Another Tot Rant

[arkom]

Have had TOT Hi-speed internet on the 6mb "Jet" Package for about 3 weeks, the fist couple of days everything was working fine getting around 5-6 mbs constantly. After about that have never gotten speeds above 3 mbs, evening and weekends are even worse usually getting less than 1 mb and if I'm lucky 2 mbs.

After many calls to the call center and speaking with the technicians it turns out that the problem is with the whole moo baan and they are trying to fix it, after about a week or so they tell me that they do know when the problem will be fixed.

Was wondering if it would be worth while if "upgrading" to a faster package will get me better speed, if anyone has had experience please let me know!!

Unfortunately have no choice but to stick with TOT.

[roban]

After many calls to the call center and speaking with the technicians it turns out that the problem is with the whole moo baan and they are trying to fix it

It is always the whole mooban/area, if you report a problem, because nobody cares about ...

[arkom]

After many calls to the call center and speaking with the technicians it turns out that the problem is with the whole moo baan and they are trying to fix it

It is always the whole mooban/area, if you report a problem, because nobody cares about ...

Yep that is the generic answer, but I have actually talked to some neighbors and they too are experiencing the same problem...

[Supernova]

the fist couple of days everything was working fine getting around 5-6 mbs constantly. After about that have never gotten speeds above 3 mbs, evening and weekends are even worse usually getting less than 1 mb and if I'm lucky 2 mbs.

<snip>

Was wondering if it would be worth while if "upgrading" to a faster package will get me better speed,

Your connection is seemingly getting worse, how will upgrading to a faster package give you better speeds? You'd be better off sticking to what you have now. On the other hand, if your connection was constantly running at 80-90 percent of advertised speed, opting for a faster package may actually be worth it.

Just my two cents.

[arkom]

the fist couple of days everything was working fine getting around 5-6 mbs constantly. After about that have never gotten speeds above 3 mbs, evening and weekends are even worse usually getting less than 1 mb and if I'm lucky 2 mbs.

<snip>

Was wondering if it would be worth while if "upgrading" to a faster package will get me better speed,

Your connection is seemingly getting worse, how will upgrading to a faster package give you better speeds? You'd be better off sticking to what you have now. On the other hand, if your connection was constantly running at 80-90 percent of advertised speed, opting for a faster package may actually be worth it.

Just my two cents.

Thanks for the reply, dont't think that it would really help either but one can only hope!!

[Pib]

You can probably switch to JI-NET, as they are an internet concessionaire on TOT, TOT (ADC), and True owned lines, but you would have the early cancellation costs for the TOT plan. I was on JINET's 2MB Bizconnext plan for about 15 months...super reliable and I got 1.7Mb to in-Thailand and international web sites. But this JINET plan ran around 1800 baht/month, but it did come with a static IP address (which is useful to some folks) and multiple email addresses. JINET has other plans, it's just the BizConnext plan was the only plan available to me on my TOT line...you may have a TOT (ADC) line that would give you other plan choices. Switched to JI-NET because the TOT 2Mb goldcyber package I was on sucked....I cancelled the TOT 2Mb plan after only 6 weeks with a 1000 baht early cancellation fee since my phone line had already been installed for basic phone service...so there was no additional cancellation fee assoicated with line installation cost which is usually around 3600 baht.

Went back to TOT 15 months later when they came out with their 4Mb package...figured I would give TOT another chance in hopes they had installed new equipment and since the TOT 4Mb price was only about 40% of the JINET 2Mb price. Even called JINET before going back to TOT to see if JINET had higher speed plans and/or would lower the price. The do have higher BizConnext speeds such as 4Mb for 2800 baht/mo but they are not listed on their web site...you must call their sales office...and they wouldn't lower their price to keep me a customer. The TOT 4Mb plan gave me consistent 3.5Mb speed within Thailand and around 1 to 1.5Mb to international sites. About a year ago TOT upgraded me to the 6Mb Jetpack plan since it was now the same price as the old 4Mb plan....I get 5.3Mb in-Thailand and around 1 to 2Mb to international sites. These different speed results are from TOT's speed test and speedtest.net. Slowest speeds are in the late afternoon/early night probably due to people getting home from work and school and using the internet. Now when using a download manager for files, I get in the 3-5Mb download speed to worldwide sites...but usually in the 3 to 4Mb speed. Up time for the 4Mb and 6Mb TOT package was/has been close to 100%, as was the JINET 2Mb plan. Here's JINET's web site: http://www.ji-net.co...exget.php?pid=1

