True Ultra Hi-Speed Internet

[jfchandler]

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

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

If all those results are taken from True's own Internet speed test web page measurement, then you do have a problem.

In years of using that, even though it's totally meaningless, it ALWAYS has returned only the rated speed of whatever True package I had (6 Mb, 8 Mb, etc.) because it doesn't actually measure your real connection, but just between the user's location and True's servers... So its results are always lightning fast, even when you're actual downloads were crawling..

Sounds like there may be some equipment/wiring problem going on in your area... No way should you get that kind of fluctuation via their cable internet.

[malofa]

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

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

If all those results are taken from True's own Internet speed test web page measurement, then you do have a problem.

In years of using that, even though it's totally meaningless, it ALWAYS has returned only the rated speed of whatever True package I had (6 Mb, 8 Mb, etc.) because it doesn't actually measure your real connection, but just between the user's location and True's servers... So its results are always lightning fast, even when you're actual downloads were crawling..

Sounds like there may be some equipment/wiring problem going on in your area... No way should you get that kind of fluctuation via their cable internet.

"Had" a problem I hope

The reason I registered on thaivisa was because I did read this thread before. Hope the problems are fixed now . I will post again in some days (no long list )

PS

I can post a lot of positive about TRUE. They installed everything 2 days after I asked for it and the helpdesk is very friendly!

[Pib]

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

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

If all those results are taken from True's own Internet speed test web page measurement, then you do have a problem.

In years of using that, even though it's totally meaningless, it ALWAYS has returned only the rated speed of whatever True package I had (6 Mb, 8 Mb, etc.) because it doesn't actually measure your real connection, but just between the user's location and True's servers... So its results are always lightning fast, even when you're actual downloads were crawling..

Sounds like there may be some equipment/wiring problem going on in your area... No way should you get that kind of fluctuation via their cable internet.

Malofa,

All right! Another Ultraspeed user out there willing to give some crossfeed! Big thanks for those speed results and general feedback.

I would agree with JFC that with your testing to True's speedtest site which is a local Bangkok server you should be gettting pretty constant 10Mb speeds and sub 50ms pings. Sound like some local True equipment problems or possibly just something with your profile; mostly a local True equipment problem.

Wonder if you could do some speedtests to the Microsoft speed test site at http://speedtest.microsoftonline.com/. This site seems to be the most reliable in given real world results and I think is testing to the same, one site somewhere in the US.

Cheers,

Pib

P.S. "Someday" I hope to post some True cable 20Mb/2Mb Ultraspeed results, but still going into this week there is no additional work going on in completing the trunk line in my moobaan. May have the Thai wife call them this week (again) to see what the latest sad story is.

[malofa]

Hi Pib,

I tried to post a microsoft result this morning but ...... because I quoted you I had a link in my post again (72 hrs no links for new members).

I will give it another shot tomorrow!

BTW.... today the kids looked a lot toDutch streams from Xbox 360 and it all did go perfect!

gr

Marco

[Pib]

Hi Pib,

I tried to post a microsoft result this morning but ...... because I quoted you I had a link in my post again (72 hrs no links for new members).

I will give it another shot tomorrow!

BTW.... today the kids looked a lot toDutch streams from Xbox 360 and it all did go perfect!

gr

Marco

If you can't post the link results maybe just provide the downstream and upstream speeds you get in plain text like you did in your earlier post. Good to hear it working good again. Thanks in advance for posting some results from the Microsoft site once you get the time. Cheers.

[malofa]

Sorry,

one day was perfect...but now:

Last Result:

Download Speed: 613 kbps (76.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 32 kbps (4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 370 ms

Wed Apr 06 2011 23:37:43 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

And that is since 4 hours!

Did chat with the helpdesk again (they didn;t call back) and told this is a test before 100MB!

I'm curious!

[Pib]

Sorry,

one day was perfect...but now:

Last Result:

Download Speed: 613 kbps (76.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 32 kbps (4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 370 ms

Wed Apr 06 2011 23:37:43 GMT+0700 (SE Asia (standaardtijd))

And that is since 4 hours!

Did chat with the helpdesk again (they didn;t call back) and told this is a test before 100MB!

I'm curious!

Sounds like "local" equipment problem. If you know anyone else in your immeidate area using cable internet you might want to ask them if their cable internet is intermittently very slow also. If they are not having any problem, it may just be your connnection/your modem.

When I was still living in the States I was on cable internet...it was always fast and reliable.. But my next door neighbor also on the same cable internet was always complaining about it being really slow a lot....I think he just had problem with his connection where it hooked into the trunk line on the street and/or he had a cable modem problem.

