TOT internet - what is the problem?

[richy2201]

Having had TOT internet on the darkside for a number of years now Im well used to the speeds (or lack thereof at times) and I know what my internet is capable of.

However. Recently in the past week, my internet has become intolerable. Firstly, because the speeds (i.e. normal browsing) appear to be normal and at times, believe it or not - fast, then slower, then slower then STOP....dropped connection (visual from router), a few moments later back up and repeat. In general im getting more than p**sed off at this as I've always considered myself to be one of the 'luckier' ones with a somewhat 'dependant' connection. My neighbour whom is also with TOT doesn't experience these problems and I know this as I log onto his internet at exactly the same time mine is misbehaving (i.e. on another device).

I have contacted TOT and they are saying that this is only happening to my number in the area (so am awaiting feedback from their 'engineer'). My question is has anyone experienced something similar and what would be the likely suspects (e.g water ingress at junction box? etc etc). I have done a hard reset on my router as I know 10000000% this the first thing the 'engineers' will ask me to do i.e. the easiest solution to make the problem go away for another 24hrs - but still problem persists. Would a firmware upgrade do much difference as well?

Cheers for any help

A very, very, very frustrated internet user.

[Turkleton]

Neurnplubwan, TOT, more or less crap (more than usual) since one/two weeks.

Have had time outs even to google.com.

But tired too ring their useless "service" and listen to the same old, boring bullshit like always.

Let's face it: TOT was good here on the dark side until the last ~6-9 months, but now?

[richy2201]

Neurnplubwan, TOT, more or less crap (more than usual) since one/two weeks.

Have had time outs even to google.com.

But tired too ring their useless "service" and listen to the same old, boring bullshit like always.

Let's face it: TOT was good here on the dark side until the last ~6-9 months, but now?

I hear you.....disappointed doesn't even come close.

My plan is until this is fixed is phone everyday....probably futile but a plan none the less.....

[sumrit]

I have TOT Wi-net and am experiencing the same problems. It started two weeks ago when we returned from a few days away to find we had no internet at all, connected to the modem/router but no internet connection. It took them eight days to send an engineer to fix it. After complaining on several occasions about the 'non' service, two engineers finally arrived at five in the afternoon last Tuesday. They spent about twenty minutes checking the modem and Wi-net aerial on the roof before saying everything was now OK and disappearing very quickly.

I was left with very slow and intermittent internet at that point and, although TOT promised and engineer would return, nobody has. Since Thursday the speeds have intermittently improved, sometimes to near normal, but the internet still drops out altogether every few minutes, making it almost impossible to make Skype calls because they're continually disconnecting and streaming video is a total waste of time.

Up until now I have been happy enough with TOT. We've lost internet on two previous occasions but it's been restored within a day both times. Their Wi-net system has been stable and maintained the speeds I pay for with no obvious slowing during peak times. But their customer service on this occasion has been abysmal. Their continual promises that an engineer would call me never happened and they couldn't/wouldn't give me any explanation for the unacceptable delays. The problem is their is no alternative for unlimited internet where I live at the moment.

[richy2201]

I have TOT Wi-net and am experiencing the same problems. It started two weeks ago when we returned from a few days away to find we had no internet at all, connected to the modem/router but no internet connection. It took them eight days to send an engineer to fix it. After complaining on several occasions about the 'non' service, two engineers finally arrived at five in the afternoon last Tuesday. They spent about twenty minutes checking the modem and Wi-net aerial on the roof before saying everything was now OK and disappearing very quickly.

I was left with very slow and intermittent internet at that point and, although TOT promised and engineer would return, nobody has. Since Thursday the speeds have intermittently improved, sometimes to near normal, but the internet still drops out altogether every few minutes, making it almost impossible to make Skype calls because they're continually disconnecting and streaming video is a total waste of time.

Up until now I have been happy enough with TOT. We've lost internet on two previous occasions but it's been restored within a day both times. Their Wi-net system has been stable and maintained the speeds I pay for with no obvious slowing during peak times. But their customer service on this occasion has been abysmal. Their continual promises that an engineer would call me never happened and they couldn't/wouldn't give me any explanation for the unacceptable delays. The problem is their is no alternative for unlimited internet where I live at the moment.

sorry to hear that sumrit, as I know what its like. Ive just been informed by my missus that an 'engineer' will be coming tomorrow afternoon to 'change something' on the line outside....awaiting with bated breath.

[personchester]

Neurnplubwan, TOT, more or less crap (more than usual) since one/two weeks.

Have had time outs even to google.com.

But tired too ring their useless "service" and listen to the same old, boring bullshit like always.

Let's face it: TOT was good here on the dark side until the last ~6-9 months, but now?

