I live in the city of Songkhla and need a high-speed connection for remote ESL teaching USA work. The wi-fi in my apartment building is very slow, so I got permission from the building owner, had a high-speed fiber-optics cable installed, and plugged it into my new HP PC.

But the TOT cable internet speed has been the same, or even slower, than the wi-fi. TOT technicians checked the internet speed yesterday, using Ookla to PING Thailand hosts, then said the internet speed was fine at 40 Mbps download. But I don't use Thailand websites; my work is with the USA.

Afterward, the TOT cable connection was so slow I could barely upload photos to Facebook. The downloads kept stopping, so I'd switch back to wi-fi and they'd be instantly uploaded.

I just used Ookla's speedtest.net to compare the TOT connection and wi-fi. The test PINGs to USA hosts because I use Chrome USA, but that's what I use for my job.

TOT cable upload/download speeds are 1.43 Mbps/.85 Mbps, PING 322

Wi-fi upload/download speeds are 1.45/.28 Mbps, PING 314

Is there a solution? Who else do I need to contact? I have been visiting the TOT office almost every day and e-mailing with a TOT official who speaks English well, and he is the one who sent the technicians yesterday.

I don't want to pay for expensive cable service to only get the same or slower speed than wi-fi.

I don't use a smart phone, just need a cable to my PC, so can't change to ADSL.

I already had a hole drilled in my apartment wall and signed a contract, and if BB3 and Ture use TOT equipment and rent space from them I don't see how changing services would improve internet speed.

If it is even possible to cancel my contract and get my money back, what internet cable service works?

Edited December 25, 201411 yr by rachelbirder

Wrong forum

MOVED to INTERNET FORUM

Looking over the forums you will find that all "consumer" Internet users have issues with "International" Internet speeds, regardless of the medium that delivers it.

While Fiber is definitely a more reliable medium, the issue with International Internet lays primarily with the heavy congestion of available bandwidth to the destination countries from each ISP's Network Operations Center. The ISP only pays for so much International Gateway Bandwidth and all their 'consumer' users have to share. I imagine that their 'corporate' clients get priority access.

Some ThiaVisa users have reported better connectivity utilizing VPN services, where you connect via a remote computer either in a nearby country or in the destination country, possible bypassing some of the congestion. But understand, due to heavy overuse of existing International Internet overseas connections you will never see full throughput of your subscribed speeds, no speeds are guaranteed, and many factors will affect levels of congestion during any period of the day.

Some people have reported good connectivity with business or corporate class connections, especially using CAT services. Though you will be spending a lot of Baht to get this service (if it's even available in your area). Maybe a VPN connected to a CAT service might get you better throughput to the US.

I don't want to pay for expensive cable service to only get the same or slower speed than wi-fi.

I don't use a smart phone, just need a cable to my PC, so can't change to ADSL.

I already had a hole drilled in my apartment wall and signed a contract, and if BB3 and Ture use TOT equipment and rent space from them I don't see how changing services would improve internet speed.

Also. the terminology you are using is confusing.

"expensive cable service"
Cable service usually refers to coaxial cable used by TV Service providers that they use to deliver Internet service. If fiber, better to call it Fiber.

"only to get the same or slower speed than wi-fi"

WiFi is only a short distance wireless connectivity. The WiFi Access Point is most likely connected to 'something else' that's delivering the Internet ( probably an adsl service )

"just need a cable to my PC, so can't change to ADSL"

There are MANY mediums by which the Internet can be delivered to you. ADSL is delivered over a telephone cable and the endpoint box is either Ethernet or Ethernet/WiFi. Not sure what you think you can't change to adsl.

...other delivery mediums:

3G/4G/LTE Mobile Wireless Internet (think AIS, DTAC, TRUE H, TOT 3G, etc... )

adsl / sdsl / vdsl over Telephone Wire: Asynchronous / Synchronous / Very-high-speed (but ultra-short distance) Digital Subscriber Line (think 3BB, TOT, True, etc... )

Cable Broadband over coaxial cable (think True CableTV)

Fiber Optic line either direct to the premises or nearby and delivered 'last meter' by another medium (think CAT, 3BB, TOT, etc... )

Wireless Internet, usually a special form of WiFi. While most WiFi is only meant to reach a short range, or WiFi Hotspots slightly better, Wireless Internet is generally Point-to-Point radio links using specialized equipment that can work over a distance of 5 to 40km. (think AIS AirNet or TOT Wi-Net )

WiFi or WiFi Hotspot, shot distance wireless connections. Internet Connection from these services are usually completed using adsl, fiber optic or special microwave data backhaul.

