True Ultra Hi-Speed Internet

[nikster]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1161233707.png

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1161234345.png

It is popular to say CAT has one line going out of Thailand and everything has to go via singapore, the truth is True has 5 separate lines going out of the country one of which is direct to USA and one Direct to Europe. Three I think then go to Singapore.

p.s. this is True DSL.

Yeah the above results are fake.

IT's a sad fact that Thai ISPS cheat on the speed tests. They don't even try to hide this fact, they're not even cheating very cleverly... you have a 19 ms ping to LA. Now even if were in LA, you wouldn't get a 19ms ping. From thailand, you should expect around 200ms.

Note that even if they're cheating on the speed tests, they still might offer good service. You just can't rely on speed test to tell you anything about the quality of your line anymore. I think 3BB started this and now True is on it too... I imagine getting a good speed test result keeps many people from calling customer service so this cheating will directly improve the bottom line.

[jfchandler]

I don't know if this is normal or not....

But on a rated True 8 Mbit DSL connection, I'll usually get a 1 Mbit or so connection to the U.S. west coast during the good times of the day here....

But when I use a program that monitors the speed of the incoming data by the second, the incoming streaming video data rate fluctuates wildly... will drop to almost 0 then bounce up a bit and so forth... Never gets much above that peak speed, but is all over the place between that and 0.

[OxfordWill]

Yeah the above results are fake.

IT's a sad fact that Thai ISPS cheat on the speed tests. They don't even try to hide this fact, they're not even cheating very cleverly... you have a 19 ms ping to LA. Now even if were in LA, you wouldn't get a 19ms ping. From thailand, you should expect around 200ms.

Note that even if they're cheating on the speed tests, they still might offer good service. You just can't rely on speed test to tell you anything about the quality of your line anymore. I think 3BB started this and now True is on it too... I imagine getting a good speed test result keeps many people from calling customer service so this cheating will directly improve the bottom line.

Actually they aren't. My immediate thought was cached fakery. So I tested against my own racks in various places and, lo and behold, it's accurate.

True has a direct fibre line to LA. 19ms is exactly what it should be. Eventually, when enough others have this new DSL package, the international bw will be busier. For now, I enjoy..

The pind speed is down to many factors, and you are right that within LA I might get a slower ping. There is nothing odd about that possibility. Remember that the taller buildings there are hot fibred. I know because our DC is actually right on one of the rings.

p.s. another way to look at it is, how long does it take to download a certain file size from a well understood location? My average bittorrent speed is 2.6mbps with USA/EU peers. Given the fact this is p2p not s2c, you can allow for a deduction of 70%.

Edited February 18, 2011 by OxfordWill

[jfchandler]

This is not my area of expertise. But I recalled a prior post by one of our resident techies indicating that 200 ms plus to the U.S. is about the best that can be physically accomplished, given the distance between the two countries...

[Supernova]

True has a direct fibre line to LA. 19ms is exactly what it should be.

Helm, Warp 9 engage!

This issue has been done to death time and time again.

Fibre or no fibre, you cannot get 19ms ping to a server located thousands of miles away.

[Pib]

Yeah the above results are fake.

IT's a sad fact that Thai ISPS cheat on the speed tests. They don't even try to hide this fact, they're not even cheating very cleverly... you have a 19 ms ping to LA. Now even if were in LA, you wouldn't get a 19ms ping. From thailand, you should expect around 200ms.

Note that even if they're cheating on the speed tests, they still might offer good service. You just can't rely on speed test to tell you anything about the quality of your line anymore. I think 3BB started this and now True is on it too... I imagine getting a good speed test result keeps many people from calling customer service so this cheating will directly improve the bottom line.

Actually they aren't. My immediate thought was cached fakery. So I tested against my own racks in various places and, lo and behold, it's accurate.

True has a direct fibre line to LA. 19ms is exactly what it should be. Eventually, when enough others have this new DSL package, the international bw will be busier. For now, I enjoy..

The pind speed is down to many factors, and you are right that within LA I might get a slower ping. There is nothing odd about that possibility. Remember that the taller buildings there are hot fibred. I know because our DC is actually right on one of the rings.

p.s. another way to look at it is, how long does it take to download a certain file size from a well understood location? My average bittorrent speed is 2.6mbps with USA/EU peers. Given the fact this is p2p not s2c, you can allow for a deduction of 70%.

