3BB FTTx fiber optic Bangkok

[AJBangkok]

3bb has a promotion on fiber optic to the home 30/3 mb for 1200 baht per month and 50/10 mb for 2500 baht per month. I currently use true adsl and I have a 13 mb package for 1200 per month. I am lucky to get 2-4mb on a good day. Even though I live in downtown Bangkok my building isn't connected to true's higher spec services. We are on a waiting list, and true dont have the budget to run a cable and install a box in the basement of my condo. So they say...

In any event I was wondering if anyone in bkk has this 3bb fiber optic and how is the quality. I would be happy to get 5-6 mb on international and I am more concerned about signal drops and outages as true never really has these. Also can i/ should I buy my own gpon gateway and router or is the 3bb equipment that they will charge me for anyway decent kit.

I understand as a foreigner I will be asked to pay a year in advance and I'm ok with that.

[arkom]

In using 3BB fiber and very happy, I had TOT and True before and I can say that speeds are much faster and seems more stable. I have not problems streaming Netflix on HD quality without lag. Currently I have been trying the 50/10 mb for about a month at 2500 a month, honestly can't really tell the difference between the 30/3 mb package and most likely will go back to the 30/3 package.

[keeniau96]

A good friend living 2 km from me in Phuket is getting that 3bb 30/3 mb FO service installed today. Currently I am using TOT AirNet which is generally OK but am just waiting to get actual usage report from my friend. Sounds very good, 1200 baht/mo and free install.

[robblok]

I am on this plan, the router the give is real bad, i got an other router behind it and the one they supply in bridge mode. Because of the fiber optic connection this is the only way. You cant replace it that just is not available. The router they supply has its problems at times its not nice but i can live with it.

Speeds can be good for downloading but I had a period it was bad and recently loads of disconnects but they solved that. It is better as what I had before but its not perfect. They do throttle your speed for downloading after 17.00 till midnight i think (only after you downloaded a few Gb)

[AJBangkok]

Thanks for the answers people. I visited 3bb at central world today and unfortunately they can't bring the fiber optic line to my condo. The say the nearest connection point is 500 meters away so it's too far. I offered to pay for it but still no. They did offer me the 16gb adsl connection but I will wait until my condo renovations are finished before deciding.

The people at 3bb were very helpful and even suggested that if my condo was an older building then it may be the internal phone lines that are the problem so it may not make a difference if I change from true to 3bb.

On another thread a poster recommended getting 2 different providers and using a multiplex ( or something) router to speed things up so I'll look into that as well. I don't mind the cost , I just want reasonably fast and reliable internet. I find it quite frustrating as I live smack bang in downtown Bangkok and I can't get as good internet as my place in phuket which is way outside if the major population centers of the island.

[robblok]

Thanks for the answers people. I visited 3bb at central world today and unfortunately they can't bring the fiber optic line to my condo. The say the nearest connection point is 500 meters away so it's too far. I offered to pay for it but still no. They did offer me the 16gb adsl connection but I will wait until my condo renovations are finished before deciding.

The people at 3bb were very helpful and even suggested that if my condo was an older building then it may be the internal phone lines that are the problem so it may not make a difference if I change from true to 3bb.

On another thread a poster recommended getting 2 different providers and using a multiplex ( or something) router to speed things up so I'll look into that as well. I don't mind the cost , I just want reasonably fast and reliable internet. I find it quite frustrating as I live smack bang in downtown Bangkok and I can't get as good internet as my place in phuket which is way outside if the major population centers of the island.

yes there are routers called load balancing routers you hook them up to two providers and it makes sure you get the best speeds. It is an other option.

[arkom]

Thanks for the answers people. I visited 3bb at central world today and unfortunately they can't bring the fiber optic line to my condo. The say the nearest connection point is 500 meters away so it's too far. I offered to pay for it but still no. They did offer me the 16gb adsl connection but I will wait until my condo renovations are finished before deciding.

The people at 3bb were very helpful and even suggested that if my condo was an older building then it may be the internal phone lines that are the problem so it may not make a difference if I change from true to 3bb.

On another thread a poster recommended getting 2 different providers and using a multiplex ( or something) router to speed things up so I'll look into that as well. I don't mind the cost , I just want reasonably fast and reliable internet. I find it quite frustrating as I live smack bang in downtown Bangkok and I can't get as good internet as my place in phuket which is way outside if the major population centers of the island.

I was told by 3BB that for fiber, the maximum distance from the connection point is 500 meters so you should be ok. I would ask them to send a technician to your condo to visually check. My house is a little over 500 meters from the connection point and they installed my fiber after they sent a technician to check and told me they can do it.

[AJBangkok]

Thx Arkom, I will check both the balancing router and have another shot at getting fiber optic. I did spend about an hour with the 3bb people and they did genuinely want to help me. They made 3 or 4 calls to the technical people while I was there as well as a call to my condo office to verify done information.

[yankee99]

Can you update the thread also what were the installation costs?

[AJBangkok]

I wasn't able to get it installed as the node was too far from my condo. I spoke with someone from true and they confirmed that my condo. Building is on a waiting list to get fiber optic cable so I will probably have to wait for that

[crabdog]

A load balancing router will NOT improve your internet speeds. This is a common misconception.

