True Ultra Hi-Speed Internet

[jfchandler]

Lopburi and ZZ, re your posts above....

As I've mentioned earlier in the thread, the staff in the True mall/retail offices seem to be woefully uninformed (and misinformed) about what areas are and are not serviceable with True's cable Internet. I got wrong answers repeatedly from the different staff at the True Siam Square staff where I went to sign up, after being told by True Online's English language call center that my home (which already had True cable) was eligible.

As I said earlier, if someone knows their home is eligible for True cable or already has it, I'd strongly suggest calling True Online's call center at 1686, and ask the English speaking reps there to specifically check your home address in their system for cable internet availability. The CSR's of course don't know the answer to that off the top of their heads, but they do apparently have a reliable way to find out -- much better than the retail shops staff do.

[negreanu]

I haven't taken the trouble to call or contact unblock-us, but you almost make it sound like they have to enable each individual site one by one in order for them to work on their service.... which is a very different proposition from a general purpose VPN connection, as you well know.

Thats exactly what they do via DNS routing and a little "magic" which results in the US IP check being confirmed to the provider only and the data stream gets routed direct to your browser.

You stream through the VPN you get poorer bandwidth. However using Unblock US the stream is direct to your browser.

4OD and Demand5 are coming soon. I forgot to disconnect my strongvpn thats why i thought those 2 were working. The rest work so much better than a VPN. BBC, Netflix, Hulu, Hulu Plus.

Hulu and Hulu Plus work fine using unblock US watching hulu (not hulu plus) using it now.

I was connected to my strongvpn by ACCIDENT when i checked 4od and 5demand...... (The rest as listed on their site is perfect streaming - Getting triple the streaming bandwidth using it than i got with strongvpn - Netflix now streams the HD version automatically now when it was hit and miss previously with a strongvpn).

You do NOT need a VPN at all for the services listed with unblock and you can stream full speed not limited by going through a VPN.

Actually there is very few media streaming providers they dont support so in fact for those who solely use a VPN for that purpose it is a much better proposition.

If you using a VPN simply to view streams which are listed on their site - it's not the best way to do it now. Not only from a bandwidth and latency point of view but also being able to watch us content and then uk content without having to switch vpn. And no re buffering interruptions

You can view ESPN3 live stream here: http://espn.go.com/espn3/player? you do not need an account to view the stream. Working 100% using unblock now.

JF I think it must be the way you set it up. Got 3 people using Hulu non plus version fine by the router method on true ADSL and VDSL. Perhaps the cable internet setup is different ref. True's caching servers etc. no idea but it works 100% with Hulu mate.

Edited March 29, 2011 by negreanu

[jfchandler]

Neg, I'm interested in being clear about what any particular technology does and doesn't do, so those reading here can make informed decisions.

For instance, from the original posts, a casual reader might have assumed the unblock-us service worked pretty much the same as a VPN. But now thru our friendly back and forth, we discover that it doesn't provide broad purpose access at all, but instead, narrowly targeted access just to specific listed sites... Agreed, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon et al are the biggies and among the most popular.

But before someone ditches their VPN and signs up for this other service, I'd think they'd want to know that while it probably is faster for a lot of things, it also won't provide the user with access to various of the things they might have been used to accessing via VPN... So then it becomes a question of whether a customer wants to pay to subscribe to two different services for the varying purposes....

Frankly, ever since I switched to True's 10 Mb cable service, even when using my VPN, I'm not having any streaming problems at all just for watching standard def TV services from the U.S. or UK... So this service doesn't provide any meaningful added value for me... Now, if was a faster service than VPN that also provided an equally broad range of access capability, then it might be a different matter.

On the other hand, if someone has high def capable video at home and wants to access that content here from a narrow range of providers, then I can see the advantages... But at least let's be clear and honest about the pro's and con's.

PS - Glad to hear about others having success with Hulu and unblock-us... But as you noted, like you, they had configured their routers... And as I had clearly noted in my prior post, I configured my PC, not router. So that may account for part of the difference. As it is, Hulu works just fine now with my VPN (not Strong) and True's 10 Mb cable.

Edited March 29, 2011 by jfchandler

[beekaykay]

Hulu and Hulu Plus work fine using unblock US watching hulu (not hulu plus) using it now

Correct...