The laws of physics and electronics don't support a 19ms ping time. The speed of light is 186,000 miles/second in a "vacuum" like outer space; the speed of light/electrons is slower in other materials such as air, water, copper, glass, fiber optics, etc). Round trip distance from Bangkok to LA is approx 13,600 miles as the crow flies/great circle arc per Google Earth (i.e., shortest distance possible). Note: speed/ping test can give different distance readings due to connection routing...in fact Speedtest from Bangkok to LA said the one way distance was 8,300 miles or 16,600 miles round trip. I'll use as the shorter as crow flies back and forth distance for the rest of this calculation, although the speedtest distance is probably more accurate as the internet connection zigs and zags between hops on the way back and forth to LA...it's not a straight line/as the crow flies trip for the internet electrons.

13,600 miles divided by 186,000 miles/per second gives you a 73ms round trip time. That is the fastest possible unless True (or any Thai ISP) has developed some 25th century internet technology to get its internet electrons to go faster than the speed of light. Remember that the speed of light is 186,000 miles/seconds "in a vacuum." Fiber optic cable is made of glass which is not a vacuum. Fiber optic cable has an approx propagation delay factor of 1.6 which means light travels at approx the 60% the speed of light in a vacuum. Anyway, multiply the 73ms by the fiber propagation delay factor of 1.6 and you get approx 117ms, which would be the fastest ping time possible unrealistically assuming no additional delays are caused by all the hops the internet electrons have to go through/be relayed through on their trip back and forth to LA....all these hops/delays will approximately double the ping time....where you are going to end up in the 200 to 250ms range for a good/fast ping time.

And believe it or not, I just did a speed/ping test from Bangkok to LA on my TOT 6Mb package and got a ping time of 234ms, which happens to be exactly double of 117ms I used in my calculation example above.

Take many of the speedtest results with a BIG grain of salt, as many are giving false/inaccurate readings, especially on ping times, since the ping time measured sometimes turns out to be a false ping off an in-Thailand server and not the far, far away server you are running the test against. Cheers.

[negreanu]

Actually they aren't. My immediate thought was cached fakery. So I tested against my own racks in various places and, lo and behold, it's accurate.

True has a direct fibre line to LA. 19ms is exactly what it should be. Eventually, when enough others have this new DSL package, the international bw will be busier. For now, I enjoy..

The pind speed is down to many factors, and you are right that within LA I might get a slower ping. There is nothing odd about that possibility. Remember that the taller buildings there are hot fibred. I know because our DC is actually right on one of the rings.

oh dear. Wrong as stated above. If you want your Real ping do a trace or run pingtest from the speedtest.net website.

[jfchandler]

Since True's cable internet data presumably is delivered over the same cable lines as their TrueVisions cable TV content, it would be interesting, and instructive, to know if the service footprint for their cable internet is the same as their cable TV service...

In other words, anyone who can receive TrueVisions TV by cable can also receive their cable internet. I don't know that that's the case, since the internet service obviously relies on localized data equipment to support it. But it certainly has the potential to be so...

Since True doesn't seem to have any web presence for their cable internet service, it leaves everyone with a bit of a mystery, at present, as to whether the cable internet is available where they happen to live.

[MikeWill]

Since True's cable internet data presumably is delivered over the same cable lines as their TrueVisions cable TV content, it would be interesting, and instructive, to know if the service footprint for their cable internet is the same as their cable TV service...

In other words, anyone who can receive TrueVisions TV by cable can also receive their cable internet. I don't know that that's the case, since the internet service obviously relies on localized data equipment to support it. But it certainly has the potential to be so...

Since True doesn't seem to have any web presence for their cable internet service, it leaves everyone with a bit of a mystery, at present, as to whether the cable internet is available where they happen to live.

I would be more interesting to know the quality of the TRUE Cable Internet.

Any comments from those who already have it would be much appreciated.

[OxfordWill]

I stand corrected on the suitable ping over such a long distance (thanks for the explanation too).

It is the case that I can download a 100mb file from a well connected server in LA or London in about 5 mins. I'm pretty happy with the DSL.

