3g slow

[IrishIvan]

Is anyone elses slow over the last couple of days?

[JamesHawkins]

If you go over the "fair use" on data download they slow it down to dial up speeds.

[IrishIvan]

If you go over the "fair use" on data download they slow it down to dial up speeds.

I use 799 baht unlimited with one 2 call Normally its crazy fast but now im resorting to pinching neighbours wifi

[hansgruber]

It's really slow on AIS the last week onwards.

[NomadJoe]

If you go over the "fair use" on data download they slow it down to dial up speeds.

I use 799 baht unlimited with one 2 call Normally its crazy fast but now im resorting to pinching neighbours wifi

Do you use an aircard or a 3G phone/tablet?

It is impossible to find an internet service package in Thailand that isn't either grossly misleading or outright false advertising (lies).

Here is what I have learned after over a year with AIS (One 2 Call) "3G" using an aircard. I also read what Woody writes in his articles at PG, as well as personal discussions with him about it, and checking out the speeds posted at his internet speed reporting page.

Firstly, it's important to know that the global IT community does not all agree on what the definition of 2G and 3G are. Thailand telecoms exploit this ambiguity and tend to apply the terms both liberally and arbitrarily when compared to other regions.

Both the the 3G aircard services available in Phuket (AIS and True) currently have data caps which are clearly spelled out by the ISP when you purchase the plan. It's the use of the term "Unlimited 3G" that is debatable. "Fair use" is something entirely different and refers to throttling and traffic shaping heavy data users.

AIS had until recently two plans, both for 1 month, which they referred to as "Unlimited 3G". One had a 3G data cap of 3 gigabytes for something like 799B and one was 5 gigabytes for something like 950B. Once you used up the data, which is easily done in a day if you stream HD video or use torrents, the speeds were then restricted to 385kbps. (dial-up is max 56kpbs, so almost 7x faster). Presumably AIS is able to get away with calling it "Unlimited 3G" because the max speed of 2G is around 200kbps.

I have found the AIS pre-data cap 3G speeds to be decent, at least until the last month or so. They were usually around 2-3Mbps. (I am using the 3.6Mbps aircard) The post-cap speed of 385kbps was also not that bad as long as you didn't need to stream HD video. The problem I have now is that the policy has changed and the post cap speed is 254kbps. This is noticeably slower and even less "3G" than before.

Now, on to the new AIS "Unlimited 3G" plans which are 1 gigabyte, 2 gigabyte and 4 gigabytes for 399B, 599B and 799B respectively. The advertised speeds of which are now "up to 42Mbps" although sales staff will tell you this is "for the future." Based on my experiences with the 7.2Mbps card, and further confirmed by Woody's speed reporting site, I guarantee you will get no more than 2-3Mbps on this 42Mbps aircard in Phuket at present. But the horrible thing, the thing which is the reason I will not longer be an AIS 3G customer, is that the post- data cap speeds have now dropped from a workable 384kbps to a painfully slow 254kbps for the 799B 4GB pkg, 128kbps for the 599B 2GB pkg, and for those that miss dial-up, a whoping 64kbps for the "Unlimited 3G" 1GB package for 399B! So now in 2 out of 3 of thier "Unlimited 3G" packages their post-cap speeds are slower than 2G and truly approaching dial-up! (International benchmark for 3G is usually 200Kbps) So now it is "Unlimited 3G" as long as you don't go over the data cap, and as long as you don't want to use it for more than one month!

Oh, I almost forget that the "unlimited" packages do allow you to use AIS's "unlimited" wifi at several wifi spots around the country, so I guess that is a way they are justifying the "unlimited" term.

True is not an option either, as their post-data cap speed is 128kbps for all of ther "Unlimited 3G" packaged.

The other way these companies are lying is by making false claims as to the top speed of their 3G networks. About four months ago I saw the new 7.2Mbps aircard was available, so I bought it. It turned out to be exactly the same speed as my old dongle, 2-3Mbps, but much less reliable. I tried in Rawai, Kata and Phuket town. Nowhere were the speeds any faster. On top of that, the new aircard drops out constantly or won't be detected by my laptop at start-up. Now they have a 42Mbps dongle out! No thanks. Once bitten twice shy.

TrueMove:

"ไม่จำกัด" means "unlimited"

42Mbps? Not a chance. 3-4 perhaps.

Edited July 21, 2013 by NomadJoe

[MichelBangkok]

NomadJoe has an excellent review and appreciation (ouch !) of the current 3G offers in this country. Thank's for summarizing the situation with such great clarity. Sadly, there is not much hope that the situation may improve given the trio-poly, yes three times a monopoly, as all three organizations are competing to keep/increase their respective market shares with their "new" offerings.

In the mean time, we will certainly monitor creative marketing strategies being implemented by each telco, but rapidly copied by the others, while pricing will not be one of the positive developments, if any. Just trying to get a clear picture of the real coverage of the three 3G networks in the country is a major undertaking. Yes, each provider produces its own mapping in beautiful colors, but it is extremely difficult, for example, to discover if you will have access to 3G or EDGE (or nothing at all) when in the Mae Rim mountains, north of Chiang Mai, unless you bring your equipment up there and give it a try. By the way, the results for this particular example were DTAC and AIS, no coverage or sometimes EDGE, and True Move some 3G, some of the times...

Very few countries are offering real unlimited 3G at full speed, their concern being network and cells capacity not being able to sustain so many simultaneous users at such speeds....for the time being !