Been using unblock-us for ages and Hulu has always worked 100% of the time, anybody who cannot receive Hulu should check their settings as they are obviously wrong. UK C4 and C5 are coming shortly in the meantime just use a VPN if you want these channels

btw: I have not configured my router to use unblock-us I have just changed the DNS settings on my laptop that streams to my TV Hulu has worked ever since, just thought I'd give you guys on TV the heads up on unblock-us so all could benefit

PS. I also have a Sky Player subscription I pay monthly for this and get all the football (EPL) Live streams and History NGC/Sky movies and the channel list goes on forever all "Live" not OD (although they also have an OD service) You can also use Windows Media Centre to access Sky, unblock-us does not work on the Sky Player as yet but VPN does

Edited March 29, 2011 by beekaykay

[negreanu]

As I stated above if your ONLY reason for using a VPN is to view content that is available through unblock service.

Then the unblock service is a much BETTER proposition for numerous reasons especially if you use things like these for your home media setup:

Apple TV

Roku

Boxee

PS3

Xbox

Internet capable TV and Bluray players.

Just set your router to their dns service and thats it full access on the above devices.

simply because there is no messing around with switching VPN's for uk or us content and all the above it is not so easy to configure a VPN access without some serious network tools multiple routers or shared internet on computers - it is incredibly messy.

I very much doubt you will get HD netflix streams through a VPN in thailand - never seen it before using any VPNs here. if your lucky you will get 4 dot quality but my experience its usually 3 dot with occasional 4 dot and rebuffering.

looking at my istats menu bandwidth the stream rate is around 2x-3x the stream rate i get through a VPN.

So in conclusion VPN here in thailand is not the best option if you are simply using a VPN to access all the content that is listed on the usvideo.org site. You may however have other uses for your VPN service but those who do not I would recommend changing or at least try the free trial.

from a narrow range of providers,

Would hardly say the media content providers they are supporting is narrow would you? It's basically every MAJOR online internet programming provider there is bar a couple.

Edited March 29, 2011 by negreanu

[Zzinged]

JF,

I tried calling the call center but I spoke to Thai staff who gave me a flat out 'no service, sorry' (twice).

Just then I tried contacting English speaking staff and this one said he would send a survey team over to see what the story was.

What a difference.

[jfchandler]

ZZ, that sounds about right... A lot of True's staff are just full of b... sh.... and don't know what they're talking about a good portion of the time.

After the English Call Center staff told me over the phone my home was serviceable, I went to the True Siam Square shop at their suggestion to actually sign up, since they wouldn't/couldn't do it over the phone. Once there, 3 different members of the shop staff, including the manager, told me they couldn't service my address with cable internet. But I kept insisting, and so they finally told me the same thing -- that they'd send out a team to survey my home location, and it would take UP TO TWO WEEK!!!!

Now, I was none too happy to end up with that result, but I mustered a bit of "mai pen rai" and accepted it and went home... One day later, I got a call from True asking me what day I wanted them to come out to my home to do the cable internet install. Been using it happily ever since. In my experience, the cable seems to much a much faster and better priced alternative to their regular DSL service.

[jfchandler]

Would hardly say the media content providers they are supporting is narrow would you? It's basically every MAJOR online internet programming provider there is bar a couple.

Thanks for a much more even-handed follow-up post... I agreed in my prior comment they're covering the mostly U.S. biggies... No doubt about that...

But the ThaiVisa community is made up of people from many different countries with many different interests... If unblock-us has what a customer wants to view, that's great. But as we've already explained, their service does not give access to all the same content that a VPN can. So, for example, if someone is using a VPN to access content from Japan or other European countries besides the UK or elsewhere, unblock-us (befitting its name) isn't going to help at all.

As long as prospective customers understand the differences between the two, everyone can make whatever choice works best for their own purpose.

[negreanu]

But the ThaiVisa community is made up of people from many different countries with many different interests... If unblock-us has what a customer wants to view, that's great. But as we've already explained, their service does not give access to all the same content that a VPN can. So, for example, if someone is using a VPN to access content from Japan or other European countries besides the UK or elsewhere, unblock-us (befitting its name) isn't going to help at all./quote]

I would say the majority of thaivisa users are mainly interested in UK and US content. it would be rare for those looking for Japanese content on here as I am sure you would agree.

