Cat My3G Not The Same As Truemove H! What A Sham!

[DavidMavec]

Hello:

I was told by the CAT store I would be getting the same speeds with Cat my3G as I do with TrueMove H 3g since they use the same towers but this is not the case at all.

I have been doing speedtests all over northern Thailand with two iphones side by side, one that has Cat my3G and the other that has TrueMove H and consistently the TrueMove H gives me much faster speeds. Sometimes the difference is double the speed, sometimes it is up to five times faster.

[lomatopo]

TrueMove H is an MVNO (reseller) of CAT's 850 MHz 3G service. TrueMove H cannot (currently) use every CAT base-station. At some point in the network, perhaps as close as the nearest base-station, CAT 3G and TrueMvove H traffic (voice, data, text, signalling, etc.) gets separated and 'travels' different paths (routes). The fact that you are getting different results is perhaps not at all surprising.

[DavidMavec]

TrueMove H is an MVNO (reseller) of CAT's 850 MHz 3G service. TrueMove H cannot (currently) use every CAT base-station. At some point in the network, perhaps as close as the nearest base-station, CAT 3G and TrueMvove H traffic (voice, data, text, signalling, etc.) gets separated and 'travels' different paths (routes). The fact that you are getting different results is perhaps not at all surprising.

I am consistently getting much slower speeds with the CAT sim card than the True sim card in many, many places in northern Thailand and Chiang Mai. It is not an issue with the phones either because I have switched the sim card many times.

[lomatopo]

Understood.

Just to re-state: Your speedtest 'traffic' is getting routed via different paths, one path for TrueMove H and another, different path for CAT My by.

Maybe if you do a tracerte you'll have a better understanding of what may be happening?

Other than speedtests, how is the actual performance for you? What applications are you running?

[DavidMavec]

How would I go about doing a tracerte with my iPhones?

The result with CAT is rather dismal when compared with TrueMoveH. I do things like load webpages, stream video on YouTube, make VOIP phone calls, listen to streaming audio, and download documents. I noticed quite slow speeds when I switched from TrueMoveH to CAT which was what prompted me to do the tests...

[lomatopo]

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nice-trace-traceroute/id322722672?mt=8

Assume there are others? Or tether and use (borrow) a PC?

Not sure what to say except that maybe best to use TrueMove H?

[DavidMavec]

Thanks, I wanted to warn others about this because I think many of us are under the mistaken understanding that CAT 3G service will get the same speed as True Move H but it is not the case.

[monty]

AFAIK they only share the 3G part.

The actual connection to the www is unique for both, True has its own international gateway, so thats what True-H users get routed through.

True's IIG has many connections to the outside world, including some through CAT but many others as well.

[DavidMavec]

AFAIK they only share the 3G part.

The actual connection to the www is unique for both, True has its own international gateway, so thats what True-H users get routed through.

True's IIG has many connections to the outside world, including some through CAT but many others as well.

I See. I was under the mistaken impression that because CAT uses True's architecture the speed would be the same. But typically I will get 0.05-0.7 mbits with CAT while the same location/time I get 2.5 mbits with True. The workers at the CAT shop confirmed the speed would be the same but it is not the case.

CAT does not offer postpay so if I want to keep the same number I need to wait at least three months before I switch to True :-(.

[nikster]

Interesting, but not surprising. I don't think it's a sham, it's more like CAT really doesn't give a hoot, and their employees are clueless. I'd never expect them to know anything about their 3G speed compared to True.

I went to the CAT shop at Central Airport once to ask for DSL. "No have". What do you mean, I know you offer DSL?! Turns out that they were not able to sell any new DSL lines because they were "waiting for new promotions" from the head office in BKK. The old promotions had expired and couldn't be sold anymore. The new promotions hadn't yet arrived. So logically, sales were stopped.

[bobl]

Fwiw I have no problem with my Cat line. In fact I switched from True-H to Cat. My speeds when I'm 'in-bundle' (which 4GB usually only lasts for a few days a month) is excellent.

This might be a stupid question but are you sure you didn't bust your xxGB limit on your Cat line and get throttled? I mentioned I switched from True-H to Cat for that very reason. Cat's "FUP" is still 384kbps - and it works and is very useable. True-H's isn't.

You mention in your speed tests you get 2.5Mbps. You do realise at that speed, you will bust a 1GB allowance in < 1 hour? In any case if you're a heavy user you will not be happy with True-H's FUP.

Anyway, if there's one thing I've learned in Th telecoms, YMMV. Get whatever works in your area - just don't expect the same results if you go 1km in any direction.

[DavidMavec]

Fwiw I have no problem with my Cat line. In fact I switched from True-H to Cat. My speeds when I'm 'in-bundle' (which 4GB usually only lasts for a few days a month) is excellent.

This might be a stupid question but are you sure you didn't bust your xxGB limit on your Cat line and get throttled? I mentioned I switched from True-H to Cat for that very reason. Cat's "FUP" is still 384kbps - and it works and is very useable. True-H's isn't.

You mention in your speed tests you get 2.5Mbps. You do realise at that speed, you will bust a 1GB allowance in < 1 hour? In any case if you're a heavy user you will not be happy with True-H's FUP.

Anyway, if there's one thing I've learned in Th telecoms, YMMV. Get whatever works in your area - just don't expect the same results if you go 1km in any direction.