There is also now a new strange set up, the case is some words of normal black printing is now covered into "red colored printing" on all websites to establish new items for additional promotion, some in English language, others in Thai language.

This is entirely new, why should it occur, has anyone any knowledge of it.

[vanheusden]

I've been a TOT customer since day one. Started with TOT IPStar at 3K Baht a month. Fortunately, I was able to get a landline and shortly afterwards TOT ADSL. First few years no problem, 4mbps all the time. The last year has been trying. Dropouts all the time and no qualified field service engineers. Customer service (1100) is excellent though but there is only so much they can do.

To make a long story short, I was able to solve my problem via this website: http://www.speedguide.net/faq_in_q.php?qid=371

You have to get the line attenuation from your modem (192.168.1.1). Just enter 192.168.1.1 in your browser and the dialog window of your modem should open. Look for the line attenation value (the quality of your line) from your house to the DSLAM (TOT calls this POD or Junction Box). In my case the value was over 60dB!

Then use the SG DSL Speed Calculator, input the downstream attenuation from your modem and you'll get some very interesting info, like the exact distance from your house to the DSLAM and possible speeds.

I confronted TOT with my findings. They came to the house and could only corroborate my figures. They replaced, free of charge, the telephone line from my house to the main road, some 80 meters. After that, my line attenuation dropped to 38dB and my speed has been 6mbps ever since.

The TOT service engineers told me that Thailand is having a capacity problem. Internet cafe's are opening all over the place, social media and torrents are negatively impacting throughput. TOT are in the process of rolling out glasfiber cables in a big hurry and I am confident that in the not too distant future these problems will be over.

In spite of the current problems I like TOT. They're always eager to help but as mentioned before the quality of their field personnel leaves a lot to be desired.

Hope this helps!

[colin2]

Its an over subscribed network, using crappy and probably second hand out of date telecom materials from africa or usa or another terd world country !

And added to that , Dont forget that the kids are off school and have all got internet phones.

Edited October 14, 2013 by colin2

[BobTH]

I was having some problems a while back and also had an engineer come to the apartment. On the phone they told me that my modem was ok, also someone came and checked the line outside and said it was ok but this person did not contact me, only the office. Finally the engineer came to my room and he had a modem and we tried his and everything worked fine. He couldn't trade his for mine and I had to go turn mine in a the TOT office for a new one at no cost. I came home plugged it in and everything has been fine since. Just thought I would share my experience, really take a good look at the modem, they seem to fail after a couple of years. Good luck

[worgeordie]

I have just had TOT Fiber2U ? or whatever they call it installed 2 weeks

ago, the first week,they speeds where greatly improved over what I had

been getting, Guess what now in the second week and its gone back to

what I was getting on the old wired system,BUT i am paying more for it.

Plus when they installed the new router,a ZTE Chinese job,they must

not have put in the settings like I had with my Dlink router,as when I

did a scan at GRC there were only 2 stealth ports,and 2 open ports,

where with my settings on the Dlink all ports were stealth mode, the

instructions for the ZTE are all in Chinese,and entering ADMIN ,ADMIN

into user and password does not work, anyone out there know what

the user name and code is for the ZTE router.

regards Worgeordie

[lomatopo]

Are you able to view the modem/DSL line statistics? If so, can you post them?

Assume you have a telephone? Is that working as before? Any unusual noises on that line?

Based on the limited detail provided, especially a neighbor on TOT with no issues and no real issues until recently, my best guesses would be a cabling issue (degradation, inadvertent tampering) between your modem and the TOT POP, or a cross-connect (the result of moves/adds/changes - typically where they break out voice and data) in the POP.

People are mucking about with the cabling every day - I see many TOT street-side cabs which are supposed to be locked, open; and various workmen leaning ladders up against overhead cables and tapping into lines every day.

You could borrow your neighbor's modem and try it on your line - this would eliminate the modem as a potential issue.

Edited October 15, 2013 by lomatopo

[richy2201]

Are you able to view the modem/DSL line statistics? If so, can you post them?

Assume you have a telephone? Is that working as before? Any unusual noises on that line?

Based on the limited detail provided, especially a neighbor on TOT with no issues and no real issues until recently, my best guesses would be a cabling issue (degradation, inadvertent tampering) between your modem and the TOT POP, or a cross-connect (the result of moves/adds/changes - typically where they break out voice and data) in the POP.

People are mucking about with the cabling every day - I see many TOT street-side cabs which are supposed to be locked, open; and various workmen leaning ladders up against overhead cables and tapping into lines every day.

You could borrow your neighbor's modem and try it on your line - this would eliminate the modem as a potential issue.

Hi Lomatopo, many thanks for reply.

I do not use a landline in the house so am unfortunately unable to judge this. A previous post by a TV member was very helpful and I have seen the line attenuation to be OK...