All the posts I have seen have been users looking for US and UK content mainly so making unblockus the best choice for reasons stated above.

[jfchandler]

I won't repeat myself ...since we've already made it clear above that unblock-us is different than a generic VPN, and doesn't do or try to do the same things.

As for U.S. content, just to offer a couple of examples, I'd say that the NFL's Game Rewind video service and some of the NBA's video streaming packages (the domestic ones, not the international ones) are pretty mainstream and widely viewed content.

Both can be viewed here via VPN. But I see absolutely no mention of the NFL or NBA or MLB for that matter on the usvideo.org web site... Only NHL and ESPN3 as regards U.S. sports... Maybe you should consider broadening your world view a bit.

BTW, if you're so happy with this particular service, are you going to cancel your StrongVPN service? Or are you going to end up paying each month for both?

[negreanu]

wasting my time with u JF also u are so narrow minded about everything......

u always get so defensive when people suggest something is better such as our previous discussion on VDSL etc. etc.

If you dont have it or use it , cant possibly be better right?????

As usual u just come across as a d1ck. At least your consistent

I think the majority of consumers would benefit over blockUS rather than VPN's.

Your arguments are so weak thaivisa community want Japan content...yeh that comes up every week on here.

t's the usual case of JF does not have it or use it or has suggested it before therefore it must be crap and what i use is much better. I used Strongvpn to do this up until yesterday when another user suggest blockus on this forum. I tried it and it is better for my needs (see the difference their I admit it's better than something i use and changed )

StrongVPN is only for work for me now. No longer use any VPN for streaming. Thanks again to the user who suggested it above - really has changed my viewing experience on the Sofa in HD with a large screen and indeed on the laptop/computer when I have to.

Lets pick tiny little holes......u cant get japanese content...dam_n it must be crap.

VPN's can be blocked by hulu and netflix is just another reason however the method used by blockus cannot be stopped by the provider. Just a warning for those thinking about signing up for a longterm with a VPN.

you can point out oh it doesnt have 1 or 2 specific things correct it does not. But it has the majority. There is NO better system for a home sitting on the sofa here in thailand method to get maximum content without any switching etc. or performance concerns for HD viewing. Full stop.

I have a 3 year contract for strongVPN as need it for work however I WILL NOT USE IT FOR STREAMING anymore. blockus is so much faster and easier to use.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

So in conclusion and my final post on this for OTHER users considering VPN or blockUS.

1. For media devices on the sofa in HD. BlockUS is the best solution with their settings in the router.

2. For those who prefer HD content on netflix and 720p on hulu plus - BlockUS is better in that the streaming is direct to your browser/device not through a speed limiting VPN server in US.

3. For those who enjoy UK and US content BlockUS is better and easier to use in that you do not need to disconnect from 1 VPN connect to another VPN in UK to do so. Therefore u can jump between UK BBC, ITV and FOX netflix and hulu without having to do anything. Especially useful for Boxee Box or Boxee application or Media HTPC etc.

4. For those on low bandwidth 2-4mb (And even those on high bandwidth connections) u will maximise your streaming over VPN as their is no 3rd party server involved and therefore latency is HULU->Your viewing device NOT Hulu-> USA VPN Server -> Your viewing device. This results in quicker buffering less rebuffering and higher resolution over VPN.

5. Price is comparable to VPN if not cheaper at $50 a year or $4.99 a month.

6. The method used by blockus cannot be blocked however VPN server address's can be blocked by hulu, fox netflix etc. as has already happened with some providers such as hotspot shield and witiopia VPN's.

7. While watching Hulu here in Thailand your other downloads and browsing do not have to pass through the VPN slowing down your experience. For example viewing Hulu will work at 720p while downloading your torrents at full speed and usenet downloads. Where as with VPN they will all pass through the VPN slowing your download and browsing experience.

8. Gaming Latency is not affected unlike VPN where u must disconnect the VPN during gaming.

-----------------------------------------------------

VPNS are better if u want the less mainstream online content such as japanese etc. or require access to other feeds not available on blockus which has the main providers that satisfy most users needs.