No I did not go over the FUP. As I mentioned I have tested the CAT my 3g service all over northern Thailand at the same time as testing True Move H, basically on the road from Chiang Mai to Mae Sai as well as all over Chiang Mai. I did perhaps 30 different tests in different locations. I am not just referring to speedtests but real time usage such as downloading files, streaming videos, etc. In almost all cases True Move H is significantly faster than CAT, in some places 5x faster.

In my experience so far in these areas CAT my 3g service is generally about 0.5-0.6 mbit, sometimes as fast as 0.9. Sure, it's usable for some things but it is not comparable to True Move's H speed.

The reason I got the CAT service was because of what you mentioned, that after you go over the FUP the speed lowers down to 384kbit, not 128kbit. But before reaching that speed you are not much over 384kbit (I have the 5 GB plan). So it's a tradeoff, not what I was expecting. Also with True you have unlimited use of their wifi hotspots which are in many places.

David

[lomatopo]

A lot of people have replaced their CAT CDMA service with CAT My by (post-paid, 4 GB/384 Kbps FuP). I honestly haven't seen a lot of these folks complaining about performance but maybe I've missed those threads?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/525288-cat-my-3g-service/

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22my+by+CAT%22+site%3Athaivisa.com&aq=f&oq=%22my+by+CAT%22+site%3Athaivisa.com&aqs=chrome.0.57.8455&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Assuming you've got the phones properly configured, the primary difference might be backhaul capacity off the serving base-station and into the True and CAT intranets? It might be that CAT's backhaul, at least off some base-stations is constrained, limited (like perhaps a single E1 uplink) or data traffic is getting a lower priority over muxed voice. I sort of thought TrueMove H and CAT shared backhaul at least back into primary provincial/regional nodes?

Traceroutes, pings, speedtests, etc. to identical sites might yield additional information?

Are you pre-paid on TrueMove H? Which plan? And on My by CAT, I assume you are on the post-paid 4 GB plan?

Do you make/receive voice calls on both networks/phones?

TOT does also offer 3G services on 2100 MHz, both directly and through resellers/MVNOs.

Edited March 7, 2013 by lomatopo

[Gary A]

I have no idea why but I can tell that he is correct about Truemove-H being a little faster. Both are nothing to shout about unless you're shouting is about how miserable both are. Using the SIM cards in the same MiFi plugged into the same computer does give different speeds.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Gary A

[DavidMavec]

A lot of people have replaced their CAT CDMA service with CAT My by (post-paid, 4 GB/384 Kbps FuP). I honestly haven't seen a lot of these folks complaining about performance but maybe I've missed those threads?

I am a former user of the CAT CDMA MIFI and was quite satisfied. I had it for a year and a half and the uptime and stability was excellent. I would generally get significantly faster speeds with the MiFi, from 1-2.5 mbits and the great thing is that it was unlimited. It was my main Internet connection for six months when I was living on Koh Panghan and I was quite satisfied. The CAT my 3g service is significantly slower in my opinion and as mentioned slows down to 384kbits after the FUP speed is usedup.

To answer your questions I'm on the post-paid 5GB plan for CAT and for True Move H 2 GB prepaid but I am not sure why this should matter.

I have made and received voice calls on both networks and no problems there.

When I say "sham" I am referring to the fact that many people believe CAT my 3G service will yield the same speeds as True Move H since they use the same towers but this is not the case at all.

[DavidMavec]

I have no idea why but I can tell that he is correct about Truemove-H being a little faster. Both are nothing to shout about unless you're shouting is about how miserable both are. Using the SIM cards in the same MiFi plugged into the same computer does give different speeds.

I thought True Move H speed was pretty good given the fact that I could watch streaming live TV with few delays, watch YouTube, make clear VOIP phone calls, and download files at about 200-300 KB per sec.The issue was the slowdown to 128kbits once the FUP quote is used up.

[4evermaat]

I have no idea why but I can tell that he is correct about Truemove-H being a little faster. Both are nothing to shout about unless you're shouting is about how miserable both are. Using the SIM cards in the same MiFi plugged into the same computer does give different speeds.

I thought True Move H speed was pretty good given the fact that I could watch streaming live TV with few delays, watch YouTube, make clear VOIP phone calls, and download files at about 200-300 KB per sec.The issue was the slowdown to 128kbits once the FUP quote is used up.

I was one of the early pioneers of the MyByCat and True-H services in Chumphon. I can say from previous experience that it was the other way around (True H was much more throttled than MyByCat), especially in the post-FUP/FUL speeds. There were times I would get up to 18Mbps.download speed on My Cat; unheard of with True-H.

It could be reversed now; I have no idea. MyCat still works fine where I am in Chumphon, near the town.

I think ultimately, they randomize the throttling. You never know who is going to throttle their speeds in what region.

Edited March 8, 2013 by 4evermaat

[DavidMavec]

The weird thing I have noticed now too is after around 1 AM the speed goes up to around 6 mbits! If only it were faster during the day...

[DavidMavec]

I'm happy to say that it seems CAT has done something to make the speed a bit faster. It's still not ideal but at least in Chiang Mai I am now usually getting 1.2-1.5 mbits per second instead of 700 kbits... not great but that's an improvement at least.