True Ultra Hi-Speed Internet

[infernalman7]

I really think that both True and 3BB are doing some sort of prioritizing for YouTube. YouTube is incredibly fast whether it's 1080p or even 4k.. I never have to wait with my True 50/5.

[Pib]

Here's the REAL test:

Try streaming 720p/1080p HD videos on YouTube.

Just went to YouTube (around lunch time) and tried streaming two 720p and two 1080p HD videos. The videos streamed no problem, no pausing, and the buffered amount stayed far, far ahead of the play rate and usually within about 30 seconds a 720p 3-5 minute video was fully buffered/downloaded and within about 1-2 minutes a 1080p 3-5 minute video was completely buffered/downloaded. Test passed.

[jfchandler]

I'm not sure YouTube downloads are any particularly telling indicator of international or Thailand to USA Internet speeds...

From what I've read, Google and YouTube use CDN (Content Delivery Networks) to provide their data, meaning it's geographically distributed.

This article below is talking about a live online concert, but it includes the broader background...

Despite the fact that Google has it's own quite impressive CDN, streaming live video (as opposed to progressive downloads, which YouTube has historically relied on) is hard stuff.

http://techcrunch.co...urrent-viewers/

And...

<li>Most popular content is moved to a CDN (content delivery network):

- CDNs replicate content in multiple places. There's a better chance of content being closer to the user, with fewer hops, and content will run over a more friendly network.

- CDN machines mostly serve out of memory because the content is so popular there's little thrashing of content into and out of memory. <li> Less popular content (1-20 views per day) uses YouTube servers in various colo sites.

http://highscalability.com/youtube-architecture

Edited June 22, 2011 by jfchandler

[infernalman7]

I'm not sure YouTube downloads are any particularly telling indicator of international or Thailand to USA Internet speeds...

From what I've read, Google and YouTube use CDN (Content Delivery Networks) to provide their data, meaning it's geographically distributed.

That perhaps explains why. I read elsewhere as well that videos with more than x views will be distributed more globally whereas videos with 1000 views will only be hosted in locations near the posters.

[jfchandler]

Yep, the second link above that I posted above has some elaboration of that re YouTube, in terms of any particular video reaching 1,000 or more daily views gets handled in a certain way, etc etc.

[Pib]

I'm not sure YouTube downloads are any particularly telling indicator of international or Thailand to USA Internet speeds...

From what I've read, Google and YouTube use CDN (Content Delivery Networks) to provide their data, meaning it's geographically distributed.

That perhaps explains why. I read elsewhere as well that videos with more than x views will be distributed more globally whereas videos with 1000 views will only be hosted in locations near the posters.

Sounds fair. I've always wondered why those "less viewed" YouTube videos don't seem to download as fast as popular videos..

[RedCardinal]

I really think that both True and 3BB are doing some sort of prioritizing for YouTube. YouTube is incredibly fast whether it's 1080p or even 4k.. I never have to wait with my True 50/5.

Google, and most big Internet firms like Facebook, Yahoo! and Microsoft etc., "peer" directly into many countries. This means they have their own dedicated connections into Thailand and their traffic is local. They also use very fast content delivery networks, but the main reason Youtube is so fast is the direct peer connection.

[Pib]

Note: Tests above run over a wireless connection between my laptop and wireless router (True provided Cisco combo modem & router) being in the same room upstairs. When I move my laptop downstairs with the wireless router still being upstairs I still get good router signal signal strength, a router to laptop basic sync connection usually in the 36-54Mb range. However, I have noticed my tests to the Bangkok server tend to run in the 15-20Mb range when I'm downstairs but I get the full 20Mb speed when upstairs...I expect there is some retransmissions/errors occurring due to the distance and concrete walls/floor between my laptop downstairs and the wireless router upstairs.

Update to my above Note from Post #268: been playing with the Wireless settings in the True-provided Cicsco ECP 2325 Wireless modem/router. As a default setting the wireless security comes set to WPA and TRIK encryption; I changed that to WPA2 and AES encryption which gives a higher level of wireless encrytpion...should help keep any neighbors from trying to hack into my wireless signal. If changing the router setting to WPA2/AES, also be sure to change your computers wireless chip to match as it may not switch automatically. The WPA2/AES setting works with both my Toshiba laptops, with one have an Intel wireless chip and one have an Atheros wireless chip.