You pay your money you make your choice. But overall its a much better experience, Faster, User Friendlier, Easier to setup - It just works

Trying to setup up a HTPC or media player such boxee box to view uk and us content is somewhat difficult without using multiple VPN routers etc. It really is a mess to do especially switching between the 2 countries.

Edited March 29, 2011 by negreanu

[jfchandler]

And as usual, similar to the past, when you can't dispute facts, you resort to personal jibes...

You may be just interested in Hulu, Netflix and movies and TV shows... But for every person like you, there's another who just wants to watch pro sports...or something else. But you can't seem to see anything outside your own world. For me, I like to watch TV, movies, pro sports and more...not just from the U.S. and, even in the U.S., beyond what us-abroad offers.

I've never said the service in question isn't a useful or valuable one. As I said yesterday, it worked great when I tried it with Netflix... I've only said, it doesn't provide access to all the things that a vpn does. You know that's just a matter of fact. But for some reason, you want to debate about it, and keep coming back with, "Ya, buts".

The fact is, each thing has its purpose, but they're not the same and don't do the same things.

[arkom]

Hi JF or Pib, just curious to know about your exprience about the cable internet from True, have you been getting the advertised speeds and has been reliable?

[jfchandler]

Arkom, re your question, I've had the 10 Mb cable internet for a couple of weeks now...and am very satisfied...

Where I pay most attention to Internet speeds is for video streaming, mostly from the U.S. and usually at night here

Comparing the 10Mb cable vs. my prior (and now canceled) 8 Mb True DSL service, the cable in BKK is significantly superior both in speed and consistency.

In the past, particularly in the evening and late night hours here, the DSL service connecting internationally would often crawl...and have wide swings (instability) in stream speeds.

Now, even when I watch Netflix or Hulu along with a VPN, the streaming is stable and quick... Before under DSL, in the evening depending on the day, Netflix often would have to rebuffer, often repeatedly, in mid-movie or TV show. Now, with cable, it usually takes just a couple seconds to buffer at the outset and then plays smoothly throughout.

That certainly fits with the Microsoft Diagnostics tests I ran and posted early on here in this thread where the cable internet was providing a significantly better "quality of service", or what I'd call stability of its streams and downloads, compared to True DSL.

I haven't done any speed tests with the cable internet lately...because mainly I'm getting what I want in terms of usability... It gives me what I want and need, so I don't fret about it or test it anymore. But I'll see about running a couple and posting them later today... FYI, earlier in this thread, I did post a bunch of speed test results for cable when I first began the service.

On the down side, the Motorola cable modem provided by True does seem a bit more sensitive to electrical and other kinds of outages. What I mean by that is, for instance, when the electrical power locally flashes out for a moment or two as it periodically does, or even during storms and such, I find that I need to unplug the cable modem to reset it and get a connection back. In contrast, my old DSL modem seemed to automatically (better) recover from such things on its own. However, I find that a minor and only occasional annoyance.

Strangely, there did seem to be some on and off outage with True's internet this morning, and when I called True Online tech support I couldn't get thru to anyone, apparently because they were getting flooded with customer calls... But it's back up and working now... I don't know whether that was only for cable or cable and DSL... Perhaps others here with DSL can answer on that.

Lastly, I shouldn't forget to add, I'm paying 699b per month for the 10 Mb cable, whereas I had been paying 899b per month for the slower (and inferior) 8 Mb DSL package. Installation and cable modem provided free. After a bit of setting up, my own wifi router works fine with the cable modem....and serves my whole house. But unlike DSL, you won't get any wifi tech support with their cable service since, at least for now, they're not offering any routers with their cable packages or supporting them.

The cable does carry a one year service commitment.... But the penalty for that, if someone breaks it, as I understand it, is that True will then charge you the normal installation price for the cable install they'd already done for free.... I'm a very satisfied customer, though, so I don't expect that to be a problem. And I ditched my True DSL as a backup, just in case the cable wasn't good, a week or two ago.

[arkom]

Arkom, re your question, I've had the 10 Mb cable internet for a couple of weeks now...and am very satisfied...

Where I pay most attention to Internet speeds is for video streaming, mostly from the U.S. and usually at night here

Comparing the 10Mb cable vs. my prior (and now canceled) 8 Mb True DSL service, the cable in BKK is significantly superior both in speed and consistency.

