AIS Fiber Optic 15/5 590 baht - Any good?

[ExpatOilWorker]

AIS is now offering 15/5 fiber optic Internet for 590 baht in my building. Has anybody tried it and is it any good? Reliable international speed?

 

The fiber optic has already been installed in the building, but they are using VDSL through the old phone cables to the individual condo units. It that a concern?

 

For current True Internet users they reduce the price to 100 baht/month for the first 6 months. Also it comes with some sort of media box with 40 odd channels, but mostly local content.

 

 

[Pib]

I don't have the 15/5 plan but the 50/10 plan for around 3 months now and its very good...fast international speeds...uptime has been 100%.  I be happy.    

 

Mine is fiber all the way to my house/router.  As you mentioned since you live in a condo, the final X-meters from the building fiber termination point to your condo will be by VDSL which should not impact the advertised 15Mb speed in the slightest unless the building's wiring is absolute crap.

 

And unless they are limiting the max speed to your building for some reason, AIS has fiber packages faster than 15Mb....like up to 50/10 Home packages (Bt888/month...Bt799/mo if already an AIS customer) and even high speed Pro packages.     And for my 50/10 package at Bt888/mo it came with a half price discount of Bt444/mo for the first three months.   Some of these packages are also VDSL for the last X-meters if  you live in a highrise.      More info at this AIS webpage and also this webpage.

 

Edited September 17, 2016 by Pib

[Jiu-Jitsu]

If you commit to twelve months and don't need the media box, the cost is 440 baht per month(471 baht inc VAT).

[Pib]

Good point....on the 15/5 and 20/7 plans you can decline the TV box and get the following prices.   The TV box basically provides a variety of Thai TV channels and a few foreign channels.   Good for a Thai, but for a farang the TV box channels may not be of much interest...but the box definitely provides a crystal clear TV picture....better than TrueVision's HD channels.

 

http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/en/package_home.html   

 

 

[mtls2005]

Maybe ask someone else in the building who has this new AIS service if they are satisfied?

 

VDSL2 will work fine.

 

Most people who've posted here have been satisfied with AIS Fiber service; there have been some posts from users who've had it for 1+ year.

[lamyai3]

On 9/17/2016 at 7:02 PM, Pib said:

Good point....on the 15/5 and 20/7 plans you can decline the TV box and get the following prices.   The TV box basically provides a variety of Thai TV channels and a few foreign channels.   Good for a Thai, but for a farang the TV box channels may not be of much interest...but the box definitely provides a crystal clear TV picture....better than TrueVision's HD channels.

 

http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/en/package_home.html   

 

 

 

Is the playbox worth the additional 1800 baht over the year, or is it better to take the cheaper package and buy one instead of similar value? Does it function well as an Android set top box generally?

[bkkcanuck8]

6 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

 

Is the playbox worth the additional 1800 baht over the year, or is it better to take the cheaper package and buy one instead of similar value? Does it function well as an Android set top box generally?

 

For me it would not be worth it.  I signed up for analogue cable one time for 1200 baht / year figuring that at less than $3, I would get my use out of it.... two years later and 2400 baht and I never ever turned it on to a station (downloaded everything I watched).

[bkkcanuck8]

6 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

 

Is the playbox worth the additional 1800 baht over the year, or is it better to take the cheaper package and buy one instead of similar value? Does it function well as an Android set top box generally?

 

For me it would not be worth it.  I signed up for analogue cable one time for 1200 baht / year figuring that at less than $3, I would get my use out of it.... two years later and 2400 baht and I never ever turned it on to a station (downloaded everything I watched).

[mtls2005]

7 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

 

Is the playbox worth the additional 1800 baht over the year, or is it better to take the cheaper package and buy one instead of similar value? Does it function well as an Android set top box generally?

 

What is anything "worth"? I guess if you like the channels on offer and have no other TV options then it might be worth it. For my 50/10 package they included the Playbox for free. The video quality on the 100+ channels is amazing, and you can buy more channels/packages.

 

It works acceptably as an Android box, quite well actually, but you could probably buy one on your own (but, while you might be able to run AIS Play as an Android app on it, the quality will not be as good, IME.)

 

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

23 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Maybe ask someone else in the building who has this new AIS service if they are satisfied?

 

VDSL2 will work fine.

 

Most people who've posted here have been satisfied with AIS Fiber service; there have been some posts from users who've had it for 1+ year.

