Take A Stab @ Explaining International Dsl Charges

[scratt]

Ok!

I tried to get JiNet and after waiting for a month was told that there is no ADSL in our area....

This seemed strange considering we are in Muang Thon Thani and Jasmine are just down the road.... plus 'true' are on Chang Watana and boasting about DSL... plus my next door neighbor has it, and I, like them, have TA (or 'true') phone lines!!! Hmmmm....

So I chased it up...

Apparently you cannot get the Unlimited International package with Jasmine (JiNet) here because the hardware for them, it, DSL is not installed in MuangThonThani.....

So I chased it with TA...

Apparently there are only two servers...erm..well.. serving on our road...

Nokia... which is full.

And the other one.... which is 'true's.

Well that seems fair...

So I cannot get the unlimited access package with Jasmine....

But I CAN GET THE LIMITED 40 hour package with 'true'.... Wheeeee!

So I have got bored of going and buying internet cards and paying to dial up and getting the odd modem error and consequently running up my phone bill and SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW access.... so I have signed up......

What niggles is this sinlge PC connection limit.

When the operators have it totally sewn up so that your speed is limited, your download limit is limited etc. etc. why should they care if you had 100 PCs connected? I ask you....

OK. 100 PC is a bit silly and it might cause problems... but not if you did the routing at your end... but oh no... if you want 2 - 4 PCs connected the price goes back up to silly figures...

Ok... So I have accepted that.

I will connect my Mac, and then my girlfriends Mac and my office lap top separately.. Cos.. hey I am not paying to connect and re-connect.. so no great hassle... OK!

What concerns me because I actually understand the internet is this....

How do they charge you by the hour for international access?

The internet does not work that way..

If I am online all day and check my email on a foreign server once every five minuntes... what does that mean?

Well it means I send some requests and then get an answer back telling me I either have mail, or don't...

If I don't thats it... I have been connected abroad for a few miliseconds.

If I do... I pull the mail down... DSL... Fast... So let's say a minute or two...

Then I go back to idling.

That is assuming I am not surfing.

If I am pulling huge files down (but not more than 70MB a hour or I get disconnected or fined) I can understand being on for an hour or so.. and being charged for that...

If I am surfing I will pull a page down.... quite quickly then read it.

Then another... and so on...

Form what I have read, also, perhaps the pulling down of a page will be more like half a minute than a few seconds!! But it is still not a huge amount of an hour, now is it?

And I am not connected offshore all this time.

I am only connected for short bursts....

So how do they bill us?

Do they add up seconds?

Do they add up mili / micro seconds?

Do they just bill us constantly from the first connection offshore until we disconnect?

(I would be willing to bet money on that one!)

Do they bill us (like the old cell phone companies) for each part of an hour... even if we only use a micro-second to check our email....

Do you see where I am going?

Does anyone know... Do you get to check your allocated and time left as per inet-easy?

Do you get an itemised bill. LOL!

I may be asking a silly question... can anyone put me straight?

Has this occurred to anyone before?

Am I missing something?

Why don't they just bill by the MB?

This current limiting of every option and rules which strangle any sensible use of the internet is ridiculous... I think most of you agree, from what I have read...

For example I am typing this now, and it has taken me a while... but I am not connected to this forum while I am typing, am I?

I am not sending, or recieveing any data, am I?

This system is like billing us in inches for the amount of apples we use!

It doesn't make sense.

Ah.. feel better now.

But if anyone can tell me I am talking c&$p and put me straight I would love to know.

Cheers for ya time,

and Happy Songkran!

scratt!

[lopburi3]

You receive two different usernames/passwords. If you connect with your xxx@trueadsl you will be charged for international access until you sign off is my assumption. If you connect to the xxx@truelocalnet you will not be charged but you will be unable to access any server outside Thailand. So plan on any connection to trueladsl to be part of the 40 hour then charge in second month and all will be charged at 14 baht per hour first month. You should also receive a signin for 10 free hours if you buy the modem. You should be able to check on-line international time at the website.

[scratt]

Thanks for that....

So it is just as bad as it could possibly be then......

You are charged for idle time....

Bearing in mind that the ISP is only being charged for data throughput they are on to a pretty good thing then.......

All the best,

Fred!