In the past, particularly in the evening and late night hours here, the DSL service connecting internationally would often crawl...and have wide swings (instability) in stream speeds.

Now, even when I watch Netflix or Hulu along with a VPN, the streaming is stable and quick... Before under DSL, in the evening depending on the day, Netflix often would have to rebuffer, often repeatedly, in mid-movie or TV show. Now, with cable, it usually takes just a couple seconds to buffer at the outset and then plays smoothly throughout.

That certainly fits with the Microsoft Diagnostics tests I ran and posted early on here in this thread where the cable internet was providing a significantly better "quality of service", or what I'd call stability of its streams and downloads, compared to True DSL.

I haven't done any speed tests with the cable internet lately...because mainly I'm getting what I want in terms of usability... It gives me what I want and need, so I don't fret about it or test it anymore. But I'll see about running a couple and posting them later today... FYI, earlier in this thread, I did post a bunch of speed test results for cable when I first began the service.

On the down side, the Motorola cable modem provided by True does seem a bit more sensitive to electrical and other kinds of outages. What I mean by that is, for instance, when the electrical power locally flashes out for a moment or two as it periodically does, or even during storms and such, I find that I need to unplug the cable modem to reset it and get a connection back. In contrast, my old DSL modem seemed to automatically (better) recover from such things on its own. However, I find that a minor and only occasional annoyance.

Strangely, there did seem to be some on and off outage with True's internet this morning, and when I called True Online tech support I couldn't get thru to anyone, apparently because they were getting flooded with customer calls... But it's back up and working now... I don't know whether that was only for cable or cable and DSL... Perhaps others here with DSL can answer on that.

Lastly, I shouldn't forget to add, I'm paying 699b per month for the 10 Mb cable, whereas I had been paying 899b per month for the slower (and inferior) 8 Mb DSL package. Installation and cable modem provided free. After a bit of setting up, my own wifi router works fine with the cable modem....and serves my whole house. But unlike DSL, you won't get any wifi tech support with their cable service since, at least for now, they're not offering any routers with their cable packages or supporting them.

The cable does carry a one year service commitment.... But the penalty for that, if someone breaks it, as I understand it, is that True will then charge you the normal installation price for the cable install they'd already done for free.... I'm a very satisfied customer, though, so I don't expect that to be a problem. And I ditched my True DSL as a backup, just in case the cable wasn't good, a week or two ago.

Sounds awesome, good to hear that Thailand now has, or seems too have a reliable internet connection. Hopefully I will be ab le to get it soon in my moo ban.

Back in the states I had cable internet also and did notice a big difference my connection and my friend's DSL connection from AT&T, cable was more reliable and got same speeds consistenly.

As for the Motorloa DSL modem I think it could be universal, because the modem I had that was provided by COX Communicaitons was also a Motorola Surfboard and I did had to reset it mostly during storms also.

Edited April 1, 2011 by arkom

[jfchandler]

Yep, True Online is handing out a version of the Motorola Surfboard cable modem with their installs...

I too had cable internet in the U.S. via Time Warner, and always found it superior to comparable DSL offerings.

[lopburi3]

But unlike DSL, you won't get any wifi tech support with their cable service since, at least for now, they're not offering any routers with their cable packages or supporting them.

They offer wi-fi router rental at 1,000 baht total fee in there current Ultra High Speed web site advertisement.

[jfchandler]

Lopburi, thanks for updating on the router with True's cable internet service...

When I signed up, they were specfically saying they wouldn't provide or support routers... And they didn't have a web site for cable internet either.

But now they do...and I see they've added the one-time rental fee of 1,000 baht for a router there... I never did understand why they had that restriction originally with the service...

http://www.trueonlin...trahispeed.aspx

PS - Had my own anyway, so no need to pay them for one of theirs.

BTW, I notice a strange thing now... The page title of that True Online web page includes the text... "Free Wifi Router" But there's absolutely no mention of that kind of an offer on the page that I can see...

Also, they seem to have expanded their terms of the penalty for cancellations prior to one year... They're now talking about the customer having to reimburse them for an entrance fee, installation fee and cabling.

I don't remember seeing or hearing anything about any kind of "entrance fee" when I signed up.... And I certainly didn't sign any paperwork agreeing to those kinds of terms.

