Have 3Bb But Do I Also Need Tot?

[scottydel]

Hello,

37-year-old American here. I've been renting a house in Krabi for 3 months. We've got 3BB as our internet provider, and have a Wireless router/modem plugged into the phone jack of our master bedroom. 3BB has been working great for us. This morning my landlord stopped by and said TOT called him and we have a bill that is 3 months overdue, and they are going to shut off the TOT service. I was not aware we had any TOT service! The bill was only 350 baht for 3 months.

I'm kind of thinking the answer is yes, but I'm not sure. Do we need to keep TOT active in order for the 3BB to work? In America, if you have DSL modem, you have to keep a phone line active since data is transmitted over the phone lines, but if you have a cable modem, it's not necessary since the signal only uses the cable data lines. I never gave it much thought here since our 3BB worked immediately after the 3BB guys performed the installation, and I've had no problems since. I'm guessing what we have is more like DSL and will require an active phone line, since we plug the 3BB modem/router into a phone jack.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Scott

[scottydel]

Pretty sure I answered my own question here. From all I can tell by searching the internet 3BB is a DSL provider, so yes we will need to keep our TOT line open!

If anyone else can confirm this I'd still appreciate it!

-Scott

[shariq607]

Basically what i think is that since 3bb is just a internet data provider and not a voice provider you have a separate tot line just for phone and not for internet so since tot is providing you with the lines they have fixed cost of 116 baht a month whether you use it or not use you still have to pay it so cancelation of tot wont affect the service of 3bb

[Pib]

Sounds like you are one of those folks having 3BB internet service on a TOT phone line. So, basically every month you would have a 3BB internet bill and a TOT phone bill of 107 baht (this phone bill includes VAT and also assumes you make not calls that would cost around 1.5 to 3 baht per minute...or at least that is my TOT phone line cost per month here in Bangkok). See the kinda recent ThaiVisa thread where a spat between TOT and 3BB resulted in some folks losing their 3BB internet service, switching to TOT internet service, or getting a 3BB line strung to their residence.

[BB1950]

AFAIK TOT has it's lines, 3BB has it's lines. The two are not connected anymore. Your TOT bill sounds like it's for phone service only (100 baht/month+VAT).

Now shutting down the TOT line may not be that easy. You'll have to check with your landlord.

[scottydel]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like there is not a clear answer, so I've opted to pay the 107 baht a month for the past 3 months and going forward. Not sure how to tell if they are separate lines or not, but I'll ask around my living compound.

-Scott

[Pib]

Do "you" get the monthly 3BB bill directly into your mailbox? Or does the landlord get the bill? Assuming you get the bill directly, does it show a separate phone line charge? I know when I use to be on TOT internet my monthly bill broke out the phone line and internet charges separately. Now my TOT bill just shows the 107 baht phone service charge.

When they installed your 3bb DSL service did they just run a line to your house? Do you have two black phone lines running from the pole to your house? If you do, one line is probably a TOT line that has been with the house for a long time and maybe the landlord gets the bill; and the other line is the 3bb DSL line.

If it does turn out to be a two line thing with the phone bill going to the landlord then it sounds like you'll have to pay him monthly and then he pays the bill monthly. Or he needs to pass the paperbill to you to pay. Funny he said that TOT called him...this implies the phone line account is in his name....wonder what mailing address TOT is using since it sounds like the landlord is not getting the monthly bill.

Assuming you do have a 2nd DSL line leading to your house, I doubt the landlord would want to cancel the phone line as getting a phone line is some parts of the country can be hard and there is a cost in hooking back up the line if the next renter wants a hardline phone.

I expect you'll figure out the complete mystery soon. Cheers.

[trd]

I cancelled my telephone account and I have only one line, but I still have my ADSL.

I think that what's confusing is that you have a phone number from TT&T but the bill comes from TOT. You cannnot have 3bb internet on a TOT line, only from TT&T the phone provider.

