True Ultra Hi-Speed Internet

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The point is to share results that others can compare here for their own connections, and are replicable...and reliable because enough detail information is shown....

I understand your point about multi-threaded downloading... But you also understand mine, which is that does no good if someone's purpose is trying to watch Netflix, or Hulu or other similar services, which you obviously like and use....

You always seem reluctant to actually post real single stream results that others can see with their own eyes and judge based on the details info therein...

BTW, when I run DSL Reports speed test, invariably, the numbers accelerate to a peak, and then usually begin declining BEFORE the test is completed... I rarely if ever see the DL numbers continuing to accelerate at the conclusion of that test.

But either way, if you don't like DSL Reports, how about Microsoft USA West Coast for comparison.

True 10 Mbps cable in BKK. 10:30 am today.

1.26 Mbps, 297 ms.

Edited September 17, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[negreanu]

16MB True ADSL

Edited September 17, 2011 by negreanu

[negreanu]

16MB True ADSL

Now if you run the DSLREPORTS speediest and latency for mobile devices such as iPhone etc. I get 2514KBPS and valid ping results.

Like i say these speediest sites are just ridiculous. You cannot get any constructive results that are indication of the speed you are getting there are too many variables.

Look at the major swings in latency to dslreports server. It's just basically pointless.

Look at the speed here obtained from dslreports compare it Java then compare it to flash the differences make the whole concept useless.

Edited September 17, 2011 by negreanu

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Perhaps... but when my DSL Reports Flash and java speed test results at night show between 600 and 800 Kbps DLs.... and my NFL streams at 400 Kbps under the "best available speed" setting according to the NFL player indicator and is still stalling and breaking up (just lately), I'd say there's a pretty good correlation between those test results and the real world....

Plus you're now mixing apples and oranges... their mobiles test site is a different and separate test from their regular speed tests.

But, thanks for posting your True DSL 16 Mbps plan result for DSLReports...

It does tend to reinforce the results Pib and I previously have seen for True's cable internet plans that there is a limited upside speed potential to the higher cost plans for single stream connections to the U.S.

Edited September 17, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[negreanu]

Perhaps... but when my DSL Reports Flash and java speed test results at night show between 600 and 800 Kbps DLs.... and my Netflix streams at 400 Kbps under the "best available speed" setting according to the Netflix player indicator and is still stalling and breaking up (just lately), I'd say there's a pretty good correlation between those test results and the real world....

Plus you're now mixing apples and oranges... their mobiles test site is a different and separate test from their regular speed tests.

Where is the stream rate indicated in netflix. Netflix streams perfectly for me on 2 roku xds a sony internet tv and apple tv.

Granted it doesn't always make HD but always 1 below that as indicated on roku.

ah you changed NFL.

Just installed Akami video for NFL website 3Mbps stream here no pauses no rebuffering no breakups......

You might have to zoom in to see it clearly tho.

between 843KB/sec and 1.3MB/sec during this stream according to my download meter but the rate is constant 3Mbps on the player itself.

Which actually ties in with the mobile speed test result from DSLreports....

Edited September 17, 2011 by negreanu

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Negreanu... ya, I mis-spoke and corrected my post... It was the NFL Game Rewind site, not Netflix...

But once again... I think you're throwing some red herrings into the discussion...

I'm assuming the NFL site you're referencing above is this public one...with the same video as in your screen cap...

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access

I don't know anything about "installing" to access that site.... but the Adobe Flash player when viewing that content clearly indicates their stream is being delivered by Akamai, which is an international content delivery network as you're well aware and which has proprietary pipes into Thailand. So their content isn't traveling over the general public internet...

When I play that same web site, which is available worldwide via the Akamai delivery system, I get similar results, starting at 500 Mb in the player, and then 2 and then 3 Mbps.... Which is the whole point of big streamers like the NFL using vendors like Akamai.

But frankly, that doesn't mean much given how the data is being transported...at least in terms of being a good indicator of general use, public Internet speeds between the U.S. and Thailand.

NFL Game Rewind is a much truer indicator of the general public speeds from the U.S. that True or any of the other Thai ISPs are delivering... because (as a U.S. only service), the NFL in that example isn't doing any international CDN... And when I run Game Rewind, these days, I'm only using a private proxy server to start and make the connection, and then turning that off after... So the speeds achieved are the straight True ISP speeds from the U.S. to here with no other middlemen involved.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's what the NFL Game Rewind speed indicator looks like in their Flash player...