BUT the real reason I'm posting this update is I've found out by Enabling the Xpress Technology setting in the Cisco wireless modem it's more routine for be to be able to get the full 20Mb speed between the router upstairs and my laptop downstairs, which have a concrete floor and wall between them which degrades the signal. With Xpress Technology Enabled I'm able to get a 18-21Mb speed range versus the 15-20Mb speed range mentioned above when the laptop is downstairs. To Enable the Xpress Technology setting in the router, go to Setup, Wireless, Advanced in your router's menu. For example, I did several speed tests to the TOT Speedtester Site (wanted to use a speedtester other than True's) and I could pull plus 21Mb/2Mb speeds routinely....and remember, my router and computer are on different floors with several layers of concrete degrading the wireless signal. For example:

Here's a little explanation of what Xpress Technology is: Quote: What is Xpress Technology?Broadcom's Xpress Technology is one of the popular performance-enhancing WiFi technologies, designed to improve wireless network efficiency and boost throughput. It is more efficient in mixed environments, and it can work with 802.11a/b/g networks. When Xpress is turned on, aggregate throughput (the sum of the individual throughput speeds of each client on the network) can improve by up to 27% in 802.11g-only networks, and up to 75% in mixed networks comprised of 802.11g and 802.11b standard equipment. The technology achieves higher throughput by by re-packaging data, reducing the number of overhead control packets, so that more useful data can be sent during a given amount of time. End Quote

Your result may (probably will) vary depending on your computer's wireless chip, distance/obstacles between your computer and router, etc. Just FYI.

[jfchandler]

Pib, so as part of the 20 Mb plan, True provided you with a Cisco B/G band router?

They didn't even spring for an N?

On my recent trip abroad, I bought a pair of refurb Cisco E1000 N band wifi routers from CircuitCity.com for about $20 apiece.... one as a gift and one to take home as a backup to my Linksys 160N wifi router.

That way, I can run my N router in N-only mode for my N laptops, and run the backup router in mixed B/G mode that works fine with the B/G smartphones in the house.

[Pib]

Pib, so as part of the 20 Mb plan, True provided you with a Cisco B/G band router?

They didn't even spring for an N?

On my recent trip abroad, I bought a pair of refurb Cisco E1000 N band wifi routers from CircuitCity.com for about $20 apiece.... one as a gift and one to take home as a backup to my Linksys 160N wifi router.

That way, I can run my N router in N-only mode for my N laptops, and run the backup router in mixed B/G mode that works fine with the B/G smartphones in the house.

Yeap, that's what they did. But a 54G (54Mb) wireless router is more than enough speed for my 20Mb plan. Plus, both of my laptops are only 54G capable; whenever I get around to buying another laptop it will have N capability. I don't know what True provides to folks wanting the 100Mb or maybe even the 50Mb plan....maybe they only offer the standard, non-wireless modem.

It's definitely good to have a backup router, as approx two weeks ago we had a hell of a lightning storm pass over the moobaan...a bolt of lightning even struck my next door neighbor's roof and below a hole in the top/destroyed about a half dozen concrete fiber shingles. I figure that same lightning bolt is what smoked my TOT Billion modem, my Linksys router, and my VOIP adapter....not only did it smoke the boxes it smoked their external power supplies also. The lightning also smoked an external power adapter on my downstairs cordless phone. Appears the lightning probably came in on the phone line versus the electrical line as nothing else in the house was damaged; only stuff hooked directly or indirectly to a phone line.

Fortunately, I had spares for all three smoked items and was back online in about two hours...had to wait two hours not because of the spare equipment was not working but because I was not getting an IP address from TOT. The lightning may have smoked their DSLAM also. Called TOT Call Center and in about two hours they had that problem fixed. Then had to call the VOIP company in the States for them to activate the VOIP adapter by providing its MAC address. I even took the dead TOT Billion modem (it was about 14 months old) back to the local TOT Service Center the next day and they gave me a new one free of charge no questions asked after they hooked it up and confirmed it wasn't working. Then they called the next day to see if everything was OK. I was kinda shocked with the TOT good service. I figured since I was past my 12 month contract they would say I would have to buy one (which I wouldn't have done since I had a spare Zyxel DSL modem).

