Thailand Connected To High-bandwidth Submarine Cable

[scotbeve]

Speed at my place is 75% faster at the moment. Too bad I'm still on TOT. Myspeed - speed test to Tuscon, Arizona ran at: 1.5Mb out of 3.2Mb download, and 414Kb for upload , roundtrip time 282 msec

[george]

SINGAPORE gets first direct link to US

SINGAPORE: -- StarHub today launched the Asia-America Gateway (AAG), the first undersea cable linking Singapore directly to the United States.

The cable system carries a bandwidth of 1.92 Terabits per second (Tbps) and was built with a 19-member consortium, at the cost of US$500 million, and will be ready for service in January 2010, said StarHub.

Speaking at the launch here Tuesday, StarHub CEO Terry Clontz said the AAG would offer wholesale and business customers more choices in selecting the connectivity providers they want to work with.

Singapore-based Datacraft Asia signed a partnership agreement as the AAG's systems integrator to offer connectivity to enterprise customers, said Clontz.

The country's Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan, said at the launch that the cable system would help raise Singapore's attractiveness as a digital hub for foreign investment.

It would help bring down the cost of connectivity services and provide an extra point of redundancy for the region, in the event of disruptions to other cables, Lee said.

In August, countries in the Asia-Pacific region suffered cut or sluggish Internet connection when the APCN2 cable system was damaged due to Typhoon Morakot.

In a separate announcement today, another cable operator Pacnet unveiled plans to establish a new submarine cable system. The West Asia Crossing (WAC), to be completed in 2012, will connect India directly to Southeast Asia at two landing points in Singapore and Malaysia.

Pacnet said in a statement the WAC would provide redundancy to the carrier's existing EAC-C2C system, carrying bandwidth capacities of 6Tbps to 8Tbps, and would be built at an estimated cost of US$150 million.

-- zdNET aSIA 2009-12-16

[Totster]

The cable system carries a bandwidth of 1.92 Terabits per second (Tbps) and was built with a 19-member consortium, at the cost of US$500 million, and will be ready for service in January 2010, said StarHub.

So it'll be active in January.. ?? And there was everyone saying how great it was today..

totster

[george]

The cable system carries a bandwidth of 1.92 Terabits per second (Tbps) and was built with a 19-member consortium, at the cost of US$500 million, and will be ready for service in January 2010, said StarHub.

So it'll be active in January.. ?? And there was everyone saying how great it was today..

totster

It is already active according to Thaivisa hosting provider in Singapore.

[Totster]

The cable system carries a bandwidth of 1.92 Terabits per second (Tbps) and was built with a 19-member consortium, at the cost of US$500 million, and will be ready for service in January 2010, said StarHub.

So it'll be active in January.. ?? And there was everyone saying how great it was today..

totster

It is already active according to Thaivisa hosting provider in Singapore.

Ah ok, thanks. Bit disappointing for me then as I can't see any difference to the US

totster

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I notice no change whatsoever.

[rakman]

Los Angeles, Ping 276 Down 2.27 Up 0.31

Amsterdam Ping 838 Down 2.61 Up 0.11

Melbourne Ping 354 Down 2.26 Up 0.17

With TOT 3Mb. Not to bad figures, but why is Europe always low (or high, what you prefer) on Ping?

Stiil good download from Europe...

You're probably going across the US to Europe. Try running a tracert (on Windows; traceroute on Unix or Linux/Mac) to your Amsterdam site. The result will show how the packet get there. It is always possible there is a satellite hop, which can be painfully slow (~250ms each way).

One thing to remember, ping and tracert packets are not prioritized to favor web traffic, so on a highly or oversubscribed connection, the latency will be higher or intermittently high.

[basjke]

Please explain how this cable can improve anything for the nominal adsl user.

Currently they have a certain speed connection from the Dslam to the general server.Then they connect 3 times more users then recommended to that Dslam so that everyone get's a crap connection.

Now they have a new international link installed,how will this improve the speed for the users-read everyone in thailand-connected to that overloaded Dslam that will still have the same speedconnection to the general server

Which kind of DSLAM can be "overloaded"?

Excerpt from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_subscriber_line_access_multiplexer#Hardware_details):

"Each DSLAM has multiple aggregation cards, and each such card can have multiple ports to which the customers lines are connected. Typically a single DSLAM aggregation card has 24 ports, but this number can vary with each manufacturer."