If will probably find ThaiVisa users report no better speed throughput via International Internet Gateway using any available delivery medium (Mobile, adsl, cable, fiber or wireless link) it's all the same

Ultimately your throughput will really depend on:

Where you a located in Thailand

How much congestion is occurring locally with your local service provider

How much congestion is occurring on the provider's IIG (International Internet Gateway)

Ergo: if the International Internet was most people using the BTS Skystrain, can you contract a better link of service on your own that will get you to the same destination faster than using the BTS.

tot = lol there a joke pay more and get CAT

Edited December 25, 201411 yr by whiteman

I am afraid that's the way it is in Thailand.

Just about anything inside the country is fine, once you hit the international bottleneck you will be very frustrated and there is not really a solution.

Sorry for the bad news.

was told by tot on Monday that there was a problem with their submarine cable down south

Thai Internet Service Providers (ISP) use the "submarine cable problem" excuse a lot---it's just that, an excuse and highly unlikely the problem.

The real problem is the ISP (TOT in this case) is limiting/throttling its "international" bandwidth as bandwidth cost money....all Thai ISP do the same...some are just worst than others. With the great, great majority of ISP customers being Thai and only understanding the Thai language they don't access websites outside of Thailand that much...instead mostly domestic Thai websites and the ISPs have plenty of "domestic" bandwidth as they are in control of that on their networks.

TOT fibre from Chiang Mai to San Francisco:

Up = 11 mbs, down 1.08 mbs, ping 82.

BTW CAT owns the international gateway, not TOT.

Edited December 25, 201411 yr by chiang mai

First of all, get into the router settings, and drop the MTU to 1450, then try your speedtests again.

TOT fibre from Chiang Mai to San Francisco:

Up = 11 mbs, down 1.08 mbs, ping 82.

BTW CAT owns the international gateway, not TOT.

Faster than light ping time due to local cache servers (i.e., bogus ping time). That ping time is probably to TOT's main servers/international gateway "within" Thailand. But the ping testing is being fooled into thinking its SF.

Since the speed of light is 300,000 KM/sec (in a vacuum of outer space), but light transmission through a medium like fiber optics slows it down to around 200,000 KM/sec. But let's convert that 200,000 KM/sec down to a "milliseconds" figure which is 200 KM/millisecond.

The roundtrip internet electron/proton distance from Thailand to San Francisco is approx 25,000KM which equates to approx 125ms absolute best case if those electrons didn't have to be relayed through numerous servers/amplifiers/etc., along the way which slows down that round trip ping time even more. Add in those servers/amps delays and a real world ping time between Chiang Mai to SF would be more in the ballpark of 200ms.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by Pib

TOT fibre from Chiang Mai to San Francisco:

Up = 11 mbs, down 1.08 mbs, ping 82.

BTW CAT owns the international gateway, not TOT.

Fake nonsense numbers (as @Pib explained)

First of all, get into the router settings, and drop the MTU to 1450, then try your speedtests again.

The tip to decrease the MTU is a good one

The up/download numbers that the topic starter has:

TOT cable upload/download speeds are 1.43 Mbps/.85 Mbps, PING 322

Wi-fi upload/download speeds are 1.45/.28 Mbps, PING 314

are much worse than anything I have with ToT FTTx.

I am far from the nominal 20 MBit/s for international connections.

But the download rates are usually in the 3 to 8 MBit/s range.

A serious no nonsense testtool is ICSI Netalyzer from Berkeley University (Java based).

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/

I really recommend to run this test!

See a report from my site at Dec 14:

http://n1.netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/summary/id=43ca253f-19799-080c6203-2848-43ac-984b

The round-trip time (RTT) between your computer and our server is 380 ms, which is somewhat high.

Network bandwidth (?): Upload 1.1 Mbit/s, Download 6.4 Mbit/s

380 ms is quite normal from my site to the west coast.

ICSI was also the tool that showed a problem/bottleneck by the standard MTU size of 1500.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by KhunBENQ

First of all, get into the router settings, and drop the MTU to 1450, then try your speedtests again.

The tip to decrease the MTU is a good one

A serious no nonsense testtool is ICSI Netalyzer from Berkeley University (Java based).

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/

I really recommend to run this test!

