Business grade internet

[brucegoniners]

Does anyone here utilize business grade internet service here in Bangkok?

I am so fed up with True and the lack of other options that I am ready to pay through the nose just to get decent service.

I'm already paying 5K baht a month and getting crap from the technical morons at True for their cable modem POS system.

AND PLEASE DO NOT GO ON AND ONE ABOUT HOW YOU LOVE YOUR CURRENT PROVIDER OR TRUE!

I am ready to explore business class service and prepared to pay for it to end this nightmare.

I need some options that are working for you that are business class, not for normal home use.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Bruce

[lomatopo]

There have been a fair number of threads on this subject over the years, but I'm too lazy to search for them right now.

My vaguest recollection was that business-oriented services have features like fixed IP.

Maybe you could share your application requirements, and the challenges you are trying to overcome?

http://www.csloxinfo.com/th/home/

http://www.ji-net.com/home/index.php

Edited December 11, 2013 by lomatopo

[brucegoniners]

There have been a fair number of threads on this subject over the years, but I'm too lazy to search for them right now.

My vaguest recollection was that business-oriented services have features like fixed IP.

Maybe you could share your application requirements, and the challenges you are trying to overcome?

http://www.csloxinfo.com/th/home/

http://www.ji-net.com/home/index.php

Sox fan, nice! Congrats on your title. The Giants are my team.

As for my requirements, I just want internet that can stream video without stopping and surf the web as fast as it does back home in the states, except when there is some kind of international connection issue, like a broken cable. I get that.

I'm currently paying True for their supposed 100 MBPS service. Unfortunately, even for local connections it doesn't even come close. I've tested this by downloading files from local and international servers, and the speed is an absolute joke.

I tried fixed ip way back when with Lox Info and it sucked. I understand that business grade internet has this feature and it's one of the things that I would no doubt need.

I watch NFL and MLB games on the net as well as have a roku hooked up. I want all to work seamlessly. Not too much to ask, since they are supposed to all run fine on 2 MBPS or more. I'm obviously not even getting that.

True keeps changing excuses. I couldn't even download mail on my Apple mail for over a month.

I've been using my iPhone as my internet device while they supposedly fix the issue. Even that works better and is more stable. This is crazy! We're in Bangkok, not the middle of the frikin desert!

Edited December 11, 2013 by Tywais
Moved reply outside of quote

[lomatopo]

I have my doubts that you'll ever be able to reliably stream even SD content from the U.S.

The bandwidth challenges in the U.S. alone are staggering, as people replace cable TV with streaming options...

Its not shocking that Netflix and YouTube generate a lot of web traffic but it is somewhat surprising to learn just how much bandwidth they consume. AllThingsD points us to a new study from broadband service company Sandvine that estimates YouTube and Netflix combine to account for just over half of all peak-hour download traffic in the United States and around 45% of all total traffic including uploads.

http://bgr.com/2013/11/11/netflix-youtube-bandwidth-consumption/

I do not believe a business-grade internet connection will ever satisfactorily address your requirements here.

Edited December 11, 2013 by lomatopo

[RichCor]

ThaiVisa thread: How to improve International Bandwidth

AIS Business unit purports to offers direct access to the International Internet Gateway, as does True, CAT, TOT and others.

Unless you can find a provider that guarantees you a fixed slice of the International Internet Gateway (IIG) connections, the future prospects for International connection is a rapidly dwindling over-consumed/over-shared commodity.

I've gone so far as to download the gateway maps looking for who has the better International Bandwidth Pipe:

Thailand International Internet Gateway Update on 11/2013

[GreenSnapper]

"reliable internet" in Thailand is as common as a "walkable footpath".

The biggest problem is not the plain bandwidth, but their internal server structure, including the censorship proxies. You shall get a fast VPN to circumvent Thai engineering as much as possible. Around 5$ per month.

[brucegoniners]

ThaiVisa thread: How to improve International Bandwidth

AIS Business unit purports to offers direct access to the International Internet Gateway, as does True, CAT, TOT and others.

