True Internet Speed

[bobroper]

For some while I have been using internet speed of 9Mbps and have had no problems with True.

With the upcoming Wimbledon tennis and England vs Italy tomorrow evening, would it be advisable to request True to increase my speed to 12Mbps? In other words, a faster internet connection to watch live programmes.

Watching live programmes in the past, I have had no problems, although having said, the occasional buffering problems.

Thanks

[dingdang]

if you upgrade, you cant downgrade anymore... a temp-upgrade isnt possible, i understand...

you can downgrade only, when the contract would renew...

[bobroper]

Understand that dingdang. It would be a permanent upgrade but that wasn't my question.

Increasing internet speed from 9Mbps to 12Mbps to watch live programmes as occasionally, I do get buffering problems.

Yes or no?

[partington]

I would say absolutely not!

The speeds quoted are within Thailand speeds. They clearly state that they will not guarantee international speeds, and many users on this forum have testified that no matter what plan they have, they never get more than 2 MBps when using out of Thailand sites.

You will just be wasting your money.

There is an international bottleneck with all Thai internet services. All you will be doing by paying extra money is increase your within Thailand speed--which is worthless.

[Pib]

Yeap, you are just paying for more "in-Thailand" speed; any increase in international speed would be minimal and nothing close to the 33% speed increase from 9Mb to 12Mb. Seems after a person gets a 10Mb or higher plan, the international speed pretty much flattens out for single-threaded operations like browsing, emailing, live video streaming, etc (i.e, a person on a 30Mb is going to get about the same international speed as a person a 10Mb).

However when using a download manager/torrent programs where multiple/stacked streams can be used then say a 33% increase in your "in-Thailand" speed is also probably going to result in a 33% higher international speed for multiple/stacked streams.

Additionally, for live video streaming all internet plans are not created equal. Say two 10Mb plans give 3Mb international speed...one plan could handle live streams just fine and the other have a ton of pausing. What's the difference? The difference is one plan is delivering a more constant/steady speed compared to a surge-slowdown/stop & go speed...while both plans would "average" out to 2Mb download speed on a speedtest only the plan delivering a constant/steady speed will stream video properly. Constant/steady speed is critical for smooth, live video streaming.

[bobroper]

Thanks for your inputs guys.

[khuncanada]

I would say absolutely not!

The speeds quoted are within Thailand speeds. They clearly state that they will not guarantee international speeds, and many users on this forum have testified that no matter what plan they have, they never get more than 2 MBps when using out of Thailand sites.

You will just be wasting your money.

There is an international bottleneck with all Thai internet services. All you will be doing by paying extra money is increase your within Thailand speed--which is worthless.

Can you tell me where I can find your "clearly state" reference and where you justify 2 Mbps?

As far I can tell... I'm paying for 16Mbps right now and I'm getting most of the speed. In or outside Thailand!

Run some bandwidth tests from all over the world yourself. I'm getting 14Mbps from Washington, Seattle, New York, UK, Europe. Torrents are much faster from my previous speed (9Mbps).

The only "bad" comment I have related to True Internet is that you have to reset the router once a week. For whatever reason, connection is dropping down to 3-4 Mbps. Resetting the router fix the problem.

[james255]

I would advise anyone who upgrade there internet in Thailand to make sure you have un_limited bandwidth

no point upgrade even to 20 mb if you bandwidth is limited ? Live stream broadcast and IPTV will eat your bandwidth ?

So make sure you request un_limited bandwidth ?

you only MAX 5MB for live stream and Full HD via IPTV Box so there is no need for 12mb it will not make the stream anu faster

your bandwidth is more important .

regards

[Pib]

I would say absolutely not!

The speeds quoted are within Thailand speeds. They clearly state that they will not guarantee international speeds, and many users on this forum have testified that no matter what plan they have, they never get more than 2 MBps when using out of Thailand sites.

You will just be wasting your money.

There is an international bottleneck with all Thai internet services. All you will be doing by paying extra money is increase your within Thailand speed--which is worthless.

