Best Internet provider in Jomtien?

[funlovinkid]

I know this topic gets revisited regularly, but I haven't seen any recent postings which would give me a sense of what the best options are at the moment. I just moved into a condo building in central Jomtien, and would like to establish Internet connectivity, but I'm not sure which provider to use.

Earlier postings here suggest that CAT is topographically closest to the international gateways (and would therefore provide the best performance to servers outside of Thailand), but a phone call to CAT informs me that they only offer fiber, and the building I'm in won't support this. Sot he only option available to me apparently is DSL.

There have also been earlier posts here that suggest that TOT and Sophon Cable are poor choices, for reliability, performance, etc. 3BB tells me that they can provide me with service, but that a cable will have to be installed into my building, for which 3BB will charge around 2000 baht, plus a 2000 baht charge that the condo building imposes, plus 12 months advance payment for Internet service.

So, I guess I would ask if anybody has any thoughts as to which DSL providers currently offer decent performance and reliability, and also if the charges I describe above are typical for a new DSL installation?

Many thanks in advance for any guidance on this!

Edited June 18, 2015 by funlovinkid

[vento]

I have Used cat, a priority productvthey have. More expensive and less bandwith for the Price. But i have less package loss and very few problems.

[KittenKong]

Sophon dont do DSL: they do cable (and fibre) broadband. You should check which cable TV supplier your building uses as normally this supplier will also be able to supply broadband (cable or fibre) to your unit. You may also find that other cable suppliers may be able to do it.

That charge for installing DSL will probably be very similar for any provider. True DSL is also an option depending on which floor you live on (for some unknown reason True will not do DSL to high floors, even though the cable is entirely run inside the building).

I find 3BB DSL to be quite reliable and fair quality, though of course YMMV. Previously I had Sophon which was very reliable until they changed the type of cable modem they used to a router that was incompatible with my equipment. They were not in the slightest bit interested in doing anything to solve the problem, though it would have been relatively simple for them to do so. So they lost a long-term customer (just one of many, I think).

[bartender100]

I am not easy to please, but of all the isp's I have tried Sophon is the most reliable, they have a 6MB international service that they don't advertise which is perfect for what I need

[Kees5555]

Whatever you take: not TOT !!!!!! Shocking experiences with their customer service (via telephone on hold for 45 mins and then getting disconnected, and this happened 10 times a year); in evening mostly very slow internet - may depend on how many people on 1 line in a building).
And also TT&T gave me bad experiences.

This was until 3 years ago, maybe it is better now, who knows!

I am happy wit 3BB for 900 baht/month.

[fang37]

Recently, I relocated & it was recommended that I subscribe to 3BB. At B540/mth, it is poor. Advantages of an upgrade to the level? I do not have a land-line telephone connection.

[TrevorC]

We recently moved into our new apartment and HAD to go for the TMN TV and 20mbps Internet package supplied by a company called "KRIK".

New user/owner discounted price came in just under THB9000 for the year with the TV package thrown in for free.

TV package is mediocre, the internet service when it's working it's superb but lots and lots of down time and it is very unreliable in heavy rain.

Not sure if this is down to the supply company, the infrastructure of the building or just sh*t support.

I await renewal time (late 2015 early 20165) with interest.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Rimmer
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[rickthailand]

i.use sophon it is fast and quick to instal

[quandow]

I lived at the Baan Suan Lalana on Chayapruk for several years. My last 3 months there was a CONSTANT battle trying to get a solid connection because the infrastructure at the apartment complex had deteriorated to the point it just no longer worked. I finally got the 3BB guys and the apartment electricians together at the same time, and they basically told me to go f4ck myself. My landlady said, "Solly Cholly."

Thainess.

[lou62]

My experience is (although my connection slows down (in the afternoons) when I totally lose connection it has nothing to do with the cable company, it's the idiot "handy men" in the condo's I've owned who think they know what they're doing.

They shouldn't be allowed access, I have looked at the box of wires downstairs to connect you (it is a scary scene) but if they don't know what they're doing than leave well alone.

[tropo]

Whatever you take: not TOT !!!!!! Shocking experiences with their customer service (via telephone on hold for 45 mins and then getting disconnected, and this happened 10 times a year); in evening mostly very slow internet - may depend on how many people on 1 line in a building).

And also TT&T gave me bad experiences.

This was until 3 years ago, maybe it is better now, who knows!

I am happy wit 3BB for 900 baht/month.

LOL. 3BB IS Triple T Broadband. http://www.triplet.co.th/en/about_us/about_us00.html

3BB used to be called Maxnet, but always under the TT&T company.