Downstream Upstream

SNR Margin

:

8.1 22.4 db

Line Attenuation

:

33.9 20.7 db

Data Rate

:

8192 636 kbps

Max Rate

:

11328 1168 kbps

POWER

:

19.3 11.3 dbm

CRC

:

0 0

The unfortunate thing with this problem is that it is very intermittent, noting that I have had TOT for a number of years so know that this isn't 'normal' behaviour. I would strongly agree with you regarding the cable issue as everytime I drive down the soi, it seems someone has an overhead cable in their hands....I will await what the 'engineer' does today and failing any luck with the external cabling, I will look next to the modem....

Thank you again for advice!

[muratremix]

TOT has the worst possible traffic routing in Thailand (perhaps in the World).

They have large US fiber connections but I've seen my us connections routed via europe (longer route, 400 ms) several times. Funny thing is, their EU connection is limited compared to SG and USA.

Who control these TOT routers I wonder, I would like to give a medal of stupidity if I ever met one.

[wayned]

Although TOT is crap, where I live in the sticks it's the only option. They finally put in a line extender amp about 1 kilometer from my house. Two times in the last year I've experienced problems similar to yours and it ended up being water in the amplifier box causing arcing that affected the internet but not the telephone.You can access router device information by typing 192.168.1.1 into the address bar. You will get the log on page. Select skip and you should get the device information page which tells you the WAN IP addresses and also the ADSL information and status on the bottom of the page. If you are having the same problem as I had the SNR (signal to noise ratio) will either be very low or wandering all over the map. Anything below 10 indicates that you might have a problem. Look at it when the problem exists. I recorded mine for two days and when the tech finally showed up I show him and he understood as it always seemed to work perfectly the minute they drove into the front yard. It's happened twice in the last 2 months, the first time it was out 7 days the last 10 days.

If they know what they are doing they can connect a TDR (time domain reflectometer)to your line and it will tell them the status of the line (wet, shorted, open, etc) and exactly how far from your house the problem is. Mine was 924 meters from my house right at the new line extender amp.

Edited October 15, 2013 by wayned

[Turkleton]

Fibre cables are absolutely overestimated and won't improve the overall speed.

They "might" be more reliable here in TH, but that's it.

In my home country, I have a 50/10 Mbit/s VDSL line for the equivalent of 1400 Baht (free landline calls included).

The cables in our house are ~40 years old.

The whole thing is rock-stable and the speed almost always at 100%.

Here in TH, I get the following values

The values are absolutely ok, so no (technical) reason on my site for the crappy slowness.

It's just the overloaded/overbooked/overaged/old infrastructure from TOT (Thailand).

Very frustrating, since I can't see any improvement on the horizon...

EDIT: useless to say, that I tried different router/modems. All same same.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Turkleton

[lomatopo]

Are those line stats taken during a time when you've had an issue?

To me, the Downstream SNR figure is indicative of a potential problem which might result in synching issues.

How do those figures compare to your neighbor?

[Turkleton]

Agree, the 8.1 db from richy2201 are a little low and could cause disconnects or resyncs.

I had very similar line values/issues years ago and it was an old, rotten outside cable and also the long distance to the DSLAM

But even with this unsteady and unreliable line, I had always full speed when it had sucessfully synched.

Now vice verse: reliable line, but crappy low speeds

Edited October 15, 2013 by Turkleton

[wayned]

Mine when it is working good, when bad, SNR gets below 10dbm and it looses sync. Caused by water in the line extender amp box causing arcing,

status_deviceinfo.htm

[richy2201]

Thanks again for all replies.....been busy washing windows around the house today to help me ease some frustration.

G/F has just phoned TOT HQ and surprise surprise nothing was done by an 'engineer' today or if it was, there was no record of it....so the process starts again.

The internet hasn't been as bad today as previous days though it has gone down quite a few times, especially in the evening. I should have mentioned that in one of my previous posts the figures given from my router were when it was operating as 'normal'. I've tried to get figures when the internet slows but for some reason tonight the internet just drops and then starts again. I've also noticed that some TV members are saying about the SNR downstream being low, and this figure of around 8dB appears to be constant as to does the line attenuation of around 33dB (downstream).

I'm hoping as Wayned says that perhaps it is water in the 'line extender amp box' from the storms/rain but until someone comes and has a look all I can do is wait.

Thanks again for all replies, very much appreciated

[AloisAmrein]

Don't use TOT, It's the worst provider in Thailand. When I stay in Thailand, I never have a problem with the internet connection, when wife's family paid the bill, but sometimes they forget to give me the bill, and then it's switched off, but once paid the bill, it takes 2 hours and it works again. I think the company's name is AOT (or similar, reliable).

