Whats happening to internet speed in Pattaya

[n210mp]

Ok Ockla speed test showing upwards of 25Gs and download or 3.5Gs But the internet is still sooooo slow.

Im sure that the Thai Gov is interfering with the internet

Anybody else having a similar problem?

[peterrabbit]

Yes.

I have seen a slow down in loading web pages in the last week on 3BB fibre. The speed tests are the same but the loading of pages is a lot slower.

[wooloomooloo]

Depends on how much Frankie Vaughan you're downloading.

[joepattaya1961]

I've been complaining to True over the last weeks.

4 times in 8 days.........first there was an upgrade of the services, then there was a fire near Sukhumvit 53, then there was a fire near Sukhumvit 49 and yesterday there was.........hey.....they didn't know.

Anyway, they phoned me 3 times after the problem was solved verifying that I was satisfied.

Point is that switching to another provider doesn't make a lot of sense since the internet-infrastructure all follows the same way.

[AlQaholic]

I think the ISPs are throttling the international speed for private users because they give priority to big spenders such as companies and govt.. Think you need to complain with the ISP so they give you more bandwidth, otherwise they will just assume you are happy with the throttled speed they give you by default. Domestic dl speed test for me always 30GB and International I get somewhere between 2 - 10 GB.

[losworld]

first forget ookla speedtest it is junk. the providers cache their data and ookla goes along with the game. use testmy.net and you wills more accurate results. they have throttled all interntional feeds to 5 megs the internet here is a joke. i pay 1000 baht a month for a <deleted> 5 meg download speed and they pretend they are giving me 10 mets. sophon cable is a joke and a scam.

[royalmice]

My speed test results on my server in France = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416750869
My speed test results on my Home PC in Bangsaray = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416752560

[chicowoodduck]

Been using the Wifi connection as of late.....still slow like a calendar, but steady as she goes.....not downloading anything of importance, so will rock on, Pattaya...??

[Guderian]

I lost my TOT connection all day on Saturday, apparently they were replacing some major piece of kit that serves this area of town. Fingers crossed but it's fairly buzzing along now.

[Snoozy]

It isn't any better up here in Chiang Rai. Speed test shows I have a pretty good connection, but trying to stream a movie from an "out of Thailand" site is virtually impossible now. This has been going on for about 1-2 weeks now. Everything else seems to be working fine.

[Naam]

My speed test results on my server in France = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416750869

My speed test results on my Home PC in Bangsaray = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416752560

Download 924.00 Mbps

Upload910.04 Mbps

Ping 0 ms

[royalmice]

My speed test results on my server in France = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416750869

My speed test results on my Home PC in Bangsaray = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416752560

Download 924.00 Mbps

Upload910.04 Mbps

Ping 0 ms

Yip that's the speed on a windows server in France

[patsfangr]

I had been led to believe that speed would NOT be affected by using a VPN. My VPN actually told me this both in writing and on the phone a few times. I found it to be true ... UNTIL RECENTLY.

Over the last several weeks, I've seen that my speed is cut by approximately half with my VPN running. I just ran comparative tests a few minutes ago. With my VPN OFF, I got a DL speed of 13.5 Mbps. I turned my VPN ON (using a Hong Kong server), and got a speed of 6.1. So there is no doubt that the Thai govt has done SOMETHING to change our internet signal strength from abroad. As I said, this was NOT the case a few months ago. I got very nearly the same speed with and without my VPN.

Has anybody else seen a similar change in the speed comparison with and without a VPN recently?

[1FinickyOne]

Upcountry in north/central and my speed is fine as ever, in a small village too... no problem streaming sports and movies...

[JESSVANPELT]

well we all agree its slowed down,In my building we are all using the same provider, and once we recently added 2 more subscribers things slowed down. I'am of the opinion we just have to many users for the amount of signal designated for our area. I believe this occurs in many places and sine there is no recourse in this country for not getting what you pay for we don't have any choice. Typically what should occur is Signal boosters would be added were there many subscribers to make sure they get the signal they are paying for.

[vincent13]

Winet very slow here in the NE for the past week or so. 3.3 down and 264 kbs up today.

[patsfangr]

Well, I now know the cause of most of my speed problems. It's my VPN. I have been using Express VPN for a few years now. When I initially subscribed, and several times over the next few years, they had assured me that my speed would not be affected by the VPN. I just had a lengthy live chat with a tech rep there, during which he told me that they made a significant change in their encryption protocol back in March of this year. That change/improvement in encryption resulted in the probability of a 40-50% decrease in speed! That is exactly what I'm seeing.

(Their web page explains the new encryption being used. "ExpressVPN uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with 256-bit keys — also known as AES-256. It's the same encryption standard adopted by the U.S. government and used by security experts worldwide to protect classified information."}

Tests today had my speed at between 13 and 15 Mbps WITHOUT my VPN; dropping to levels between 5 and 7 Mbps WITH the VPN connection.

So there it is. I have a choice, at least with THIS VPN provider, between maximum security or maximum speed. I can't have both. Obviously, I could change to a VPN with a less effective encryption protocol; but that's sort of the same choice I have now, isn't it? I'd have to reduce security to retain maximum speed.

I don't know if this affects all of you, but I suspect that it does affect some. If you use a VPN, I suggest that you check with them on their encryption protocol; and, specifically, whether or not they've upgraded their encryption recently, as mine did.

I hope this helps ease the frustration for some of you. It did so for me. At least I understand the problem, and can make an informed decision.

