ADSL in Chiang Mai

[meadish_sweetball]

I have been with TRUE cable modem for one year now, and have to say the service has been amazingly good compared to everyone else I know using Internet in Thailand. I have been getting the same international speeds as some SME ADSL packaged users in Bangkok who should be getting 2 times the speed I signed up for.

Since I am now moving out of the cable modem coverage area, I am forced to switch to ADSL, and have to admit I am not very happy about this, I would much rather stay with the old service.

The phone line at my new house is from TT&T, and there is no chance of getting a TOT phone line there - I checked and that area was 'full' already - I guess they have quotas of the market or something... not sure how that works.

So, this means the only broadband service I can get, unless I invest in a satellite dish and get IP Star, is TT&T broadband.

They charge 2350 baht for 512/256 kbps, which is more than twice as much as what I was paying with TRUE, and the TT&T connection is only half of the speed I am used to...

Anyway, I would just like to hear opinions from those of you who are using TT&T in Chiang Mai.

Is the service stable? Do you think it is good value for the money? How is their customer support... etc..?

The promotion package I am getting is called Maxnet 4 Life (because their budget package 'Maxnet 4 Home' blocks Voice over IP telephony).

Any opinions much appreciated.

[sabaijai]

Meadish, I would investigate TT&T's new MaxNet wireless system. It's cheap and works well, judging from the MaxNet wireless system a friend of mine recently installed in Chiang Kham.

Otherwise you have a choice of around a dozen other DSL service providers via TT&T. I also have TT&T line, and had them install Ji-Net, pretty good service and reasonably priced. One drawback of Ji-Net is that they have no techs based in Chiang Mai, so you have to call BKK for service, and there is no service to your home or office of course. TT&T has techs that can help you but I'd rather deal with Ji-Net directly and that's not possible. I've only had a couple of serious downs since I started with Ji-Net several months ago.

[Puwa]

i have been using tot adsl for about 7 months. the connection is erratic. it will work fine for days, then go through a period of constantly boggin down and dropping out. when the adsl signal disappears, sometimes rebooting the modem helps, sometimes rebooting the computer does the trick.

i have the 1000/256 connection for a thousand baht per month. on the positive side, i get a fast enough downstream rate to stream hi fi music from the web, but i doubt that i often get true 1000k. i can use internet telephony (skype) and am told that the outbound signal is clear.

the past couple of days have been particularly bad, especially with chat programs like msn.

service has been ok, in that when i have had problems tot sent someone out within a day or two. once rainwater had spoiled the splitter (which had been installed in an unfortunate location on the side of the house). we diagnosed the problem quickly and i went out and bought a new splitter for less than 100 baht. another time the modem configuration reset somehow. the tech who came to the house was more of a phone line guy than a software guy, but he put his colleague on the phone with me and he talked me through reconfiguring the modem on an html page. and it worked.

i think the router i purchased from tot when i bought the service is probably a piece of crap and may be contributing to the problems, but i can't say for sure--just a hunch.

i am interested in the cable service from TRUE. If it is just as fast and more reliable, i would try it (for roughly the same price).

[meadish_sweetball]

Depends where you are Puwa... the cable modem service is only available in the inner city near the moat as far as I know - I am not sure when they plan on expanding it, although there are rumours of them starting a 'wireless internet' service out towards San Kamphaeng by the beginning of next year. Not sure what type of wireless service this is though, only that it is 'high speed' - which covers just about anything faster than dialup.

You can try calling the CM office of TRUE at 053-404072 (you probably need to speak Thai for effective communication) to ask about the coverage area for cable modem.

[ChiangMaiThai]

You don't want TOT ADSL so no problem there. If you have a TT&T line go with Ji-Net or KSC or Loxinfo. I use Ji-net 512/256 10:1 and get speeds of around 150 to 200 consistently. 2700 Baht a month with VAT...

[Jumbo chilli]

I'm using tt&t, maxnet 256/128 connection and quite happy with it.

I pay 630baht(include vat) and get 25-35 kBps(download speed) it is actually slightly slower than the speed they promissed but what'd you expect when you're paying 630 a month?