[Pib]

The TV and internet signals/data ride on the same cable, usually P 3 500 cable (75 ohm, approx 1/2" in diameter) is used for the trunk line (i.e., the line strung on the pole or underground) and then RG6 coaxial cable (75 ohm) runs from the trunk line for the final 100 meters to your residence...RG6 is the cable type feeding into your cable TV box. Many different frequencies ride a TV cable line to create the multitude of channels you can receive. The internet data just has one or more frequencies dedicated to it. Of course, different equipment is feeding the TV and internet signals into the cable line...and then on the home end different equipment is used to separate/use the signals...your cable TV set-top box for the TV channels and the cable modem for the internet signal/data...and a simple two way splitter possibly with some attenuators is used to split the signal to the TV box and cable modem...cable modem/internet is much more sensitive to having just the right power level to work properly...not to much and not to little...where with cable TV it's basically looking for just a minimum signal level to work properly.

See the two attached wikipedia pages which give more info, to include the internet signal standard used for the cable internet data modulation/encoding method called DOCSIS.

http://en.wikipedia....Internet_access

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS

Although 100Mb seems to be upper end for residential right now, up to 400Mb cna be available on business plans...and I think I saw some news article a few weeks ago where True was talking about some near future 400Mb business plans. I expect as soon as a person signs up for the 100Mb plan, True will then come out 6-12 months later with a 200Mb plan at a similar price...that's the way it always seems to work....after you sign up for a plan with a 12 month contract a few months later they come out with a higher speed plan at a good price and sometimes they don't upgrade you free but require you to stay on the old plan for 12 months or pay a penalty fee.

There always a faster plan coming because there is always someone who wants it; they may not need it, but they want it...and that's OK...we all want different things and are willing to pay for different things.

I'm surprised True don't have more info on their web site...in fact they have practically nothing. Maybe they just don't want the whole of Thailand calling them for 100Mb internet and the customer reps then have to explain it don't come via phone cable but TV cable and they is no cable TV with internet included in that customer's area. Maybe True just tries to do focused advertisement to those areas where the service is available, but it appears they ain't doing such a good job at it...unless some flyer showed up in the mail that was totally in Thai and the farang just chucks the flyer since it ain't in English and don't look important. I've been told as True continues to string the cable TV/internet in my moobaan that they will have a signup "within my moobaan" when they are ready to go online...sounds like they will setup a mobile sales booth for a few days or something and drop flyers in everybody's mailbox to drop by the moobaan clubhouse on days so-and-so to signup. I should know more soon because they are suppose to done installing the system in my moobaan on 17 March.

Edited February 18, 2011 by Pib

[Pib]

As FYI, when signing up for any 12 month internet contract a person should confirm whether they can upgrade to a higher speed without penalty during the contract period. I've seen several contracts where say you signup for a 8Mb or a 50Mb plan (even through you could get up to 16Mb or 100Mb) that within the first 3 months you can call and tell the ISP to upgrade you to say the 12Mb plan or 100Mb plan at that plan's monthly cost. You don't incur an additional 12 months, but just continue with the remaining portion of the original 12 month contract which would be 9 months if signing up say right at the 3 month point. This is a good way to kinda test drive the system to ensure a low speed package lives up to it's advertisement which should indicate the higher speed/higher price plan should live up to its advertisement. "Some" ISP contracts offer this option...be sure to check it out when considering to sign up for a plan.

Too bad the 3 month window usually don't work the other way; that is, if the plan ain't living up to its advertised speed then you can request a downgrade to a lower speed/low cost plan with no penalty. But you usually can't downgrade in speed unless you can prove the ISP is not meeting the current contract speed for your plan...and as you know there is a lot of vagueness in max speed for internet plans.

Just FYI....

[jfchandler]

Pib, on this True Online web page, toward the bottom, I kept seeing a graphic in Thai only that talks about a 400 Mb connection. Checked with my wife, and she translated that they're talking about some setup they've got right now on the 4th floor of the Digital Gateway building directly across from Siam Paragon... And she said the True website below with more info talks about being able to access local web content there at 400 Mbps, but international content at 50 Mbps. I have no idea what the setup is there and how it's available...

http://58.97.57.146/promotion/digitalpark/index.php

Although 100Mb seems to be upper end for residential right now, up to 400Mb cna be available on business plans...and I think I saw some news article a few weeks ago where True was talking about some near future 400Mb business plans.

[jfchandler]

Unfortunately, we've still had almost no first-hand reports from actual True internet cable users... I believe above we've had exactly one.

This is a good way to kinda test drive the system to ensure a low speed package lives up to it's advertisement which should indicate the higher speed/higher price plan should live up to its advertisement.

[Pib]

Unfortunately, we've still had almost no first-hand reports from actual True internet cable users... I believe above we've had exactly one.

