3BB fibre quietly upgraded to 100 mbps?

[JaseTheBass]

Upgrade: speed goes up but Qos goes down. Btw why is everybody focusing on speed not on QoS?

"Everybody" isn't - see my previous posts.

I don't believe for one second that this sort of speedtest result means I will have a fast and reliable service.

Now you're just taking the p1ss!

[Caspersfriend]

Upgrade: speed goes up but Qos goes down. Btw why is everybody focusing on speed not on QoS?

"Everybody" isn't - see my previous posts.

I don't believe for one second that this sort of speedtest result means I will have a fast and reliable service.

Now you're just taking the p1ss!

Somebody sure is

[casualbiker]

I have the fiber 3bb package. It was originally 30/3 and it was excellent for my use. The connection to HK servers was pretty much identical to Bkk and REALLY stable. They then "upgraded" me to 100/10. The speed improved but stability suffered especially speed at night suffering from occasional drop outs. I complained to the help line/call centre and they sent a technician. He tested the line and said "no problem" it was explained that I was extremely happy with the original setup and that I hadn't asked for the "upgrade". They then changed my connection to 100/30. That was OK but still not stable.. The technician has been line checking and adjusting my line now I have 30/5 stable and am happy again.. For me stability is more important than speed.. Those are testmynet speeds not just speedtest. So perhaps try and talk to 3bb, I find they are fairly good and responsive to individual requests.

[Tapster]

@Casualbiker

Do they have English speakers on the 3BB helpline?

[Tapster]

@Casualbiker

Do they have English speakers on the 3BB helpline?

[casualbiker]

@Casualbiker

Do they have English speakers on the 3BB helpline?

YES. It can be a wait to be put through though. Generally I get my wife to call and then get a call back from the English speaker.

[Tapster]

Great, thanks.

I don't have a Thai speaker on hand, so that's good to know.

[KC 71]

When you call 1530 they will first speak thai ,then english ie press this number for english operater.

[alocacoc]

Press 9 for English. Actually the waiting time is quite short.

[bearpolar]

testmy.net is worthless.. Most programs today use multiple threads to download. Anytime you torrent you always get the full 100mbps if the torrent has enough peers. Even if you're getting 2mbps on testmy.net and its peak time and everyone is abroad.

Just tested, 7pm in one of the worst province for 3bb (phuket) i took a torrent with only 70 peers, none in thailand.. 8mb/s took 1min to download 486mb, faster than when i transfer from PC to laptop on wifi. Now i can just re-download what i need to transfer haha.

Edited April 11, 2016 by bearpolar

[Tapster]

@bearpolar

Interesting.

Why do you think Testmy gives results which are so much slower than all the other speed tests?

[JaseTheBass]

Torrents do run faster than the speedtests suggest, but single-source files are probably on par with the tested figures.

[bearpolar]

@bearpolar

Interesting.

Why do you think Testmy gives results which are so much slower than all the other speed tests?

i got 79mbps last night at 8pm on testmy.net with multithread

The only problem with 3bb is that you have to reboot your modem when you download too much or they trottle your torrents at 2.5mb/s

Anyways, very happy to get 10mb upload. feels good

this is right now:

Edited April 12, 2016 by bearpolar

[bearpolar]

from http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest/

8:30pm ... 14mb/s

[JaseTheBass]

^ I like that one.

11.30am - 6 people sharing.

Edited April 13, 2016 by JaseTheBass

[bearpolar]

30mb upload?

[JaseTheBass]

Apparently so.

[casualbiker]

^ I like that one.

11.30am - 6 people sharing.

. what server?

[JaseTheBass]

^ I like that one.

11.30am - 6 people sharing.

. what server?

I seems to use a number of servers.

[drake]

Compared Download real speed results with testmy.net (no cached results like ookla a.o.):

Provider SanJose Germany HongKong

3BB ADSL 11 Mbps 2.6 Mbps 2.6 Mbps 11 Mbps

3BB FTTx 120 Mbps 4.4 Mbps 2.5 Mbps 16.7 Mbps

AIS 4G 112 Mbps 3.2 Mbps 6.1 Mbps 5.1 Mbps

[kiddycool]

Since this upgrade my connections on ps4 have been shocking to say the least, I'm hoping the maintenance staff are all of for Songkran and all will improve on Monday, but I can't even connect to pin at times with constant drop outs

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Press 9 for English. Actually the waiting time is quite short.

yes, that's correct.. And actually it's keying in 9 twice in succession once you call 3BB.

The first time early in the call you key 9 for English language. And then a second time a bit further into their voice response system.