I remember back in the days, when a Siemens DSLAM would only have 4 ports per aggregation card. They were often exchanged due to instability and other problems (I believe they were fried too easy). But how the hel_l you overload a DSLAM is beyond my comprehension.

But basjke, you seem to know an awful lot about the Thai ISPs: which type of DSLAM do they use? And how do the overload them? Or are you simply another drunk farang in LOS, who talk and talk and never really say anything?

Before you open your big mouth again let me explain something to you as it is clear that you can't read peoples posts.

First of all I didn't say anywhere in my post that they overloaded a dslam,I said that they CONNECTED 3 times more users then RECOMMENDED.

You don't have to be the brightest light to understand that if you have a certain connection speed to a dslam it can only output that much speed divided between the connected users online at the same time.

Now lets say that you have an input speed of 100 Mb/sec but you connect 24 users to it which you promise each 16 Mb/sec then you have connected more users then recommended I assume.

Before you fall of your chair again,these speeds are fictious as I also only know what I can read on wikipedia,same as you I only don't shout it out,but I know which speed I am promised and which speed I get.

Now if you need to know something more ask me after my next beer.

[crazygreg44]

TT&T in Cha Am, a 599 Baht Internet , my speed test today

[iono]

Please explain how this cable can improve anything for the nominal adsl user.

Currently they have a certain speed connection from the Dslam to the general server.Then they connect 3 times more users then recommended to that Dslam so that everyone get's a crap connection.

Now they have a new international link installed,how will this improve the speed for the users-read everyone in thailand-connected to that overloaded Dslam that will still have the same speedconnection to the general server

Which kind of DSLAM can be "overloaded"?

Excerpt from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_subscriber_line_access_multiplexer#Hardware_details):

"Each DSLAM has multiple aggregation cards, and each such card can have multiple ports to which the customers lines are connected. Typically a single DSLAM aggregation card has 24 ports, but this number can vary with each manufacturer."

I remember back in the days, when a Siemens DSLAM would only have 4 ports per aggregation card. They were often exchanged due to instability and other problems (I believe they were fried too easy). But how the hel_l you overload a DSLAM is beyond my comprehension.

But basjke, you seem to know an awful lot about the Thai ISPs: which type of DSLAM do they use? And how do the overload them? Or are you simply another drunk farang in LOS, who talk and talk and never really say anything?

Well, he really makes a good point, the ISP or providers overload their circuits as they don't want to spend the money on more bandwidth to accomadate their customers (from that card we all go to a central pipe) so they cram everybody on one circuit then begin the famous customer service routine of "it must be you not us with the problem i.e. bad modem, bad dsl box, rain, cable issue and what not" I went through a tug of war with TOT, I find the Techs competant, but management of their circuits and traffic almost criminal, they are always trying to get you to pay for more bandwidth when you're not even receiving the level of service your currently paying for....just my little bitch.

[george]

CAT opens Asia America Gateway

CAT cuts int'l internet gateway fees

BANGKOK: -- CAT Telecom is cutting the fees for its international Internet gateway service from today in an effort to maintain its IIG customer base amid bruising competition from private telecom operators.

The rates will come down by between 10 per cent and 60 per cent.

CAT today will also open the Asia-America Gateway it has jointly built up with other 18 leading telecom parties.

The gateway is a high-bandwidth fibre-optic submarine cable system that connects Southeast Asia to the United States.

The state agency had dominated the local IIG scene until the National Telecommunica-tions Commission opened up the market several years ago by granting IIG licences to private telecom operators. Among the new players under NTC licences are True Corp and Jasmine International.

CAT senior executive vice president Sompol Chantaraprasert said its IIG service normally brought in annual revenue of about Bt1 billion. The expected revenue fall from the cut in fees should be offset by rising IIG customer numbers.

CAT expects to post broadband service revenue of Bt7.2 billion this year, versus the target of Bt8 billion, due to the economic downturn. The service generated only Bt6 billion during the first 10 months of the year, he said.

He added that CAT targeted higher broadband revenue of Bt7.5 billion next year. Broadband accounts for half of its income, while the rest is from the overseas call service.

Its broadband business comprises two main services: IIG and leased lines, which brought in Bt5 billion during the first 10 months of the year; and broadband Internet service, which generated revenue of Bt1.2 billion. Both services tap corporate customers.

Sompol added that CAT's broadband business development would have many highlights next year, including the joint exploration of WiMax wireless broadband technology with MCOT.

