AIS 3G one year on.

[NomadJoe]

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 the Phuket Gazette, as well as personal discussions with him about it, and checking out is website on Phuket internet speeds at CRISP.

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.

[Pib]

Seems to be a duplicate thread; here is what I posted in your other thread with the same subject: Link