This is a good way to kinda test drive the system to ensure a low speed package lives up to it's advertisement which should indicate the higher speed/higher price plan should live up to its advertisement.

There are some reports (in Thai) and speed test results in some of the links contained in below TV post.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/443484-what-is-the-current-international-internet-bandwidth-of-thailand/page__view__findpost__p__4222414

[jfchandler]

Ya, I'm less interested in the speed test results, which can be variable and suspect in any case, than I am in the setup/installation and contractual details, in addition to the ability to add one's one wifi router to the cable set-up.

Considering that I could choose the 10 Mbps cable plan and pay 699 per month vs. the 899 per month for the DSL 8 Mbps plan, I'm assuming anything I do with cable is going to be a positive tradeoff in terms of both cost and speed.

[Pib]

Ya, I'm less interested in the speed test results, which can be variable and suspect in any case, than I am in the setup/installation and contractual details, in addition to the ability to add one's one wifi router to the cable set-up.

Considering that I could choose the 10 Mbps cable plan and pay 699 per month vs. the 899 per month for the DSL 8 Mbps plan, I'm assuming anything I do with cable is going to be a positive tradeoff in terms of both cost and speed.

Over the years, both here and in the States, I've seen internet plan advertising that can imply only one connection is possible, but what they are really saying is the router/modem provided only has one output port. If you directly feed that one port to a computer then that one port has been used up...can't do a direct tee-off of a network connection as only a separate router or switch can do that. But feed that one output connection to a router, such as a wireless router, you can feed multiple computers. Looking closely at those Thai blog links and turning on Google Translate you can see where some people have asked the same question about the one connection thing and people have responded with they have their cable modem hooked up to their wireless router and feeding multiple computers....some even showed the particular wireless router they were using...it was just a run of mill Linksys wireless router.

I'm probably going to sign-up for their 20Mb/2Mb plan at 1,299 baht/month since there was one guy in that Thai blog that posted a bunch of 20Mb plan speed tests from various speedtest programs, at various times, and to various locations to Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, US ,and UK locations and the international speeds (download and upload) were very good. Anywhere from full speed to about half speed of the 20Mb. The in-Thailand speed to Bangkok was always a little above 20Mb and this guy was either located in Korat or Chiang Mai if I remember right.

Yeap, I agree, speedtests can be variable and suspect but TV members are probably going to post speedtest results just like the Thai folks on the Thai blog. But from my cable and DSL experience in the States, cable is the way to go as it's usually cheaper and just as fast/faster than DSL...definitely faster with the latest 100Mb cable internet technology. Hopefully, it will be same for Thailand due to the different technology involved between ADSL internet and cable internet. But of course, you will still be going through the same True National and International Gateways in reaching in-Thailand and international sites. Assuming the creek don't rise and True finishes their installation in my moobaan on time, I should be able to give some cable internet results in late March.

[jfchandler]

some people have asked the same question about the one connection thing and people have responded with they have their cable modem hooked up to their wireless router and feeding multiple computers....some even showed the particular wireless router they were using...it was just a run of mill Linksys wireless router.

Thanks Pib.... I assumed that to be the case. But it's good to hear some direct confirmation of that from actual True cable users.

[Pib]

Saw in another Thai blog that True is using the Cisco 2100 cable modem. If correct, you can go to the Cisco web site and view the manual for the 2100. On page 11 of the manual it will show a hookup, where the one Ethernet output port of the modem goes to a routing hub (which could be your wireless router, a wired router, switch, etc) and then it can be distributed out to other computers. http://www.cisco.com...es2/4005527.pdf

Just like using a DSL modem which may only have one output (a standard RJ45 10/100MbBaseT Ethernet output port), you connect that to the input port on your separate router (just another RJ45 connector), and then you are good to go. Now there may be some some settings changes you need to do on your separate router, but quite possibly no changes are required.

Heck, I sill have/use the US Robotics separate wireless router on my current ADSL modem. This USR router is the same router I used on my cable internet/modem setup in the States. When I got to Thailand and got ADSL installed I just pulled out that USR wireless router which had been hooked up to my cable internet modem the States just a week earlier, and just a few seconds later I was getting wireless internet from my ADSL hookup. All that's really needed to make the router happy/work with a cable or DSL modem is a RJ-45/Ethernet connection coming from the cable or ADSL modem to the router. I seriously doubt True has done something to make its cable modem not work with separate routers. Heck, if they did, I won't be signing up for the service as I need to feed multiple computers through the house via my wireless router.