Edited April 1, 2011 by jfchandler

[lopburi3]

2k entrance fee which is waved. As well as installation fee. The 1k is for router 'service' so the router is free for duration of service after paying that it would seem.

[jfchandler]

Looking at True Online's English web site again today reminds me what a mess at least the English version is...

So they're calling their DSL service "Hi Speed Internet," and the cable service "Ultra Hi Speed Internet"

I thought Ultra also was the term they had been using for their very limited DSL 2 service in selected BKK condo buildings and such... But now I'm not seeing a quick link to that service at all...

My bookmark link for that True page still works however...

http://www.trueonline.com/en/VDSL.aspx

2900 baht a month for their 25MB/5MB plan under VDSL..... A bit pricey compared to the 20MB/2MB cable plan at 1,299 per month.

Edited April 1, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

Correct, but the entrance fee and installation fee apparently are not waived if a customer tries to cancel during the first year....which would produce a 4600 baht-plus early termination penalty....

Also, I have a hard time calling the provision of a router as "free" when the customer is being charged 1,000 baht for it...

In typical True garbled English fashion, they specifically say the cable modem must be returned whenever a customer terminates the service.

They don't say that about the router, but do talk about the customer who "borrows" the router and pays the 1,000 baht fee. So presumably they'd want the router back also... and no mention of them returning the 1000 baht or calling it any kind of deposit.

2k entrance fee which is waved. As well as installation fee. The 1k is for router 'service' so the router is free for duration of service after paying that it would seem.

Edited April 1, 2011 by jfchandler

[Pib]

Hi JF or Pib, just curious to know about your experience about the cable internet from True, have you been getting the advertised speeds and has been reliable?

Still waiting for True to complete the trunk line installation in my approx 750 home moobaan. The trunk line installation company hasn't worked on the line for approx two weeks and a call to the True salesperson which we signed up with in late Feb when True had a sales booth/promotion right in our moobaan over a weekend is True ran out of trunk line parts needed to complete the installation to all moobaan soi's. Appears to be a little bit of bad planning. Apparently about 80% of the moobaan is done. It appears True doesn't want to hookup anyone in the moobaan until they complete 100% of the trunk line installation. Guess they don't want 20% of the moobaan getting mad at them...but I expect pretty soon all the people who signed-up in late Feb at a special weekend in-moobaan signup event will start making more calls/maybe getting a little upset with True for promising installation in mid to late March...at that point True may turn-on the trunk line and start hooking up the 80% of the moobaan which is complete and hookup the remaining 20% of the moobaan when they get the additional parts. Fortunately, I'm in the 80% of the moobaan that is completed. Until then, I'm still a captive audience of TOT on it's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious 6Mb plan.

I too have been looking for feedback from Thaivisa members who have the Ultraspeed cable internet, but they appear few and far in-between right now. On this topic, JFC has pretty much been the only one to provide any good/detailed crossfeed on daily use of the True cable internet. But once I get my 20Mb/2Mb package installed I will definitely provide some crossfeed. Cheers.

[lopburi3]

You may also want to read the TOS for these services as they have a max download listed for each service that could result in loss of service if exceeded it seems.

[Pib]

I haven't done any speed tests with the cable internet lately...because mainly I'm getting what I want in terms of usability... It gives me what I want and need, so I don't fret about it or test it anymore. But I'll see about running a couple and posting them later today... FYI, earlier in this thread, I did post a bunch of speed test results for cable when I first began the service.

JFC,

Your above words are signs of a generally happy internet customer (excluding occasional discussions with True customer service). Whenever a person's file downloads and streaming videos are downloading smoothly and it's reliable service, a person almost don't worry (or complain) about "how fast" the stuff is downloading since it's meeting his "interneting" expectations/needs. I'm sure looking forward to the Thailand day when I get an internet plan that meets my "interneting" expectations/needs...and hopefully that may occur over the next month or so if True ever completes the cable TV/internet trunk line in my moobaan. Cheers.

Pib

[jfchandler]

I'd say your above comments are spot-on, Pib... The toughest part of True's cable internet is getting them to figure out whether a person's residence is serviceable.. After that, it's all to the good, generally speaking.