Unless you can find a provider that guarantees you a fixed slice of the International Internet Gateway (IIG) connections, the future prospects for International connection is a rapidly dwindling over-consumed/over-shared commodity.

I've gone so far as to download the gateway maps looking for who has the better International Bandwidth Pipe:

Thailand International Internet Gateway Update on 11/2013

Thanks so much! This is what I need. Hopefully it will work and they'll be able to install at my address.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Tywais
removed reply outside of quote

[brucegoniners]

"reliable internet" in Thailand is as common as a "walkable footpath".

The biggest problem is not the plain bandwidth, but their internal server structure, including the censorship proxies. You shall get a fast VPN to circumvent Thai engineering as much as possible. Around 5$ per month.

I've tried different VPN's, based on the suggestions in this forum, but quite frankly, all it does is slow it down, which makes sense. How could bouncing it to another country and then back make things at all faster? It's a wives tale.

Thanks for the feedback though.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Tywais
removed reply outside of quote

[brucegoniners]

ThaiVisa thread: How to improve International Bandwidth

AIS Business unit purports to offers direct access to the International Internet Gateway, as does True, CAT, TOT and others.

Unless you can find a provider that guarantees you a fixed slice of the International Internet Gateway (IIG) connections, the future prospects for International connection is a rapidly dwindling over-consumed/over-shared commodity.

I've gone so far as to download the gateway maps looking for who has the better International Bandwidth Pipe:

Thailand International Internet Gateway Update on 11/2013

So True is supposed to be the fastest? Lovely, just lovely…

Edited December 11, 2013 by Tywais
removed reply outside of quote

[Tywais]

Be careful where you start posting when you are quoting someone as it is ending up inside their quote making it difficult to know which is theirs and which is yours. Fixed all of them for you now.

[RichCor]

"reliable internet" in Thailand is as common as a "walkable footpath".

The biggest problem is not the plain bandwidth, but their internal server structure, including the censorship proxies. You shall get a fast VPN to circumvent Thai engineering as much as possible. Around 5$ per month.

I've tried different VPN's, based on the suggestions in this forum, but quite frankly, all it does is slow it down, which makes sense. How could bouncing it to another country and then back make things at all faster? It's a wives tale.

Thanks for the feedback though.

VPNs generally have two purposes: the primary one is to create a point-to-point tunnel that places your internet connection on the same LAN as your office workers, but the tunnel is encrypted and uses the ubiquitous cables that are the public Internet. The secondary use is to FORCE your connection to use another route. "If only I was in Singapore, my connection to the US was superfast when I was there," someone would lament. So... someone got the bright idea to use a VPN service to 'virtually' force their Internet connection to actually happen from there, then pipe the connection back to Thailand.

This works for some and not for others. It really depends on your local exchange not already being overloaded by torrent terrorists or the netflix wannabe queuing up for International Bandwidth. Also, encrypting a feed that doesn't really need to be encrypted slows it down that much more. Hulu anyone?

As others have suggested, have you looked into all the Satellite TV options?

[brucegoniners]

"reliable internet" in Thailand is as common as a "walkable footpath".

The biggest problem is not the plain bandwidth, but their internal server structure, including the censorship proxies. You shall get a fast VPN to circumvent Thai engineering as much as possible. Around 5$ per month.

I've tried different VPN's, based on the suggestions in this forum, but quite frankly, all it does is slow it down, which makes sense. How could bouncing it to another country and then back make things at all faster? It's a wives tale.

Thanks for the feedback though.

VPNs generally have two purposes: the primary one is to create a point-to-point tunnel that places your internet connection on the same LAN as your office workers, but the tunnel is encrypted and uses the ubiquitous cables that are the public Internet. The secondary use is to FORCE your connection to use another route. "If only I was in Singapore, my connection to the US was superfast when I was there," someone would lament. So... someone got the bright idea to use a VPN service to 'virtually' force their Internet connection to actually happen from there, then pipe the connection back to Thailand.