"Load-balancing routers do NOT bond multiple Internet connections together, like ADSL bonding (which can better transform slow broadband connections)."

http://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/what-is-adsl-load-balancing

[yankee99]

I wasn't able to get it installed as the node was too far from my condo. I spoke with someone from true and they confirmed that my condo. Building is on a waiting list to get fiber optic cable so I will probably have to wait for that

Is true offering fiber now?

[innerspace]

A load balancing router will NOT improve your internet speeds. This is a common misconception.

"Load-balancing routers do NOT bond multiple Internet connections together, like ADSL bonding (which can better transform slow broadband connections)."

http://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/what-is-adsl-load-balancing

Err...what muppet wrote that link you posted?

Load balancing routers CAN speed up in exactly the same way as bonding multiple adsl lines.

What the author of that abomination of an article keeps refering to as a load balancing router is actually a failover router. Completely different things and that article missed the mark by a few million miles.

Load balancing routers can sometimes do failover too and are a step up from failover. But not the same. Dual wan or multi wan occasionally refers to load balancing but is often meaning failover. Dual wan is ambiguous, load balancing not. Load balancing uses multiple connections simultaneously.

So back to OP, load balancing routers can improve your speed beyond that of a single connection but there are complications too (eg. SSL). But cheap load balancers barely work, good ones cost big bucks.

[lomatopo]

We have ~ 7 (I've been away for 2 weeks) customers on 3BB FTTx in metro-Bangkok (suburbs, a couple are just over the line in Samut Prakan/Bang Phli), one is on 50/10, the rest on 30/3.

There were a few issues early on with Loss of Signal, but everything has been fine since. 3BB have excellent technicians in my experience. The Huawei CPE (I can't recall the model number exactly, maybe HG8245?) seems to have some issues on the WiFi side, but nothing drastic. 3BB are getting soem newer modems but we have not yet got our hands on one.

I wouldn't expect too much on the int'l bandwidth side unless you subscribe to the business service. Intra-Thailand bandwidth is far outstripping int'l bandwidth.

[Digitalbanana]

OP wrote;

>I currently use true adsl and I have a 13 mb package for 1200 per month. I am lucky to get 2-4mb on a good day

I would contact True if you want to stay with them, as they told me they don't offer packages if your line cannot handle it. Therefore since your line should handle 13mbps, they should come and fix it. They should also drop your price to 599THB which I pay, and is the current promotion rate to be introduced to all by years end.

[yankee99]

I think that my true docsis is overloaded in my neighborhood. When it arrived about 3 years ago i was the first customer but now i think everyone has it.

Another question.... is 3bb fttx: ftth or fttc or fttn?

I see true is ftth http://trueonline.truecorp.co.th/product-service/product-internet-fiber/entry/2265

[muratremix]

We have ~ 7 (I've been away for 2 weeks) customers on 3BB FTTx in metro-Bangkok (suburbs, a couple are just over the line in Samut Prakan/Bang Phli), one is on 50/10, the rest on 30/3.

There were a few issues early on with Loss of Signal, but everything has been fine since. 3BB have excellent technicians in my experience. The Huawei CPE (I can't recall the model number exactly, maybe HG8245?) seems to have some issues on the WiFi side, but nothing drastic. 3BB are getting soem newer modems but we have not yet got our hands on one.

I wouldn't expect too much on the int'l bandwidth side unless you subscribe to the business service. Intra-Thailand bandwidth is far outstripping int'l bandwidth.

I have True 35/3.5 and considering to get 3BB FTTx (30/3 for 1200) and keep my True at minimum package @ 599 (15/1.5) for backup.

I have filed their contact form 2 - 3 weeks ago and suddenly they called Today. It seems they can do in my moo ban (Although nobody uses it, Only choice is True docsis and TOT ADSL)

I've checked 3BB Jastel-IIG connections, it doesn't have much transit and peering like True / Cat does.

However, Voip is unreliable in True and I always have to open vpn before use voip and I don't like True's transparent proxy.

Do you recommend 3bb 30/3 over True Docsis? Although I live in Thai residential area and farang-free zone, I'd like to try 3BB.

Only thing is, they'll bound me with 1 year contract and I won't be able to cancel it if I don't like it. Thats why I'll keep True internet and perhaps do an advanced dual wan routing with pfsense.

[Upcountry]

For anybody using the fibre 30mb service from 3BB, what router did they install for you?

I will be getting this soon. The company told me the following router would be used:

Huawei HG8245

http://huawei.com/en/products/fixed-access/fttx/ont/hg8245/index.htm

Manual

https://www.cyberbajt.pl/download/Huawei/GPON/Manual.pdf

but this is scary:

Huawei HG8245 backdoor and remote access

http://websec.ca/advisories/view/Huawei-web-backdoor-and-remote-access

The Huawei HG8245 ONT, firmware version V1R006C00S100 which provides cellular services, contains 3 severe vulnerabilities:

two administrator accounts enabled by default and

a public administration interface exposed to the Internet.

solution: Disable WAN-side HTTP and Telnet access.