I expect most of your problems are indeed "local" internet circuits...internet circuits serving your moobaan/immediate area. I seriously doubt upgrading to a higher speed TOT Jetpack package (if possible for your moobaan...the fastest TOT speed to my moobann is 6Mb) as the package would still be running on your same local circuits. Good luck...I know getting good internt in Thailand can be hard and frustrating. As we speak, True is stringing phone/internet lines in my moobaan...I will soon no longer be a captive audience of TOT...I'll probably be switching to True "if" they offer any speeds faster than 6Mb....I'm hoping they will offer higher speeds to my moobaan, but just having faster speed packages don't mean they are available to your moobaan. Ex: TOT has packages up to 15Mb, but only packages up to 6Mb for my moobaan...probably due to the older equipment they are using to service my area....it's not a line length issue because I'm only about 2KM from their central station/DSLAM bank for the area. Once again, good luck.

[Supernova]

As 'former' JI-NET subscriber, I can definitely vouch for the quality of the service. I was on their DSL-Max Lite 2 Mbps package for 3 years. No complaints whatsoever. I've since changed providers now that TRUE is finally available in my area. But yes, I definitely recommend JI-NET if you're stuck with a TOT line.

[arkom]

You can probably switch to JI-NET, as they are an internet concessionaire on TOT, TOT (ADC), and True owned lines, but you would have the early cancellation costs for the TOT plan. I was on JINET's 2MB Bizconnext plan for about 15 months...super reliable and I got 1.7Mb to in-Thailand and international web sites. But this JINET plan ran around 1800 baht/month, but it did come with a static IP address (which is useful to some folks) and multiple email addresses. JINET has other plans, it's just the BizConnext plan was the only plan available to me on my TOT line...you may have a TOT (ADC) line that would give you other plan choices. Switched to JI-NET because the TOT 2Mb goldcyber package I was on sucked....I cancelled the TOT 2Mb plan after only 6 weeks with a 1000 baht early cancellation fee since my phone line had already been installed for basic phone service...so there was no additional cancellation fee assoicated with line installation cost which is usually around 3600 baht.

Went back to TOT 15 months later when they came out with their 4Mb package...figured I would give TOT another chance in hopes they had installed new equipment and since the TOT 4Mb price was only about 40% of the JINET 2Mb price. Even called JINET before going back to TOT to see if JINET had higher speed plans and/or would lower the price. The do have higher BizConnext speeds such as 4Mb for 2800 baht/mo but they are not listed on their web site...you must call their sales office...and they wouldn't lower their price to keep me a customer. The TOT 4Mb plan gave me consistent 3.5Mb speed within Thailand and around 1 to 1.5Mb to international sites. About a year ago TOT upgraded me to the 6Mb Jetpack plan since it was now the same price as the old 4Mb plan....I get 5.3Mb in-Thailand and around 1 to 2Mb to international sites. These different speed results are from TOT's speed test and speedtest.net. Slowest speeds are in the late afternoon/early night probably due to people getting home from work and school and using the internet. Now when using a download manager for files, I get in the 3-5Mb download speed to worldwide sites...but usually in the 3 to 4Mb speed. Up time for the 4Mb and 6Mb TOT package was/has been close to 100%, as was the JINET 2Mb plan. Here's JINET's web site: http://www.ji-net.co...exget.php?pid=1

I expect most of your problems are indeed "local" internet circuits...internet circuits serving your moobaan/immediate area. I seriously doubt upgrading to a higher speed TOT Jetpack package (if possible for your moobaan...the fastest TOT speed to my moobann is 6Mb) as the package would still be running on your same local circuits. Good luck...I know getting good internt in Thailand can be hard and frustrating. As we speak, True is stringing phone/internet lines in my moobaan...I will soon no longer be a captive audience of TOT...I'll probably be switching to True "if" they offer any speeds faster than 6Mb....I'm hoping they will offer higher speeds to my moobaan, but just having faster speed packages don't mean they are available to your moobaan. Ex: TOT has packages up to 15Mb, but only packages up to 6Mb for my moobaan...probably due to the older equipment they are using to service my area....it's not a line length issue because I'm only about 2KM from their central station/DSLAM bank for the area. Once again, good luck.

Thanks for the reply, will take a look at Jinet.

Can I ask where your located? If could get the same speeds as you would be happy. Fastest package they have for our moo baan is 12 mbs if I'm not mistaken but I'm sure you right, upgrading most likey won't make a difference.

What the worst part is, I had been in touh with True and they were ready to come and install a DSLAM that could get speeds upto 20 mbs, but after going back with the developer they were shot down cause TOT already "invested lots of money" in wiring the houses blah blah blah.