That ICSI Analyzer is pretty cool, and gives a good maximum value for MTU - look for the line: "The maximum packet successfully received was .... bytes of payload".

Once you have that, run an international speed test, adjusting your router's MTU, starting with the ICSI max. value, then adjusting down in steps of -2. What you'll find is that the max. value gives you the best download speeds, but will likely not give you the best upload speeds. Adjust until you find the sweetspot for both - it should normally be within a range of +0/-8 of the ICSI test result.

Side Note: I've never seen an MTU > 1460 that had decent international speeds out of TH, yet most routers come with a default MTU of 1492....

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by IMHO

your router's MTU

? I setup the MTU with the Windows operating system (network driver).

To display the current MTU values for your network interfaces, open "cmd" prompt and enter:

netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces

This will list your interfaces (identified by a number in the "Idx" column).

Depending on your configuration you will see something like "Wireless Connection" or "Local Area Connection" (not sure about the English terms).

To permanently set a new MTU value, use this command:

netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface <Idx> mtu=<mtuvalue> store=persistent

Where <Idx> is the number of the interface and <mtu> is the desired value.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by KhunBENQ

rachel

I avoid the use of of WIFI were possible.. While its convenient for handheld devices I find it always lags compared to a cable.

use a network cable to connect your computer to your router.

As many have already said the international gateway is sloow, and I believe there is a little man in the middle keeping a beady eye on traffic - if you get my drift.

I find my VPN gives better performance, than a direct connection, to international sites.

Currently in Samui connected with Bangkok with 22ms/28.57Mbps/3 Mbps and we're having a thunder storm as i write. What's the problem?

Being sarcastic, speed is only as good as the "whole" system. Not just a single speed test point.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by Mrjlh

Second test, same result...but Sat TV is OUT! Won't be long before Internet out too.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by Mrjlh

your router's MTU

? I setup the MTU with the Windows operating system (network driver).

To display the current MTU values for your network interfaces, open "cmd" prompt and enter:

netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces

This will list your interfaces (identified by a number in the "Idx" column).

Depending on your configuration you will see something like "Wireless Connection" or "Local Area Connection" (not sure about the English terms).

To permanently set a new MTU value, use this command:

netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface <Idx> mtu=<mtuvalue> store=persistent

Where <Idx> is the number of the interface and <mtu> is the desired value.

Yep, you can set it at OS level, but that only fixes the problem for that system, of course. Setting the MTU at router level fixes the problem from all connected devices/computers. If you don't know your way around the router, and you run Windows, yours is a good solution

Currently in Samui connected with Bangkok with 22ms/28.57Mbps/3 Mbps and we're having a thunder storm as i write. What's the problem?

Being sarcastic, speed is only as good as the "whole" system. Not just a single speed test point.

We are talking about international data speeds - domestic usually performs as advertised and works fine with the default MTU settings.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by IMHO

I find my VPN gives better performance, than a direct connection, to international sites.

Yep. I recently had a trial of "Perfect Privacy" VPN (a bit pricey).

I was absolutely stunned by many of the results.

I still have a subscription of CyberGhost (Premium).

With that I am not too impressed with the speed.

I find my VPN gives better performance, than a direct connection, to international sites.

Yep. I recently had a trial of "Perfect Privacy" VPN (a bit pricey).

I was absolutely stunned by many of the results.

I still have a subscription of CyberGhost (Premium).

With that I am not too impressed with the speed.

I'm pretty certain all international traffic is being sniffed and this is causing lag..

I have an office on the outskirts of Had Yai on the old Songkhla road. We have TRUE internet ADSL there and though I haven't done any speedtests from there I find the international bandwidth to be quite acceptable. I'm pretty sure TRUE offer ADSL in Songkla city too and possibly Fibre. TRUE does offer Fibre in Had Yai.

But if I was you I would persevere with TOT. There definitely is something wrong with your speedtest results. I have a TOT 75/10 Fibre connection at my home in Nonthaburi and west coast US servers usually give a result of at least 50Mbps download and 5-6Mbps upload. A bit lower in the early evening perhaps.

In my experience TOT is great once you are speaking to the right person. I'll post a couple of screenshots here that you could show the technicians at TOT Songkhla. They are speedtest results from early afternoon today using my TOT Fiber 2U connection.

Thanks for all the technical help! I will have to sift through it and try to understand what to do, since I don't know how to do much of the things mentioned.