Btv Internet Is Very Poor; Are There Better Options Near Maprachan?

[Thailaw]

We live near Maprachan and have had cable tv and internet with BTV -- cable for 5 years and internet for 2 years. The quality of the cable tv is "average" -- it usually works, but is often fuzzy. The internet service from BTV is absolutely awful!. Is is unavailable about 25% to 30% of the time. There have been times during the past year when the internet has been unavailable continuously for a week. In the evening is is terribly slow and trying to watch a short clip on Youtube is impossible. My contract is up, and I am wondering what other options there are for cable and internet in the Maprachan area. I was going to try Thipmanee Cable TV, but they only offer cable in this area and not internet. Can anyone tell me what internet/cable providers are offering service in the Maprachan/ Horseshoe Point area? Are they providing better service than BTV? I am not sure that the problem is with BTV or with the internet service provider (I assume that is TOT) that BTV is connected to. There is no reason to switch service providers if the problem is beyond BTV. But I can always go to an internet shop on Neunpleubwan and get on the internet when BTV has been out for 3 days (or more), so I assume that the fault is with them. It is hard for me to understand how any company can offer service as poor as this as remain in business -- TIT!

[hotandhumid]

Well I'm with BTV and very rarely have a problem? No interent for 3 days?? Absolute nonsense.

[candid]

Well I'm with BTV and very rarely have a problem? No interent for 3 days?? Absolute nonsense.

So you are calling a Thai Visa advanced member a liar? Bit strong, isn't it?

[hotandhumid]

Well I'm with BTV and very rarely have a problem? No interent for 3 days?? Absolute nonsense.

So you are calling a Thai Visa advanced member a liar? Bit strong, isn't it?

Ha ha ha. I'm an advanced member as well, I've got the badge too.

[Thailaw]

Well I'm with BTV and very rarely have a problem? No interent for 3 days?? Absolute nonsense.

I have described accurately my experience with BTV over the last year or more. I am not sure where you are located, or if the problems I have experienced are "system wide". I have had internet service unavailable at my house (with the cable tv working) for more than 7 days at one time. I went to the BTV office on Neunpleubwan and complained, and the lady there said yes, we have many problems in this area now. You can believe it or not, I could care less. I rate the quality of the BTV internet service very poor. Your experience my differ -- good for you. I was asking for recommendations of other internet service providers in the Maprachan area, and not for a debate on whether BTV provides good internet service -- I have already made up my mind on that. So, you made your point, now go out and play.

[monty]

Try both TOT and 3BB, both have service around the lake, but not sure they go out on the Horseshoe point road..Depends on the distance to the closest connection point (dslam). If too far they might require extra fees or simply refuse to connect.

Sent from my GT-I9001 using Thaivisa Connect App

[hotandhumid]

Well I'm with BTV and very rarely have a problem? No interent for 3 days?? Absolute nonsense.

I have described accurately my experience with BTV over the last year or more. I am not sure where you are located, or if the problems I have experienced are "system wide". I have had internet service unavailable at my house (with the cable tv working) for more than 7 days at one time. I went to the BTV office on Neunpleubwan and complained, and the lady there said yes, we have many problems in this area now. You can believe it or not, I could care less. I rate the quality of the BTV internet service very poor. Your experience my differ -- good for you. I was asking for recommendations of other internet service providers in the Maprachan area, and not for a debate on whether BTV provides good internet service -- I have already made up my mind on that. So, you made your point, now go out and play.

Have you ever heard of a company called TOT? That could be a good starting point, or are you looking for cheap?

[BIGJIMMY]

We're not far from the lake in SSCC and we're on Sophon internet, we haven't got the cable tv as well but I know we can if we want. The internet is great, very rarely any problems, nice and fast etc.

Jimmy

[Thailaw]

We're not far from the lake in SSCC and we're on Sophon internet, we haven't got the cable tv as well but I know we can if we want. The internet is great, very rarely any problems, nice and fast etc.

Jimmy

That's great, thanks. I'll check with them in the morning.