I've called them a couple times this week, and it only took me a couple minutes of waiting to have an English speaking rep come on the line.

Although, from what I gather, that call service is only available Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

@bearpolar

Interesting.

Why do you think Testmy gives results which are so much slower than all the other speed tests?

There are different kinds of internet use.

Most video streaming is single stream, like Netflix. So the bandwidth/speed you get is from that single stream only, however fast it is.

Other uses like downloading files and torrenting can have multiple simultaneous streams. It's an entirely different use. So for example, a person might have 5 concurrent streams each running at 10 Mbps that taken as a whole result in a 50 Mbps download capacity. But video streaming doesn't work that way.

So, in terms of video streaming for things like Netflix or Amazon Prime, etc., TestMy.net is the most accurate speed test site I've encountered. And their site allows you to set their server location for the test to about a half dozen different locations, mostly in the U.S., but one in China, as well.

A lot of the very fast Ookla test results you may see posted here are actually measuring just the connection between the user's home and their ISP's local server -- not connections to the outside world in other countries. So if all you're doing is accessing Thai websites, it may be representative. But if you're going to the outside world, it's likely not going to be accurate.

One way to tell is to look at the ping numbers on any given test that's posted. Ping is the speed in ms for data to get from one point to the other end. For data moving inside Thailand, the time is going to be in the range of 10-40 ms or so. But for data moving between Thailand and the U.S., by comparison, the sheer distance means the time is going to be more in the 250-300 ms range. That's part of the way to tell just what start and end points are being tested.

Edited April 29, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Compared Download real speed results with testmy.net (no cached results like ookla a.o.):

Provider SanJose Germany HongKong

3BB ADSL 11 Mbps 2.6 Mbps 2.6 Mbps 11 Mbps

3BB FTTx 120 Mbps 4.4 Mbps 2.5 Mbps 16.7 Mbps

AIS 4G 112 Mbps 3.2 Mbps 6.1 Mbps 5.1 Mbps

Thanks for posting that kind of useful, clear information.

Another factor that can make a not insignificant difference is the local time of the day that you do these kinds of tests. Typically, the daytime and off-hours uses here are going to be better, but things are likely to slow down in the evening hours when more people are home and using their internet, watching video online, etc etc.

So you probably wouldn't want to be comparing a 9 pm weeknight test of 3BB fiber with a 1 pm in the afternoon test of another ISP. Having some common/same time for doing the tests is going to product a more meaningful result.

Most consumer internet here involves shared connections, so your result at any given time of the day is going to be better or worse depending on how many other customers of the same ISP in your neighborhood are clogging up the pipes or not.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

FYI, I had a lot of conversations this week with 3BB's call center as part of my decision to leave True Online and give a try to 3BB's 100/10 Mbps fiber to the home plan.

Here's the summary of what I heard:

3BB right now has three different KINDS of service: ADSL, VDSL and Fiber to the Home. Each is a different technology.

For the two DSL services, they have different speed and pricing options. But for the fiber, right now, just one, the 100/10 plan.

For example, for my home's location in Bangkok, they said they could provide a fiber connection, but could not do either of their DSL services.

So, we talked fiber. 1 year service agreement. Free installation and what they call equipment registration, whatever that is. But they want the first month service payment and a 3.000 baht deposit on the Huawei wifi router-modem combo that they'll loan us.

At least with their Bangkok office, if the account in a Thai's name, they'll allow you pay for their service monthly by bill. If the account is in a non-Thai's name, then they wanted the 3000b router deposit plus one full year of service pre-paid at the outset.

I asked the Call Center what happens, under the 1 year service agreement, for example, if you had to move to some other area where 3BB might not be able to provide the same fiber service you signed up for before the expiration of the one year term. And their answer was, you'd be on the hook to repay them for what they consider to be their 3500b installation fee and the 1500b equipment registration fee that they waived at the outset.

I also asked about the 1200+ baht monthly pricing for their fiber plan, since their website talks about the pricing only being good for a couple more months. And their answer was that if you sign up now while the promotion pricing is 1200+ baht, that they'll commit to keeping that price at least for the entire 1 year initial term of service.

--------------------------

As for the reason for leaving True Online, I've actually gotten decent download speeds over a long period of time, lately with a 30 Mbps plan (that of course doesn't provide anywhere close to that in single streams from international connections.) But, for whatever reason, their UPLOAD speeds to my home have been horrible for the past year or two, to the point where it's almost impossible to timely upload photos or even have a VOIP phone call. They've been out countless times, replaced my router a number of time, and things would be OK for a month or two, and then back to the knuckle dragging upload speeds where it takes many minutes just to upload a single 3 MB photo to a local server such as for Hotmail or Gmail or Dropbox. So, finally, I've given up on them. I've got to believe that 3BB's fiber is going to be better in that regard.