As for speed tests, as we've seen, they tend to be highly variable by time of day, which sites are used to measure the test, and other factors... My original tests showed the cable being somewhat faster than my prior 8 Mb DSL plan, which it should be based on a 10 Mb cable plan, but more importantly, a much more stable, consistent download rate...and seemingly one that doesn't degrade as much as DSL during peak use times locally. That said, I'll still get around to posting some updated results from a couple of sites... But it won't be tonight...

In case folks here haven't heard/noticed, Amazon.com this Monday began a new deal they're calling cloud storage that is a free 5 GB permanent online storage capacity chiefly aimed at digital music files for anyone who has a U.S. Amazon account. And it gets better because right now, if you buy any one online album from Amazon at prices as low as 99 cents (though the better albums start at $5), they'll up that 5GB to a 20 GB capacity for a one year period. And that doesn't count any online music purchases with them, which they'll automatically load into your Cloud Storage, in addition to downloading to your PC, if you want.

The especially nice part is, Amazon's Cloud storage includes a web based MP3 player and a music uploading tool with which you can upload your entire digital music collection (to the extent you choose) regardless of where the files originated from. And then, once they are in your Amazon Cloud Storage, they can be played from anywhere using Amazon's web based MP3 player...not to mention being a relatively secure additional backup location for all your digital music.

As a result, I started at noon today uploading the first 20 GB of my online music collection, and it's supposed to take about 15 hours, according to the Amazon progress meter, to finish... Thus, right now wouldn't be a particularly good time for me to be running a speed test for True Cable.

[malofa]

Hi JF or Pib, just curious to know about your experience about the cable internet from True, have you been getting the advertised speeds and has been reliable?

I too have been looking for feedback from Thaivisa members who have the Ultraspeed cable internet, but they appear few and far in-between right now. On this topic, JFC has pretty much been the only one to provide any good/detailed crossfeed on daily use of the True cable internet. But once I get my 20Mb/2Mb package installed I will definitely provide some crossfeed. Cheers.

Hello all!

I've this hi-speed internet for one moth now.

The first week it was perfect: 10MB - 1 MB. I could look at HD-streaming from the Netherlands without interruption.

Second week the speeds where going up and down (during the different daytimes).

Last week I complained to them because speeds didn't go higher then 3MB (fastest that day) and 0.25 UP. They did a kind of reset and after my phonecall I had 10MB again. But the upload was still bad.

I also use voip so I need the Upload.

For now:

Download Speed: 394 kbps (49.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 26 kbps (3.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 354 ms

So I called them again. They didn't reset anything and it is real CRAP now. I will be called back in 24 hours.

I will let you guys know what solution they're going to give me!

Marco

Edited April 4, 2011 by malofa

[jfchandler]

I too had promised, based on a member request above, to post some speed test data on my True cable 10 Mb account...

Unlike Marco, I haven't noticed any degradation in performance speed during the month now that I've had the service... In fact, this afternoon, I was having to download some very large volume content from one of the major U.S.-based online backup services because a hard disk in one of my PCs had died... so I've been downloading a series of 1.8 GB files (from outside of Thailand) to restore my data...

Here's the results I got around 2:30 pm today. The values pretty much represent the high and low ranges during the hour or more per file download process.

4.5 MBits

5.7MBits

7.8 MBits

[malofa]

In that case.......it must be the location (I live opposite a condo).

I did several tests today and now it's normal again (since a few hours).

They didn't call me back yet and I hope they did something about it.

Here's a very long list from today, measured from their own speedtest (I changed my computertime during the day from the Netherlands to Thailand):

Last Result:

Download Speed: 422 kbps (52.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 31 kbps (3.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 465 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 05:37:17 GMT+0200 (West-Europa (zomertijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 1019 kbps (127.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 34 kbps (4.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 242 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 05:49:50 GMT+0200 (West-Europa (zomertijd))

