 means you share with 20 other people and if one of those people are greedy you suffer. In fact you share with a few thousand people and if only a few are greedy then there isn't a major problem. Most ISP's look out for greedy individuals and force them onto mosre expensive links.

What you should find is that direct file downloads from a site, say McAfee updates, come at almost top speed. But getting web pages does depend upon how fast the web page server sends you the information. Some are very slow. Listening to the radio over the web is the same, often the server sending you the information is overloaded so you get stuttering on the sound. I find that web pages don't come any faster on ADSL than dial up. Radio is normally better quality and less interuptions. File downloads fly along.

Useful?? I'm not going to read it all through again so I hope there are no errors............

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

DEFINITELY useful - and thanks for taking the time and trouble to clear up some of (at least) my misconceptions.......

[Thetyim]

Thanks Briley that has helped me a lot.

I off to visit TOT next month.

[sabaijai]

Often people think that 20 to 1 means you share with 20 other people and if one of those people are greedy you suffer. In fact you share with a few thousand people and if only a few are greedy then there isn't a major problem. Most ISP's look out for greedy individuals and force them onto mosre expensive links.

This is in fact what the TT&T staff told me, but your explanation sounds more authoritative.

Breaking this down further, what does it means in terms of average speeds if you're choosing between 'contentions' of 1/10 vs 1/20 (the two most common choices)?

Thanks for the info. Still sceptical about TOT ... but then I can't get it anyway, I have a TT&T line and they don't offer that option (unless they're just BSing).

[Puwa]

Thanks Briley for that extensive and helpful summary.

I've had my TOT DSL installed this week. A guy from Viangping Automation, the contractor employed by TOT, came out checked the line, set up the modem and tested it out. He came when he said he would and did what he was supposed to do, so no complaints there.

So far the connection has been great. I signed up for the 1024/256 at 1000B per month, and have enjoyed downloads at 1024, but have also seen the line temporarily bog. That might have been my fault though, because I was doing many things at once. So far the connection has not dropped. Voice over IP has been crystal clear --go Skype!

Having lived through the 28k modem era, with lines dropping every five minutes, I have to say that this is a huge improvement and I am satisfied so far.

As demand grows, it remains to be seen whether capacity grows apace or we all end up sharing the same pipe (and fighting for bandwidth to post our complaints about it here).

Puwa

[chanchao]

Great post Briley..!!!! One correction/clarification though:

> This makes it very competative in Chaing Mai, after all dial up

> for half an hour a day and you spend 100 baht on calls and about

> 200 baht for the card.

No; Local phone calls in Thailand do indeed cost 3 baht, but this is NOT a per-minute charge, but a charge-per-call, no matter how long that call lasts. So to reach 100 baht dial-up costs you'd have to connect and disconnect and then connect again 33 times. Usually you would just remain connected, and the total charge remains 3 baht.

Everything else is spot on, and the above of course doesn't change the fact that ADSL is an excellent deal. (Plus you get to use the same line for phone calls, so you don't block your phone line while using the internet)

Cheers,

Chanchao

[astral]

Am I understanding this correctly ??

For 590 baht a month you get unlimited ADSL internet.

No hourly charges for internet time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes!! That is the deal.

You need a router, which plugs into your standard telephone socket and then into the

LAN connection on you PC.

Go for the Router, not the Modem, as it generally provides a firewall as well, which

you need, as you will be on line for longer periods, and more vulnerable to attack.

All very simple.

Where you have phones connected you need a little box to filter the signal,and stop the phone shorting out the ADSL side.

You can use the phone at the same time as the computer!!

You pay a flat monthly charge for adsl, depends on the speed.

256K - 590

512K - 750

1024 - 1000baht

That is it. No call charges!!

Then there is the normal phone rental and call costs, but you woulod pay that anyway!

[Thetyim]

OK I will have to go for a router because I want to connect two 'puters

The network cable will be about 25 meters long, would I be better off going for wireless ?