J.C

[meadish_sweetball]

You don't want TOT ADSL so no problem there. If you have a TT&T line go with Ji-Net or KSC or Loxinfo. I use Ji-net 512/256 10:1 and get speeds of around 150 to 200 consistently. 2700 Baht a month with VAT...

Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread.

ChiangMaiThai: Do I need to contact both TT&T and the ISP (Ji-Net, Loxinfo, KSC) or just the ISP? Is there a waiting time that you know of - if so, approximately how long?

[ovenman]

i have been using tot adsl for about 7 months.  the connection is erratic. it will work fine for days, then go through a period of constantly boggin down and dropping out.  when the adsl signal disappears, sometimes rebooting the modem helps, sometimes rebooting the computer does the trick.

I've been using CS-Loxinfo ADSL through TT&T for the past few months and my experience with the service is about the same as this.

[meadish_sweetball]

I think I will go for my initial choice, as Jinet, Loxinfo and the other IPSs are more expensive than TT&T themselves, and I do like the idea of one-stop service. I have experienced too much of company blame-juggling in the past.

It bugs me that they all charge 2.5 times as much for half the speed though. I wonder what TRUE's secret is, being able to offer 1024/512 cable modem at 1000 baht per month?

[sabaijai]

Have you looked into TT&T's MaxNet yet? Comparable in price to True, I believe.

Also I know people on Soi 17, Nimanhemin who have True cable modem service, so I guess True does extend beyond the inner city.

[meadish_sweetball]

Yes, 'Maxnet 4 Life' is what TT&T call the promotion I am signing up for.

[lampard10]

I have just signed up with tt&t 1024 speed for 4,000 baht for my i-net cafe. I have dispensed with IP star. (see various posts)I and all my customers are very happy with the speed. It's almost instant.

[sabaijai]

I have just signed up with tt&t 1024 speed for 4,000 baht for my i-net cafe. I have dispensed with IP star. (see various posts)I and all my customers are very happy with the speed. It's almost instant.

Is that MaxNet, lampard?

[meadish_sweetball]

There are three 'promotions' available within Maxnet:

Maxnet 4 home (BitTorrent and VOiP disabled, not sure of the share ratio)

Maxnet 4 life (10:1 share ratio, medium priced)

Maxnet 4 business (2:1 share ratio, expensive)

If the TT&T prices are the same at Lamppost's as they are here, he must also have signed up for Maxnet 4 Life.

[lampard10]

There are three 'promotions' available within Maxnet:

Maxnet 4 home (BitTorrent and VOiP disabled, not sure of the share ratio)

Maxnet 4 life (10:1 share ratio, medium priced)

Maxnet 4 business (2:1 share ratio, expensive)

If the TT&T prices are the same at Lamppost's as they are here, he must also have signed up for Maxnet 4 Life.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think so.......my better half did the paperwork. The rates went up to about 21,000baht a month. Still I'm more than happy after suffering IP Star for the last three months. Why oh why did they improve it. It was perfect.

[x-pat]

I subscribed to TT&T/Hi-Net ADSL 256/512. Hi-Net is a CAT service. The connection is erratic, but outages are tolerable for me (once or twice a week, usually not longer than an hour). However, I have serious line problems and I get only 10 kByte/s on average (30kByte/s max). Probably physical. If the TT&T technicians cannot resolve this I will cancel the contract.

Cheers, X-Pat

[NaiGreg]

TT&T Maxlife 512/256 (5:1) 2350/month

Actual (measured) speeds to sites in USA average about 410/200.

Have experienced 3 outages in 3 months, none longer than an hour.

Not too shabby.

I think the shared connection ratio may be a more important indicator of line quality than [potential] bandwidth, especially during peak times. And so do the operators based on the premiums charged for a low-ratio connection.

[rholofcener]

I have been using TT&T Maxnet since August, and I am very happy with it. I have the basic service for 790b per month for 256/512 shared connection. I would consider myself a power user that uses the Internet for business uses such as VPN and Terminal server access to my offices in the US. It also works great with VOIP using Vonage. The only issue I have is when I am on the phone with my VOIP service, my Internet on my computer comes to a halt. The vonage connections uses up all of the available bandwidth. One other minor issue that I have is that the connection sometimes slows down a bit around 3:30pm-6:00pm due to this being a popular time for school kids to surf the net. No problem for me since I am working off hours. I just hope you are not in my area, so you are not sucking off of my bandwidth.