Hopefully, if my True provided Cisco modem/router ever dies (and it probably will) they will also give me a free replacement (or at least that is what the True Salesperson and Technician said) or if I have my N laptop by then I'll just Disable the wireless function (or I could just leave it Enabled) and use it as a modem only feeding into a N router which I will buy. But for now the Cisco 54G wireless router is more than good enough. Even if I got a super good 10Mb international connection/speed to the States and if my Cisco router and laptop are only communicating at 15Mb, I've got a 50% safety factor. Yeap, more than good enough for now.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Pib

[negreanu]

That way, I can run my N router in N-only mode for my N laptops, and run the backup router in mixed B/G mode that works fine with the B/G smartphones in the house.

Something like Apples Airport Extreme simultaneous dual band would cut down on the hardware.

[jfchandler]

Just a bit of an update here re my True cable internet service 10 Mb plan... What can I say about True and their customer service ... that won't get me banned from TV and kicked out of Thailand... (Just kidding...)

But seriously, I've had a running encounter with True over the past few weeks over recurring problems with my cable connection suddenly dropping out at various times of the day and night...no discernable pattern as to when or why, and sometimes for hours at a time, other times just a half hour or so, and as best as I can tell, not part of any broader area network outages.... And they've sent out staff a couple of times during that period who fiddled around outside...and never managed to solve the problem...perhaps until today...

I did learn some things along the way, however, that might be useful to other users...and my comments are specific to those with the 10 Mbps plan, because you'll have the same Motorola Surfboard cable modem model as mine... One of the main issues re service problems is going to be the power levels traveling along the cable line to your cable modem, which need to be in the proper ranges in order for the signal to be received and work properly...

As explained above, you can use a web browser and an IP address to go to the settings/info page for your cable modem, and select the "Signal" tab. On that screen, it will show entries for both Downstream Power and Upstream Power expressed in dBmV values...

According to the True techs, for your service to work properly and know that there's not wiring problems somewhere along the line, they want the Downstream Power level to have a value between 0 and 4. Mine had a value of almost 10 when they arrived today, and -1.5 when they were done.

Likewise, they want the Upstream Power value to have a reading below 50 dBmV... Mine had a reading of 55 when they arrived today, and 40 when they finished their fiddling, which they said was a good value.

From what I can gather, today on about their 3rd time out to my home for this, they finally changed some more cabling connections outside along the street, and that improved the values, but still didn't bring them into the proper ranges. So then one of the techs installed some kind of connector/filter onto the splitter unit they installed originally to separate the cable TV line from the then new cable Internet line where their cable comes into my home.... It was just a little coax metal tube of some sort that they attached on the cable TV line outlet of the splitter. And that along with everything else finally seemed to do the trick. I tried to get an explanation of what that little thing is....but couldn't manage it in Thai.

Let me just say, I don't know of any better broadly available internet service here than True's cable...in terms of available speeds, affordability, and stability of connection.

However, what really has hacked me off about True has been their lousy customer service practices... In particular, each time the techs have been out, they'd usually come inside, and then go back outside to fiddle around at various points along the street. Before today, each and every time, they never came back inside or even called to tell me what they'd found or done. And each and every time before today, I put in that request with their English speaking customer service for a recap call back, each time they promised to do so, and each time they never did... Never...

On one of the prior visits, after the tech guy disappeared...I waited some days and saw with certainty that the problem was still occurring. So I called back to True Internet and spoke with an English speaking rep, who checked the notes for my service ticket and they told me the tech had closed the case because of finding that the problem was with wiring INSIDE my house, which is not True's responsibility. Well, that came as a pretty big surprise to me... because when the tech had been out at my house, he had checked everything inside and found no problem and had told me so, before disappearing to go outside... Plus, since I'm in a house, the only actual wiring I have inside is that that True themselves installed when they did the original cable Internet install. So I knew that answer was a load of BS... But, I tried to remain calm and persevere.

Then today, another English rep called me out of the blue... probably two weeks since my last house service call... to inquire whether everything was OK with my Internet service... And I replied NO it wasn't. And she started asking me about what had happened in my last service call, to which I replied...I had no clue... because the service tech came and left without ever informing me what they had done...and no one from True ever had called back. So she got on the line with their Tech team, and we had a kind of three way conference call this morning...