For any of you True Ultraspeed Cable Internet users out there, please chime in with how your setup is working, how you have it hooked up, plan you have, speeds you are getting, etc. We are looking for some feedback in English, especially for us Thai language challenged folks such as myself. Big, big thanks.

[Supernova]

FWIW, feedback from the locals has been mixed. Like ADSL, your mileage may vary when it comes to your cable internet experience. Those of you looking to ditch ADSL in favor of cable, keep one thing in mind: IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT! If your ADSL service is working fine, I'd stick to that instead of switching over to cable internet which is relatively new and largely unproven, at least here in Thailand.

[Pib]

Another thing to consider for you people considering switching to the True cable 100Mb plan, be sure your wireless router can handle the 100Mb. Many routers, like the two I have, are 54G routers which can wirelessly transmit up to 54Mb/sec. Now if you have the 100Mb plan coming out of your cable modem to the router, a router which is limited to 54Mb wireless transmission, then you have just created your own chokepoint...so don't call True to complain.

You'll would need to upgrade to a N router (802.11N) which can provide around 300Mb throughput and provide greater wireless range (way more range than needed for a normal home/condo, but the extra range can come in handy and help with max wireless throughput sometimes). And of course you need a N capability "within" you computer in order to communicate with the N router. The wireless chip in my laptop is only a 54G chip so I'm limited to 54Mb even if I had a wireless router that could do a higher speed. Sure I could buy a wireless N router and wireless N laptop card, but the 54G gives me all the speed and range I need until the day I switch to an internet speed of 50Mb or higher.

Example: I have a two story home with my Linksys WRT-54G wireless router upstairs in the corner of bedroom (periodically I replace it with my US Robotics 54G router)...but use my laptop mostly downstairs on the dining room table at the other of the house which means the router signal travels end to end of my house and through a concrete floor and a couple of concrete walls...usually I still get 5 bars/full strength on my laptop wireless strength meter, and the router and laptop are communicating at 54Mb (that's speed is not my ADSL plan as I have a TOT 6Mb plan...the 54Mb connection is just between my laptop and router)...but sometimes depending on the temperature/humidity (which affects RF frequency range) the quality of connection between my router and laptop may drop both in strength and speed quality to 48Mb or a little lower and I may only get 3 bars of strength....so, even it I had the True cable speed plan of 50Mb, I'm still creating my own in-house speed choke point, and would only get a max internet speed of 48Mb or lower.

So, if you are considering the True cable internet 50Mb or 100Mb and only have a 54G wireless router and 54G wireless laptop chip, then your are going to need to upgrade your router and laptop to N capability (802.11N). Note: their are also some Super G and proprietary router/cards out there that go up to around 108-125Mb, but I don't think they are used that much. My US Robotics router has a proprietary protocol I could use called MAXg which goes to 125Mb, but I don't use that protocol because I don't use my US Robotics router all the time (I periodically swap it out with my Linksys WRT-54G router which is limited to the 54G protocol and 54Mb wireless speed)...and I also have to plug-in a US Robotics wireless chip card into the side of my computer which also has the MAXg capability. I prefer to keep in simple and just use the standard 54G wireless protocol on both routers and just use my laptop's built-in 54G chip since this 54Mb router to computer connection easily exceeds the speed of my current ADSL internet plan of 6Mb...or a 12Mb plan...or a 20Mb plan...or a 30Mb plan...or a 40Mb plan...but if switching to a 50Mb or higher plan it's time to upgrade from 54G (802.11G) to N (802.11N). And actually, if multiple computers are going to be tapping into our wireless router signal, you would probably be better off upgrading at around the 30Mb speed....it all depends on how many wireless devices your wireless router can handle at full speed before it has to start rationing out max speed to all the different devices. But if if you are hardwiring your different devices via RJ-45 cable directly to the router, this kind of hookup usually has much less of a rationing effect. This rationing is between the devices and the router....but you will definitely still have rationing of the basic internet speed coming to/living your residence with multiple devices.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Pib

[negreanu]

Good luck with Wireless N. Fail's most of the time on True 50mb VDSL2.

Throughput is really only obtainable with Ethernet and Powerline products consistently.

