Broadband Connectivity W/in Phuket (patong)..?

[soibangla]

hello all, greetings to the fora and was hoping some kind souls could perhaps enlighten me as to the current options for high-speed internet connectivity in Phuket, especially w/in the town of Patong? i plan on moving over for a decent stretch in the next couple of months and would like to get an idea of what my options would be for high-speed internet connectivity...

during my last visit wired DSL had become available w/in some areas, but i was never able to get much of a consensus on the performance, nor whether there were different tiers of service available (home vs. business-class, etc.)... my work requires me to have a decent modicum of connectivity most of the time, so it is a major concern to me what my options will be once there. i have heard some reports from friends about wi-fi providers offering service in the area, but i would be most likely living in a house on one of the surrounding hills so not sure if that would be an option for me or not, and i have my doubts about the performance of a heavily-shared wifi connection anyway...

can anyone tell me what my options for decent wired DSL service would be, and an idea of downstream/upstream performance and what the different price points might be, ballpark?

any insight as to what i can expect would be greatly appreciated, thx in advance all and have a wonderful day my friends..!

[lomatopo]

http://www.phuket-data-wizards.com/en/adsl.php

You can also run a search for "Phuket" in this "Internet, computers, communication, technology in Thailand" sub-forum to get a feel for the providers.

Service availability wil be based on location and proximity to the serving exchange. When looking at places ask about the fixed telephone line, if you can get the name of the provider and the number then you can usually do a service look-up on the DSL provider's website. Asking potential, future neighbors about DSL is another obvious solution.

[soibangla]

http://www.phuket-data-wizards.com/en/adsl.php

You can also run a search for "Phuket" in this "Internet, computers, communication, technology in Thailand" sub-forum to get a feel for the providers.

Service availability wil be based on location and proximity to the serving exchange. When looking at places ask about the fixed telephone line, if you can get the name of the provider and the number then you can usually do a service look-up on the DSL provider's website. Asking potential, future neighbors about DSL is another obvious solution.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thx for your quick repy lomatopo, greatly appreciated... it appears i will have to wait until i arrive to see which potential home rentals i will find myself choosing between are situated properly for ADSL servicing... on the page you referenced i noticed it seemed the fastest advertised service displayed was 512/256 speed-wise, and while that seems like slowish downstream to me it would be livable... but 256kb/s upstream i almost find a bit hard to believe, compared the the true "real world" upstream many customers see here in the states/colonies, 256kb/s up would be quite nice!

lastly, i don't suppose there are ADSL options that are geared more towards business users at higher rates? i wouldn't have any problem paying 5000bht monthly for faster and/or more stable service, as my work is totally reliant on keeping connected...

thx again for the input, and any other advice or pointers that anyone could share, cheers to all..!

[lomatopo]

I think you can always pay more money for an advertised service but without first-hand references or experience you'll have no way of knowing if the service provider can deliver on the promise. In most cases you'll still be interfaced to the same DSLAM, with the same measly E1 uplinks to the same routers as your neighbor on the inexpensive plan. Sure each port can be individually managed, and its traffic prioritized, but in the end a service disruption will affect you too.

Not sure about the uplink speeds here vs. the States. They seem equivalent as is the nature of asynchronous types (the A in ADSL stands for Asynchronous) broadband like ADSL and cable/fiber? The speeds are sort of irrelevant as these speeds are only achievable within Thailand. International internet connections are limited as you'll soon learn.

edited to add: I guess you could search for apartments with internet cafes nearby. Ask in the internet cafe if they have DSL, they probably do, so if you find a place say within 500 m, then you should be able to get DSL too.

Edited November 11, 2005 by lomatopo