And without going into all the gory details, I had another bit of fun when during today's call, the woman kept relaying questions to me from whomever she was on the line with in their Tech area about my router... my router... and then finally something about my Thomson equipment.... And then I finally caught on to say... HEY... I DON'T HAVE A TRUE-ISSUED ROUTER and I don't have any Thomson-brand equipment.... And I've never had either of those at any point. Do you guys even know what service ticket you're talking about and what location is involved??? And that led to a bit more conversation, them admitting they'd mixed up the service tickets during our phone call today, and finally them sending the techs out again this afternoon, hopefully with good result.

All I can say is, True cable internet is great when it's working and assuming you have no technical issues or problems in your neighborhood... But God help you if you have to put your head into the lion's mouth of True's customer service system.

PS - Here's a screen shot of what the "good" power values are supposed to look like in the cable modem's "signal" tab screen.

Edited July 5, 2011 by jfchandler

[alexth]

IMHO, you can never get more than 15mbps in Thailand from any provider, unless it's a business package from CAT and you pay a ridiculous price for it

[negreanu]

How much are these business packages from CAT? Never seen them advertised . Downloading from US Server at the moment at 47mb from easynews so not sure if your statement is correct.

[alexth]

How much are these business packages from CAT? Never seen them advertised . Downloading from US Server at the moment at 47mb from easynews so not sure if your statement is correct.

WOW, that's a pleasant surprise. I moved from BKK about 2 years ago, if you're right, this is a very pleasant surprise. Not sure about the exact prices from CAT, but last time I saw their offer, I got stunned

[jfchandler]

IMHO, you can never get more than 15mbps in Thailand from any provider, unless it's a business package from CAT and you pay a ridiculous price for it

Speed discussions are really a can of worms...

There's speeds for resources being hosted inside Thailand, which can be quite fast if your service plan/ISP allows it...

And then there are true international content speeds, which suffer the vagaries of distance, network congestion and who knows what all else... And within those, there's single stream speeds vs. multi-threaded downloading.

And then there are speeds for international content that is hosted/mirrored or otherwise held locally or regionally, such as content from Google, YouTube and various other of the heavyweights. There may also be, though I'm less familiar with these, international content where the source provider is routing the traffic over their some proprietary routes to achieve improved performance.

In my experience, the locally hosted content can be accessed pretty much at whatever speed your service plan will allow.

The real U.S. hosted, non mirrored or non-content delivery network or non-proprietary network content speeds seem to top out around 4-5 Mbps for single threads....

The Googles, YouTubes, Apples and others can be much faster if your local plan/ISP will support it...but that data served to Thailand either isn't coming directly from the U.S. in a single thread because it's being hosted on a distributed content network or it's coming over some other kind of proprietary network arrangements.

[Pib]

I've had my True Cable 20Mb/2Mb package for 16 days now and it has been up and running at least 99.99% of my hours setting in front of my computer. I don't give it a 100% up time because I've noticed a few days for a few seconds where I apparently lose an IP connection by looking at my modem connection icon, but it's such a brief period it don't cause any browsing/email problems and I don't think it's long enough to affect a VOIP call either. I get the full 20Mb/2Mb in-Thailand speed and good speeds to international web site as I posted earlier. In fact, my international web site speeds seem to be getting a little faster. And streaming of YouTube video's is smooth with no pausing.

I have the Cisco ECP 2325 Wireless router/modem provided my True. When going into the menu structure it provides a different setup than the Motorola standard/non-wireless modem. I get Downstream and Upstream Power Levels but no Signal-to-Noise reading. When the True techs were installing the internet and cable TV I saw they got readings of DownStream Power of 14 dbmV, Upstream Power of 48.6 dbmV and SNR of 33.6db. These values are also written on the setup sheet/receipt they provide the customer. Since then my DownStream Power level has come down to around a +5dbmV and UpStream Power Level remaining steady at around 49dbmV. Don't know if my SNR has changed as I don't get a valve for that anywhere in my modem menu structure. In fact, many of the tab selection in my menu structure are not activated. The True tech must have used some special logon to get the SNR reading which I saw with my own eyes as he was doing it. I expect my Downstream Power has changed due to new customers being hooked up daily to this brand new cable system within my moobaan which went operational about 17 days ago. At the time of writing this email my Downstream Power is 4.7 dbmv and Upstream Power is 49.7 dbmV.