[tropo]

i.use sophon it is fast and quick to instal

I'd tread carefully with Sophon Broadband. When I had it hooked up 4 years ago the signal was bad. It turned out that bad TV cabling was the culprit and they ran a new, separate cable into my townhouse from the street. This wouldn't be possible in a condo.

[tropo]

The OP claims that CAT told him that adsl is not available. Strange! Before I upgraded to fiber optic a year ago I used CAT HiNet (adsl) and it was very good and you can't beat CAT service.

It should be available in Jomtien: http://www.catinternet.in.th/cat_hinet.html

I just noticed on their website that CAT now have cheaper ON Net fiber optic packages available which I haven't seen before. Could be worth checking into for anyone looking for cheaper fiber optic connections.

When I signed up, the Gold packages were the cheapest available.

http://catinternet.com/index.php/th/newsandevents/promotion/115-pro-15mbps-690-march-june

Edited June 18, 2015 by tropo

[wooloomooloo]

Not much better here in the UK.

[tropo]

Not much better here in the UK.

LOL. That's a lot better than most you'll find in Thailand... especially the upload speed. How much does that cost per month? It will cost over 10,000 THB per month to get anything near that (with CAT). But what's up with your ping?

Edited June 18, 2015 by tropo

[wooloomooloo]

Not much better here in the UK.

LOL. That's a lot better than most you'll find in Thailand... especially the upload speed. How much does that cost per month? It will cost over 10,000 THB per month to get anything near that (with CAT). But what's up with your ping?

That was my point, the ping can be down to 9 on a good day. But it's peak here at 2122h.

Anyway, about £40 a month.

[tropo]

Not much better here in the UK.

LOL. That's a lot better than most you'll find in Thailand... especially the upload speed. How much does that cost per month? It will cost over 10,000 THB per month to get anything near that (with CAT). But what's up with your ping?

That was my point, the ping can be down to 9 on a good day. But it's peak here at 2122h.

Anyway, about £40 a month.

I feel sorry for you. Do you have a data use limit?

For 35/7 I pay about GBP 115 (nearly 3 times as much for a 1/3 of your upload speed and half your download speed), but your ping is about normal here for an adsl service to Bangkok from Pattaya. On my fiber it's usually around 5 - 7ms to Bangkok.

I think that's why so many expats complain about Internet speed here. You can get speed if you pay big money but they expect back home prices. Technology just costs more here - no way around it.

Edited June 18, 2015 by tropo

[ballbreaker]

OP your post gives the impression you only have wiring that will support DSL service but if building has wired LAN also then go with CAT.

The small condo building I am in has 62 units with wired LAN and we currently have two 30/5mbit fiber lines from CAT connected to dual WAN router configured to load balance between the lines. Rarely problems but any are sorted quickly after a call to CAT and it only cost each condo 150 baht a month.

[KittenKong]

I'd tread carefully with Sophon Broadband. When I had it hooked up 4 years ago the signal was bad. It turned out that bad TV cabling was the culprit and they ran a new, separate cable into my townhouse from the street. This wouldn't be possible in a condo.

It certainly is possible in a condo. My coax cable was replaced right back to the riser when I got Sophon Broadband as my signal was poor, and it was all included.

Subsequently all the coax splitters and amps in the building were replaced, and the main riser cables were also all replaced along with the older horizontal distribution cable.

[KittenKong]

The small condo building I am in has 62 units with wired LAN and we currently have two 30/5mbit fiber lines from CAT connected to dual WAN router configured to load balance between the lines. Rarely problems but any are sorted quickly after a call to CAT and it only cost each condo 150 baht a month.

This certainly can be a good solution, but it is up to the building management/committee to arrange it and pay for it. The OP wont be able to arrange it himself.

[tropo]

I'd tread carefully with Sophon Broadband. When I had it hooked up 4 years ago the signal was bad. It turned out that bad TV cabling was the culprit and they ran a new, separate cable into my townhouse from the street. This wouldn't be possible in a condo.

It certainly is possible in a condo. My coax cable was replaced right back to the riser when I got Sophon Broadband as my signal was poor, and it was all included.

Subsequently all the coax splitters and amps in the building were replaced, and the main riser cables were also all replaced along with the older horizontal distribution cable.

Sorry, I used misleading language. I should have said "it won't be easy", and whether it is possible or not would depend on the condo and how accommodating the management are.

[Mojomor]

3BB works fine for me, for several years now. But of course, having lived here for awhile, it was one of the things I checked out before I moved in to the condo block.