 

The building just got connected and AIS actually a little stall with a couple of promotion staff in the lobby for a couple of days, so it is new to everybody.

Based on the above comments, I will diffidently give it a try.  

[Pib]

For me if there was a discount on the 50/10 plan (which I got) I would not have got the the AIS playbox since I already have TrueVision Platinum and free C band satellite in my hous.   But like I said the playbox was free on my plan.   Heck they even gave me a free 2.4/5Ghz 802.11AC router that I still have in the box...this router not to be confused with the primary router they provide to hook up their service.

 

If you are a Thai with no other TV service like cable TV, satellite TV, etc, I expect the great, great majority will get the playbox as it would give them a bunch of Thai TV channels and a few foreign channels to watch.   And you can pay for play for some movies/premium shows using the box...plus use it a a regular Android box.   And like already said it gives awesome video quality.

 

[suzannegoh]

On 9/17/2016 at 5:55 PM, Pib said:

I don't have the 15/5 plan but the 50/10 plan for around 3 months now and its very good...fast international speeds...uptime has been 100%.  I be happy.   

 

 

I'm thinking of ditching my current 3BB plan and getting the 50/10 AIS plan in hopes of improving streaming of HD video content from the US.  So I'm curious as to what type of benchmarking results you are getting on international connection.  If you don't mind, could you run these tools and report the results here? 

New York Server at this link:  https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
MLB server at this link:  http://mlb.mlb.com/tools/bandwidthdetect/

[ExpatOilWorker]

When I called to cancel my True Internet, they offered a 20% discount for 6 months. Too little too late, I am going for AIS.

 

As an added bonus the TOT 02 fixed line is also not required with fiber optic. It must have been 5 years since I actually made a phone call from the 02 number.

[Pib]

I"m surprised True (or any Thai ISP) offered you a better deal while cancelling in an attempt to keep you as a customer.   Sometimes they will point out some other ongoing promotions available to anyone, but based on my experience or posts I've read, when wanting to cancel a service the ISP make little to no effort to keep you.  They may ask you why you care cancelling, but that's about it.

[Pib]

2 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

 

I'm thinking of ditching my current 3BB plan and getting the 50/10 AIS plan in hopes of improving streaming of HD video content from the US.  So I'm curious as to what type of benchmarking results you are getting on international connection.  If you don't mind, could you run these tools and report the results here? 

New York Server at this link:  https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
MLB server at this link:  http://mlb.mlb.com/tools/bandwidthdetect/

 

Speakeasy NY at 2:14pm Bangkok Time

 

MLB Test at 2:16pm Bangkok time

 

 

And just to include another OOKLA-based test result since Speakeasy is an OOKLA-based tested, below is a Speedtest.net (also OOKLA based) test at 2:18pm to NYC

[Pib]

Since you are into streaming video, DSL Reports has a test where you can test various types of streaming from various streaming services like NetFlix, YouTube, etc.   I just ran the NetFlix Ultra HD streaming test several times and it passed each time (that is streams without pausing).  Now I don't know where the testing server is...maybe U.S., maybe Singapore, etc.  I"m not into streaming services like Netflix, but the wife and I do watch quite a few Youtube videos---we have zero pausing/streaming problems (couldn't say that when I was with TOT or True).  Your results may vary.

 

http://www.dslreports.com/tools/streamtest

[suzannegoh]

Since you are into streaming video, DSL Reports has a test where you can test various types of streaming from various streaming services like NetFlix, YouTube, etc.   I just ran the NetFlix Ultra HD streaming test several times and it passed each time (that is streams without pausing).  Now I don't know where the testing server is...maybe U.S., maybe Singapore, etc.  I"m not into streaming services like Netflix, but the wife and I do watch quite a few Youtube videos---we have zero pausing/streaming problems (couldn't say that when I was with TOT or True).  Your results may vary.

 

http://www.dslreports.com/tools/streamtest

Thanks for your advice and benchmarking. The most bandwidth intensive video that I'm currently interested in is 720p resolution at 60 frames per second and requires a steady 5000 kbps to avoid buffering. My current 3BB service is able to support that on some days but not on others. So I'm thinking that upgrading to AIS's 50/10 service will be adequate and I'll probably go ahead and order that.

[Pib]

And here's those same two speed tests you asked for earlier ran at around 6:40pm Bangkok time....and I'm in the middle of a thunderstorm right now in my part of Bangkok.