[wayned]

Don't use TOT, It's the worst provider in Thailand. When I stay in Thailand, I never have a problem with the internet connection, when wife's family paid the bill, but sometimes they forget to give me the bill, and then it's switched off, but once paid the bill, it takes 2 hours and it works again. I think the company's name is AOT (or similar, reliable).

Easy to say, but if you live in the sticks where I do TOT is the only option. They have 3BB in the town 12 kilometers away but will not offer it where I live. It certainly is better than dial up or edge card and I now get a whopping 5MB after they installed the new line extender amp closer to my house. I get good speed at my townhouse in Bangkok but moving there for a good internet connection is not an option. I'm visiting for 1 night next week because I have to go to the Embassy for some paperwork. I would revert to "carrier pigeon" before I would live there permanently!

[marcusd]

I've been a TOT customer since day one. Started with TOT IPStar at 3K Baht a month. Fortunately, I was able to get a landline and shortly afterwards TOT ADSL. First few years no problem, 4mbps all the time. The last year has been trying. Dropouts all the time and no qualified field service engineers. Customer service (1100) is excellent though but there is only so much they can do.

To make a long story short, I was able to solve my problem via this website: http://www.speedguide.net/faq_in_q.php?qid=371

You have to get the line attenuation from your modem (192.168.1.1). Just enter 192.168.1.1 in your browser and the dialog window of your modem should open. Look for the line attenation value (the quality of your line) from your house to the DSLAM (TOT calls this POD or Junction Box). In my case the value was over 60dB!

Then use the SG DSL Speed Calculator, input the downstream attenuation from your modem and you'll get some very interesting info, like the exact distance from your house to the DSLAM and possible speeds.

I confronted TOT with my findings. They came to the house and could only corroborate my figures. They replaced, free of charge, the telephone line from my house to the main road, some 80 meters. After that, my line attenuation dropped to 38dB and my speed has been 6mbps ever since.

The TOT service engineers told me that Thailand is having a capacity problem. Internet cafe's are opening all over the place, social media and torrents are negatively impacting throughput. TOT are in the process of rolling out glasfiber cables in a big hurry and I am confident that in the not too distant future these problems will be over.

In spite of the current problems I like TOT. They're always eager to help but as mentioned before the quality of their field personnel leaves a lot to be desired.

Hope this helps!

I hope this helps someone..... I too use TOT and I HAD DREADFUL speeds in Chaing Mai near Hang Dong. I was using their HOME FIBER product. AWFUL! I has 3bb before and it was faster but I needed faster internet for my VOIP and VPN to Australia. Even within Thailand it was DREADFUL! TOT told me the same thing as you Van Heusden... NOT ENOUGH CAPACITY as EVERYONE is on the internet and smartphones use the bandwidth too.

I was getting routed to USA then Austrlai and the USA was my bottleneck. Now I use the BUSINESS GRADE products and WOW its great but I pay about 8000 baht a month. There is a business product at about 3500 per month. My Latency went from 458 to 128! This is just great so it also avoids the overcapacity issues as BUSINESS goes on DIFFERENT network platforms. TOT told me that as they want to really look after business FIRST.

So if you have the need for speed go BUSINESS ... If you are paying aver 2000 baht a month check it out. It may solve your issues. If not paying then I DUNNO WOT U CAN DO. sollee

[muratremix]

Can you provide details of business tot packages?

[KunMatt]

I had a frustrating issue with TOT that has only just been resolved.

I blogged about it here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/596451-My-Tot-Internet-In-Ubon-Is-Turning-Off-At-The-Same-Time-Every-Night-For-All-Of-The-Night

In the end the only reason TOT fixed my problem is because we called the TOT local office manager to complain and it was fixed 10 minutes later.

The whole reason this dragged on for a year is because of the incompetence of the local office. Calling the the Hotline only makes them put a referral to the local tech and if he cannot or doesn't want to fix it then nothing will be done because the main customer service on the hotline do not follow up any cases to see if they have been resolved.

The problem we have now is since our connection has been fully restored it has been downgraded to 8MB when before it was 12MB and we could achieve 10MB downloads, now I can only get around 6MB. I've called the hotline a few times and they confirm the mistake but guess what? Nothing has been done to change anything. I don't know know what the local techs problem is but I would love to challenge him to a game of RoShamBo, as long as I get the first turn!

If you are getting no joy from the hotline then go to your local office and demand to speak to the manager. Not the office girl, or the person that handles the complaints because they will all lie to you and just try to make you upgrade to the fibre optic system instead of doing anything constructive to solve your issue. Talk to their boss and explain that nothing has been done to solve an ongoing issue you have complained about many times. Get his phone number and follow it up if nothing is still done.

Maybe your local office is different to mine but the Ubon office is operated by a bunch of incompetent liars who could not fix a simple fault in 1 year that their boss sorted out in 10 mins.