Thipmanee/cat Continued Service Failure

[chaihot]

I've held off writing this post because I kept hoping that TMN (Thipmanee) would get their act together and fix the problems they continually have on the darkside.

As a caveat, we have NEVER had "incredible" internet. It is acceptable and considering how far out we are from downtown Pattaya, I'm pleased to have cable internet of any kind ... HOWEVER ...

For the past two months, we have experienced continual outages and stalls that at times, make the internet unusable. The first round of complaints resulted in TMN having trucks on the streets near us checking every connection on the poles. We even lost cable TV for a while. Finally, they found the bad connector and fixed it. That gave us decent internet for a short period of time.

About three to four weeks back, our internet connection was on-again off-again like a yoyo. This occurred daytime, night time, all the time. We went days without any connection at all. Slowly daytime service improved but was not back to normal. Another round of complaints and the employees told my wife that "someone" had "hacked the network" and they were trying to fix it. It is an unlikely explanation but an easy one to give.

We were also having problems with DNS. TMN/Cat uses Open-DNS servers which are not the most well respected or reliable. Half of our requests to load a page were met with OPENDNS page errors that the site was "unavailable".

For the past 7-10 days, we can't use the internet after 5-5:30pm every afternoon. IF the connection stays on, you can't get to google or yahoo search page -- much less any other site. And if you are lucky enough to get to one of those main sites, you will not be able to do anthing. For example, if you get to google, and type in a search term, you will be presented with a "cannot display the page" message. Reloads do nothing for you - because by the time you reload, you will have lost your connection.

I can see part of the problem to be a mis-behaving router somewhere on their network. When the network gets busy, it seeks alternate routing, and quite possibly, some of the routing table might be corrupt. But if that is part of the issue, someone needs to get involved and find someone to fix the problem.

On the other hand, the above wouldn't cause our network connection to disconnect and re-connect every few minutes after 5pm.

Today my wife called again. TWO DIFFERENT FEMALE PHONE ATTENDANTS couldn't find out account; couldn't repeat the address back correctly; didn't know about any problems ... but promised that "someone" would call us back. This all occurred between native Thai speakers.

It is frustrating to say the least. Do you know anyone having problems on the darkside?

[lor]

I am with TOT in Jomtien and having exactly the same problems that you describe! Internet is now unuseable.

Chris

[muratremix]

Wish you true ultra cable internet someday.

[Beardog]

Bang saray area was so bad I showed them the contract we signed. They PROVIDE high speed internet:

We keep paying for the 12 month contract. Since they were down at least 50% of the time & played hide the Salami with us I made them cancel our contract. It took 5 times going down to Cat & always the same story. BLA BLA BLA Fck you we don't care. It is apparent they have no care for their customers whatsoever.

No penalties had to be paid due to their breech of contract!

[giddyup]

I live on the dark side and have True Online internet which is pretty reliable. My next door neighbour has 3B and doesn't have any problems either, so I suggest you change providers.

[ballbreaker]

"Another round of complaints and the employees told my wife that "someone" had "hacked the network" and they were trying to fix it."

OP it might be possible. My condo building had very similar problems to yours and they found one of the condo units in building had hacked a few of the system settings. I heard mention that gateway address kept being changed. Once they discovered source that condo has been disconnected from LAN and all back to normal.

[chaihot]

I live on the dark side and have True Online internet which is pretty reliable. My next door neighbour has 3B and doesn't have any problems either, so I suggest you change providers.

Changing providers is not an option. There are no options in my area.

We also contacted TOT to find out how much it would cost to bring DSL to my street. They wouldn't even give me a price offer.

[chaihot]

As of today, internet is almost unusable. I'm lucky to get 1-2 hours per day now. I used to get most of the daytime hours - but that has deteriorated.

Every visit to my house provides me with another lie. The truth is, these people do not know what the problem is -- and that is the truly scary part of the whole equation.

Oh, and btw: I am now using DTAC GPRS because it is more reliable than TMN. And there is NO 3g signal out here otherwise I would do that. I even asked about installing tall antennas to capture 3g by eliminating line-of-site obstructions, but I was told that it still wouldn't work.

Edited February 11, 2013 by chaihot

[chaihot]

Today I sent an email:

TO: TMN CABLE INTERNET

TO: CAT PUBLIC RELATIONS

(CAT: You are receiving this email because TMN continues to blame you for these service issues and every month we pay YOU directly). Account/Contract: *****

Good Morning.

I am writing to you to complain about the service you provide for cable internet in the Mabprachan area.

For more than four months, I have been complaining about problems preventing me from using the internet.