This works for some and not for others. It really depends on your local exchange not already being overloaded by torrent terrorists or the netflix wannabe queuing up for International Bandwidth. Also, encrypting a feed that doesn't really need to be encrypted slows it down that much more. Hulu anyone?

As others have suggested, have you looked into all the Satellite TV options?

The things I want to see are not on satellite, such as Major League Baseball and NFL.

Anyway, this also has to do with just passable internet for surfing and downloading mail. They keep saying they're going to fix the issue, but somehow it keeps getting worse.

[Satcommlee]

You may find that your TV provider does not pay for any dedicated international bandwidth because they serve only the US..

If 50'000 THB is not out of the question then you can get dedicated international US capacity and local fibre loop (subject to survey).

Also try out some cheap VPN services hosted in US as the VPN provider may have better international connectivity than the TV provider you are trying to watch.

[RandomSand]

take a look at this:

http://www.pacnet.com/enterprise/network/global-ip-vpn/

Example of technology implementation:

[lomatopo]

The things I want to see are not on satellite, such as Major League Baseball and NFL.

Well obviously not the full-season streaming products from MLBTV and NFL GamePass, but with TrueVisions - admittedly I have cable rather than satellite but I assume you can get the same with a dish - we get five live NFL games per week plus another handful replayed on ASN, and we get an MLB game pretty much every day. Obviously you can't follow a particular favorite team but it is passable, especially as it is HD.

I'd submit that you may never be satisfied with streaming performance here, regardless of the quality of the internet connection. And local demand for int'l bandwidth will likely outstrip supply for the foreseeable future.

You will be forever doomed to watching smallish images flickering on your PC.

[brucegoniners]

take a look at this:

http://www.pacnet.com/enterprise/network/global-ip-vpn/

Example of technology implementation:

Interesting. Did the image come from pacnet or Thai-com or are they the same.

Thanks so much for doing the research. I have contacted pacnet for a quote.

If it's just a VPN then it shouldn't be an issue to pay for.

[brucegoniners]

The things I want to see are not on satellite, such as Major League Baseball and NFL.

Well obviously not the full-season streaming products from MLBTV and NFL GamePass, but with TrueVisions - admittedly I have cable rather than satellite but I assume you can get the same with a dish - we get five live NFL games per week plus another handful replayed on ASN, and we get an MLB game pretty much every day. Obviously you can't follow a particular favorite team but it is passable, especially as it is HD.

I'd submit that you may never be satisfied with streaming performance here, regardless of the quality of the internet connection. And local demand for int'l bandwidth will likely outstrip supply for the foreseeable future.

You will be forever doomed to watching smallish images flickering on your PC.

Actually I hook a computer up with my 47 inch LED TV and it looks great (when my internet is working right).

And yes, if I can't see every SF Giants and 49er game then I'm not happy, lol

I have watched some games on ASN, but it's limited to a couple games of the week and the Sunday and Monday night games pretty much, plus the playoffs.

Edited December 13, 2013 by brucegoniners

[lomatopo]

I hook a computer up with my 47 inch LED TV and it looks great

I have visited friends who have this same set-up, with CAT On-Net FTTx, 30/3, and even in the best cases it looks ghastly; there is no way it's even SD quality. Now they think it looks wonderful, and I would never suggest to them that it doesn't, but I'd rather gouge out my eyeballs than watch such poor quality. I usually make some excuse so as to avoid having to visit and watch. It was the same a few years ago when these Slingboxes were all the rage here.

You really need a solid 2 Mbps for 480p and 4.5 Mbps for 720p; I seriously doubt you'll ever get that from the U.S.

There's a lot of great reasons to live in Thailand, hundreds perhaps, but live streaming TV via the internet from the U.S. isn't one of them.

[Digitalbanana]

I watch NFL and MLB games on the net as well as have a roku hooked up. I want all to work seamlessly. Not too much to ask, since they are supposed to all run fine on 2 MBPS or more. I'm obviously not even getting that.

OK, I've generally ZERO interest in any sports out of the US, but I understand where you are coming from. Another alternative if you don't mind having your sports picked for you on Thai based channels, there are currently around 32 live sports channels (many in HD and several from US and rest from key sporting nations) broadcast at 4mbps that will run on a bog stand 590THB/month ADSL line without any buffer on Thai based web sites like ilikehd. This has reduced a lot of stress for me at least.

[brucegoniners]

I watch NFL and MLB games on the net as well as have a roku hooked up. I want all to work seamlessly. Not too much to ask, since they are supposed to all run fine on 2 MBPS or more. I'm obviously not even getting that.

OK, I've generally ZERO interest in any sports out of the US, but I understand where you are coming from. Another alternative if you don't mind having your sports picked for you on Thai based channels, there are currently around 32 live sports channels (many in HD and several from US and rest from key sporting nations) broadcast at 4mbps that will run on a bog stand 590THB/month ADSL line without any buffer on Thai based web sites like ilikehd. This has reduced a lot of stress for me at least.

Yes, I absolutely do mind. There isn't enough on ASN to satisfy me. And I have zero interest in soccer/football, sorry. 98% of it is soccer.

Also that doesn't help my overall internet situation on my other computers.

[Digitalbanana]

Yes, I absolutely do mind. There isn't enough on ASN to satisfy me. And I have zero interest in soccer/football, sorry. 98% of it is soccer.

Also that doesn't help my overall internet situation on my other computers.

I suppose your requirements are so specialized and US centric that you have no need to check this option - which I can understand.

** I have just flicked thro all 32 channels of sports offered tonight without any buffer on my 599THB ADSL line and only 10 of the 32 are showing soccer - which is normal and is less than 33%. The rest have two channels of American football, golf, tennis, basket ball, Aussie rules, rugby etc etc.

[brucegoniners]

Yes, I absolutely do mind. There isn't enough on ASN to satisfy me. And I have zero interest in soccer/football, sorry. 98% of it is soccer.

Also that doesn't help my overall internet situation on my other computers.

I suppose your requirements are so specialized and US centric that you have no need to check this option - which I can understand.

** I have just flicked thro all 32 channels of sports offered tonight without any buffer on my 599THB ADSL line and only 10 of the 32 are showing soccer - which is normal and is less than 33%. The rest have two channels of American football, golf, tennis, basket ball, Aussie rules, rugby etc etc.

LOL. OK, maybe 98% was a bit much.

Yes, they are very specialized.

But keep something in mind, most of the sports are tape delayed. Most sports fans like their sports live.

The only 2 sports I really care about are baseball and football from the US and I want them live. More specifically, I want to see my Giants and 49ers games.

But thanks for the survey.

[RandomSand]

take a look at this:

http://www.pacnet.com/enterprise/network/global-ip-vpn/

Example of technology implementation:

Interesting. Did the image come from pacnet or Thai-com or are they the same.

Thanks so much for doing the research. I have contacted pacnet for a quote.

If it's just a VPN then it shouldn't be an issue to pay for.

It would be much more expensive than a VPN. VPN still replies on the public internet whereas MPLS is like having your own dedicated fibre cable to the states (or wherever).

Another company to contact in Thailand would be these guys: http://www.proen.co.th/ They have direct data centre connections with all the Thai ISPs and also have existing relationships with global carriers*, AFAIK.

*Well seems I'm wrong about Proen carrier relationships - according to http://bgp.he.net/AS23884#_graph4 - never the less they're still worth contacting.

Another avenue would be Jasmine/3BB as they can deliver this MPLS service ref: http://www.3bb.co.th/product/product_detail.php?id=2093〈=en

Edited December 13, 2013 by RandomSand

[brucegoniners]

take a look at this:

http://www.pacnet.com/enterprise/network/global-ip-vpn/

Example of technology implementation:

Interesting. Did the image come from pacnet or Thai-com or are they the same.

Thanks so much for doing the research. I have contacted pacnet for a quote.

If it's just a VPN then it shouldn't be an issue to pay for.

It would be much more expensive than a VPN. VPN still replies on the public internet whereas MPLS is like having your own dedicated fibre cable to the states (or wherever).

Another company to contact in Thailand would be these guys: http://www.proen.co.th/ They have direct data centre connections with all the Thai ISPs and also have existing relationships with global carriers*, AFAIK.

*Well seems I'm wrong about Proen carrier relationships - according to http://bgp.he.net/AS23884#_graph4 - never the less they're still worth contacting.

Another avenue would be Jasmine/3BB as they can deliver this MPLS service ref: http://www.3bb.co.th/product/product_detail.php?id=2093〈=en

Thanks so much!

Tried 3BB, but they don't serve my area.

Not sure what you mean about Proen carrier relationships.

[RandomSand]

Sorry 'bout my bad English. I meant; ...seems I'm wrong about Proen's relationships with international internet transit carriers.

Well, it would be interesting to know what sort of quotes you receive. I hope you can update the thread with the gory details (if not subject to NDAs)

Edited December 14, 2013 by RandomSand

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think a lot of this depends on individuals' equipment and personal expectations -- and of course the local Internet conditions in the neighborhood where one lives, which can vary greatly from place to place.

My interests in streaming line up pretty well with the OP. And I too live in BKK with a nominal 15 Mbps True Online cable internet service.

Using my choice of VPN service (Invisible Browsing VPN -- U.S./Calif plan for $37 a year), I'm pretty well able to watch all of the major streaming services in SD mode without much interruption. By that, I mean, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Aereo, NFL Game Rewind, Hulu, etc.

Each of them has different bandwidth situations. But for example, NFL Game Rewind has settings that start at 400 Kbps, then 800 Kbps, then 1200 Kbps, and up to about 3 Mbps. On a 32 in LCD TV, to my eyes, all of those services stream fine -- MOST OF THE TIME.

Now admittedly, I'm not trying to view that content on a 40 or 50 inch TV. And my eyes aren't accustomed to HD content either via cable or local content. But the video quality I get via streaming isn't much less than the regular SD cable content that I can see.

Certainly, there are times when the ISP networks bog down or fail, as occurred a week or two ago when some folks knocked CAT offline for a period, or when local Internet usage is especially high, such as during the recent protests period.

But most of the time, if I can get a 500 Kbps to 1 Mbps stream on average (which admittedly bounces up and down in real time), that's enough to suffice. Most of the time, I can get that fine with True, although it does bog down more during the prime local hours of say 9 to midnight here... But that's my wife's time for watching Thai TV anyway....

Would I like better and enjoy higher bandwidth and better streaming quality? SURE... of course. But thus far, the options for getting it here seem so expensive as to not make the cost-benefit analysis a positive one, at least for me.

And as for the OP and True, I can't speak to their 100 Mbps service, though you obviously can. But at lower levels of their service plans, I and others here who've done tests and comparisons on this found very little to NO gain in U.S. bandwidth speed with their normal consumer plans when you pay extra for going from 15 to 20 to 30 or even 50 Mbps plans. You might think that by paying more for a faster rated local plan you'd get better U.S. connections, but you don't. At least, not with True and their consumer plans.

For me, gaining and having access to the content is more important than watching it at HD quality. So even if the video quality isn't always the best, as long as I can watch what I want to watch without a lot of buffering pauses, then I'm perhaps not happy...but at least content in a Thailand context.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

ThaiVisa thread: How to improve International Bandwidth

AIS Business unit purports to offers direct access to the International Internet Gateway, as does True, CAT, TOT and others.

Unless you can find a provider that guarantees you a fixed slice of the International Internet Gateway (IIG) connections, the future prospects for International connection is a rapidly dwindling over-consumed/over-shared commodity.

I've gone so far as to download the gateway maps looking for who has the better International Bandwidth Pipe:

Thailand International Internet Gateway Update on 11/2013

Thanks for posting these links above..

But as best as I can tell from reading them, the providers such as AIS and True are offering those particular international bandwidth services to local ISPs -- not to individual consumers.

Not sure how that helps the OP or any of the rest of us here.