[Pib]

For you folks using Microsoft Online Services to do speed tests and since it usually defaults to testing against the North American server which I think is in Los Angeles, the below link will allow you to select either the North American (in LA I think), European (in Ireland) , or Asia-Pacific (Singapore) Microsoft Online Services data center.

For me still on my TOT 6Mb package (still waiting for True to complete installation of the cable TV/internet trunk line in my moobaan), I get the slowest download speed from the North American server, fastest speed from the Singapore server, and the European server falling in the middle speed wise. Usually when using other speed test programs, my slowest speeds are always to European servers. And I do remember now when using the Microsoft Services Online speed test a few times when still living in the States, it gave me lower download speed results (not to imply they are inaccurate) as compared to other speed test programs; just as it is now doing for me living in Thailand. Hopefully, it is indeed giving more accurate results, whether I like the results or not.

As always, take speed test results with a grain of salt and lots of suspicion, especially if they give you near full speed results "and" faster than light ping time to farang land which means you are probably getting the results from a nearby cached/hidden server vs the server in farang land.

http://collabranetwo...tion-speed-test

[jfchandler]

Thanks for the added MS links, Pib... Sorry to hear your True contractors are moving at the speed of Thai...

Fortunately, True's cable internet is doing a bit better... Here are the results for my 10 Mbps cable service from those three MS speedtest sites that I got about 2:30 to 2:45 pm today... I reran each a couple of times, just to make sure the results were in line... Quite a bit of variability in the USA test in the 1.3 to 2.9 Mbps range... Europe better at 2.7 to 3.9 Mbps... And Asia, not surprisingly, the fastest at 8.5 to 10 Mbps...

I have noticed a fair bit more variability in speeds over the past few days, more ups and downs... But that may have some relation to the Song Kran holiday and changing usage during that time. Have to see if things settle down now or continue on that pattern.

USA 1, 2, and 3

Europe 1 and 2

Asia 1 and 2

[Pib]

JFC,

Good comparisons; big thanks. Yeap, at "The Speed of Thai" is a good way to describe True's installation of the cable TV/internet trunk in my moobaan. While they initially moved along at a good pace and began sign-up in late Feb with promises of home hook-ups in mid to late March they have since went into Sleep mode. Every day in my jogs I will stop at one pole of several poles which has an electric meter to power the trunk line once operating...the electric meter is not drawing any power/turned off. Plus one of their key installation trucks remains parked in one location. I may call True next week after Songkran to hear the latest sad story as to the completion delay. Oh well, at least my TOT 6Mb plan is still giving me very reliable service and descent speed to international web sites for general browsing, using a download manager I can get 3-5Mb download speeds, but routinely getting "non-pausing" video streaming is a real challenge....that's were the plan really gets an F in my scoring (well, on some days I might give it a C minus for video streaming).

Cheers,

Pib

[sammycic]

Update from anybody using True cable internet as they have started putting up cable in my moobahn yesterday here in Ubon.

How long did it take and do they throttle downloads?

I want to change from 3bb as they are throttling me severely.

[Pib]

Well, if they take as long to put-up/go operational with the cable as they are taking in my moobaan in western Bangkok, it could be months and months before True starts hooking up individual residences. Now my moobaan is a larger one of around 750 homes with numerous little soi's. A contractor started installing the cable trunk line in Jan, True had a sign-up in the moobaan in late Fed with promises of hooking up homes in mid March (I signed up at that time). No hookups have happened to date. First True contractor finished his portion in mid March which was to accomplish the basic trunk line install. Then nothing happened until early May when a second contractor came in the test the line/power it up/etc....this contractor is not installing anything...just purely testing/tweaking the line/probably replacing any bad components (all new components)...the contractor is still doing that (saw two trucks and about 6 people working just today), but as mentioned the contractor has a large moobaan to checkout. I expect the contractor is running into technical issues as they been working almost every weekday for weeks....they say they should be don't in June and True should start hooking up homes shortly after that. Calling True about "when are you going to start hooking-up of the homes" always results in some sad story about some delay, but they should start hooking up homes in approx two weeks. We got that "in approx two weeks" answer a couple of times over the months when following up with True, the original salespersons, and the contractors doing the installs. True uses the "should" word a lot. But all I know its been approx 5 months since they started the cable trunk line install and they should go operational in June, and hopefully start individual home hookups. I've signed up for the cable TV and 20Mb/2Mb internet. Maybe in a month or two as the "Speed of Thai" moves along, I can give you some feedback on how well the cable internet works. I'm a'hoping it works good....in my quest to get feedback from people who already have True cable internet the feedback has been positive.

