True 4mb Package, 2010, How's It Shaping Up?

[ozsamurai]

Have read thread on here on the 4mb (599 baht) packages that true are now offering, but they are quite dated, wondering if we have some new thoughts on them over TOT, now that their packages have 'matured'

Cheers

Oz

[olivier2553]

I started using one about 2 weeks ago.

The set-up was not as transparent as it was supposed, but after playing a bit with the modem config, I got it to work.

Using True measurement tools, I get 3Mb, using real download I once got real 2Mb from the USA. Upload is slow but that may be my phone line (very noisy, very long).

On the negative side, the modem is cheap, low quality type. It did not cope with the very hot days we had lattely, I had to turn it off one night as it was overheating.

On the positive side, they accepted the order by phone and sent the modem by messenger (even while the phone line was still registered to the previous user of the house...); also it is working with a bad quality line (never got more than 28K using dial-up).

[kites]

Does anyone knows if True allows download from p2p networks? like torrents, limewire, ed2k etc?

[bigt116]

Does anyone knows if True allows download from p2p networks? like torrents, limewire, ed2k etc?

I am with true and it lets me ;-)

[ozsamurai]

one reply hardly seems a resounding yes as yet, the contract terms etc.. are flexible? month to month or they lock you in for 2yrs or so?

Oz

[phazey]

It's "OK" at best.

I'm currently facing lots of dns errors and need to reboot my router 4/5 tmes a day - i seem to just drop off (streaming applications continue to work though, so it seems something to do with the http filtering).

If you're a gamer - don't expect too much - a lot of my traffic passes a device "trueinternetgateway.com" which adds 250ms to every ping thereafter - completely limits my choices for games to a handful. What'seven worse is True's network - it takes me something like 16 hops to just exit - In the past when i've ran ISP's anything over 5 hops to exit on ANY node was the limit...

P2P and streaming Tv are ok - don't bank on anything smooth during the day, but in the wee hours you can get some good traffic. To give you an idea, a 11GB movie came down overnight....

Oh, and the true placeholder page that randomly pops up (usually when you submit a forum post) will have you reaching for the eyes of the nearest true tech - it's bloody annoying, and the cause of many head scratching moments when things do not work.....

[crgram]

I have the cable version in Chiang Mai, believe it or not they were honest when I signed up for it and told me I was too far from the access point to get that speed. But I do get 2.5-3mps down .3-.4 up pretty consistently. Drops down to about 1mps down and .25 up from North American sites.

Torrents and audio streaming work ok, as stated video streaming can be slow during the usual peak times. O/L gaming just depends on the bandwidth of the game. I run EVE online with no problems more or less than I had in the States.

Not great, particularly for power users, but ok.

cr

[negreanu]

No issues with True's premium products fairly consistent but only tried 8mb 12mb and 16mb flavours all seem as good if not slightly better than all other competitors.

[CMSteve]

Have been through the 3 major player here in CM. TOT offers 4, 8, 12mbs in adverts, no 12mbs in CM so ordered the 8mbs but can't get anything more than 5mbs to my building. (cancelled) True internet also offers high speeds of upto 16mbs(per sales lady), but upon ordering, the actual fact is they can't give more than about 6mbs at my building. Apparently, they need a new 'expander' in BKK to offer anything faster("next month' per technician) has been over a month now....(will cancel soon) 3BB installed yesterday. 10mbs/1mbs. actual speed is capped at 4m/.5m. Have made multiple calls to service center and have been promised a call back. Nothing yet!

All have their issues with blocked ports and redirects. TRUE is the worst. no issues with blocked ports, but they have a major problem with redirects. I can't log into hotmail through true, it redirects to the true website. Also, have issues with one of my foreign bank accounts.

All companies can offer 4mbs/.5mbs and all work fairly well at those speeds, but anything faster is by the grace of buddha!

Moral is: The person that takes your order is reading the same adverts that you are and does not know the real facts. If you order and have slower speeds than promised, asked for the tech to come out. If he/she can not get close to the advertised speed, have him note the speeds on his work order and sign it. If you have this you can cancel the service outright. Don't believe anyone that says you have to pay a early cancellation fee, etc. Just smile and calmly ask to speak with their superior.

hope this helps.

Edited May 14, 2010 by CMSteve

[reefsurfah]

Have been through the 3 major player here in CM. TOT offers 4, 8, 12mbs in adverts, no 12mbs in CM so ordered the 8mbs but can't get anything more than 5mbs to my building. (cancelled) True internet also offers high speeds of upto 16mbs(per sales lady), but upon ordering, the actual fact is they can't give more than about 6mbs at my building. Apparently, they need a new 'expander' in BKK to offer anything faster("next month' per technician) has been over a month now....(will cancel soon) 3BB installed yesterday. 10mbs/1mbs. actual speed is capped at 4m/.5m. Have made multiple calls to service center and have been promised a call back. Nothing yet!

All have their issues with blocked ports and redirects. TRUE is the worst. no issues with blocked ports, but they have a major problem with redirects. I can't log into hotmail through true, it redirects to the true website. Also, have issues with one of my foreign bank accounts.

All companies can offer 4mbs/.5mbs and all work fairly well at those speeds, but anything faster is by the grace of buddha!

Moral is: The person that takes your order is reading the same adverts that you are and does not know the real facts. If you order and have slower speeds than promised, asked for the tech to come out. If he/she can not get close to the advertised speed, have him note the speeds on his work order and sign it. If you have this you can cancel the service outright. Don't believe anyone that says you have to pay a early cancellation fee, etc. Just smile and calmly ask to speak with their superior.

hope this helps.

