Lao (856) ETL Mobile, ETLMNW, Lao 02, 457 02 - Hostile grabs of 'True' Business ?

[crazydrummerpauly]

Hello.

This is new to me so apologies to anyone who already knows it all. I am a moron with this technology.

Last two days we've been unable to make mobile-phone calls using our normal TRUE-H service. Looking at the screen, soon after opening it the provider's name switches from TRUE-H to ETLMNW. And any attempted calls come up with 'Network Busy'.

Called TRUE, and they said it was a Lao company (which we'd already worked out via google), and that True couldn't do anything to stop them barging in on our connections. They only suggested we paid for Roaming to stay with True, which we definitely don't want for calls & texts within Thailand. Looks like our only option is to switch to AIS or one of the smaller mobile companies. But that might not solve the problem, because we are so close to the Mekong River which is why ETLMNW can crash in to our signal - so what's to stop them doing the same to other Thai mobiles ? The last thing we want to do is to be forced to sign up with the Lao ETLMNW.

Anyone else near the Mekong experienced this problem, and if so how did you solve it, and with which phone companies have you had the experience ?

Edited January 16, 2016 by crazydrummerpauly

[KhunBENQ]

Sounds like rubbish on the phone

Do roaming !!! Pay silly prices

What a quality hotline.

My idea:

1) This ETL MNW (short: ETL) is indeed an official roaming partner of TRUE.

2) The signal of ETL at your place seems stronger than that of TRUE.

3) Your phone (as most) is set to automatically select the network.

Seems like it selects the one with the strongest signal.

4) It should be possible to manually search and select the network operator with your phone.

All phones should have this feature (network search, network selection).

What phone do you use?

I remember (2011) that my phone quickly switched from AIS to some Lao network after passing over the bridge at Nong Khai.

At this time I didn't elaborate/tried to change back.

I did one short call from Vientiane to Thailand.

Some 2x Baht gone in a minute.

Edited January 16, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[blackion]

2nd that. Don't call to True customer call center, as you can get a real solution on Thaivisa .

So, what you do, is go to settings, and switch from Automatic to Manual. It will take about a minute or less to scan the available networks, after which you select the True network. Now your phone will never again roam on ETL and will always stay on True signal, even if the signal is weak.D

Please buy a beer to the guy who replied to you

[crazydrummerpauly]

THANKS to both of you ! Yep, i can see it's a problem of the ETL signal being twice the strength of True in this area. I changed the Auto provider setting to Manual, and first attempt there was a 'no network' message for True. Second attempt, hooked up to True. It is weak though, so i might look into changing to AIS.

Interesting to think about True customer hotline, and if there game is simply to make me pay more, as they didn't once mention that ETL was a partner at all. More like some rival muscling in which they couldn't do anything about.

Many thanks - 'a real solution on Thaivisa' indeed.