[jfchandler]

Thanks for the update, Pib... Unfortunately, I had been assuming your relative silence here meant that True and their minions weren't making a lot of progress on completing their install in your neighborhood.

I'll throw in a brief update from my place... After pretty much flawless performance for the first two months of cable service, the past couple weeks have been a real problem. What started out as periodic dropping out of service, where I'd lose the connection for a half hour or so at a time, was getting progressively worse to the point where on one day earlier this week, my service was down continuously for more than half a day... And, nothing had changed with my PC, modem or house setup to account for any kind of problem.

I'd unplug and then repower the modem, and sometimes that would restore a connection, and sometimes it wouldn't... It seemed to start back when we were having a lot of rain and lightning, so I thought maybe something storm related had occurred. But then in recent days, with no storms, the problem kept getting worse. So finally, I got True to send out a service call and the guys came out to my home yesterday, and checked the modem settings, which I hadn't previously known how to do. They said, in Thai, that it was a signal power problem...

And I'm not an electrical engineer, so I'll show you guys what they pointed to, and what they said... Here's the screen capture of the modem settings screen:

And basically, they said the value for "upstream power" that my cable modem was showing was 52.7 dBmV, whatever that means, whereas they said the number normally should be in the middle to high 40s... And the reason for that was something to do with the lines and cables outside, which they promised to check today... And so far today, no dropping of the signal.

BTW, here's the browser address they used to access the Motorola Surfboard cable modem's firmware controls:

http with the address 192.168.100.1

[sammycic]

thanks Pib and jfchandler for the update. looks like i won't hold my breath waiting for cable. Sounds good if and when it comes.

thanks

[Pib]

JFC,

They probably followed the RG-6 run from your residence to where it connects to the main trunk line, tightened up/cleaned the connectors there, and hopefully you'll be good to go until the next connection problem somewhere. Or, they just whacked the trunk line with their bamboo ladder to give a good connection (for a while).

Interesting your downstream power level was a -7 dbmV as that is the power level I remember the Roadrunner folks in the States saying was the mid range power level for good operation (the range was from 0 dbmV to a -14 dbmV. Don't know why my brain remembers that now...and that was for the internet cable system I was on at the time...may be different for True's cable internet...also used a Motorola modem on the Roadrunner system. Ain't got a clue what the Upstream desired level was on Roadrunner as I rarely uploaded anything other than emails.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the "Speed of Thai" will reach the finish line sometime in June and True will begin cable TV/internet hookups in my moobaan versus going into Sleep mode for a month or so. And after all this "checking of the trunk" line they have been doing it better be perfect (that's the Chang beer talking).

Sammychic,

I think a lot of the delay after the first contractor installed the basic trunk line in the moobaan was True was not ready with the connection from the moobaan to the main True line outside the moobaan which would feed the moobaan trunk line. And based on another call to True it appeared they were waiting for the second contractor who would do the operational checkout of the line to finish up another moobaan in Bangkok. I got no shortage of sad stories from True when doing status follow-ups. Hopefully, they will finish your moobaan's trunk line much faster--or not. Guess some of it depends on the size of the area/number residences they are installing the trunk line to service.

Cheers,

Pib

[infernalman7]

I'm using True Cable 50/5Mbps .... in terms of speed, it varies every single day. Sometimes I only get as little as 10Mbps ... but today

I'm confused.

EDIT: I'm in Chiang Mai btw.. don't know if it's any different. It goes offline quite a lot recently due to storms and blackouts.

[jfchandler]

Infernal, you gotta be careful about using the Speedtest web site results... The 79 ms ping rate means that test is measuring your local connection inside Thailand, probably between Chiang Mai and the main True trunk in BKK.... We had 1,000s of posts on this same subject...

It's a handy way True and perhaps others have of making customers think they're getting better speeds than they actually are, particularly if they're interested in accessing content outside of Thailand.

[infernalman7]

^^ Yup, I realize that .. but isn't that what they promised? Only the actual connection to their servers. What happens after that things like bottlenecks, gateway issues, blah blah blah.. which are things you will inevitable face if you are using home use internet.

Unless you're using SME package or something more expensive. Pings and international bandwidth won't be any good.

[edwardandtubs]

^^ Yup, I realize that .. but isn't that what they promised? Only the actual connection to their servers. What happens after that things like bottlenecks, gateway issues, blah blah blah.. which are things you will inevitable face if you are using home use internet.

Unless you're using SME package or something more expensive. Pings and international bandwidth won't be any good.

What would be a good, reasonably-priced option for home office users who want a solid, reliable international connection but are not too worried about download speeds?