When set to "best available", right now on my connection, it goes to 400 Kbps...

If I manually change the stream setting to 800 Kbps, it plays but stutters a bit...

If I manually change the stream setting to 1200 Kbps, right now... it stutters a lot...

Edited September 17, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[negreanu]

Don't have a subscription to that to try it. All I saw was NFL don't accuse me of throwing red herring in!

You posted NFL so i went to the NFL site streamed some videos took pictures of the streaming. You never mentioned it was NFL rewind site. Am I supposed to know that from your post???

First of all you said netflix then you changed it to NFL and now you change it to NFL rewind Jeez get it right when you post. Who's putting in the red herrings exactly here 5555

Edited September 17, 2011 by negreanu

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

My point was, as you've done before with various other similar sites that use Akamai and similar CDNs, you're throwing in speed test results for those that are not comparable to general public internet traffic....

Akamai has its own delivery system...you know that very well... It works great for the things it's hired to deliver.... but it's hardly the same as a general public internet connection between the U.S. and Thailand...

And yes, I mis-spoke re Netflix vs. the NFL player showing a stream speed meter, but promptly corrected it here myself. But the underlying info was correct... 400 Kbps stream.

Edited September 17, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[negreanu]

If you want to share your NFL rewind login ill gladly try it and post the images on 16mb true. You will have to change your password afterwards tho

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Maybe we can find a comparable non-CDN U.S. site...

Unfortunately, Hulu doesn't show a stream meter either... just allows you to select a preferred stream speed in the player settings.

I thought Netflix used to have a stream speed meter displayed in the player... but now... it's a control setting under Accounts.

Edited September 17, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, for those getting lost between Negreanu and my dueling posts, the point here is about exploring other means besides traditional web-based speed tests for measuring real Internet connection speeds between Thailand and the U.S. (or wherever someone is interested in).

I think we'd both agree that various speed tests can produce misleading or flawed results, depending on which ones are used and how they're used... And likewise, those speed results can be affected by a variety of factors along the way....

When someone is streaming video without any middlemen involved or content delivery networks involved, and the player has the functionality to self-select the best available stream rate, that's another way of gauging what kind of data speeds your chosen ISP is providing.

In my case and examples posted above, the DSL Reports speed test results and the actual results via the stream speed meter in NFL Game Rewind are pretty much in sync...and reinforce the accuracy of both for what they're measuring.

Edited September 17, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[nocturn]

seems the cable internet hiccuped and i ended up double posting

Edited September 17, 2011 by nocturn

[nocturn]

I personally could not care less about speed tests as long as my browsing is brisk and video streams smoothly. I am interested in pure data transfer.

the graph below shows a multi-threaded download using Free Download Manager (FDM) begun on trues 20/2 cable package for the first half. I then switched back to my dsl 8/1 for the last half of the graph. this screenshot was just taken, so it is during peak hours 4 - 4:30 pm on a Saturday. Location is my house, deep Sukhumvit Soi 11, bkk.

the graph was created by DUmeter, which monitors the network traffic on the computer. it has proven to be quite accurate.

If this is the way it will shake out, i will either upgrade to 30/3, or upgrade my DSL.

thus far not impressed. the data is one thing, but browsing is inconsistent, quick one minute, slow the next.

so those of you considering cable, weigh your options carefully. Im not done with it yet (hasnt even been 24 hours), but early indications favour a dsl upgrade to 16MB

that said it is nice to have choices. we have come along way from dialup in my time in the kingdom

Edited September 17, 2011 by nocturn

[nocturn]

As an added note, i have had a significant amount difficulty in editing the last post due to lag, as i am back on the cable. the download continues at arounf 11 mbps with an occasional drops to three and spikes to 20.

True Cable has not made a good first impression, thank god i am not a gamer.

here is a screenshot of the last 15 minutes withj the same download resumed on cable 20/2.

FYI, i am downloading from a dedicated FTP server on my seedbox, i am the only one using it.

This much fluctuation in speed is ass.

