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

[Pib]

What kind of speed to "international" sites do you get with the AIS 15/5?

[ExpatOilWorker]

12 minutes ago, Pib said:

What kind of speed to "international" sites do you get with the AIS 15/5?

 

I have only had it for half a day now, but looks like 12-13/4 for European and American servers.

 

The limitation could actually be the wifi as the router have two signals. One is supposedly faster than the other and I am on the slowest 2.4G now.

Edited September 26, 2016 by ExpatOilWorker

[wpcoe]

6 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

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.

 

By any chance do you (or anybody) have a link to a list of channels provided with the Android movie box?  Or, is DW the only one?

[Pib]

8 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

 

By any chance do you (or anybody) have a link to a list of channels provided with the Android movie box?  Or, is DW the only one?

At this webpage....click the plus symbol to see all the channels.  Fine for a Thai, but not much for a farang unless fluent in the Thai language.  

 

http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/en/tv.html

[ExpatOilWorker]

 

49 minutes ago, Pib said:

At this webpage....click the plus symbol to see all the channels.  Fine for a Thai, but not much for a farang unless fluent in the Thai language.  

 

http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/en/tv.html

 

I just noticed there is a Thai channel called "Police TV". Gotta check it out tomorrow, could be the local Hawaii 5-0.

 

.....and there is "Fun TV" with a little heart.

Edited September 26, 2016 by ExpatOilWorker

[suzannegoh]

1 hour ago, wpcoe said:

 

By any chance do you (or anybody) have a link to a list of channels provided with the Android movie box?  Or, is DW the only one?

 

It's a low end box that is come for free with a 1 yr subscription and hence is a good value, but if you are serious about streaming content for about 2000 or 2500 baht you can buy a much more capable Android box and install Kodi and other apps that will allow you access to a much wider range of channels and archived movies/shows.  This is an example of one that does a nice job:
https://www.amazon.com/ACEMAX-M8S-Android-Streaming-Enternet/dp/B0119Y7IDW

[wpcoe]

6 hours ago, Pib said:

At this webpage....click the plus symbol to see all the channels.  Fine for a Thai, but not much for a farang unless fluent in the Thai language.  

 

http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/en/tv.html

Thanks.  Nothing there that would be of interest to me.  If I go for AIS Fibre, I will try to get a lower price by eliminating the Playbox.

[Pib]

11 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

 

I just noticed there is a Thai channel called "Police TV". Gotta check it out tomorrow, could be the local Hawaii 5-0.

 

.....and there is "Fun TV" with a little heart.

Naw, just the Thai Police channel that occasionally has Thai Police info on it.  It been on satellite free TV for a long time....pretty much a waste of time channel.

[Pib]

I've turned the Playbox on a few  times to check out the TV channels, maybe watch a movie on the movie channel, but last night I used it to play some Youtube.   Worked fine....beautiful picture.   I don't need or use the Playbox for TV as I have TrueVisions cable TV.

 

One problem in being able to fully use and understand all the Playbox's capabilities is because although you can set it to the English language a lot of the menus for the TV channel/movie type stuff stays in Thai.  Of course no problem if you can read Thai, but I can't.   

 

As with some other internet providers which also provide some free TV channels (like TrueOnline), usually around 100 channels, with their internet service the channels are really nothing more than free-to-air TV channels they pull-off free satellite with maybe a few special channels added in.   If you just want and need the very basic Thai TV channels  then it's a good deal; otherwise, it's not much of a value added benefit and that's why they don't charge for it.

[ExpatOilWorker]

9 hours ago, Pib said:

I've turned the Playbox on a few  times to check out the TV channels, maybe watch a movie on the movie channel, but last night I used it to play some Youtube.   Worked fine....beautiful picture.   I don't need or use the Playbox for TV as I have TrueVisions cable TV.

 

One problem in being able to fully use and understand all the Playbox's capabilities is because although you can set it to the English language a lot of the menus for the TV channel/movie type stuff stays in Thai.  Of course no problem if you can read Thai, but I can't.   

 

As with some other internet providers which also provide some free TV channels (like TrueOnline), usually around 100 channels, with their internet service the channels are really nothing more than free-to-air TV channels they pull-off free satellite with maybe a few special channels added in.   If you just want and need the very basic Thai TV channels  then it's a good deal; otherwise, it's not much of a value added benefit and that's why they don't charge for it.

 

My playbox is all in English, don't see anything in Thai at all.

Edited September 27, 2016 by ExpatOilWorker

[Pib]

2 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

My playbox is all in English, don't see anything in Thai at all.

Many of the basic things are like the settings/selections menus but when in the TV function and changing channels a bunch of categories at the bottom of the screen are in Thai only which I'm pretty sure just sorts channels into certain groups like News, Movies,  Sports, etc.   

[fruitman]

My wife keeps bringing the playbox from room to room.

 

We want to have  one more but that seems to be impossible?

Edited September 27, 2016 by fruitman

[Pib]

20 minutes ago, fruitman said:

My wife keeps bringing the playbox from room to room.