[fakename]

Im on the lake, and have TOT. Its not often down, and then only for short periods, usually when the electric is off, due to repairs or traffic accident. Some times things seem to slow down a bit, but dont know where the problem might be.

[petercool]

I can second the suggestion for Sophon Internet around Lake Mabprachan. If there is a problem, it is due to my village's frequent electrical "brown-outs" but a re-boot of the modem fixes that easily. Sophon themselves are very responsive to calls for service and have got that the same day in the past if it is their fault rather than something else.

[Mobi]

I live out by Mabprachan Lake and I've been using BTV cable and internet for two years and overall I am pretty satisfied with their service.

The TV very rarely goes off, and if it does it is only for brief periods while they are fixing the line somewhere The quality is excellent, but didn't used to be so good until I had them come and re-do the cable inside the house. It is usually old cabling (sometimes eaten by rats etc) and bad connections that are responsible for nearly all bad TV reception.

I now have four separate cable outlets in my house and reception on all of them is very good.

As far as the internet is concerned while I admit it hasn't all been plain sailing,, overall I have had a pretty good service. Yes, there have been times when the speed has been pretty bad, but as soon as I called them, it immediately improved.

Then a few months back, it got really bad over period of 2 weeks so I went in to see them and showed them a record of my download speeds. The engineers came round that day and replaced a 'box' on a pole , just over the road from my house and replaced the cable connection into my house. The speed was immediately up to 10 mbps, which is what I pay for.

Since then the speed has dropped to 5 mbps, and recently closer to 3 mbps. If it gets any slower I will go and see them again, but even 3 mbps is more than adequate for browsing, downloading software and movies, streaming U-tube etc.

I have always found the office I use on Nern Plub Wan pretty cooperative whenever i have had a problem, and of course every time they come to fix something I give them a 500 Baht tip or maybe 200 baht per person, which always helps to keep them onside.

It may be that living out at Horseshoe Point would make a difference in the service they are able to supply, but please beware this may also apply to other providers, as telephone broadband has a limited range from the nearest 'tower'. I used to live in Pong using TT&T, and it was patchy at best as we were so far from the 'base' in those days.

I also have a back-up, which I find essential here. I have unlimited AIS 3G on my phone/tablet and whenever the internet is down - even during power cuts, I can use the 3G service as a hub to run my computers. As long as I don't want to d/l too much it works fine.

So what with BTV and AIS, I have an acceptable, uninterrupted internet service - something not even everyone in the UK has, as I discovered when I visited last year.

[Thailaw]

We're not far from the lake in SSCC and we're on Sophon internet, we haven't got the cable tv as well but I know we can if we want. The internet is great, very rarely any problems, nice and fast etc.

Jimmy

That's great, thanks. I'll check with them in the morning.

I called Sophon this morning. I was told that they do not offer internet in my area, only cable tv. So, I am still looking. I may go to a month-to-month arrangement with BTV while I search for something better. I will check on 3BB tomorrow. I inquired about service from TOT about a year ago, and was told that internet was not available in this area. I'll check again.

[Mobi]

BTV use : http://speedtest.net/ to check their customers d/l & u/l speeds.

I suggest you log into this site and check your speeds over the next 24 hours or so. Your internet speed details are then stored on the site, so all you have to do is print off your record and take it in and show them.

They cannot dispute it as it is the same site they use themselves.

Faced with the evidence, they will be obliged to do something.

Anyway it's worth a try.

[Thailaw]

BTV use : http://speedtest.net/ to check their customers d/l & u/l speeds.

I suggest you log into this site and check your speeds over the next 24 hours or so. Your internet speed details are then stored on the site, so all you have to do is print off your record and take it in and show them.

They cannot dispute it as it is the same site they use themselves.

Faced with the evidence, they will be obliged to do something.

Anyway it's worth a try.

Thanks a lot for this. I will give it a try. I will do some checking further, but it doesn't look like I have many options. So improving (or trying to improve) the service I get from BTV may be the best I can hope for.