[MikeWill]

FYI

In the past it was possible to install Cable UBC in my condo in downtown Bangkok. I went to TRUE shop (in Central RAMA III) today, and they told me that Cable Internet is unavailable in my place, and that the cable for Internet is different from the cable for TV.

Personally, I'd rather follow the wise advise of Supernova:

FWIW, feedback from the locals has been mixed. Like ADSL, your mileage may vary when it comes to your cable internet experience. Those of you looking to ditch ADSL in favor of cable, keep one thing in mind: IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT! If your ADSL service is working fine, I'd stick to that instead of switching over to cable internet which is relatively new and largely unproven, at least here in Thailand.

[Pib]

Good luck with Wireless N. Fail's most of the time on True 50mb VDSL2.

Throughput is really only obtainable with Ethernet and Powerline products consistently.

Yeap, wireless router capability/actual performance "in the wireless mode" compared to a hardwire ethernet connection can vary significantly from router manufacturer to manufacturer. And just because a router may cost twice as much as another doesn't mean that Times2 in price router is any better than the lower cost router when it comes to wireless transmission rates and distance. Most people will never notice any such wireless router bandwidth issues with internet plans up to about 20Mb, but after 20Mb the capability/design/quality of a router in the wireless mode can start showing up...creating that bandwidth chokepoint....all routers are definitely not created equal. And if a person has a dual band wireless router (i.e., transmits on the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band) a person is probably going to get better wireless throughput on the 2.4GHz band, but the possibility of interference on the 2.4Ghz band is higher due to microwave oven usage, many cordless phones operating on 2.4GHz, etc. Then for some routers set to operate on the 5GHz band, after about 30 feet of distance between the router and client such as a laptop, the bandwidth can start rolling off. As mentioned, all routers are definitely not created equal and a person's surrounding electro-environmental situation (i.e., electromagnetic/RF interference from numerous possible sources) can make a big difference.

[jfchandler]

I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but my belief is this...

The feed at the end user's residence delivers the Internet and the cable TV over the same physical cable into your house/home...

However, True presumably has not installed the data networking equipment necessary to manage and deliver Internet capability throughout the entire footprint of its cable TV service area...

I don't believe we've seen anything public, at least in English as yet, spelling out what their deployment plans are for cable Internet. It would be interesting to know how they see cable Internet going forward in relation to their existing DSL service... What's their game plan for the two different delivery methods.

FYI

In the past it was possible to install Cable UBC in my condo in downtown Bangkok. I went to TRUE shop (in Central RAMA III) today, and they told me that Cable Internet is unavailable in my place, and that the cable for Internet is different from the cable for TV.

Personally, I'd rather follow the wise advise of Supernova:

FWIW, feedback from the locals has been mixed. Like ADSL, your mileage may vary when it comes to your cable internet experience. Those of you looking to ditch ADSL in favor of cable, keep one thing in mind: IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT! If your ADSL service is working fine, I'd stick to that instead of switching over to cable internet which is relatively new and largely unproven, at least here in Thailand.

[Pib]

Good luck with Wireless N. Fail's most of the time on True 50mb VDSL2.

Throughput is really only obtainable with Ethernet and Powerline products consistently.

Yeap, wireless router capability/actual performance "in the wireless mode" compared to a hardwire ethernet connection can vary significantly from router manufacturer to manufacturer. And just because a router may cost twice as much as another doesn't mean that Times2 in price router is any better than the lower cost router when it comes to wireless transmission rates and distance. Most people will never notice any such wireless router bandwidth issues with internet plans up to about 20Mb, but after 20Mb the capability/design/quality of a router in the wireless mode can start showing up...creating that bandwidth chokepoint....all routers are definitely not created equal. And if a person has a dual band wireless router (i.e., transmits on the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band) a person is probably going to get better wireless throughput on the 2.4GHz band, but the possibility of interference on the 2.4Ghz band is higher due to microwave oven usage, many cordless phones operating on 2.4GHz, etc. Then for some routers set to operate on the 5GHz band, after about 30 feet of distance between the router and client such as a laptop, the bandwidth can start rolling off. As mentioned, all routers are definitely not created equal and a person's surrounding electro-environmental situation (i.e., electromagnetic/RF interference from numerous possible sources) can make a big difference.