True seems to work ok..But for international, it sometimes slows down to 1-2mbps. Torrents are also possible.. I didn't know you can have a "way out" for early cancellation fees. CM Steve have you tried this yourself? I have heard that there is a 1,000 baht fee if you cancel under 1 yr.

[schmutzie]

I have a True Premium 4mb/1mb pack. I'm quite happy.

I don't have many of the issues mentioned above, so I guess it's hit and miss. The comments I would agree with are:

True placeholder page - not sure why this is. I sometimes get this on TV searches when going to page 2 of the search results.

But, I do not get redirected to the True website after I leave my browser tabs/lappie for some time. That would happen at another

address, which was also on a True subscription.

Setup not transparent - It took half-a-day to get the router up and running (vs. 5 minutes in the UK)

Problem was security setup for the WiFi bit. In the end it was just an issue of trial and error, but if you're not confident then you could

find yourself waiting for a True techie...

Torrents - I seem to loose my PPP connection when I do this. Not always, and not immediately, but I'm pretty sure they shut me out.

I haven't taken this up with them, but seems a bit harsh and possibly not legal on their part. That is not to say that it is not possible to

run torrents, just that it's frowned upon by the ISP. As is it everywhere else on the planet AFAIK.

However, I've been quite pleased with their customer services and their level of English and patience. I was quite keen to go down the True route despite all the negs about their various services. My landlord recommended Maxnet/3BB for this area, but their temp offices/stalls in various malls makes me think they could disappear in a puffy cloud at any time.

Now trying to decide if True cable is worth my money too.

Edited May 14, 2010 by schmutzie

[ozsamurai]

Its now been a month or so since I ordered TRUE, still no connection. The system, True of course rents lines from TOT. They in turn take into consideration any mafia connections that may have to be 'bypassed' in order to connect you (it will reflect in the cost), and if it is deemed too annoying, they will, give you the royal brush off. The brush off goes like this.

Call True Call Center to apply, they tell you the rep for the area will call you....wait for up to 3 days

Call them back when rep has not called, lodge complaint.... Oh sorry we had the wrong tel number on file for you... won't happen again wait 3 more days

Get call from rep, I have to check that there are still available land line connections in your area, wait one week

Call True Call Center again, after 2 weeks, complain no one has called.

Get call from rep, 'Me Dai', you are in a 'special area that ......bs bs bs bs bs bs bs bs bs.........

Call True Call Center, tell them we can't get it, even though our next door neighbour has the same service, they say get his number....

At this point...... I gave up

Called TOT, went to their local office, 5mins, all paperwork was done, free landline number, free wi-fi router, the guy will be over to hook it up tomorrow.

Regardless of their bandwidth speed, TRUE service, truly sucks, and TOT is 9 Baht cheaper on the same package!

[Royk]

Does anyone knows if True allows download from p2p networks? like torrents, limewire, ed2k etc?

No problem with torrents here and surprisingly enough, the download speed in my area(Donmueng) has been improving. I can't say the same for a friend of mine, who lives around Bangkapi area. He's on their 8Mb package and it doesn't seem to be that stable.

Best regards,

Roy

[bkk_mike]

It's "OK" at best.

I'm currently facing lots of dns errors and need to reboot my router 4/5 tmes a day - i seem to just drop off (streaming applications continue to work though, so it seems something to do with the http filtering).

Sorry - but you should switch to a free 3rd party DNS server - True's are either badly configured, or just heavily overloaded. (I use openDNS myself, but Google also has a DNS service).

You should notice a decent performance improvement, although it doesn't fix everything. i.e. This morning, I couldn't connect to the home page for HSBC in Hong Kong, unless I connected through the office VPN (effectively bypassing True's transparent proxies and their other badly configured crap).

(HSBCs website does, of course, work perfectly now - so maybe True were rebooting something this morning... - or maybe openDNS were as going through the VPN would mean I was using the office's DNS server)

One thing - I don't think I've ever seen a true placeholder page (except the time I came back from abroad and got a page telling me I was late paying the bill...)

Edited June 22, 2010 by bkk_mike

[t.s]

Its now been a month or so since I ordered TRUE, still no connection. The system, True of course rents lines from TOT. They in turn take into consideration any mafia connections that may have to be 'bypassed' in order to connect you (it will reflect in the cost), and if it is deemed too annoying, they will, give you the royal brush off. The brush off goes like this.

Call True Call Center to apply, they tell you the rep for the area will call you....wait for up to 3 days

Call them back when rep has not called, lodge complaint.... Oh sorry we had the wrong tel number on file for you... won't happen again wait 3 more days

Get call from rep, I have to check that there are still available land line connections in your area, wait one week

Call True Call Center again, after 2 weeks, complain no one has called.

Get call from rep, 'Me Dai', you are in a 'special area that ......bs bs bs bs bs bs bs bs bs.........

Call True Call Center, tell them we can't get it, even though our next door neighbour has the same service, they say get his number....

At this point...... I gave up

Called TOT, went to their local office, 5mins, all paperwork was done, free landline number, free wi-fi router, the guy will be over to hook it up tomorrow.

Regardless of their bandwidth speed, TRUE service, truly sucks, and TOT is 9 Baht cheaper on the same package!

funny, when i had my true installed they had a new phoneline in and internet up and running that afternoon. they have also upgraded my package from 4 to 7 Mb.

my internet has been rock solid for 3 years now. granted there are occasional slowdowns, but i have always had access when it is needed.

likewise my cat cdma account with mifi router on koh phangan has yet to disappoint, though my expectations there are lower.

ts

all in all i find internet access alot easier to come by in thailand than in many other countries i have had the pleasure of travelling to for business.