Please Explain 'Wifi' Internet Offered By Tot [And Other Providers]

[JDGRUEN]

I've got this WiFi connection from TOT and I've been pleased with it so far. It is a wireless connection. They put a small aerial (measures about 8 inches by 4 inches) on your house which then transmits to a local receiver. You're not connected down the telephone line or by any cable.

When I had it installed they said, for where I live, I should get about 8 MB download and 1 MB upload. I actually get between 8 and 9 MB download speeds plus the 1 MB upload and the best part is that I get that all the time. It doesn't slow down during 'busy periods' like the phone line connection does. It's great for streaming UK football and I can now stream from the better quality links, and so get better quality pictures, without any buffering. When downloading UK TV programs from P to P sites I get up to about 1 meg download and 200k upload speeds.

The only thing I have noticed is that very occasionally I lose the internet connection (my modem and the aerial supply is switched on 24-7) but I just turn the power to the aerial off and on again to reboot it and normal service is resumed.

For me, @ 890 baht pm, this is a much better system than the telephone line connection.

Yeah, Sumrit.....that's great news if it is what I think I was refering to. Can I ask you how far from the tower you are located?? I would assume that they would do a site inspection to see if the signal is good?? Hopefully it will reach the 5k to my house from their 'proposed' tower. And how is the signal during rain storms??

And yes, I should have said MB instead of MG.......sorry

The technology written about here sounds like what is sometimes called WiMAXX (but that term is misused / misapplied at times for other technology). With a WiMAXX type setup one has a transceiver radio behind a grill antenna to amplify the signal. Sometimes the transceiver is mounted in front of a reflecting dish exactly like a satellite TV receiver. This technology is line of sight to / from the more powerful transceiver at the ISP tower. The tower is connected to the Internet by relaying routers and land line or even fiber optic if available. In the USA this technology is widely used in rural areas not served by cable TV internet, or land line DSL, etc, I used this technology with a local ISP for about 7 years... It worked fine - not stellar but I was paying very little for lower bandwidth. The transceiver was a Motorola Canopy Radio and the tower was about 6 miles away.

[lomatopo]

The technology written about here sounds like what is sometimes called WiMAXX (but that term is misused / misapplied at times for other technology).

The TOT Wi-NET solution is not based on WIMAXX (nor WiMAX). It is, more or less, a proprietary P2P (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) wireless solution utilizing MIMO TDMA and equipment from UBiQUiTi Networks (AirMAX/AirOS).

I think AIS AirNET uses the same technology/equipment.

Not sure about the 3BB solution?

[hullupullo]

Can You say from picture, is this TOT Wi-Net tower or Ais AirNet? Or neither

[jaideeguy]

reporting good service and consistency since they changed my directional antennae to a new and higher transmitter and I upped the speed to 10 MB. So far, so good.

[bonobo]

From the posts here, ToT seems to be pretty good.

I looked into AIS, and on paper, it was good for me, but on the Thai-language forums, there are complaints about service. Many posters say the speed is great at first, then it degrades, and it takes three or four days for someone to fix it. It works great again, then degrades once more.

[schoolies]

Not sure if anyone still accesses this thread but I did before trying Wi-Net and found the info useful, thanks for all posters. If you fancy Wi-Net may I suggest going ISP TV afterwards via XBMC?

Get XBMC (at xbmc.org) then a free film on account (at their site). Download add ons via xbmchub.com e.g. expattv (free) 1 channel (movies and TV shows) Watch through TV connected to PC/laptop/tablet [hdmi] and away you go.

It is a hassle, a bit, to set up first but worth it in the long run. Check XBMC videos on YouTube (high view count/ most recent) for set up help.

I have recently gone Wi-Net (good, fingers crossed, so far) 10Mb/s download 0.5 Mb/s upload consistent even in evenings (may drop to 7Mb/s). This allied with XBMC gives all UK TV channels (not sky) but you can usually get these (Sky / BT etc.) via an XBMC add on called Navi-X. I watched F! Grand Prix on Sky's F1 channel (SD but OK for Free).

If you like rugby you can get Setanta sportsplus for 500 bht a month.

[schoolies]

Forgot to say to change to Wi-Net with TOT, i.e you already have a TOT ADSL line, it's free of charge. We did pay extra for more cable and an extra support pole (due to our location/ source of signal/ size of house). If you have a Wi-Fi router already they can use that and the Wi-Net filter (converts Wi-Net "radio" signal to Wi-Fi signal) is free too.

Tot have a list of contractors they farm the conversion work out too. If you can get local knowledge of who the best ones are first I would suggest that. I asked for the cable in advance to run it above the roof (suspended ceiling and down the orighinal ADSL access point) plus I got a local joiner to fix the cable neatly to the house.

The conversion chappies ran the cable along a fence line (may I suggest armoured cable covering or PVC pipes to protect cable form pesky squirrels) and put up the poles.

I had suffered with an underground ADSL line for 4 years (alien cross talk and static from associated power lines). I have Wi-Net now for a week and can recommend it so far. I know only a week! The conversion chap told me speeds will drop when more take up the Wi-Net option BUT there are independent operators coming on line and he said he can switch to one of those for me if it becomes a problem (e.g. VNet)

If you don't have a TOT line already the cost would be the cost of the pole(s) (which varies form 4 to 8 metres depending on location) we paid 750 bht for an extension to the standard 4 metre pole and 25 bht per metre for the cable. The filter? converter I am not sure of price, not much I think. A router will depend on personal price I have an old Linksys that cost 3,000 bht.

Lastly when they set it up ask them to take you through the software set up and note down all the relevant settings (or do a few screen prints). This helps if you have to reset at a later date.