Can you tell me where I can find your "clearly state" reference and where you justify 2 Mbps?

As far I can tell... I'm paying for 16Mbps right now and I'm getting most of the speed. In or outside Thailand!

Run some bandwidth tests from all over the world yourself. I'm getting 14Mbps from Washington, Seattle, New York, UK, Europe. Torrents are much faster from my previous speed (9Mbps).

The only "bad" comment I have related to True Internet is that you have to reset the router once a week. For whatever reason, connection is dropping down to 3-4 Mbps. Resetting the router fix the problem.

When you say you are getting 14Mbps to above mentioned U.S. areas, UK, and Europe, if your are referrring to getting that speed result when using speedtesters like Speedtest.net I bet your Ping time results are really low...like significantly below 50ms...which means your results are skewed/based on in-Thailand cache servers used by your ISP. That is, your Speedtest result is really coming from an in-Thailand cache server; not that far off server in farangland. I'm on a True cable/DOCSIS 20Mb plan and I can pretty much get 20Mb speedtest results and 15ms ping times to any server on Earth; unfortunately, they are bogus results....sorry, I believe in the laws of physics and the speed of light limitations. Now, when I turn on the the True proxy server in my browser setting it fixes the skewed results problem and I get international speed results in the 3 to 6Mb ballpark and ping times in the 200-300ms ballpark. Tons of posts on TV talking about skewed speedtest results, bogus faster than speed of light results, etc. Now, when talking multi-threaded operations like when using a download manager/torrent program where multiple connection can be stacked/used this can increase the download speed up to the max speed of your internet plan; but for single-threaded operations like browsing, email, live video streaming, speedtesting, etc., only one single thread is used.

[happysanook]

regardless of if there's a speed difference between 9 and 12Mbs with international sites, it's highly doubtful that the method you use to stream the games will be uploading data to you anywhere near 9Mbs, let alone 12.

[khuncanada]

I would say absolutely not!

The speeds quoted are within Thailand speeds. They clearly state that they will not guarantee international speeds, and many users on this forum have testified that no matter what plan they have, they never get more than 2 MBps when using out of Thailand sites.

You will just be wasting your money.

There is an international bottleneck with all Thai internet services. All you will be doing by paying extra money is increase your within Thailand speed--which is worthless.

Can you tell me where I can find your "clearly state" reference and where you justify 2 Mbps?

As far I can tell... I'm paying for 16Mbps right now and I'm getting most of the speed. In or outside Thailand!

Run some bandwidth tests from all over the world yourself. I'm getting 14Mbps from Washington, Seattle, New York, UK, Europe. Torrents are much faster from my previous speed (9Mbps).

The only "bad" comment I have related to True Internet is that you have to reset the router once a week. For whatever reason, connection is dropping down to 3-4 Mbps. Resetting the router fix the problem.

When you say you are getting 14Mbps to above mentioned U.S. areas, UK, and Europe, if your are referrring to getting that speed result when using speedtesters like Speedtest.net I bet your Ping time results are really low...like significantly below 50ms...which means your results are skewed/based on in-Thailand cache servers used by your ISP. That is, your Speedtest result is really coming from an in-Thailand cache server; not that far off server in farangland. I'm on a True cable/DOCSIS 20Mb plan and I can pretty much get 20Mb speedtest results and 15ms ping times to any server on Earth; unfortunately, they are bogus results....sorry, I believe in the laws of physics and the speed of light limitations. Now, when I turn on the the True proxy server in my browser setting it fixes the skewed results problem and I get international speed results in the 3 to 6Mb ballpark and ping times in the 200-300ms ballpark. Tons of posts on TV talking about skewed speedtest results, bogus faster than speed of light results, etc. Now, when talking multi-threaded operations like when using a download manager/torrent program where multiple connection can be stacked/used this can increase the download speed up to the max speed of your internet plan; but for single-threaded operations like browsing, email, live video streaming, speedtesting, etc., only one single thread is used.