I would like to add to my post above where I mentioned some routers operating on the 5GHz band can experience bandwidth throughput roll off after a certain distance, that is only for some routers as mentioned. Most routers operating on the 5Ghz band can achieve higher bandwidth throughput for some applications and longer ranges such as distributing pictures/movies/etc.,on your home/business network. But for general internet browsing you may get better throughput on the 2.4GHz band. It depends on your router and your network/internet applications and use. Personally, when I buy my next wireless router I will get one that has dual band capability (2.4 and 5GHz) so I can select and use the band that works best in my home, on my particular internet plan, and how I use my home network.

[jfchandler]

Pib... I've got a Linksys N router at home... I think it's dual band capable...

How do you actually measure the throughput performance of your router, separating out all of the other variables?

[Pib]

I don't believe we've seen anything public, at least in English as yet, spelling out what their deployment plans are for cable Internet. It would be interesting to know how they see cable Internet going forward in relation to their existing DSL service... What's their game plan for the two different delivery methods.

I wouldn't hold your breathe for anything definitive due to telecommunications regulatory limitations, vague telecommunications laws, fighting/legal battles among public and private telecommunications companies, and varying installation cost-expected profits by area of the country. I expect they will push both depending on a simple cost-benefit analysis; DSL internet will win in some cases and Cable internet will win in the other cases. And there will be many areas where you will be able to sign up for either. As an example on the regulatory limitations, as I've mentioned in this post, True is installing cable TV and internet in my moobaan as we speak but not telephone service. The Thai wife and I asked the installations supervisor why True was not installing phone service also by separate copper line or on the cable (as you can include phone service on cable). He said True was not allowed phone service in our area/moobaan because TOT has all telephone service rights to the area. Yeap, don't hold your breathe for True cable internet deployment plans in relation to existing True DSL service....but I agree, it would be nice to know.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Pib

[Pib]

Pib... I've got a Linksys N router at home... I think it's dual band capable...

How do you actually measure the throughput performance of your router, separating out all of the other variables?

There are freeware programs/gadgets you can download to check the bandwidth...I don't have any recommendations on which ones to use. And usually you can go into your router setup menu structure to an area that will show you what data bandwidth/speed is occurring between your router and computer....there is a menu area in my old WRT-54G router that show this info.

Another test is just to do some in-country speed tests (use a Bangkok server to minimize the distance/limited bandwidth issue and provide a more stable/repeatable bandwidth) using the 2.4GHz band and then the 5GHz band, "to include moving your computer as far away from the wireless router as possible." Your computer has to be able to operate on both bands also. But with a True 8Mb plan and possibly not being able to move the 'puter too far away from the wireless router that test may not provide any differentiating results. Your may want to google for some reviews that show some data throughput tests in the wireless mode for your particular router...don't be surprised if your wireless mode is not capable of achieving a 100mb "data" throughput and the data throughput varies significantly between bands.

For example, look at this review on the Linksys WRT160N which shows wireless throughput results on the different bands...and there are other router reviews on this website of the more popular/purchased routers. http://www.wireless-...s-router-review

http://www.wireless-reviews.com/

Good luck.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Pib

[Pib]

Pib... I've got a Linksys N router at home... I think it's dual band capable...

How do you actually measure the throughput performance of your router, separating out all of the other variables?

There are freeware programs/gadgets you can download to check the bandwidth...I don't have any recommendations on which ones to use. And usually you can go into your router setup menu structure to an area that will show you what data bandwidth/speed is occurring between your router and computer....there is a menu area in my old WRT-54G router that show this info.

Another test is just to do some in-country speed tests (use a Bangkok server to minimize the distance/limited bandwidth issue and provide a more stable/repeatable bandwidth) using the 2.4GHz band and then the 5GHz band, "to include moving your computer as far away from the wireless router as possible." Your computer has to be able to operate on both bands also. But with a True 8Mb plan and possibly not being able to move the 'puter too far away from the wireless router that test may not provide any differentiating results. Your may want to google for some reviews that show some data throughput tests in the wireless mode for your particular router...don't be surprised if your wireless mode is not capable of achieving a 100mb "data" throughput and the data throughput varies significantly between bands.

For example, look at this review on the Linksys WRT160N which shows wireless throughput results on the different bands...and there are other router reviews on this website of the more popular/purchased routers. http://www.wireless-...s-router-review

http://www.wireless-reviews.com/

Good luck.

Where I say your computer must be able to operate in either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band, I mean it needs to be N compatible/capable just like your router.

As over explanation, a list of wireless LAN channels/frequencies is listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

Edited February 19, 2011 by Pib