When looking at the True sheet there are stated requirements for the internet signal which are: Downstream Power of 0 dbmV +/- 17 dbmV. From doing some interent research on the DOCSIS 3.0, which is what the True Cable Internet system is, most cable modems are geared to work between a -15 to +15 dbmV, with -5dbmV to +5dbmV being the desired/sweet spot for best performance. On two other web sites they said the sweet spot is a -3 to +6 dbmV and a -8 dbmV to +8 dbmV. The True sheet says the Upstream Power needs to fall within 30 to 55 dbmV, and the SNR greater than 27db. These two values are in-sync with the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem requirements I found at several internet sites talking DOCSIS specs.

On the incoming cable line an Isolator is attached (a device about the size of a man's thumb...probably protects against signal interference and maybe lightning), then it goes to a Splitter which splits the signal to the router/modem and then to another splitter which drives my two set top TV boxes/lines (one box downstairs in the living room and one box upstairs in the master bedroom). Very clear TV signal and the TV signal has been up and running about 99.99% of the time (rain or shine including thunderstorms) except once or twice for a few seconds last week when I got a brief no-signal indication...and this no TV signal indication was also within seconds of me also losing my IP internet connection for a few seconds. I think this is just growing pains with this brand new cable TV/Internet line to my moobaan, other homes being hooked up, adjustments to the system, problems at the main feed station, etc. So far, I really got nothing to complain about regarding up-and-running time/reliability for the True cable TV or cable internet.

So far, so good, I'm pleased. Tomorrow or next day I'm visiting my local TOT Service Center to cancel my TOT 6Mb ADSL plan (fastest available to my moobaan until True arrived with their cable internet)...a TOT plan whch worked pretty good, was very reliable uptime-wise, but I couldn't watch streaming video like YouTube videos without a LOT of pausing usually occurring....this streaming video issue was the only real negative that I had with the TOT 6Mb ADSL plan.

[jfchandler]

I've had my True Cable 20Mb/2Mb package for 16 days now and it has been up and running at least 99.99% of my hours setting in front of my computer.

Thanks for the added info, Pib... I would have said the same exact thing during my initial two months of True cable service.... a time during which I had the same pretty much 100% up time... Then for reasons still unknown to me...the service uptime began to falter badly... Nothing related to anything inside my home... But unfortunately, the problem could have been any number of different places up and down my soi where something got loose or pulled or who knows what...

Where I fault True is not that the problem occurred, but how they handled resolving it... or in my case not resolving it... thru multiple go-rounds and half-hearted repair efforts with absolutely no customer followup on their part.

In the old DSL days, every time a tall bus or truck came down my soi, which would happen periodically, unless the vehicle had a guy standing watch up on the roof, they'd end up hitting and pulling out my old True DSL service line that used to hang low across the street from the other side to my side... And it must have taken 3 or 4 service call rounds of that before I could finally convince the True people, with some great effort on my part, to stop just reattaching it, and instead to actually hang and suspend the cable in a way that it wasn't so prone to passing trucks and buses.

As I said above, overall, I think True cable is probably the best consumer ISP available around these parts, and I'd hope to be able to continuing using it until and unless something better comes along... It's just that their customer service capability blows.... bad.... And of course, you had your own go-round with that with their overly optimistic and then much delayed schedule for actually connecting the service in your moo baan...

As I mentioned before, at least, hopefully, you've got the advantage of all new cabling and connections and hardware... Whereas, as I described it before, my street's wiring looks like a spaghetti factory exploded.... But at least, I'm back online tonight...and nothing's failed in the 8 or so hours since the True guys departed.

[Pib]

My only experience with True Customer Service over a problem was almost two years ago when I had a TrueMove postpay cell phone plan. The problem was I never got a monthly bill after the first one I got. True had my correct address as the Thai wife and I verified several times with them...plus the first bill had the corrrect address...True would always say it was a post office problem. However, our TrueVisions TV bill (using the exact same address as used with the TrueMove service ) arrived monthly without fail. So, to find out and pay my monthly bill I had to visit a True Service Center. After about six visits to the Service Center to find out/pay the bill, bring up this missing bill issue each time, verifying they had the mailing address in their system, and listening to their sad excuses I canceled the service....problem solved. Switched to DTAC...DTAC has no problem getting a monthly bill to me using the exact same address I used with TrueMove.