When I cancelled the TT&T number I had to go to the TOT office to pay the outstanding monthly charge and then pay another visit to the TT&T office to cancel the line. Fun isn't it?

So now I have ADSL only and no monthly telephone charge.

[Deke]

I cancelled my telephone account and I have only one line, but I still have my ADSL.

I think that what's confusing is that you have a phone number from TT&T but the bill comes from TOT. You cannnot have 3bb internet on a TOT line, only from TT&T the phone provider.

When I cancelled the TT&T number I had to go to the TOT office to pay the outstanding monthly charge and then pay another visit to the TT&T office to cancel the line. Fun isn't it?

So now I have ADSL only and no monthly telephone charge.

I'm very surprised that TT&T would agree to this. It amounts to letting you use their assets (the outside plant) for free.

[trd]

TT&T used to provide ADSL. Then the company split into two. TTT (Triple T) then became the ISP and that then became 3BB with TT&T remaining as the telephone provider. Perhaps there is still a relationship which allows use of the line for internet only. It's hard work keeping up with the telco's in LOS. Look what's happening with 3G.

[personchester]

I cancelled my telephone account and I have only one line, but I still have my ADSL.

I think that what's confusing is that you have a phone number from TT&T but the bill comes from TOT. You cannnot have 3bb internet on a TOT line, only from TT&T the phone provider.

When I cancelled the TT&T number I had to go to the TOT office to pay the outstanding monthly charge and then pay another visit to the TT&T office to cancel the line. Fun isn't it?

So now I have ADSL only and no monthly telephone charge.

I'm very surprised that TT&T would agree to this. It amounts to letting you use their assets (the outside plant) for free.

Are you certain to have no monthly phone-line charge, I have TOT ADSL connection, and in addition to the monthly ADSL charge there is also the monthly 'phone line charge of 100 Bt + VAT, (107)

It could be that your phone line is restricted to the internet, and you are therefore not able to use the line for voice-mail.

to use the same phone line, both as 'internet and voice-mail' one has to connect a twin line adaptor into the phone line wall socket, thus one can run the internet, and the voice-mail at the same time, hence the monthly invoice of 100 Bt +VAT.

[trd]

I cancelled my telephone account and I have only one line, but I still have my ADSL.

I think that what's confusing is that you have a phone number from TT&T but the bill comes from TOT. You cannnot have 3bb internet on a TOT line, only from TT&T the phone provider.

When I cancelled the TT&T number I had to go to the TOT office to pay the outstanding monthly charge and then pay another visit to the TT&T office to cancel the line. Fun isn't it?

So now I have ADSL only and no monthly telephone charge.

I'm very surprised that TT&T would agree to this. It amounts to letting you use their assets (the outside plant) for free.

Are you certain to have no monthly phone-line charge, I have TOT ADSL connection, and in addition to the monthly ADSL charge there is also the monthly 'phone line charge of 100 Bt + VAT, (107)

It could be that your phone line is restricted to the internet, and you are therefore not able to use the line for voice-mail.

to use the same phone line, both as 'internet and voice-mail' one has to connect a twin line adaptor into the phone line wall socket, thus one can run the internet, and the voice-mail at the same time, hence the monthly invoice of 100 Bt +VAT.

What does a phone line have to do with voicemail? Reminds me of when I used to have a Panasonic answering machine and a fax.

Just to be absolutely clear. I had a phone line for making phone calls for about 8 years. I then subscribed to the Premier internet adsl package from TT&T (before the split into 3bb). The adsl signal came on the same line as the phone. This is normal for adsl throughout the planet. As I came to rely more and more on my mobile rather than the fixed phone, I got fed up with paying 106 baht a month for nothing, so I cancelled the phone account. Nothing else has changed. The adsl is on the same line, but if you plug in a phone there is no dialling tone anymore. If you call the number a message tells you the number is not in use. I think the twin line adaptor you mention is an adsl filter box which filters out the tones to the phone. Without it you would have audio interference from the adsl high frequency data which piggy backs on top of the voice calls. One of these filters is always included with a router.