 

Speakeasy to NYC

 

MLB

 

 

[wpcoe]

22 hours ago, Pib said:

I"m surprised True (or any Thai ISP) offered you a better deal while cancelling in an attempt to keep you as a customer.   Sometimes they will point out some other ongoing promotions available to anyone, but based on my experience or posts I've read, when wanting to cancel a service the ISP make little to no effort to keep you.  They may ask you why you care cancelling, but that's about it.

 

A couple months ago I MNP's my mobile phone account from True to AIS, and True offered some sort of discount to try to keep me from leaving.  I forget the details, but for me price wasn't the issue, so I continued with the MNP to AIS.

[suzannegoh]

On 9/21/2016 at 6:42 PM, Pib said:

And here's those same two speed tests you asked for earlier ran at around 6:40pm Bangkok time....and I'm in the middle of a thunderstorm right now in my part of Bangkok.

 

Speakeasy to NYC

 

MLB

 

 

 

I had the 50/10 service installed today.  It does seem to be giving me what I need in terms of video streaming.  Main problem that I'm having now is getting port forwarding to work on the ZTE F660 router that they gave me.Do you happen to know if AIS is blocking certain ports on incoming traffic?  Until I get that working I won't be able to view my security cameras from outside the house.

 

Edited September 24, 2016 by suzannegoh

[Pib]

AIS provides a free DDNS service so you can setup port forwarding like for use with security cameras.  Go the note at the bottom of this AIS Fibre page to setup/use the free DDNS account.  I haven't done but it should be easy to setup/use...I remembering seeing a post or two of folks have done it.

 

http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/en/package_home.html

 

[suzannegoh]

8 minutes ago, Pib said:

AIS provides a free DDNS service so you can setup port forwarding like for use with security cameras.  Go the note at the bottom of this AIS Fibre page to setup/use the free DDNS account.  I haven't done but it should be easy to setup/use...I remembering seeing a post or two of folks have done it.

 

http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/en/package_home.html

 

 

I'll see if that leads too anything. I already have a No-IP.com account that I was using with my 3BB service and I had though (perhaps incorrectly) that AIS DDNS was just a replacement for that.  Usually a DDNS service just makes it such that you don't need to have a static IP address, but I'm not having a problem finding my router's IP address from outside the house I'm have trouble getting the ports to forward inside the house.

[suzannegoh]

8 minutes ago, Pib said:

AIS provides a free DDNS service so you can setup port forwarding like for use with security cameras.  Go the note at the bottom of this AIS Fibre page to setup/use the free DDNS account.  I haven't done but it should be easy to setup/use...I remembering seeing a post or two of folks have done it.

 

http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/en/package_home.html

 

 

I'll see if that leads too anything. I already have a No-IP.com account that I was using with my 3BB service and I had though (perhaps incorrectly) that AIS DDNS was just a replacement for that.  Usually a DDNS service just makes it such that you don't need to have a static IP address, but I'm not having a problem finding my router's IP address from outside the house I'm have trouble getting the ports to forward inside the house.

[jonw8uk]

I have the 50/10 package in a newish condo, around on nut. Have to say while generally pleased with it, ive had more outages than I expected: 4 or 5 a week - red light of death on asus router. 

 Over the last few days the gf was complaining of it being slow (i was out the country) so when i got back last night i ran a couple of speedtests (bkk server):

 

 

3rd row down. I was running at 10/10

 

after a phone call and 'magic reset' at their end, i was back up. Hope i wasnt being throttled....will keep an eye on it

Edited September 24, 2016 by jonw8uk
Detail

[Pib]

I'm surprised your ping is is over 20ms...mine is 3ms.   I'm located in western Bangkok.   My AIS 50/10 is fibre all the way to the house.  Expect  yours is fibre to the condo building and then VDSL for the last X-meters.

 

B

[Pib]

And when using PureVPN to establish a virtual Bangkok VPN connection (the connection is really at Singapore but gives a Bangkok Thailand IP address), I can pull around 65 to almost 80Mb (sometimes over 80Mb) to Thailand and Singapore sites.    Notice the ping time below in the first image (Bangkok to Bangkok) is 69ms which is correct for this virtual VPN connection because that's approx. twice the approx. 35ms ping time from Thailand to Singapore.  And testing Bangkok to Chiang Mai I get 79Mb.  Expect the increased speed way above 50Mb (what I pay for) is due to the VPN connection getting around some throttles/settings limiting my speed to the 50Mb I'm signed up for/pay for.

