True Move 3G Very Slow, Any Faster Alternatives In Bangkok?

[JamesGoyder]

I just purchased a truemove 3g card which is supposed to be 7.2 mbps but it is painfully slow.

Are there any quicker alternatives? I am looking for something fast enough to download movies etc. relatively quickly and watch youtuve videos without having to wait 10 mins for them to load..

[jackbox]

If you are in Greater Bangkok you can try TOT3G or one of the resellers such as I-Mobile 3GX, IEC 3G, Kool 3G, etc. If you go to a Mobile Easy store you can tell them you want a "Yao Yao" sim. It is 99 baht and comes with 2gb for 45 days. 100 baht topup gets you another 2,200gb. I don't know what unlimited would cost.

[JamesGoyder]

If you are in Greater Bangkok you can try TOT3G or one of the resellers such as I-Mobile 3GX, IEC 3G, Kool 3G, etc. If you go to a Mobile Easy store you can tell them you want a "Yao Yao" sim. It is 99 baht and comes with 2gb for 45 days. 100 baht topup gets you another 2,200gb. I don't know what unlimited would cost.

Thanks. My advice to anyone thinking of using True 3G would be: don't bother.

[lomatopo]

Can you provide any details re: your hardware and applications? Are you using a smartphone? tethered? An aircard in a PC? What are your speeds? It seems like most results for smartphone speedtests I've seen on True 3G get ~ 1 Mega-bits per second downstream.

True uses 850 Mhz for 3G so I assume you're using a device with an 850 radio, and are within True's 3G coverage area.

There are other mobile broadband services but I have not stayed up to date on them. CAT CDMA has been mentioned often, with a data-only SIM in a USB adapter or MiFi device.

[JamesGoyder]

Can you provide any details re: your hardware and applications? Are you using a smartphone? tethered? An aircard in a PC? What are your speeds? It seems like most results for smartphone speedtests I've seen on True 3G get ~ 1 Mega-bits per second downstream.

True uses 850 Mhz for 3G so I assume you're using a device with an 850 radio, and are within True's 3G coverage area.

There are other mobile broadband services but I have not stayed up to date on them. CAT CDMA has been mentioned often, with a data-only SIM in a USB adapter or MiFi device.

Im using it with a laptop not a mobile phone, should i have posted this in a different section?

[Digitalbanana]

Last time I checked, but these 3G plans are trial anyway so changes every other day, True 3G reverts to EDGE speeds after 3GB monthly limit, so would be pretty useless for downloading movies on a long term basis.

[NanLaew]

^ does this mean that usable 3G is an industry joke in Thailand?

[woodyleonhard]

Im using it with a laptop not a mobile phone, should i have posted this in a different section?

James -

What dongle are you using? Many, many USB dongles in Phuket say "3G" on the box, but they don't give you HSPA (which is "real" 3G). Unfortunately, it's legal to sell them in Thailand.

If you have a SIM card with a 3G account from True, but your dongle only supports EDGE/GPRS - a very common combination - you'll only get EDGE/GPRS, and that's painfully slow.

If your dongle supports HSPA, and it's working, then the True 3G service is at fault. Could you do me a favor? Run the speed test linked from www.phuketinternetspeed.com and tell me what speed you get, download, to San Francisco? You can use the site there to compare your speed with other speeds, but only in Phuket.

[woodyleonhard]

Last time I checked, but these 3G plans are trial anyway so changes every other day, True 3G reverts to EDGE speeds after 3GB monthly limit, so would be pretty useless for downloading movies on a long term basis.

@Digitalbanana -

Yes and no.

Unlimited HSPA (so-called "3G") access from True costs B 799 + VAT per month. If you get a cheaper package, there are limits on how much you can download. If you exceed the limit, or go outside of the True service area, your system automatically falls back to EDGE/GPRS.

And you're absolutely right - the service is branded "trial". Not sure how long True will continue with that malarkey, especially in light of their acquisition of Hutch.

[woodyleonhard]

^ does this mean that usable 3G is an industry joke in Thailand?

@NanLaew -

I haven't run speed tests in BKK lately, but when I did, I was getting 2 Mbps international download speeds on the True HSPA system. That's good. Not exceptional, but good.

When I ran speed tests here in Phuket, I got 1.5 Mbps in Patong and a blazing 5 Mbps in Laguna/Cherng Talay. That makes True wireless HSPA in Cherng Talay half as fast as the fastest fiber optic line I've ever clocked from TOT. Far as I'm concerned, that's outstanding.

In the US, typical HSPA ("3G") download speeds are around 1 to 2 Mbps, but vary enormously depending on the city, time of day, and provider. Thailand is definitely competitive with those results.

- Woody

[Digitalbanana]

Last time I checked, but these 3G plans are trial anyway so changes every other day, True 3G reverts to EDGE speeds after 3GB monthly limit, so would be pretty useless for downloading movies on a long term basis.