[how241]

losworld, on 20 Jun 2016 - 09:36, said:

first forget ookla speedtest it is junk. the providers cache their data and ookla goes along with the game. use testmy.net and you wills more accurate results. they have throttled all interntional feeds to 5 megs the internet here is a joke. i pay 1000 baht a month for a <deleted> 5 meg download speed and they pretend they are giving me 10 mets. sophon cable is a joke and a scam.

You seem to be right. My True speed test shows the same number several times of 13.13 mbs...testmy.net is showing 4-5 mbs. ....Total b/s .

[SidJames]

I'm with 3BB & concur with the comments here.

Speedtest showing everything as normal but buffering is becoming more common & sometimes I can't load anything.

[Lannig]

VPN isn't a magical wand.

First, the encapsulation of data payload induced by VPN protocols decreases the overall data transfer efficiency. Second, serious cryptos have a cost (as accurately stated by your VPN operator). It's a trade-off: use light encryption that can broken easily or get serious. Depends on how much you value your safety

VPNs can be used to evade the throttling of web traffic up to a certain point when ISPs realize the amount of traffic going from/to VPN operators and soon add their servers to a list of throttled IPs (or worse, blacklist them due to government requirements)

Last but not least, there are some signs showing that something's happening at Thai ISPs that may or may not be the first steps of a single filtering gateway being rolled out. There's another thread on this. At least they seem to be changing the way the government's blacklist is implemented. It may impact web traffic speed.

[KenKadz]

Look out the window at the incredible spider web of wiring (of all kinds) on the nearest power pole and be grateful that anything works in Thailand!

[patsfangr]

VPN isn't a magical wand.

First, the encapsulation of data payload induced by VPN protocols decreases the overall data transfer efficiency. Second, serious cryptos have a cost (as accurately stated by your VPN operator). It's a trade-off: use light encryption that can broken easily or get serious. Depends on how much you value your safety

VPNs can be used to evade the throttling of web traffic up to a certain point when ISPs realize the amount of traffic going from/to VPN operators and soon add their servers to a list of throttled IPs (or worse, blacklist them due to government requirements)

Last but not least, there are some signs showing that something's happening at Thai ISPs that may or may not be the first steps of a single filtering gateway being rolled out. There's another thread on this. At least they seem to be changing the way the government's blacklist is implemented. It may impact web traffic speed.

Since you are obviously MUCH more technically savvy on this stuff than I am, Lannig; may I ask for your advice on the VPN choice. Do you think it's worth the expense, and the sacrifice of speed, for an "ordinary guy" like me (retired, not wealthy, not "politically active") to have a VPN. I'm thinking that it may not be, since I'm virtually certain that I'm of no significant economic or political interest to anybody! :-)

Should I just drop it, and save myself some money?

[Basil B]

"Whats happening to internet speed in Pattaya"

System clogged up with stranded Chinese trying to contact their tour operator???

[Lannig]

@Patsfangr: well, although I'm an IT professional I'm not a VPN user myself (no need to) except when connecting to my employer's network for remote work using the company's VPN, so I may not be the best adviser on VPN benefits for home internet users.

But since you're asking for advice: you sound like you don't need VPN indeed. The only motive I can see would be browsing some foreign general media sites that aren't reachable but that would be illegal wouldn't it?

[patsfangr]

@Patsfangr: well, although I'm an IT professional I'm not a VPN user myself (no need to) except when connecting to my employer's network for remote work using the company's VPN, so I may not be the best adviser on VPN benefits for home internet users.

But since you're asking for advice: you sound like you don't need VPN indeed. The only motive I can see would be browsing some foreign general media sites that aren't reachable but that would be illegal wouldn't it?

LOL! Yes, it would. I'm so damn old now that even those days are behind me. Besides, I live Pattaya. Why use "general media" when more "tangible attractions" are so readily available? (Oh, wait ... that's "illegal" as well, isn't it?)

But seriously, thanks for the educated opinion. I think you've saved me a few bucks. I'm really not worth the effort for anybody to hack or track down.

[Basil B]

Look out the window at the incredible spider web of wiring (of all kinds) on the nearest power pole and be grateful that anything works in Thailand!

My view on this is for Pattaya to subcontract a single company to provide a city wide fibre network to cabinets within 100m of most properties then ISP's connect to the cabinets for broadband and a VoIP phone connection.

I get 52mb and phone on one twisted pair connected to a Fibre cabinet down the street, also a lot of our our cables run underground here in the UK. (actually two phones because the second phone work of a VoIP box connected to my router).

[KhunBENQ]

"Whats happening to internet speed in Pattaya"

Internet in Pattaya is flooded

Flooded by water or flooded by surfing mass tourists?

I watch this thread from my upcountry hacienda and wonder what's the matter?

No probs here. The speed meter shoots to double digit MBits/s (>10, >20) and that serves all my needs.

Watching IPTV, videos from German mediaservers, other(!) forums (picture galleries)

ToT fibre.

[Naam]

My speed test results on my server in France = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416750869

My speed test results on my Home PC in Bangsaray = http://beta.speedtest.net/result/5416752560

Download 924.00 Mbps

Upload910.04 Mbps

Ping 0 ms

Yip that's the speed on a windows server in France

turbocharged by Scotty the chief engineer from Startrek's enterprise? and that's why ping is 0ms?

[n210mp]

Thanks for all the posts, it seems to me that they ISP are just diluting and diluting their services as ever .

I will be giving them so earache though (true) as suggested and maybe if I am lucky they will give me a little extra bandwidth

[Lannig]

Dream on...

If their local infrastructure is overloaded like rightly suggested by KhunBENQ then they can't offer what they don't have, i.e. spare capacity at local exchanges, DSLAMs, switches, uplinks to BKK etc.