 

With the PureVPN virtual Bangkok VPN connection I did a variety of speed tests us Speedtest.net, Testmy.net, Speakeasy, and MLB.  Tests down around 10:30pm to 11:15pm on this Saturday night...and it's raining like heck. The various results pretty much shows the virtual Bangkok VPN gives me greater speed in Thailand and to Singapore but Upload starts to be impacted/suffer as it's usually a little above 12Mb.  And reaching outside of Thailand to farang land my upload speed is really degraded (it's impacted very little with a non-VPN connection), and the download speed to certain farang land locations is greatly speeded-up but not to other locations.  

 

With a VPN connection and various speed  testers your results can sometimes surprise you and other times they are no better (or worst) than a non-VPN connection.    And keep in mind some speed testers are "multi-thread" testers like Speedtest.net (1 to 8 threads can be used) where other like Testmy.net are single-thread testers.....this can cause widely different results, not to imply one result is not accurate as a multi-thread tester acts like a download manager and uses multi streams to speedup download speeds.   But for live video streaming a single thread tester might provide more realistic results for video streaming.

 

So, below are the results...remember all were done with a virtual Bangkok VPN connection (i.e., Thailand IP address but actually the VPN server is in Singapore).

 

Bangkok to Bangkok

 

Bangkok to Chiang Mai

 

Bangkok to Singapore

 

Bangkok to San Francisco

 

Bangkok to London

 

Testmy.net Bangkok to Singapore

 

Testmy.net San Francisco

 

Speakeasy to NYC

 

MLB Speedtest

 

[Pib]

To supplement above tests, below are a few speed tests done this Sunday morning around 11am Bangkok time on my AIS Fibre 50/10  to Bangkok, Singapore, and San Francisco using a regular/non-VPN connection and then a Virtual Bangkok VPN with PureVPN.  My normal, day-to-day, non-VPN  Thailand speed with AIS is around 51/12. 

 

By "virtual" I mean the VPN server connection is really at Singapore but I'm given a Thailand IP address.   For you folks who have a VPN service which also has some "virtual" servers (most do) you know what I mean.   As you'll see, I'm able to exceeded my AIS 50Mb download speed by a very significant margin for Thailand and Singapore sites...guess the VPN is somehow being able to get around settings limiting my connection to the 50Mb I pay for.   But when reaching beyond Singapore like to San Francisco the VPN connection is slower and upload speeds is noticeably degraded.   

 

The magic and mysteries of VPN sometimes.  T one location it can make a BIG difference in your speed; to another no difference or slower speed.  It also depends on your internet service provided as to how they may be trying throttle (or even block) certain type of connections.   And the type of speed tester you are using, multi-thread or single-thread, can make a difference. 

 

Non-VPN - Bangkok to Bangkok

 

Virtual Bangkok VPN Connection - Bangkok to Bangkok

 

 

Non-VPN Bangkok to Singapore

 

Virtual Bangkok VPN Connection - Bangkok to Singapore

 

 

Non-VPN Bangkok to San Francisco

 

Virtual Bangkok VPN Connection - Bangkok to San Francisco

 

[suzannegoh]

22 hours ago, Pib said:

I'm surprised your ping is is over 20ms...mine is 3ms.   I'm located in western Bangkok.   My AIS 50/10 is fibre all the way to the house.  Expect  yours is fibre to the condo building and then VDSL for the last X-meters.

 

B

 

Your benchmarking results are quite a lot better than what I'm getting on my newly installed 50/10 connection in Chiang Mai.  I can get ping times of 14 or 15 ms and upload /download speeds as advertised when testing against an Ookla server in Chiang Mai but not all of the time and only when I'm connected by wire or by 802.11ac.  In my case I have fibre all the way into my living room, no VDSL involved.

[Pib]

Must be a local AIS network thing.  I just tested (9:28pm Sunday night) from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and got a 5ms ping time.  I'm in western Bangkok.  When testing to a Bangkok I get around a 3ms ping time as shown earlier.

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

I can now answer my own question: YES 15/5 AIS Fiber optic Internet is VERY good. Rock solid speed and low ping time.

 

The Android movie box has 100+ channels and some free movies and series, including a few international news channels, like DW, but not CNN and BBC. Crystal clear picture.