Have asked the property manager about getting True or 3BB installled because just about everyone are having problems and TOT don't really seem to be in a hurry to fix it anytime soon, so hopefully wont be stuck with them for much longer!

[Pib]

I'm in western Bangkok in a single family home type development. Regarding my mention of True installing lines as we speak and your mention of True, I can tell from the size of the one major line True is putting in they will only have approx one-third of the lines as TOT has in the moobaan. So, that tells me True don't plan and knows it won't get all of the current TOT customers in the moobaan (quite understandable and probably cost smart) so I will need to monitor the completion closely so I can get one of the lines before they all get taken.

[Supernova]

I'm in a similar situation where TRUE lines are very limited in my area (northern Bangkok). It just so happens I got my lucky break two weeks ago after trying repeatedly to get TRUE for the past 4 years without success. Now I finally have it. Best of all, the DSLAM is located only 200-300 meters from home, unlike TOT which is at least 4km away

Glad to finally get rid of TOT.

[arkom]

Thanks Pib and Supernova for you input, guess will have to keep my fingers crossed that someone other than TOT will come in soon!

[Pib]

Well, I had to call TOT for the first time since being on the 6Mb package...been on it for a little over 10 months. But on 1 and 2 Feb international speeds slowed down to only around 0.25Mb from about 2pm to 7pm, while my in-Thailand speeds stayed around 5.3Mb. Called TOT early 3 Feb and they said "everyone on TOT internet" was having this international slow down/problem. Sounds like to me their international gateway was having problems. Anyway by the afternoon of 4 Feb/yesterday my speedtest.net speeds to international sites was back to the 1 to 2Mb range....been OK today also.

The True folks are stringing their cable on my soi as I write this...they say they will be open for business in my moobaan on 13 Feb. When I looked at the inside of the cable they were stringing, I said, This ain't phone lines. It just had a large center conductor and outside shielding...the cable is about the size of a 1/2" water pipe....it was kinda like a big, black RG-6 TV cable. I asked some of the technicians installing the cable if this was just TrueVisions Cable TV...the installation supervisor spoke pretty good English...he said it was cable for TV and internet up to 100Mb, but no telephone service. I already have TrueVisions via satellite dish but I would switch to the cable version since the programming is the same, pricing the same, and I won't have rainfade anymore. Regarding internet, I know True has their really high speed packages up to 50Mb down/20Mb up, so maybe I'm going to have access up to that speed come the middle of the month. But at 5,600 baht/mo for the 50Mb package that just a too pricey for me, plus, I'm just a general user of the internet. I'll probably go for something around 10Mb down/1Mb up at 1,199 baht/mo. I keeping my fingers crossed my days of slow international web site access may soon be coming to an end...or not.

[Mosha]

Just picked myself up off the floor. Opend the bill, and the cost was at 1800 Baht. Closer inspection I'm been charged for platinum service. My 3 Mb connection meanwhile chugs along at 1.3 Mb download.

[nikster]

Just signed up for TOT since 3BB is good as useless at the moment. I figure 2 crap lines will be better than one - we'll see.

The TOT signup process was a bit of an eye opener though: First, you sign up. That takes about 30 minutes in the store with various calls made, many forms filled out, and much time spent waiting for I don't know what. Then, you don't get a line - instead, you have to wait for the call and come back to the store after. 7 days later, I get the call, back to the TOT office (let's not call it a store), and there's another 30 - 45 minute singup process, many calls, and I felt like I was the first customer that had ever signed up for TOT DSL, many phone calls, forms, copies of forms later I was finally allowed to pay and leave. Now I have to wait for them to come install ... TOT sent me a text message saying all is working now and if I have any problems I should call the head office. I was tempted to do that... "Hello? Yes, my internet's not working. Well, the modem is still in its box, and there is no line installed at the house - maybe that's the issue?"

Meanwhile, True is offering 100Mbps cable... except not where I live.

[Pib]

Wow, when I first signed up with TOT several years back on their 2Mb package, it was just going to the TOT internet sales office (their main office in Bangkok), filled out one application form, they made a copy of my passport, was then handed a modem. Went back home, hooked up the modem, and about 4 hours later the ADSL was activated and I was up and running. I already had the TOT phone line. Then I canceled after 6 weeks since the 2Mb package sucked! I switched over to JINET for about 15 months, then signed back up with TOT when they came out with their 6Mb plan....once again, one form, I was handed a modem, and since I wanted a separate line instead for this connection two days later they came out and installed the line...plugged the modem into the new line and was up and running. Just amazing how experiences can vary so widely in Thailand with internet, visa issues, etc. It seems to be the luck of the draw sometimes. Cheers.