It is not possible to change the default web administrator's password for the user admin.

Now, the solution above might be good enough, but it is not confidence-inspiring that the admin account passwords can't be changed.

I haven't found out yet if a different firmware version takes care of this or not.

At any rate, I don't think that 3BB needs admin access to my router in this way except when necessary based on a request. They can get just about all the information they need without taking over the router.

My current ZyXel router will not let me change the admin account name, but I can change the password.

The 3BB phone rep indicated that there might be more than one router that they use. If this is true, it would be interesting to see how that one compares with the Huawei.

[yankee99]

I have this one and 3bb set my wifi username and password remotely.

[fertilizer]

I use Huawei HG8045A supplied by 3BB. Wifi works well and have done so since we got it six weeks ago. The only problem is when we use open vpn streaming TV from Europe. The download speed then is just around 1MB/s any evening. I don´t know if this can be related to the setting of the router or not - suggestions appreciated.

[Upcountry]

fertilzer,

I think you're proving that the 30mbs is good in Thailand, but overseas links are not "fiber" yet ;-)

But at least the "last mile" is being updated for the future.

yankee99, there are different user/pass pairs. You may be referring to the one needed to make your router connect your account to 3BB.

I'm talking about admin accounts for modifying settings in the router. By default they are open to hackers everywhere, and they can't be changed.

I found the pages in the manual where it shows how to disable http and telnet remote access.

Pages 283, 284.

I hope that this is allowed by 3BB. Should be, but it is bummer that they sell people a router that is so insecure by default.

[yankee99]

I'm talking about 3bb changing my ssid and ssid wifi password remotely. When the install team came they didn't have a computer and they asked for my user name and password. they called the office and all was programmed. I'm sure i can change it but not sure if i can lock them out of remote access.

[Upcountry]

I'm talking about 3bb changing my ssid and ssid wifi password remotely. When the install team came they didn't have a computer and they asked for my user name and password. they called the office and all was programmed. I'm sure i can change it but not sure if i can lock them out of remote access.

If I understand the situation correctly, anyone who knows the default admin passwords can change your wifi user/pass and anything else they want to change, including DNS servers, as long as http and telnet remote access is not disabled.

[muratremix]

I'm talking about 3bb changing my ssid and ssid wifi password remotely. When the install team came they didn't have a computer and they asked for my user name and password. they called the office and all was programmed. I'm sure i can change it but not sure if i can lock them out of remote access.

If I understand the situation correctly, anyone who knows the default admin passwords can change your wifi user/pass and anything else they want to change, including DNS servers, as long as http and telnet remote access is not disabled.

Special wireless gateways (provided by fttx isps) let isps change settings remotely. It has nothing to do with admin password of modem. They have seperate remote connection.

[Upcountry]

Well, I expect the ISP to have it ways, but I don't know if they can or should be able to change EVERYTHING in my router setup.

But the backdoor I am referring too is something that anyone on the Internet can use to get into any Huawei HG8245 unless HTTP and Telnet remote access is specifically disabled by the user. There is an admin and a "root" login that can be used unless you block it. And most people have no clue about this.

I guess this is Chinese router tech at its best.

Again, at least I can change the password for the admin account on my ZyXel, but you can't change the admin account passwords on the Huawei HG8245. Check out the links I posted.

[robblok]

I put it in bridge put an expensive asus router after it for safety.

[Upcountry]

Just got an interesting call from 3BB regarding my request about the ONT.

Via text message, they said that our current "Premier" package has a better international connection than the FTTH service as currently configured. That implies that this new setup is not fully integrated into ATM and other hardware and protocols for international cables.

Of course that is likely to change in time. But since the terse message was all I could get from the tech team, backed up by comments from the English support person, it seems like it is to early for me to jump into this.

It's rather sad, but it looks like another trip to the 3BB office is in order to undo the sign-up.

My use is currently balanced between local IPTV and international access, but I guess it is not worth downgrading the latter for faster local service right now.

[robblok]

I had premier this is better if you use the right programs. I get amazing speeds if i download from newsgroups. Secret is multiple connections.

Not sure its good for IPTV.

[Upcountry]

Well, the IPTV I'm using now uses servers in Thailand.

The multiple connection scheme you refer to must involve more than the 3BB FTTH service then, right?

In other words would you agree that 3BB is technically correct that Premier is better if you compare just a simple ONT/FTTH setup as they would provide?

I don't really understand how people are using multiple connections with FTTH. I've heard about multiple ADSL connections in the past. Is this the same sort of thing?

[robblok]

Well, the IPTV I'm using now uses servers in Thailand.

The multiple connection scheme you refer to must involve more than the 3BB FTTH service then, right?

In other words would you agree that 3BB is technically correct that Premier is better if you compare just a simple ONT/FTTH setup as they would provide?

I don't really understand how people are using multiple connections with FTTH. I've heard about multiple ADSL connections in the past. Is this the same sort of thing?

No i mean my newsgroup downloadee makes multiple connections on a secure port. I get close to the full speed 30Mb when i download.

Same when you use a download accelerator.

I never use IPTV i download all my crap from newsgroups so i watch what i want when i want.