Your staff has been to my house 6-10 times. Each time they have a different story to tell.

At first, they told me it was a problem with my equipment. But on one visit, your staff went to the street, disconnected my house and could NOT get the internet. That proved that the problem was NOT my house or my computer or my modem.

You have also changed my modems to see if that was the problem -- but that did not help.

Here is a summary of what your staff has told me on some of the visits to my house:

1. I don't know why you don't have internet. "No one else is complaining".

2. There is a part on the pole at the street that is broken. The part was ordered and as soon as it is replaced, you will have good internet.

3. We replaced the part at the street but we don't know why you don't have internet.

4. The TMN account at Cat was hacked and that is why you don't have internet. In a month when we get that fixed, you will have good internet.

5. Yes, we are getting many complaints now, mostly from Sedona housing. But this is Cat's problem; it is a problem with Cat's equipment.

6. We know that there is a problem with Cat's equipment and on January 15, 2013, they will change the bad equipment and you will have good internet.

Well, it is now February, 2013, and I still do not have internet. I am lucky if I can use the internet for more than 2 hours per day.

No one at TMN wants to do anything about this. As of right now - I have my computer connected to GSM/EDGE from DTAC, because GPRS provides better and faster service than TMN!!!

The internet service you are providing is worthless! Why can't you fix it? Why can't you find the problems with your service?

Your service has never been perfect. But it was NEVER this bad.

My wife is tired of calling and being lied to. Unfortunately she doesn't have the tenacity that is needed to make the wheel really squeaky.

We asked to speak to an owner or manager and that didn't happen. So at this point in time, we are stuck.

I can only image that someday in 2013 or beyond, TMN will stumble upon the solution and fix the problem.

And while they are doing nothing, we continue to pay TMN and CAT for internet that we can not use.

[RandomSand]

Down-town, CAT via Sophon is pretty good. I wouldn't say that CAT have any major issues... only very slight faults like DHCP server changing your IP address every 24hrs (perhaps on purpose?)

The fact is that broadband is designed to a "always-on" service. It's not uncommon in the US or EU to be connected for months on end.

If this outfit cannot even do the basics correctly; then why keep paying them ?

[chaihot]

Down-town, CAT via Sophon is pretty good. I wouldn't say that CAT have any major issues... only very slight faults like DHCP server changing your IP address every 24hrs (perhaps on purpose?)

The fact is that broadband is designed to a "always-on" service. It's not uncommon in the US or EU to be connected for months on end.

If this outfit cannot even do the basics correctly; then why keep paying them ?

If this were my only problem, I would be living in Paradise. hahahhah

But - just so you know -- the reason they bounce your IP every 24 hours is to prevent you from using home-based internet for use as a "server". It is like this in USA as well - every night at midnight, your IP is reset.

A "static" IP is one that is assigned exclusive and "permanently" to you and never changes. Providers charge more for static IP addresses.

"Dynamic" IP is one that is not assigned exclusively to you and changes "regularly". This is the service most often provided by standard broadband service.

There are simple ways around this based on what you are trying to accomplish. I'd be glad to talk about this privately if you wish to send me a pm.

[chaihot]

Status on my email:

Cat has replied that they received my complaint.

It also appears they emailed TMN to ask for more details about my complaint, because I see a copy of an email from TMN showing my address and account data.

TMN has *NOT* replied directly to me however.

So far, Cat's reply is what I expected -- I am not their customer -- TMN is their customer. But CAT is telling me in the email that they are asking questions of TMN and trying to get answers.

This is the most activity I have EVER had so MAYBE this is a positive start.

[chaihot]

I have had internet most of the day today -- which compared to the past week, is actually an improvement. This morning, it went down for a few hours, but then returned.

I sent these speed tests to CAT today ... they were made today and show what I can expect ON A GOOD DAY. One was made to a server in Thailand; and one was to the USA.

Compared to what I have experienced with this internet service, these speeds are incredible.

[RandomSand]

What speeds are u paying for, and do u have a .sc or .p login for cat ?

[chaihot]

What speeds are u paying for, and do u have a .sc or .p login for cat ?

Hi,

Login is the sc.

Service is 4m/512k. I had to look that up because I don't think I ever saw it.

[RandomSand]

I used to have that package via Sophon and found the speeds to be similar.

It was fine for a long time. Then it started to disconnect and redial all the time, I couldn't get it resolved, so cancelled the service.

After moving into a different building I ordered the .p service, which has been fine for one year, but last week I noticed the connection dropping a bit. Seems to have settled down this week.