Also, can you get this True Ultra Hi-Speed in high-rise condo buildings that are on the list of sois that True has published, or is it just for houses?

[jfchandler]

Also, can you get this True Ultra Hi-Speed in high-rise condo buildings that are on the list of sois that True has published, or is it just for houses?

It's True's 30 and 50 Mbps DSL2 service that is limited to selected condo projects around Bangkok... Very very limited availability from what I've seen, and relatively more expensive.

But True's cable internet service, ranging from 10 to 100 Mbps plans that are more reasonably priced, is available much more broadly in Bangkok, though by no means everywhere as yet. To get it, for starters, one's home has to have True cable TV service available (though you don't have to be a subscriber to it). But even then, not all cable-passed areas have the internet service as yet, apparently. So one really has to contact True and verify with them.

[infernalman7]

I'm from Chiang Mai and the city has 100% coverage of True Cable up to 100Mbps.

My apartment in Bangkok (in Soi Langsuan) also has it but the maximum package is only 50Mbps. Just call them first to check the availability. They seem to have the network coverage set-up based on the needs in the area.

[negreanu]

It's True's 30 and 50 Mbps DSL2 service that is limited to selected condo projects around Bangkok... Very very limited availability from what I've seen, and relatively more expensive.

Can't find the list of available condo's on their website anymore and the VDSL2 products are just shown amongest the DSL packages now.

Perhaps all DSLAMS have been upgraded to support VDSL2?

[negreanu]

It's True's 30 and 50 Mbps DSL2 service that is limited to selected condo projects around Bangkok... Very very limited availability from what I've seen, and relatively more expensive.

Can't find the list of available condo's on their website anymore and the VDSL2 products are just shown amongest the DSL packages now.

Perhaps all DSLAMS have been upgraded to support VDSL2?

[Pib]

Well, True has finally finished the cable TV and internet trunk line in my moobaan and is hooking people up. It took approx 6 months. And it appears they setup an in-moobaan sign-up booth again, like they did way back in Feb...at that time they were promising completion of the installation in March...didn't happen. True called mid week to setup an installation appt today/Saturday and asked whether we wanted a standard cable modem or a Wireless cable router/modem...if wanting the Wireless router/modem it would cost 1000 baht where the standard modem was free. I said I wanted a Wireless cable modem...after a few seconds the True rep said sorry they are out....the Thai wife and I think to ourselves, why did you ask then?

Oh well, I said a standard cable modem would be OK since I had a router. They said they would install the cable TV (2 boxes) at the same time they are installing the cable internet. So, two cable internet techs show up today to install the 20Mb/2Mb cable internet ordered and I found out they do have plenty of wireless modem/routers...they said they got plenty and showed me one. I briefly looked at the modem and it's a Motorola (Cisco) ECP2325. Apparently the True person who called to confirm the appt must have info they are out of stock of wireless router/modems while the field techs have plenty. But the techs were completely unaware of any cable TV order, called the office, and the office said they don't have anything. We called the original True Salesperson who is now working to correct the issue/order.

To make a long story short the Thai wife and I told them to come back in a few days when they have our Feb order correct, which is to install the cable internet and cable TV at the same time and now with a Wireless router/modem. None of this multiple crews on different days/at different times coming in. By using this combo Motorola wireless router/modem I can leave my other standalone router working on my TOT 6Mb DSL line until I cancel this TOT plan once sure the True cable internet is reliable and hopefully fast. Almost there--I think....at the "Speed of Thai."

[nikster]

Thanks for the added MS links, Pib... Sorry to hear your True contractors are moving at the speed of Thai...

Fortunately, True's cable internet is doing a bit better... Here are the results for my 10 Mbps cable service from those three MS speedtest sites that I got about 2:30 to 2:45 pm today...

Funny, I just posted that MS speed tests are going to run through dedicated lines MS is leasing, they go to Singapore, then from there to the USA.

That's different from cheating - after all you're getting a good connection to MS, can't have any complaints about that. But it's not the generic Thai ISP international speed.

I am not sure what to think of this now - the dedicated lines certainly muddy the waters when it comes to Thai international speed. On the one hand, they're only going to be available for some very large corporations, and only for those who invest money in a dedicated line out of Thailand. On the other hand, these are probably also the sites you'll hit most often so it's a valid improvement.

[Pib]

Update to my Post #234. True showed up out of the blue this Sunday afternoon and installed the Cable TV (2 boxes)...much clearer picture as compared to the True Satellite TV (don't get any of that atmosphere interference).