Regarding TrueVisions over the years I had a few problems with settop boxes going bad....would call TrueVisions...next day True techs arrived and installed a new box. And since I just switched from TrueVisions Satellite TV to TrueVisions Cable TV I've already got my first bill (yesterday) and a call from customer service asking how the service is working.

Now for my cable internet managed by TrueOnline I haven't got my first bill but I wouldn't consider it overdue yet. Keeping my fingers crossed the TrueOnline service will be good and reliable but it will take a couple of months to have a better felling about that.

I expect TrueVisions, TrueOnline, TrueMove, etc., are all separate business units under True and each has its own level of service/policies/strong points/weak points/etc.

This morning looking at my Cable Modem DownStream Power Level it's 3.5dbmV (right in the sweet spot) and Upstream Power Level 49.7 dbmV which is well below the 55dbmV upper limit. I think my modem output primarily controls the UpStream Power level whereas the DownStream Power Level is primarily controlled by the line/amplifiers/etc leading to my house. Hopefully these power levels will continue to hang steady. So far, so good, knock on wood (my head).

[Pib]

So far, so good, I'm pleased. Tomorrow or next day I'm visiting my local TOT Service Center to cancel my TOT 6Mb ADSL plan (fastest available to my moobaan until True arrived with their cable internet)...a TOT plan whch worked pretty good, was very reliable uptime-wise, but I couldn't watch streaming video like YouTube videos without a LOT of pausing usually occurring....this streaming video issue was the only real negative that I had with the TOT 6Mb ADSL plan.

Well, today I went to the TOT Service Center and canceled my 6Mb ADSL....I'm free...no longer shackled by TOT. Now I just hope True will be good to me.

[Pib]

Ok, almost three weeks into have the TrueOnline Cable Internet 20Mb/2Mb plan. It's still working good.

Here's some Speedtest.net results to Bangkok, Singapore, San Francisco, New York and London. Ping time to the international locations are bogus and maybe the download speeds also...would be caused by a Tue hidden cache server.

Below the Speedtest.net results are a couple of DSLReports.com speed test results to Los Angeles and Washington D.C., which "supposedly" can't be fooled by cache server....ping times appear valid and maybe the speeds are also.

Tests run around 9:30am/Friday/8 July via wireless connection between my True Wifi router/modem and my laptop.

Any body out there running the True Cable Internet 30Mb, 50Mb, or 100Mb plans who might want to share some speed test results, especially to international sites? I expect you are getting the advertised/rated "in-Thailand speed" but what about the speeds to "outside Thailand/international" web sites?

Some Speedtest.net Results:

To Bangkok

To Singapore

To San Francisco

To New York

To London

Some DSLReports.com speed test results:

To Los Angeles

To Washington D.C.

[jfchandler]

I'd say the Speedtest.net international numbers are clearly bogus....both in ping time and likely in speed...

The DSLReports numbers are more interesting...as indeed, that site generally has operated with more reliable and real results.

The Speedtest number of 16 Mbps to San Fran is especially curious, because I think I remember you posting a prior Speedtest number for San Fran that was one third or less of that number...

I'd suggest... only posting results from reasonably reliable measuring sites to avoid further confusing and muddling an already muddled subject....where many people think they're getting real results that are in fact false.

Edited July 8, 2011 by jfchandler

[Pib]

I'd suggest... only posting results from reasonably reliable measuring sites to avoid further confusing and muddling an already muddled subject....where many people think they're getting real results that are in fact false.

That assumes there are some reasonably reliable measuring sites?

[Pib]

Here are my results to Singapore using the Microsoft Online Speedtester at http://speedtest.apa...softonline.com/

I tested to Singapore since testing to the U.S. or Europe using Microsoft Online has always given me "very" slow results of down around 500Kb on my True 20Mb cable plan or TOT 6Mb ADSL plan...results that are so slow I don't think they are right/maybe the Microsoft U.S./Europe servers are throttling tests run from outside the U.S./Europe...maybe too many hops....etc...etc....etc....don't know...they just seem way too slow based on the general feel/speed of my browsing/file downloading and what other speedtest programs indicate. Plus the Microsoft Online test always says the Quality of Service sucks which will probably severely degrade video streaming and cause broken speech when using VOIP. While on the TOT 6Mb ADSL plan, I did have a problem is streaming videos like YouTube videos...lots of pausing, but my VOIP calls to/from the States were very clear with a dropped call rarely occurring. And now with the True 20MB cable plan my video streaming problem is gone and VOIP calls are still very clear with no call drops yet.