I'm transferring a large file from a ftp site (in shell mode #) in Canada (speed testing) and i'm getting the right speed. My Skype technical info showed a speed increase as well. My Skype line was cutting a bit before and everything is OK now.

Are you using the Ultra hi-speed internet DOCSIS or xDSL? I'm on the 16Mbps xDSL. Maybe there are a few differences.

[Pib]

I'm on the cable/DOCSIS ultra high speed; not xDSL. When you run a speedtest.net test (or similar OOKLA-based test) to some of those international areas you mention what speeds and pings do you get? All of True user (cable or DSL) posts I've seen complain about the bogus/skewed results unless they use one of the True proxy servers...the proxy servers usually won't speed anything up real world wise but somehow they prevent the skewed speedtest results.

If your international download speeds are close to your in-Thailand download speeds and your pings in the 10-50ms ballpark those are in-Thailand cache server results (i.e., bogus speedtest results). Now when using downland managers, torrents programs, and I guess FTP programs like you are using you can get much higher speeds since multi-streaming/stacking is being used. But unfortunately, browsing, emailing, live video streaming, etc., are single threaded/stream operations. And if your Skype line was cutting a bit then your international speed must have been down to only a few Mb or less.

[khuncanada]

I'm on the cable/DOCSIS ultra high speed; not xDSL. When you run a speedtest.net test (or similar OOKLA-based test) to some of those international areas you mention what speeds and pings do you get? All of True user (cable or DSL) posts I've seen complain about the bogus/skewed results unless they use one of the True proxy servers...the proxy servers usually won't speed anything up real world wise but somehow they prevent the skewed speedtest results.

If your international download speeds are close to your in-Thailand download speeds and your pings in the 10-50ms ballpark those are in-Thailand cache server results (i.e., bogus speedtest results). Now when using downland managers, torrents programs, and I guess FTP programs like you are using you can get much higher speeds since multi-streaming/stacking is being used. But unfortunately, browsing, emailing, live video streaming, etc., are single threaded/stream operations. And if your Skype line was cutting a bit then your international speed must have been down to only a few Mb or less.

Ok it makes sense...

PING ftp.videotron.com (24.201.245.58): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 24.201.245.58: icmp_seq=0 ttl=108 time=329.707 ms

64 bytes from 24.201.245.58: icmp_seq=1 ttl=108 time=319.459 ms

PING rbc.ca (208.101.21.248): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 208.101.21.248: icmp_seq=0 ttl=43 time=261.010 ms

64 bytes from 208.101.21.248: icmp_seq=1 ttl=44 time=260.160 ms

PING www.lc.cae.com (142.39.230.31): 56 data bytes

64 bytes from 142.39.230.31: icmp_seq=0 ttl=234 time=331.979 ms

64 bytes from 142.39.230.31: icmp_seq=1 ttl=234 time=327.397 ms

[Pib]

I expect above web sites are not cached in the True's cache servers and the site was actually accessed; therefore, the ping times using the ping command are real world (i.e., not faster than light). Rather than using the Ping command, what ping times do you get when using speedtest.net to cities close to your above servers/sites. If it's a low ping time (i.e., say the 10-50ms ballpark) compared to the real world ping time of 200-300ms to farangland like you got with the ping command for your sites, then you are getting skewed/bogus speedtest results due to in-Thailand/regional cache servers. There have been so many speedtests run (probably thousands run daily in Thailand along) I expect every speedtest server has many cached results in True's cache servers.

Cached servers are definitely a good thing to speed up web site browsing and delivery of other content like Youtube video and other files (i.e., static content files), but for live, streaming content they really can't help speed things up...and like we discussed cache servers can easily skew speedtesters results like Speedtest.net....the results make it look like the server you are connecting to is just across the soi download speed and ping time wise...when in fact, you are probably just connecting to a True cache server in Bangkok. I expect all the ISPs use cache servers, but I will say when I was on TOT I never got skewed speedtester results....don't know if they just don't use cache servers or don't game their cache servers to give bogus type speedtester results.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Re the OP's question above, Pib's advice is pretty much right on, as regards to Thailand internet speeds and video streaming. We've done past tests on this with True's cable and DSL services. And using those, switching to a higher speed/more expensive plan appeared to have negligible benefit on international single-stream data speeds.