Edited September 17, 2011 by nocturn

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This is what you can kind of expect from True's 16 Mbps DSL package...at least for a single stream connection to the U.S.

Of course, a lot depends on what kinds of Internet use a person does in terms of what performance results end up being important.

16MB True ADSL

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I personally could not care less about speed tests as long as my browsing is brisk and video streams smoothly. I am interested in pure data transfer.

Nocturn, re your comments, normally I don't care much about speed tests either, as long as the things I want to use the Internet for function normally or at least as normally expected here...for the ISP service I have...

But when NFL football and Netflix streams lately started stalling and stuttering, that wasn't normal, so I went to my usual group of speed test measurements to see what was going on... And indeed, for whatever reason, the results I was getting from True Cable were slow and below what has been normal for here in the past...

I just use them as a diagnostic tool... when things aren't working right.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm trying to follow your graphic... So the 5.8 Mbps down and 93 Kbps up are the averages for download and upload during the monitoring period, according to your program???

What's the country location for the content server?

Edited September 17, 2011 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[nocturn]

I'm trying to follow your graphic... So the 5.8 Mbps down and 93 Kbps up are the averages for download and upload during the monitoring period, according to your program???

What's the country location for the content server?

no, the up and down speeds were the speed i was getting when i took the screenshot. the value on the left side is the peak speed represented, around 20 Mbps. The seedbox is in Luxembourg.

it is the first graph i find interesting. The cable connection fluctuates wildly between about 2Mbps and 20 Mbps, whereas the DSL in the second half of the graph comes down at a consistent, unvarying 8 Mbps.

Edited September 17, 2011 by nocturn

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

it is the first graph i find interesting. The cable connection fluctuates wildly between about 2Mbps and 20 Mbps, whereas the DSL in the second half of the graph comes down at a consistent, unvarying 8 Mbps.

I think something may be amiss with your readings...

True DSL speeds do fluctuate wildly, if you use a program that allows you to monitor your network activity in real time as you've done...

I've done that before with True DSL, and watched the numbers bounce up and down like crazy.... I've never seen a real-time network monitor show a flat line reading like that.

[Pib]

I know my TOT 6Mb ADSL was very choppy in it's bandwidth flow (pretty much useless for streaming video), but my True Cable 20Mb/2Mb has a pretty constant bandwidth flow, whether it's a 4Mb flow from the U.S. or a 20Mb flow from Singapore...streaming video works fine.

[nocturn]

it is the first graph i find interesting. The cable connection fluctuates wildly between about 2Mbps and 20 Mbps, whereas the DSL in the second half of the graph comes down at a consistent, unvarying 8 Mbps.

I think something may be amiss with your readings...

True DSL speeds do fluctuate wildly, if you use a program that allows you to monitor your network activity in real time as you've done...

I've done that before with True DSL, and watched the numbers bounce up and down like crazy.... I've never seen a real-time network monitor show a flat line reading like that.

look, i have posted the results, you can see clearly where i switched the connection. Had i posted a full screen height graph you would see the speed does fluctuate, just not wildly

I have given you a real world example of how MY cable and DSL connections vary. i simply don't need to justify it to you. The DSL connection "flatlines" because it is maxed out on its limit. the sample rate of the graph will also iron out larger fluctuations.

It seems like you make negranus point for him, some folks just dont understand what you can do with your bandwidth if you optimize by mutli threaded downloads and using the maxuimum number of connections you can.

I have been blessed with vary stable internet for the last 3 years, so it seems i take for granted what you deem impossible.

i can replicate this with any network monitoring tool you choose, but i wont, because i am posting for the benefit of others, not to convince you.

Edited September 17, 2011 by nocturn

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

You said in your prior post that your graphic showed a multi thread download... You never said you were doing so many simultaneous threads so as to literally max out your connection.... If you had made that clear originally, I might have had a different comment. Feedback and responses are only going to be as good as the original information provided.

[Pib]

Just some midday (approx 11:45am) Sunday Speedtest.net results for my True Cable 20Mb/2Mb plan for comparison purposes.

Bangkok To Bangkok

Bangkok to Singapore

Bangkok to L.A.

Bangkok to Frankfurt

[nocturn]

You said in your prior post that your graphic showed a multi thread download... You never said you were doing so many simultaneous threads so as to literally max out your connection.... If you had made that clear originally, I might have had a different comment. Feedback and responses are only going to be as good as the original information provided.

if not to max out connection speed in order to get a file down as quickly as possible, what would be the point of a multi-threaded download?