Anyway, here's the result to Singapore using the Microsoft OnlineSpeedtester at about 1pm, which is supposedly less susceptible to hidden cache servers like the DSLReports.com speedtester. On the graph it shows I'm seem to be running a 30Mb plan/have 30Mb capacity, but I'm only running a 20Mb plan...seems most every speedtester program has it's issues....take the results with a big grain of salt.

[jfchandler]

I'd suggest... only posting results from reasonably reliable measuring sites to avoid further confusing and muddling an already muddled subject....where many people think they're getting real results that are in fact false.

That assumes there are some reasonably reliable measuring sites?

I'd certainly believe a MS reading of 7 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up from here to Singapore with a 46 ms ping via True Cable, according to MS...

vs. a 17 Mbps down and 19 ms ping time to Singapore, according to Speedtest....

[Pib]

Here's a MSOnline Speedtest result of 10.9Mb to Singapore at 5:15pm on my True Cable Internet 20Mb/2Mb plan:

[Pib]

Here's Speedtest.net http://www.speedtest.net/ and MSOnline.com http://speedtest.apa...softonline.com/ speed test results to Singapore at approx 9:00am on this fine Saturday morning for my True Cable 20Mb/2Mb plan. Ping time on the Speedtest.net result is bogus and probably the download speed also as it gives a download speed (approx 16Mb) which is basically twice that of the MSOnline test (8Mb). Expect the speedtest.net program is being fooled by the True hidden cache server where the MSOnline server is not being fooled. Who really knows. Below FYI only for those folks wanting speed test type results on the True Cable Internet plans. Cheers

Speedtest to Singapore

MSOnline to Singapore

.

[jfchandler]

Well, I just finished an 18-hour stint of absolutely no internet service from True's cable system here in BKK... beginning about 10 pm last night and ending about 4 pm today... And I'm quickly losing patience with them.

I put in a service call with them first thing this morning, and their answer was that perhaps they could come out by the end of tomorrow.... And yet to hear anything back from them about scheduling the service call thus far today... (Considering today is a Tueday, that makes me wonder if they might not be backed up with service calls for some reason...)

As usual, absolutely no useful information from the English speaking CSRs, even on the question of whether True's network had had any kind of general outage or problem beginning with the thunder and lightning storm last night around BKK.

It has seemed that there is some correlation between my repeated cable internet outages and anytime there's thunder and lightning and rain occurring in the general area... Last night, I could hear the thunder in the far distance, but it wasn't particularly close to where I live, when the service completely died out.

It continues to be a mystery to me why the first month of my cable service with True was absolutely perfect, with no outages that I ever noticed even of brief duration. But June and thus far this month have been replete with repeated outages, and service calls out to my home that never seem to resolve whatever problem is occurring with their system. And it is something with their system, as I get wildly varying power readings on their modem.

So today, I took the first step back, by calling to reinstate the DSL service that I had canceled a couple months ago. While not the fastest or most stable, at least True's DSL service to my area was pretty reliable and rarely had a total outage during the several years I had it. So my plan going forward is to keep a low-cost DSL connection as a backup, which I've needed much too often lately, and then continue my current 10 Mb cable a bit longer to see if they can resolve the problems, and if not, ultimately to cancel it.

I'd certainly prefer to keep and use True's cable internet service. But if they can't manage to provide a reasonably reliable service, then having the extra speed when it's working is outweighed by having nothing during the repeated times when their cable provides no service...

I'm pretty bummed about the entire situation, especially considering that I was careful to keep my prior True DSL service for the first 1-2 months of having the True cable, and then only canceled the DSL after the cable service seemed fine. Obviously, my 1-2 month test period wasn't long enough to judge the reliability of their service.

[hereforgood]

Can't comment on the 10mb service but the 8 MB service is very stable and very fast before with TTT I was unable to get torrents to DL.

Now I have no problems at all with them and at great speed. I am paying 1000 for the service and won't upgrade to 10Mb even for less money I don't want them bothering what I have now.