High speed, more expensive plans may yield benefits for some international data networks like Itunes and YouTube and others where those networks use local or regional CDNs (content delivery networks) or similar local arrangements that can take advantage of those plans' higher, INSIDE THAILAND data rates. And the same for multi-threaded downloading.

But for live point-to-point video streaming where the content is truly originating from the U.S. or Europe and no specialized international networking is involved, we haven't been able to find any benefit from True's higher rated speed, higher cost cable and DSL plans.

Edited June 26, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Pib]

Big Yeap to what TallGuyJohninBKK said.

I'm very happy with my True cable/DOCSIS 20Mb/2Mb plan (which is now a 21Mb/2Mb plan) but when it comes to most international speeds a 10Mb plan (or a 30Mb or higher plan) basically provides the same international speed for single-threaded operations like browsing, video streaming, etc. Why? Because Thai ISPs apparently throttle/limit international bandwidth because it costs them money...bandwidth ain't free. But to some closer regional sites like Singapore where a lot of companies host/mirror their content a 20Mb plan will mostly like beat out a 10Mb plan due to a more direct connection between Bangkok and Singapore...but beat it enough to really notice an increase in browsing speed?...probably very little. And just to repeat, higher speed plans can definitely beat-out lower speed plans when using download managers/torrent programs/etc., which are using multiple threads/streams.

[partington]

I would say absolutely not!

The speeds quoted are within Thailand speeds. They clearly state that they will not guarantee international speeds, and many users on this forum have testified that no matter what plan they have, they never get more than 2 MBps when using out of Thailand sites.

You will just be wasting your money.

There is an international bottleneck with all Thai internet services. All you will be doing by paying extra money is increase your within Thailand speed--which is worthless.

Can you tell me where I can find your "clearly state" reference and where you justify 2 Mbps?

As far I can tell... I'm paying for 16Mbps right now and I'm getting most of the speed. In or outside Thailand!

Run some bandwidth tests from all over the world yourself. I'm getting 14Mbps from Washington, Seattle, New York, UK, Europe. Torrents are much faster from my previous speed (9Mbps).

The only "bad" comment I have related to True Internet is that you have to reset the router once a week. For whatever reason, connection is dropping down to 3-4 Mbps. Resetting the router fix the problem.

Pib already answered this better than I could, so I won't bother.

If you want a clear statement about international speeds call True and ask them why you aren't getting 10Mbps streaming from the US and see what they tell you....

cheers

Edited June 28, 2012 by partington

[GreenSnapper]

If you want a clear statement about international speeds call True and ask them why you aren't getting 10Mbps streaming from the US and see what they tell you....

cheers

There is an official statement by True which was posted a while ago:

Internet is for Thai, not for Farang!

[MaxLee]

Internet is slow as hell now...

[Pib]

If you want a clear statement about international speeds call True and ask them why you aren't getting 10Mbps streaming from the US and see what they tell you....

cheers

There is an official statement by True which was posted a while ago:

Internet is for Thai, not for Farang!

Doubtful. But once a link to this True official statement is provided I will believe it.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Pib

[GreenSnapper]

If you want a clear statement about international speeds call True and ask them why you aren't getting 10Mbps streaming from the US and see what they tell you....

cheers

There is an official statement by True which was posted a while ago:

Internet is for Thai, not for Farang!

Doubtful. But once a link to this True official statement is provided I will believe it.

Was posted a while ago, and I have absolutely no doubts that someone got this answer when he asked "why is it so slow?". This is Thailand btw.

But good news: for the first time in 10 days or so, browsing with a True ADSL line is fast again since this morning.