CAT will sign an agreement with MCOT soon on the plan to jointly offer TV and video programmes on a trial basis via WiMax, using MCOT's 2.6GHz spectrum. They are expected to conduct a trial in the first quarter of next year.

MCOT has already asked the NTC if it can air programmes on the spectrum. The regulator has yet to grant WiMax licences to any party.

CAT plans to invest about Bt500 million on commercial development once it clinches a WiMax licence, Sompol said.

It will also begin to develop the FTTX (fibre-to-the-x) project at a cost of Bt6 billion, hoping to make it a major new revenue source.

The service will provide broadband Internet and multimedia content via a fibre-optic network connected directly to homes and other buildings. CAT's service will initially focus on greater Bangkok.

TOT has also developed an FTTX service, which will make its debut in Phuket this Sunday.

-- The Nation 2009-12-16

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[farangbanok]

Khon Kaen - TRUE 10MB Cable

Download Speed: 7795 kbps (974.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 480 kbps (60 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 98 ms

16 December 2009 11:16:34

Seems reasonable to me but no improvement yet

[Able]

No improvements at all on the Maxnet 3mb premier package from Pattaya this morning. Download speeds are about the same worldwide and latency has increased by between 150 and 400 MS to America (depending on server location). Latency for Australia, Europe and India remain about the same.

No positives seen at this end yet.

[ScubaBuddha]

think about the time zones. what day is it here in thailand now, what hour? what does your timestamp show?

I did, whats your point? Mine says 0209 on the 16th. Are you seeing something different?

that you said the cable wasn't operational because the article was dated today.

Yes, the article was dated today, Dec. 16th, and it says "later today" you should see speed improvements. Can you just state you point cause I still don't see one.

[ctira]

TRUE HI SPEED-Bangkok area

package is download @ 8MB, upload @ 1 MB

Testing on Thaivisa

Last Result:

Download Speed: 5734 kbps (716.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 699 kbps (87.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 87 ms

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 11:33:34 AM

[linbs]

True 8mb

Last Result:

Download Speed: 649 kbps (81.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 157 kbps (19.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 389 ms

December 16, 2009 11:43:22 GMT+07:00

:-(

[ScubaBuddha]

Getting pretty much full capacity out of my 3Mbit line here.. Should have 1024 up but hey..

If they are adding to the international bandwith it might be time to move up to the 8 - 10 - 12 Mbit lines now being offered.

I was thinking the same thing, if you are talking about the 10mb for 1490 I see advertised. That is an "Indy" package and has had notoriously slow international bandwidth. Maybe it's worth a look now, but my guess is a Premier 5mb line will always be faster internationally than the 10mb Indy package.

Speed tests are the same for me today, but line quality tested at pingtest.net is better. No jitter whatsoever (the difference between successive pings) , but ping still ~280ms, same as before.

Edited December 16, 2009 by ScubaBuddha

[ScubaBuddha]

Check your real broadband speed here:

http://speedtest.thaivisa.com

george, do you know where the thaivisa speed test server is located? I get intra-country speeds on it, which obviously if it's in country then it gives us no measure of speed improvement outside Thailand.

it's the SF server.

No, it's SG (Singapore).

Well if http://speedtest.thaivisa.com is in Singapore, then why would we want to use it to test any improvements seen with a new underwater fiber optic cable to America? Am I missing something?

[DP25]

Not bad, fasted I've gotten to the US. Tried Seattle and San Diego too, was a bit slower but still really fast.

[ScubaBuddha]

Not bad, fasted I've gotten to the US. Tried Seattle and San Diego too, was a bit slower but still really fast.

Would you mind telling us what exact plan you are on from True? How much does it cost? Where are you located? Are your upload speeds always so bad? Thanks.

[mortenaa]

Well...

9.17 Mb/s from Norway is amazing, but i can't even stream a video in 300 Kb/s. I tried to measure my connection through a norwegian website: 279 Kbit/s. If I try do download a file, i get around 150 KB/s, which is fairly good.

Well i wish i really had the speeds of what speedtest.net shows

Here is another test for the record:

WOW!

[mortenaa]

What is also interesting is the traceroutes:

9 22 ms 34 ms 21 ms 61-91-210-5.static.asianet.co.th [61.91.210.5]

10 19 ms 22 ms 19 ms tig-net28-157.trueinternetgateway.com [122.144.2

8.157]

11 259 ms 260 ms 253 ms sg-icr-anc2-26-214.trueinternetgateway.com [122.