As for reading a graph, well, never mind.

the fact remains that my DSL connection is far more stable than the cable (poetry innit?)

[nocturn]

update:

while not as stable as DSL, the cable connection has proven very good and very quick thus far. I will give it another week or two before nuking the DSL connection and upgrading to the 30MB package.

I downloaded a 6.5GB file last night in 45 minutes with according to DUMeter an average speed of 19.5 Mbs with peaks to 23 Mbps. .

[Pib]

After being on a True Cable 20Mb/2Mb internet pan for a little over three months, I had my first "no internet" experience today. It lasted 8 hours from 11am this morning but was due to True cable TV and internet being down in my area of western Bangkok. And since I also had True cable TV, it was down also.

Called True at around 1pm today....got right through to their English speaking reps....rep took my trouble report but said the problem was affecting a wide area....called again at 5pm and got right through to their English speaking reps again...the rep (a different one) gave me the same answer. But in both cases each rep put me on hold for about 1 minute as they contacted tech support to see if there was an update on the wide area problem....if not, then it was just me with the problem. Actually, on the second call I got a recording about a wide area problem which I didn't get on the first call in the morning....but I still proceeded on to talk to the rep after listening to the recording.. I was happy with the responses both reps gave me...and both spoke good English. At around 7pm the cable TV and cable internet came back on at the same time....internet is trucking along at 20Mb. Maybe a truck knocked down a pole, maybe something got flooded, maybe a lot of things. With cable TV and internet in the States I occasionally had the same problem maybe once or twice a year where I lost both TV and internet for X hours...and usually I could get no better answer than there was a wide area problem and it was being worked.

As mentioned, True cable internet is back up in my area of western Bangkok.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Congratulations Pib... You're no longer a True cable internet virgin... hehehehe.....

Eight hours.... That's pretty good. Don't worry, though... You'll likely have more opportunities for the same in the future...

BTW, you might recall, I posted previously about calling True Online and getting a recording saying they were having a wide area outage... and then later being told by their staff that that wasn't the case, that they were having problems with their automated system, and the area outage message was playing by mistake...

At least in your case today, it sounds like they really were having a wide area outage...

[Pib]

Heck, True even called this morning at 9am to make sure our cable TV and internet were OK.

However, we are having a battle with TrueVisions regarding set-top box 2000 baht deposit refund. Been over 70 days since True picked up the box...still no check in the mail... check is suppose to arrive within 30 to 45 days of box pickup.....went to a service center today and did battle....actually the Thai wife did battle with my coaching...had this same problem about 18 months ago when turning in another box....we are not buying the response that maybe the check got lost in the mail....their bills never get lost in the mail...as before we'll work through this problem with True....they just need to realize that on occasions they need to give money back to the customer instead of always just taking money--I know that is a hard concept to understand for Thai companies.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Actually, just recently, I discovered we were a month overdue on our TrueVisions bill payment because our mailed bill had not arrived last month.... and then this month's bill did arrive in the mail with two months owing... And I went back and checked to realize I hadn't made any payment in the prior month because I hadn't received any bill...

Had the same thing happen at times with various bills, True's and others... I'm assuming that's due to the vagaries of the Thai mail delivery system....

BTW, I just realized recently, that I've lately not been receiving TrueVisions printed monthly magazine/programming guide at all. Are they still producing it?

In the past, my successful receipt of the mag always had been spotty...much more spotty than delivery of their bills.... I never knew whether that's because they were having production/mailing problems, or someone en route was just deciding to swipe my TrueVisions mag... But now the past couple months, I just realized, no mag at all, period.

Then, on a different issue, I'm happy to report... I ACTUALLY GOT A SMALL BILLING CREDIT/ADJUSTMENT from True Online, which they'd previously promised, for that period of substantial cable Internet service outages I'd had and discussed here sometime back...

I'd asked for such credits in the past, and mostly ever got a promise that they'd forward the request onward... Of course, nothing ever occurred with those... But this most recent time, the CSR I spoke with actually promised they would do a billing credit... And in this instance, TrueOnline actually did it... to my amazement.