With my luck I would upgrade and it would be slower so If it ain't broke don't fix it !

[Pib]

Well, I just finished an 18-hour stint of absolutely no internet service from True's cable system here in BKK... beginning about 10 pm last night and ending about 4 pm today... And I'm quickly losing patience with them.

I put in a service call with them first thing this morning, and their answer was that perhaps they could come out by the end of tomorrow.... And yet to hear anything back from them about scheduling the service call thus far today... (Considering today is a Tueday, that makes me wonder if they might not be backed up with service calls for some reason...)

As usual, absolutely no useful information from the English speaking CSRs, even on the question of whether True's network had had any kind of general outage or problem beginning with the thunder and lightning storm last night around BKK.

It has seemed that there is some correlation between my repeated cable internet outages and anytime there's thunder and lightning and rain occurring in the general area... Last night, I could hear the thunder in the far distance, but it wasn't particularly close to where I live, when the service completely died out.

It continues to be a mystery to me why the first month of my cable service with True was absolutely perfect, with no outages that I ever noticed even of brief duration. But June and thus far this month have been replete with repeated outages, and service calls out to my home that never seem to resolve whatever problem is occurring with their system. And it is something with their system, as I get wildly varying power readings on their modem.

So today, I took the first step back, by calling to reinstate the DSL service that I had canceled a couple months ago. While not the fastest or most stable, at least True's DSL service to my area was pretty reliable and rarely had a total outage during the several years I had it. So my plan going forward is to keep a low-cost DSL connection as a backup, which I've needed much too often lately, and then continue my current 10 Mb cable a bit longer to see if they can resolve the problems, and if not, ultimately to cancel it.

I'd certainly prefer to keep and use True's cable internet service. But if they can't manage to provide a reasonably reliable service, then having the extra speed when it's working is outweighed by having nothing during the repeated times when their cable provides no service...

I'm pretty bummed about the entire situation, especially considering that I was careful to keep my prior True DSL service for the first 1-2 months of having the True cable, and then only canceled the DSL after the cable service seemed fine. Obviously, my 1-2 month test period wasn't long enough to judge the reliability of their service.

jfc,

Your DownStream Power Level is borderline low and your UpStream Power is getting close to borderline low.

A partial quote from my # 287 post above"

Quote: " When looking at the True sheet there are stated requirements for the internet signal which are: Downstream Power of 0 dbmV +/- 17 dbmV. From doing some interent research on the DOCSIS 3.0, which is what the True Cable Internet system is, most cable modems are geared to work between a -15 to +15 dbmV, with -5dbmV to +5dbmV being the desired/sweet spot for best performance. On two other web sites they said the sweet spot is a -3 to +6 dbmV and a -8 dbmV to +8 dbmV. The True sheet says the Upstream Power needs to fall within 30 to 55 dbmV, and the SNR greater than 27db. These two values are in-sync with the DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem requirements I found at several internet sites talking DOCSIS specs." End Quote.

I live in western Bangkok and last night, say plus or minus a couple hours of midnight, it rained REALLY BIG TIME for several hours, but the lightning appeared to be coming from the central and eastern Bangkok area...maybe it was further east since I think you live in the central Bangkok area and you didn't have much rain. It was hard to sleep during those stormy hours and I periodically turned on the cable TV and it was still working...and the cable modem lights indicated I still had a internet connection. For me today on the Cable 20Mb/2Mb plan I'm still getting normal/good DownStream & Upstream Power Levels (a +5dbmV and 49dbmV) but the speed to international websites has not been as snappy as previous to the rain storm but in-Thailand web site speed seems the same as before. I'm assuming the True International Gateway was getting slowed down for whatever reason....maybe the rainstorm last night....maybe not. Your problem appears to be a funky line/circuits in your area quite possibly being impacted by rain as you mention.

So far for me, my 23 days of True Cable Service has been good, but as you know, I'm interneting off a brand new True Cable Internet/TV Trunk line in my moobaan that True finally finished installing about 30 days ago. As always with internet in Thailand it seems to boil down to location, location, location, and a good or bad location being luck of the draw as determined by local circuits. I know not having a good internet connection can be extremely frustrating. Good luck in working this out. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed my cable internet connection hangs in there.

Pib

Edited July 12, 2011 by Pib