@chaihot. Are you able to get any log files about the connection, either from a router that the TMN supplied modem might be plugged into, or from Windows if your computer is plugged directly into the TMN modem ?

[chaihot]

Just to keep anyone following this up to date.

AGAIN TMN wants to believe that the problem is inside the house. Even though their own technicians PROVED beyond a doubt that the problem was NOT in this house .... But today their story was they changed a "bad part" in the street outside my house and the speed was normal.

I asked him what normal meant and he said he was getting 4m down outside my house.

So we agree to let them show their stupidity. They were here more than 2 hours this morning. Again blaming Cat for their service; telling us we are "Cat's customer" and NOT theirs; and then telling us the problem was that we didn't have a good enough cable in the attic running to the router! So they ran a new one! I just laughed.

When they were finally done, they were trying to watch a youtube video and couldn't because it stopped and started.

So they tried to use 3bb's speedtest ... and it wouldn't load!!! And 3bb uses a THAI SERVER to test!!! When it finally loaded, I screen captured it and attached it. It is WORSE than yesterday! Yet according to him, he was getting a full 4m down just outside my gate! I guess the "bad cable" in my attic that they changed didn't give them the boost they needed.

So all three of them hang their head and leave. The "head" of the group tells my wife that they will have to go look at every connection on the street because they don't know what the problem is.

I guess they forgot that they were getting 4m down "outside my gate".

THIS is what I can't stand. They assume we are idiots -- and we will believe anything they say.

Edited February 12, 2013 by chaihot

[mistitikimikis]

DON't be annoyed: everything takes its time, they are improving and working on it Sabai sabai!

http://www.antoni-uni-photography.com/THAILAND/TECHNICAL-STUFF/Its-TRUE-Really/25827080_d4x3bW#!i=2138163006&k=Vjfcmbt&lb=1&s=A

[chaihot]

...

@chaihot. Are you able to get any log files about the connection, either from a router that the TMN supplied modem might be plugged into, or from Windows if your computer is plugged directly into the TMN modem ?

No logs ... During the day, the disconnects are rare. The service just stops responding. It is still connected but won't respond to commands or pings or tracerts.

During the evening, when the connection does drop, the router continues to attempt a reconnect. It usually reconnects quickly, but is dead (no response, no ping, etc.)

[RandomSand]

As you know; CAT provides the service but it is delivered by a local company.

However; the CAT service has to be "encapsulated" by the local company in transit.

They may or may not do this correctly.

To try make it easier for the local company's network gear to transit your comms, please do steps 1 & 2. // To find out if local company are attempting to oversell CAT service; follow step 3 and answer question.

In this order:

1. Download "TCP Optimizer" to change your Windows MTU size (maximum network packet size). Although you might have already set this, I highly advise 1200 MTU for troubleshooting.link: http://www.speedguid...t/downloads.php

2. Make the router's MTU 1200 also. (I presume this is your own router & you don't have to dial any connection in Windows ?).

3. Perhaps TMN are aggregating their purchased PPPoE sessions and delivering them over a switched network (this is a major mistake in computer networking)?

To know if this is the case:

Visit these websites and see if they all report the same IP address - pls confirm same / not same.

www.whatismyipaddress.com

www.whatismyip.com

www.123myip.co.uk

www.findwhatismyipaddress.org

www.myipnumber.com

www.whatsmyip.org

edit: Even if they report the same IP; *IF* TMN have already "locked" your router to the service then please say so.

Edited February 12, 2013 by RandomSand

[chaihot]

Four months of complaining got me nowhere. One email got CAT involved and TMN has worked on my problem ALL DAY.

According to the service person, they changed every connector from somewhere (distribution box?) to the cable running to my house. And like magic, speed went crazy.

Here are my speed tests using a THAI server and then a USA server.

You can see that my intra-Thailand bandwidth jumped to 13.02 down! Of course, I am only paying for 4, so we will see if that lasts. But this is a huge improvement.

You can also see that my international bandwidth jumped quite a bit. International bandwidth fluctuates so much that you never know what you will get - but it has improved.

They key will be to watch the connection and see if I experience any stalls or disconnects once the kids in Thailand get off school and start pounding away at the online games.

But I am impressed - we were able to get some attention on this problem finally!

RandomSand- Thanks for the advice -- I'm going to watch and if I see changes, I will give your suggestions a try.

Edited February 12, 2013 by chaihot

[chaihot]

It has been a month since my last post, and my internet is still working. <knock on wood>

There has been much talk lately about improving the international bandwidth to prevent the bottleneck that everyone experiences. But I have not seen any change.