@Digitalbanana -

Yes and no.

Unlimited HSPA (so-called "3G") access from True costs B 799 + VAT per month. If you get a cheaper package, there are limits on how much you can download. If you exceed the limit, or go outside of the True service area, your system automatically falls back to EDGE/GPRS.

And you're absolutely right - the service is branded "trial". Not sure how long True will continue with that malarkey, especially in light of their acquisition of Hutch.

Thanks for feedback. On TrueMoves web site http://truemove.com/en/postpay-promotion-ready.htm I can only see reference to packages up to 649THB / month with the "Unlimited" 3G limited to a Fair Usage Policy (3GB a month and cut back to EDGE speeds) unless I'm missing something? (No mention of any THB 799 plans).

[lomatopo]

It would help if the OP could clearly state his HW, applications, primary location and requirements, then we might be able to make more specific recommendations? I suspect he wants mobile broadband for a PC, maybe via an aircard?

http://www.truemove.com/3g/device.html

Most of the TRUEmove 3G options are really targeted at smartphone users.

I'd look in to the CAT CDMA offering

BTW, it seems like people are mixing up TRUE's pre-paid, post-paid and legacy (iPhone 3GS-799 plan?) 3G data plans when discussing them in this thread?

"Ready" is in the post-paid data family (but some data plans can be layered on top of both pre- and post-paid accounts)

I think some of the higher-capacity plans are:

699 baht/mo 1,000 MB 2G, unlimited WiFi, 1 GB 3G (post- or pre-paid)

649 baht/mo unlimted 2G, unlimited WiFi, unlimited 3G (1 GB fair-use, 2G after that)(Ready, Smartphone, post-paid)

(There are more plans, specific to iPhone and iPad.)

I think TRUE's fair-use policy used to have a limit of 3 GB, but now its 1 GB. I assume all the legacy iPhone users have had their plans 'grandfathered' (honored), but I wouldn't be surprised if they are subject to the fair-use limits once their current contract runs out?

[woodyleonhard]

Thanks for feedback. On TrueMoves web site http://truemove.com/en/postpay-promotion-ready.htm I can only see reference to packages up to 649THB / month with the "Unlimited" 3G limited to a Fair Usage Policy (3GB a month and cut back to EDGE speeds) unless I'm missing something? (No mention of any THB 799 plans).

I'll try to get to the True office in Phuket Town in the next couple of days and see if they switched plans on me!

Clearly, as noted, the plans are intended for mobile phone use (specifically iPhone, but my Android works fine with True 3G). But they can be used with a third-party dongle, providing you're careful to get one with HSPA support.

[woodyleonhard]

I'd look in to the CAT CDMA offering

<snip>

BTW, it seems like people are mixing up TRUE's pre-paid, post-paid and legacy (iPhone 3GS-799 plan?) 3G data plans when discussing them in this thread?

<snip>

I think TRUE's fair-use policy used to have a limit of 3 GB, but now its 1 GB. I assume all the legacy iPhone users have had their plans 'grandfathered' (honored), but I wouldn't be surprised if they are subject to the fair-use limits once their current contract runs out?

CAT CDMA has suddenly become iffy, because of True's buy-out of the Hutch partnership. I'm recommending that people consider not buying the CAT/Hutch EV-DO card until we know more about True's intentions.

It's entirely possible that I have a legacy iPhone 3GS plan, post-pay, B 799/mo, unlimited. The SIM card and account work fine with Android and on a PC, and I may well have been grandfathered.

Man, this stuff is changing every week!

[Jiu-Jitsu]

It would help if the OP could clearly state his HW, applications, primary location and requirements, then we might be able to make more specific recommendations? I suspect he wants mobile broadband for a PC, maybe via an aircard?

http://www.truemove.com/3g/device.html

Most of the TRUEmove 3G options are really targeted at smartphone users.

I'd look in to the CAT CDMA offering

BTW, it seems like people are mixing up TRUE's pre-paid, post-paid and legacy (iPhone 3GS-799 plan?) 3G data plans when discussing them in this thread?

"Ready" is in the post-paid data family (but some data plans can be layered on top of both pre- and post-paid accounts)

I think some of the higher-capacity plans are:

699 baht/mo 1,000 MB 2G, unlimited WiFi, 1 GB 3G (post- or pre-paid)

649 baht/mo unlimted 2G, unlimited WiFi, unlimited 3G (1 GB fair-use, 2G after that)(Ready, Smartphone, post-paid)

(There are more plans, specific to iPhone and iPad.)

I think TRUE's fair-use policy used to have a limit of 3 GB, but now its 1 GB. I assume all the legacy iPhone users have had their plans 'grandfathered' (honored), but I wouldn't be surprised if they are subject to the fair-use limits once their current contract runs out?

Current sign ups to 'Unlimited' still have 3GB and unlimited 256kbps after that. Sign up by 15th of January. After that it may change for new sign ups again.