[meadish_sweetball]

I just hope you are not in my area, so you are not sucking off of my bandwidth.

If you're on or near Thanon Charoen Muang, chances are I will be!

As for the VOiP eating the bandwidth and the slowdown 15:30 - 18:00, that's more or less unavoidable I think. I experience the same trend on my present cable modem connection, probably only to a lesser degree as there are few student condos and family houses in my present area, and it seems many people go with ADSL instead of cable modem even though they are in the coverage area (which is probably quite a big mistake given the consistency and speed I have experienced for over a year with cable modem).

I think the shared connection ratio may be a more important indicator of line quality than [potential] bandwidth, especially during peak times. And so do the operators based on the premiums charged for a low-ratio connection.

I think so too - it is funny TRUE never mentioned anything about the share ratio when I signed up with them - obviously it must be quite good - so they should stress it more. The only thing they said was 70% guaranteed speed of the nominal speed domestically, and as for the international connection the salesman said 'it depends' - but it's been good. I really cannot complain.

Wonder what TT&T have in the bag.

[Lordfoul]

I have been using CATs Hi-Net (2048k) service since February of this year and for a 1000THB/Mo service it has been surprisingly good.

My BitTorrent speeds run between 45-75KBs (Occasionaly peaks at 100KBS) and it is always running.

I Use AT&T Callvantage VOIP sevice and it works Flawlessly (With No impact to my BitTorrent downloads)

FTP Transfers are very quick and Reliable

Websites load fairly quick.

I have used more expensive "Business" Dsl services from Ksc and Ji-net that didn't work as well as this line.

/sm

Edited November 27, 2005 by Lordfoul

[meadish_sweetball]

That's very interesting. 2048/1024 for only 1000 baht per month??

Where did you find this offer?

[p1p]

That's very interesting. 2048/1024 for only 1000 baht per month??

Where did you find this offer?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes - Details PLEASE!

[Lordfoul]

That's very interesting. 2048/1024 for only 1000 baht per month??

Where did you find this offer?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That was the standard package from TT&T back in February (Hi-net 2048 from CAT) . The share ratio was/is(?) something like 40:1 yet I have never experienced slow speeds .. it is possible that I am just lucky.

/sm

[solo siam]

Are people getting confused about Kbits and Kbytes here, because 30Kbytes max that the OP was talking about is 240 Kbits.

Lorfoul, your probably the first or one of the first users on your ratio, when more peopel subscirbe that should slow down quite a lot.

Seeing as 100KBs is like 1/7000th of Thailands total internet connection.

Edited November 27, 2005 by Ben@H3-Digital

[Lordfoul]

Lorfoul, your probably the first or one of the first users on your ratio, when more peopel subscirbe that should slow down quite a lot.

Seeing as 100KBs is like 1/7000th of Thailands total internet connection.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was thinking that also, but It seems strange that they wouldn't have a full load by now, I live pretty close to CMU.. not exactly out in the sticks. When I first got connected it would sometime peak near 200KB. Interestingly websites load much faster now then it did back then and overall it seems more stable.

/sm

Edited November 27, 2005 by Lordfoul

[solo siam]

Your probably sharing your node with 4 or 5 other people, rather than 40. they may well allocate nodes to certain areas and your precise area may not have that many residents who want ADSL.

Still thats a pretty good ADSL connection, you've probably slipped by the ISP's special speed reduction button.

[grrr]

I started out with CAT Hi-Net (via TT&T) over a year ago and found it terrible. There would be bursts of amazing speed, but generally long periods of painful sludge. At around 4pm (when school kids get home or to the game shops?) getting online at all became difficult. Not enough IP addresses for the 40:1 or 50:1 ratio? Anyway, I've been using Ji-Net for a while now and find it slower, expensive, but reliable...

Edited December 3, 2005 by grrr