Edited April 29, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[bearpolar]

I downloaded 3.5gb windows updates at 115mbps(14mb/s?) yesterday.

Very surprising as usually windows update is slow everywhere.

Edited April 30, 2016 by bearpolar

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Re my signing up for 3BB's 100Mb/10Mb fiber to the home service, I've got to give them a couple props already -- even though they haven't even installed yet.

1. We signed the agreement yesterday. This morning, we got a message confirming our install date and time, just about a week into the future. So not much delay, assuming they actually keep the appointment.

2. Yesterday, I was asking the Call Center staff about the speeds I could expect for international use as opposed to domestic Thai use under their fiber plan, and they weren't really keen to answer that. But they did promise to have one of their networking/tech people call me to address that subject.

So, based on years of past experience with True Online, I figured either a] I'd never actually get a phone call, or have to call them back 3 or 4 times before anyone finally got back to me, and/or b] someone would eventually call, but they'd only speak Thai and have no clue about the answer to the question I was asking.

Well, blow me away, but this morning (the day after) my mobile phone rings and it's a network/tech guy from 3BB (who spoke excellent English) calling me back to talk about the issue of international bandwidth use. And we had an interesting chat on that subject. But, the mere fact that 3BB called back promptly as promised and actually had someone knowledgeable call -- instead of just a call center translator -- earned them some props in my book.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Now as to the meat of that conversation, and the issue of international vs domestic speeds/bandwidth on their fiber plan.

One of the questions I'd asked the Call Center staff was about the Premier internet plans that 3BB used to offer, and whether they still did offer them or not. The Call Center staff maintained that 3BB no longer has Premier plans, and that they only have the one fiber plan at 100/10. OK.

So, this morning in talking with the 3BB network guy, when I ask the question about international vs. domestic and mentioned that a lot of my use is international, his first response was to say I might be happier with a 3BB Premier plan. And I said, HUH????? And explain to him what the Call Center had told me, And his reply was, yes, they still do offer Premier plans, and that if I want to try that as an alternative at some point, just call or email him, and he'll switch the routing on my service.

Now, the thing about their current or former Premier plans is they have/had much lower stated bandwidth levels, topping out at either 4 or 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. But supposedly, the Premier service means 3BB will give those customers higher priority for international data use, and perhaps a lower contention rate (less traffic on your line/circuit).

Frankly, I don't know if any of that is true. There seems to be some considerable debate out on the net about whether 3BB's current and/former Premier service actually provided anything real of value in terms of better and more stable performance for international use, or whether those plans were just, as some have dubbed them, a kind of "farang tax" where 3BB would charge higher prices to farang customers without actually giving them any faster international speeds or better/more stable performance.

I don't see any reference to Premier packages on the current 3BB website. But when I did a Google search, I found a still alive 3BB page (though I'm not sure it's linked anywhere) that shows a Premier package from about 4 years ago of 5 Mb down and 1 Mb up for 2500b per month. But again, that was their pricing of 4-5 years ago.

http://www.3bb.co.th/promotion/mono.php

If I understood the 3BB network guy correct, his suggestion was to try the 100/10 Mbps fiber package and see how that performs for international use. And if I'm not satisfied with that, to call or email him and he'd switch my service to what he said would be like a 4 or 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up Premier package -- apparently for the same monthly price.

Of course, the interesting/curious question that raises is -- is the international performance of 3BB's 100/10 fiber package so poor that one of their own tech staff is suggesting I might be better off with a 4 or 5 Mbps Premier package instead???

I guess I'll begin to find out in a week or so after they do my fiber installation at home.

[bearpolar]

I seriously do not understand why anyone would spend time over the phone with 3bb tech guys.. outside of the top 1% important guys in the company, most of these guys are kids that play diablo in game cafe and learned how to restart a router.

Even the guys installing fiber have 0 technical knowledge

[casualbiker]

I had the 30/3 fiber deal this was upgraded to 100/10 fiber.. Initially it was OK. But then I seemed to be having stability problems.. I got the technician out, he did the ping and speed test. Told me it was fast etc.. I got the wife to explain that the 30/3 was stable and I wanted it back.. I stressed I wanted stable internet over super fast unstable.. Over a few days he did some adjustments and now according to him I'm on 30/5.. This is upheld by testmy results.. Speed test show 90/5.. I'm extremely happy as it is extremely stable again.. Lovely!