[tropo]

3BB works fine for me, for several years now. But of course, having lived here for awhile, it was one of the things I checked out before I moved in to the condo block.

Having limited choices of Internet services is one of the reasons I choose not to live in a condo. Were I live the ISP's just toss a cable over the balcony and I'm hooked up.

[funlovinkid]

I am not easy to please, but of all the isp's I have tried Sophon is the most reliable, they have a 6MB international service that they don't advertise which is perfect for what I need

Bartender, how is Sophon's international performance and reliability? You've piqued my curiosity with your mention of their international offering, because virtually any server I want to access will be outside of Thailand, and this has been the source of most of my Internet frustration in the past: getting access to international servers.

My building does have Sophon cable TV, and a couple of their technicians came by last week to confirm that my room already has the Internet signal via their existing cable installation as well. It would just be a matter of paying a 500 Baht installation fee, and buying their cable modem for 2500 Baht.

However, a friend tells me that Sophon apparently isn't using the current DOCSIS telecommunications standard for Internet over cable, which has me wondering about the wisdom of buying a 2500 Baht cable modem which uses some other (soon to be obsolete?) standard.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

[funlovinkid]

i.use sophon it is fast and quick to instal

Rick, which Sophon subscription package do you use, if I may ask?

[funlovinkid]

OP your post gives the impression you only have wiring that will support DSL service but if building has wired LAN also then go with CAT.

The small condo building I am in has 62 units with wired LAN and we currently have two 30/5mbit fiber lines from CAT connected to dual WAN router configured to load balance between the lines. Rarely problems but any are sorted quickly after a call to CAT and it only cost each condo 150 baht a month.

Not sure what you mean by "wired LAN". Are you referring to twisted-pair Ethernet?

[tropo]

OP your post gives the impression you only have wiring that will support DSL service but if building has wired LAN also then go with CAT.

The small condo building I am in has 62 units with wired LAN and we currently have two 30/5mbit fiber lines from CAT connected to dual WAN router configured to load balance between the lines. Rarely problems but any are sorted quickly after a call to CAT and it only cost each condo 150 baht a month.

Not sure what you mean by "wired LAN". Are you referring to twisted-pair Ethernet?

Seriously? I thought everyone would have known that LAN cable is a "twisted pair cable" for carrying internet signals.

The CAT fiber optic cable leads to a termination (junction) box, which is wired to a a modem/router, then "LAN'd" around the building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable

[rickthailand]

i.use sophon it is fast and quick to instal

Rick, which Sophon subscription package do you use, if I may ask?

i had tp pay 6 months in advance at 990 baht per month and installation and router were 3,500

i had it now for 2 months and it is fast the package is on their website. i live in vt2

rick

[KittenKong]

Not sure what you mean by "wired LAN". Are you referring to twisted-pair Ethernet?

Seriously? I thought everyone would have known that LAN cable is a "twisted pair cable" for carrying internet signals.

The CAT fiber optic cable leads to a termination (junction) box, which is wired to a a modem/router, then "LAN'd" around the building.

In condo buildings here it's very common for coax to be used for data distribution instead of Ethernet cable. The signal is generally just piggy-backed onto the TV coax and separated out with a data/RF splitter at the user end.

As far as I know Sophon do the same for domestic installations here as do the other cable suppliers, though they may be doing it differently as they switch to fibre.

In our building we also have the option of pulling fibre right to the unit at extra cost, but most people just use the one coax cable with splitters.

[tropo]

Not sure what you mean by "wired LAN". Are you referring to twisted-pair Ethernet?

Seriously? I thought everyone would have known that LAN cable is a "twisted pair cable" for carrying internet signals.

The CAT fiber optic cable leads to a termination (junction) box, which is wired to a a modem/router, then "LAN'd" around the building.

In condo buildings here it's very common for coax to be used for data distribution instead of Ethernet cable. The signal is generally just piggy-backed onto the TV coax and separated out with a data/RF splitter at the user end.

As far as I know Sophon do the same for domestic installations here as do the other cable suppliers, though they may be doing it differently as they switch to fibre.

In our building we also have the option of pulling fibre right to the unit at extra cost, but most people just use the one coax cable with splitters.

My reply was in relation to LAN cable being used for CAT fiber optic internet.... in which case TV coax was not being used.

I had no idea fiber optic is very commonly distributed (in condo builidings) via TV coax. I had no idea that anyone used TV coax for fiber optic. That would seem like a bad idea. How do you know what is very common or what most people use? Are you in the business?