And they installed the 20Mb/2Mb cable internet with Wireless Cisco ECP 2325 modem/router (has 4 Ethernet ports to hard wire items if needed). The wireless router has pretty good range as I had it installed upstairs in the master beddown although I currently do most of my computering on the dininng room table downstairs....so the signal is penetrating concrete floors and walls pretty good....just as good as my Linksys and US Robotics routers.

Now, over the coming week I need to do some speed testing and some real world testing. But just doing a quick test to True's and TOT's speed test sites I get over 20Mb download and over 2Mb download; now as to what I get to farang land will be determined over the coming week with my testing. I will post some results later this week assuming it continues to work fine.

Summary: I finally got True Ultraspeed Cable Internet installed!

[Pib]

Just an interim update. Below are two speed tests from approx 7:30am this morning to the TOT Speedtester site and the True Speedtester site in Bangkok (I'm in Bangkok also) for my True Cable Internet 20Mb/2Mb plan installed yesterday. I'm using the True Wireless Router/Modem provided...it's upstairs and my laptop is downstairs so it has pretty good range considering the concrete floors and walls the signal is fighting to get through.

And what I consider just some real world testing, my internet browsing is much snappier (for in-Thailand and international web sites) than my TOT 6Mb/512Kb plan, especially for in-Thailand websites like the Bangkok Post and ThaiVisa which where generally slow websites for me under the TOT plan. Email uploads a lot faster also. I did do some Speedtest.net tests last night with no faster-than-light bogus ping and download times...more to come through the week.

[sammycic]

Pib, great to see you up and running with your True cable.

It has been three weeks since they put their cables up here and haven't seen them since.

looks like it will 4 months here as well.

20mb download seems hard to believe when you look at the speedtests for Thailand.

[Supernova]

my internet browsing is much snappier (for in-Thailand and international web sites) than my TOT 6Mb/512Kb plan, especially for in-Thailand websites like the Bangkok Post and ThaiVisa which where generally slow websites for me under the TOT plan. Email uploads a lot faster also. I did do some Speedtest.net tests last night with no faster-than-light bogus ping and download times...more to come through the week.

Well, I'm glad it's working out for you so far. But don't get your hopes up. Like ADSL, there's plenty of "ultra hi-speed" horror stories being told by the locals. Wait until the honeymoon ends...

But then again, who knows? You might be one of those lucky few and not run into problems. If your other posts are anything to go by, it seems you've hardly experienced any issues whilst using TOT, which is quite rare. In any case, congrats on getting that long-awaited cable connection.

[Pib]

Your trunk line installation may go like mine. As in my earlier posts on the cable trunk line installation in my moobaan here in western Bangkok, the first contractor did the "basic install" of the trunk line but the line was not activated/energized and little electronic testing was done other than basic grounding testing using an electronic ohmmeter. This first contractor basically did all the grunt work....kinda like assembling a car engine but not attempting to interface it with the car and start it up.

After that contractor finished, nothing seemed to happen for around 4-6 weeks and then a second/different contractor came in to activate/test/energize the trunk line...and this contractor seem to do a heck of a lot of pole climbing to recheck/re-tighten the trunk line connections/junctions/line amplifiers/line splitters/etc....it sure looked like they were doing a lot of rework that the first contractor may not have properly done especially at the line connection/junction points. This second contractor had a full away of electronic devices to test the TV and internet signals running on the line....this testing went on for approx one month. Kinda like this second contractor took the assembled car engine which the first contractor put together, hooked up fuel and electrical lines, started it up, let it run for a few weeks, tweaked & peaked the engine to get it to run smoothly before signing over the line as fully operational.

Then, the third group of folks came in which were regular True technicians in their True logo shirts and trucks to do the actual hookup between the trunk line and residences.

I expect there were other background/paperwork issues (i.e., contract issues, line parts, govt approval, etc) which had an impact on the trunk line installation. A cable TV/internet trunk line installation is definitely more involved than just stringing a telephone/DSL trunk line. Plus, my moobaan here in western Bangkok is a large one of around 750 houses on approx 41 soi's. I know True did not want to piece-meal the trunk line installation and stagger which soi's went operation first....it was the "entire" moobaan/all soi's in the moobaan would go operational at the same time.

And yes, my TOT 6Mb DSL line has been very reliable and provided decent speed, but I was basically a captive audience of TOT and 6Mb was their fastest speed available to my moobaan. Now, through True, I'm able to go all the way to a 100Mb speed if I desire, but 20Mb will do me just fine...and actually, a 10Mb cable internet plan would have done me just fine...but I wanted the 20Mb plan (not that I needed it; I just wanted it).