Download Speed: 940 kbps (117.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 445 kbps (55.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 176 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 06:14:47 GMT+0200 (West-Europa (zomertijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 472 kbps (59 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 22 kbps (2.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 297 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 06:17:44 GMT+0200 (West-Europa (zomertijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 484 kbps (60.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 29 kbps (3.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 304 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 06:35:47 GMT+0200 (West-Europa (zomertijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 394 kbps (49.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 26 kbps (3.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 354 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 07:26:19 GMT+0200 (West-Europa (zomertijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 5918 kbps (739.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 125 kbps (15.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 84 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 08:17:44 GMT+0200 (West-Europa (zomertijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 1114 kbps (139.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 34 kbps (4.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 270 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 13:19:47 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 3692 kbps (461.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 97 kbps (12.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 93 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 13:54:21 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 4315 kbps (539.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 97 kbps (12.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 70 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 13:56:50 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 3522 kbps (440.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 108 kbps (13.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 77 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 13:57:57 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 3054 kbps (381.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 83 kbps (10.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 114 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 13:58:35 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 2151 kbps (268.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 70 kbps (8.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 103 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 14:15:07 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Download Speed: 1171 kbps (146.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 42 kbps (5.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 288 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 14:27:05 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 8971 kbps (1121.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 163 kbps (20.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 33 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 15:03:38 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 8344 kbps (1043 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 69 kbps (8.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 359 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 15:09:36 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 7397 kbps (924.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 137 kbps (17.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 34 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 15:10:34 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 5176 kbps (647 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 131 kbps (16.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 65 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 15:11:21 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 5062 kbps (632.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 188 kbps (23.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 83 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 15:12:41 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 1670 kbps (208.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 70 kbps (8.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 178 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 15:21:26 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 2791 kbps (348.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 82 kbps (10.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 123 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 15:53:28 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 10197 kbps (1274.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 683 kbps (85.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 23 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 16:32:12 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 9848 kbps (1231 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 952 kbps (119 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 24 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 16:47:02 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 10169 kbps (1271.1 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 996 kbps (124.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 20 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 17:05:46 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

Last Result:

Download Speed: 9800 kbps (1225 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 1006 kbps (125.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 23 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 17:14:33 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

Last Result:

Download Speed: 10046 kbps (1255.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 919 kbps (114.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 23 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 17:52:41 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

Last Result:

Download Speed: 9966 kbps (1245.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 632 kbps (79 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 25 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 18:20:02 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

Last Result:

Download Speed: 4599 kbps (574.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 196 kbps (24.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 57 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 20:22:01 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

Last Result:

Download Speed: 9358 kbps (1169.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 370 kbps (46.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 35 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 20:55:10 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd)) Last Result:

Download Speed: 9986 kbps (1248.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 595 kbps (74.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 23 ms

Mon Apr 04 2011 21:17:32 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

Edited April 4, 2011 by malofa

[jfchandler]

Marco, I'd gently suggest posting that kind of long list of data isn't very helpful in gaining any sense of what's going on with True's cable internet...

Some of your latency rates are in the dozens of ms, with high download rates, suggesting the locations you're reaching then are Thai local. No surprise.

Then there are much slower latency numbers in the hundreds of ms, and slow download rates, suggestion those are international locations.

And you've mixed them up in a long long list.... There are times when too much data is not helpful...

You'd do better to focus on your international connections, and then include time references that correlate to Thai times, because those are the ones that will determine the level of local user demand likely to be slowing your speeds. Afternoon here you should do better, evening and night typically would be somewhat slower.

Cable internet also is shared resource. The more users there are on your particular line, the more potential for congestion.

[malofa]

Marco, I'd gently suggest posting that kind of long list of data isn't very helpful in gaining any sense of what's going on with True's cable internet...

Some of your latency rates are in the dozens of ms, with high download rates, suggesting the locations you're reaching then are Thai local. No surprise.

Then there are much slower latency numbers in the hundreds of ms, and slow download rates, suggestion those are international locations.

And you've mixed them up in a long long list.... There are times when too much data is not helpful...

You'd do better to focus on your international connections, and then include time references that correlate to Thai times, because those are the ones that will determine the level of local user demand likely to be slowing your speeds. Afternoon here you should do better, evening and night typically would be somewhat slower.

Cable internet also is shared resource. The more users there are on your particular line, the more potential for congestion.

I did a lot of tests today and yes.....you're right.

All the tests are takenfrom the website from trueonline. So all local!

And if a speedtest, to a server in Thailand, is this slow I don't think it would be better international!

And in my case.......this morning/afternoon was real bad. And now, in the evening, everything was fine again!