144.26.214]

12 248 ms 249 ms 250 ms tig-net26-50.trueinternetgateway.com [122.144.26

From one hop to the next one, there is a whopping 220ms lag! If the could done something about this, we would have lightning fast Internet compared to now...

[george]

What is also interesting is the traceroutes:

9 22 ms 34 ms 21 ms 61-91-210-5.static.asianet.co.th [61.91.210.5]

10 19 ms 22 ms 19 ms tig-net28-157.trueinternetgateway.com [122.144.2

8.157]

11 259 ms 260 ms 253 ms sg-icr-anc2-26-214.trueinternetgateway.com [122.

144.26.214]

12 248 ms 249 ms 250 ms tig-net26-50.trueinternetgateway.com [122.144.26

From one hop to the next one, there is a whopping 220ms lag! If the could done something about this, we would have lightning fast Internet compared to now...

Hop 10 to 11 is between Bangkok and Singapore. It also has to pass via our friends at MICT.

[junglist]

Full Speed ahead captain.

[Luxius]

Before you open your big mouth again let me explain something to you as it is clear that you can't read peoples posts.

Before you go on about technical stuff that is based on pure speculation, please explain something after I repeat when you stated what I corrected:

Currently they have a certain speed connection from the Dslam to the general server.Then they connect 3 times more users then recommended to that Dslam so that everyone get's a crap connection.

What is a general server?

First of all I didn't say anywhere in my post that they overloaded a dslam,I said that they CONNECTED 3 times more users then RECOMMENDED.

How many do they connect? What is recommended? Are we talking amounts of people or bandwidth?

You don't have to be the brightest light to understand that if you have a certain connection speed to a dslam it can only output that much speed divided between the connected users online at the same time.

... but I know which speed I am promised and which speed I get.

So you are saying the infrastructure is bad. Where is it bad? Everywhere? Or maybe you have a bad connection to the DSLAM? Maybe you have a pretty good one all around Thailand? You are not exactly stating any facts in any of your posts.

What speed have you been promised? To where? On the ISPs own carrier net? Inside Thailand as a whole? In the world? Do you remember to account for your overhead? Where are your numbers? If you intend on being a smart ass, please show me just how smart you really are.

Cheers!

[mortenaa]

Hop 10 to 11 is between Bangkok and Singapore. It also has to pass via our friends at MICT.

Well, if thats the case that MICT is causing a 220-230ms lag in all connections to foreign countries... then we will never see a snappy Internet connection here. A 200ms decrease in ping would made my life so much better..

[ScubaBuddha]

Before you open your big mouth again let me explain something to you as it is clear that you can't read peoples posts.

First of all I didn't say anywhere in my post that they overloaded a dslam,I said that they CONNECTED 3 times more users then RECOMMENDED.

"I didn't say you were going to get wet, I said you WEREN'T going to stay DRY!!!"

[hugocnx]

Los Angeles, Ping 276 Down 2.27 Up 0.31

Amsterdam Ping 838 Down 2.61 Up 0.11

Melbourne Ping 354 Down 2.26 Up 0.17

With TOT 3Mb. Not to bad figures, but why is Europe always low (or high, what you prefer) on Ping?

Stiil good download from Europe...

You're probably going across the US to Europe. Try running a tracert (on Windows; traceroute on Unix or Linux/Mac) to your Amsterdam site. The result will show how the packet get there. It is always possible there is a satellite hop, which can be painfully slow (~250ms each way).

One thing to remember, ping and tracert packets are not prioritized to favor web traffic, so on a highly or oversubscribed connection, the latency will be higher or intermittently high.

Thanks Rakman

[basjke]

In reply to the techinical Luxius,who if he was a bit more technical and hadn't messed up with the quotes in his post so much I would have been able to reply straight to his post.

Ok,my mistake.

I am just a drunk farang and the internet in Thailand is wonderful.More,it is state of the art and Thailand realy deserves the name internet hub from south east asia.It must be me that have bad luck and all 5 different modems I have here must be bad.Or my connection to the dslam must be bad,however Tot changed the last 100 meters of the cable between my home and the Dslam.And when I dumped them and changed provider True put in a complete new cable from my home to their Dslam which is only a few hundred meters away but the download speed ended up the same as with TOT.

But yeah you must be right because I can not provide detailed technical figures and I never see any of the many hundreds of complaints about the internet posted on this forum.So you must be right and I wrong.

p.s.: can you please tell us for which provider you work?

[lazygourmet]

Strange... and why Indosat is not involved in this partnership!?!