"billion" Brand ADSL Router And ToT

[JetsetBkk]

10-00 AM on a Saturday and I ran a test now using Speakeasy to San Francisco.

D/L speed 2.3 mbps

U/L speed 0.40 mbps

Using TOT 4MB connection and a Billion BiPac 5210s router.

2nd test

3.2

0.39

Considering this is a Saturday I think the results are quite good.

My torrent D/L are quick for a 4MB connection. Most times well over 200 and sometimes in the low 300's but that also depends on what I am being given on Utorrent.

No complaints here with TOT. Maybe you need to talk nicer to TOT .

I think that's very good for a Saturday.

Me? Talk nice to ToT? Nah - I even got my money back from the charm school.

My torrents are often OK - sometimes steady at 700 kB/s down and 90 kB/s up. It's just that browsing the web is often crap. I guess Vuze (Azureus) does find the best links for leeching from and sticks to them.

[hawksway]

Billion - A very troublesome entry level Router which ISPs supply because it's cheap. When you look at the Billion range you will see other models costing up to 8000 Baht. There's got to be a reason hasn't there?

Use a well tried Netgear or Linksys model. Up Market ones have circuitry to make the best of the line speed.If you buy a model which has removable antennas you can also increase the wireless range. Most Routers or Wireless Access Points come with quite weak 3 dbi gain antennas. For about 1000 Baht you can upgrade to a 7 DBI antenna which will really drive well through walls and way down the Garden.

Good luck with TOT - they are deplorable and nowhere as good 3bb who have really improved in recent Months.

[JetsetBkk]

Billion - A very troublesome entry level Router which ISPs supply because it's cheap. When you look at the Billion range you will see other models costing up to 8000 Baht. There's got to be a reason hasn't there?

Use a well tried Netgear or Linksys model. Up Market ones have circuitry to make the best of the line speed.If you buy a model which has removable antennas you can also increase the wireless range. Most Routers or Wireless Access Points come with quite weak 3 dbi gain antennas. For about 1000 Baht you can upgrade to a 7 DBI antenna which will really drive well through walls and way down the Garden.

Good luck with TOT - they are deplorable and nowhere as good 3bb who have really improved in recent Months.

My gut feeling is to agree with you on the Billion. I've been using the ZyXEL - supplied free by Maxnet, my old ISP - and (1) it connects fairly quickly when powered up, (2) it doesn't drop out like the Billion did and (3) I get very good torrent download speeds, but I also did with the Billion, once it was going.

Of course, many factors come into play here.

The quicker connection (1) and fewer drop outs (2) may simply be coincidence. I can't test both routers in parallel as I don't have two lines. So all my tests are hours apart and line conditions can changes very quickly.

I could keep changing from Billion to ZyXEL to get a better picture, but it's a hassle.

Regarding Maxnet vs. ToT:

Some people have been very recently reporting all sorts of problems with 3BB. 3BB are having / have had a dispute with Maxnet which has caused them to supply new lines to their customers in some places in Phuket. Also, long drop outs on the 3BB service have been reported.

The only test that consistently shows in favour of Maxnet/3BB is the speed test to San Francisco. Maxnet often gave me 4+ mbps download, sometimes 5 mbps, which I have never seen on ToT even though the ToT service is supposed to be 8 mbps and the Maxnet was 6. So all "speed specifications" should be ignored unless all your internet activity is on servers in Bangkok.

And, as I am now in a different location, which means different a line, a different route, a different number of people in contention with me at the exchange (central office), and different exchange equipment, it is not easy to be definitive about which is best.

So although browsing is sometimes slow on ToT (irrespective of the DNS server I am using), I am happy with the torrent downloading, apart from the occasional 1 minute break in the service which stops my torrent downloading so it has to build up speed again: