True Internet in Chiang Mai Blown?

[Frank James]

I am hooked up to True Internet service via the shared connection in my residence hotel. It has always given good service until lately. First the Guardian website became unavailable. Then the NY Daily News (gives the headline page all right but when you try to read a story it becomes unreadable), then BBC, then RT, then Al jezeera, and a few other sites. I read somewhere else on TV that other users were having trouble lately connecting to international site via True. Is this a CM only problem, or is True international screwed up all over Thailand?

Anybody else having difficulties wit this?

[northernjohn]

My true is working good except for Thai Visa. I have trouble checking on the Thailand news site.

I suspect that they have probably over sold it in your area and the service will not improve until they up grade their equipment. All providers have been guilty of this at one time or another and different locations.

Edited March 2, 2014 by northernjohn

[hugocnx]

They've chosen the wrong name. 2day it is 'Untrue' Have very slow internet in Sansai Chiang Mai. Promises, promises.

Maybe CAT is in between, dunno. Thaivisa slow ever since they changed provider imo. To much downloads for whatever slowing site to pop up.

Might as well be government is filtering all data these days more than they used to due to demonstrations.

[HooHaa]

true is having major routing issues all over the place, its not just you, intermittently its in many places

[infernalman7]

Yep. Nation wide.

Called them and they say they're reaching the maximum bandwidth on international backbone. 2 months until they wire a new connection to USA/SG.

[narkeddiver]

I am having similar issues with True with random pages on the bbc website timing out - these pages are available via other providers such as DTAC and 3BB so the issue does appear to lie with True - I'll have a dabble with my modem and router and see if changing the DNS to Google fixes the issue

[CaptainKitty]

I bought an AIS sim activated USB key for internet in Mae Taeng and it's actually not bad. Faster than what the true care had to offer at 21mbps

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[FolkGuitar]

I'm getting 11MPS (of a promised 12MPS right now... Saturday night, 8:30) in Chiang Mai

[Stubby]

I suspect that they have probably over sold it in your area and the service will not improve until they up grade their equipment. All providers have been guilty of this at one time or another and different locations.

I had TRUE internet in CM for a few years and it was the best I've ever had in Thailand bar none. Fast, reliable, consistent. I even had free installation, and was given a free router. The only reason I left them was because they weren't in the area I moved to, so I signed up with AIS, only this time I had to pay for my Router, something like 5,500 Baht I think,

Well, this past year, the service has gotten worse and worse. It seems to be fine for the first few days of the month, but then after the first week or so, it feels like I'm pushing an old car around trying to get it started. It's actually slower than the old dialup options of yesteryear.

Time to Complain

Anyway, when I first complained, they apologized and said that they had oversubscribed and gave me some of the best times of day where the service would be at its fastest. They also said they would be upgrading their equipment shortly, and that I would see an improvement, but couldn't give me a specific time frame of when this might happen.

One Year On…

So, two weeks ago I went back to ask why my services is still slow-to-stop for about 25 days of every month. After pulling my account up on screen, they informed me that the reason my service becomes so slow is that I use all my allocated GB up within a few days, after which time my service cuts over to the slow internet, or 2G as they called it.

Well, I was curious as to how I was using up 30 GB in just a few days. My internet habits haven't changed in four years, and I don't play games or download huge files. I might watch a few YouTube videos, but certainly not 30 GB worth in a few days, or even in a month, not even close!

Oh, we've downgraded you! Didn't you know?

It was then that she corrected me, saying that I don't have 30 GB any more, I have just 4 GB. Well, my 30 GB wasn't a promotion, it was the package I bought at the time, and I hadn't changed it, and nor had my monthly bills altered. The lady explained that they no longer offer the 30 GB service, and I was downgraded in February, 2013, which explains why I've had a really poor service this past year.

When I asked why they didn't inform me in advance of this downgrade in service (though not in price), she said that they did send a message out to everyone, but seeing as my SIM card is in the Wireless Router, I wouldn't have received their message.

So, that's why my service went downhill overnight Frank, and because it's so slow, sometimes certain websites just won't open, especially those which run graphics and scripts.

Anyone experiencing a sudden drop in speed and connectivity issues (with no sign of improvement after a few days/weeks), might want to check that you are still getting the service you signed up for because I doubt it's only AIS that just pulls the plug as and when they feel fit.

Stubby

Edited March 9, 2014 by Stubby