 

We want to have  one more but that seems to be impossible?

Give AIS Fibre a call at 1185 and see what they say.

 

More info here on the Playbox:

http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/en/support_promo.html

[fruitman]

5 minutes ago, Pib said:

Give AIS Fibre a call at 1185 and see what they say.

 

More info here on the Playbox:

http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/en/support_promo.html

 

I bet they can't understand me, i asked the AIS-engineers last week and they said the box is connected to a number or so. They couldn't speak english so i didn't get a real answer. Our fibrecable was broken, after 3 days they came to replace it...will be broken again soon since it hangs in the trees.

 

So is everybody moving that box from room to room all day long? My wife now even leaves it in the bedroom which means she's always there and i don't like that. She gets tired of moving that thing.

 

 

[Pib]

I've called AIS Fibre once shortly after getting the service just with some general questions....the female that talked to me spoke good English, but she had a English speaking male Tech call me back about an hour later that answered the rest of my questions.  Guess everyone's results will vary but the two AIS Fibre reps I talked to spoke good English...had no problem in communications.

 

I don't move my box around...always hooked to one TV...I just use an ethernet vs Wifi connection.  I hardly use the Playbox since I have TrueVisions cable and C/KU band satellite in multiple rooms.   I just turn the Playbox on occasionally to make sure it still works, play around a little, see if any new channels showed up, etc.

[suzannegoh]

My wife keeps bringing the playbox from room to room.

 

We want to have  one more but that seems to be impossible?

If the reason for wanting another box is to get the Thai channels there might be another way. ILikeHD gives you the Thai channels for free in HD and can run from a browser or by installing their android app. Just put that on any other PC or Android device that you have, or buy a M8S+ Android box for about 2500 baht to run their app, and the goal of getting Thai channels would be achieved. See http://ilikehdtv.tv.

[lamyai3]

On 9/26/2016 at 3:07 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

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.

 

Signed up last week for exactly the same deal (installation tomorrow), so this thread is very timely. Switched to a postpaid AIS sim at the same time, as it knocks 10% off the fibre cost. Sim gives 10gb for 488 per month, very pleased with the speed.

 

I like the flexibility, that I can start at 15/5 and then upgrade through the website to 20/7 or 50/10 if needed. I took the deal with the playbox same as you, as the 10% discount wouldn't apply to the bare bones package, and neither would the option to upgrade to the highest speed 50/10. Impressed with everything so far, the AIS English speaking call centre staff seem very competent and the AIS app works well.

 

[wpcoe]

35 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

 Switched to a postpaid AIS sim at the same time, as it knocks 10% off the fibre cost. Sim gives 10gb for 488 per month, very pleased with the speed.

 

You're not the first poster to mention they switched their mobile to AIS to get the discount.  "Well played" to the AIS marketing folks, as that offer seems to be working!  

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 27/9/2559 at 4:05 AM, wpcoe said:

Thanks.  Nothing there that would be of interest to me.  If I go for AIS Fibre, I will try to get a lower price by eliminating the Playbox.

 

The Playbox have a USB slot. You can always plug a HDD in and use use to watch your favorite downloads. 

[suzannegoh]

 

You're not the first poster to mention they switched their mobile to AIS to get the discount.  "Well played" to the AIS marketing folks, as that offer seems to be working!  

They lowered their prices for 3G/4G too. Both that and the Fibre are good products at a fair price, they deserve success in marketing them.

[suzannegoh]

3 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

The Playbox have a USB slot. You can always plug a HDD in and use use to watch your favorite downloads. 

 

Thanks for pointing out that it has USB ports.  I didn't pay much attention to that box at first because I already had an AndroidTV box purchased from a computer shop and I initially didn’t notice the USB ports on the side of the unit.  Now that I see that it has USB ports I'm able to see that you can add a mouse and keyboard to it and load apps off a USB drive.  So I installed the Google Play Store off a USB stick and then used that to install Kodi and a whole bunch of other apps for streaming video.  Now that I've loaded it up with most of the apps that I like, the "Playbox" from AIS is very similar to the Android box that I already had and it can be used to stream a wide variety of TV channels beyond the ones that that AIS preloads onto the box.  
 

[Pib]

I see as of 28 Sep 16 (today) AIS Fibre has some new pricing....also now includes a 100/10 PowerHome plan where before today 50/10 was their highest speed PowerHome plan.  And don't confuse their PowerHome plans with their PowerPro plans that go all the way up to 2000/200.

 

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

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 9/21/2016 at 2:11 PM, 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.

 

When I canceled my True Online and TrueVisions services a few months back in favor of 3BB 100/10 fiber, True asked me why I was canceling, and I told them. But beyond that, they offered no incentive whatsoever to keep me as a customer.

 

And frankly, I don't think there's anything they could have offered that would have changed my mind.

 

[Pib]

8 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

When I canceled my True Online and TrueVisions services a few months back in favor of 3BB 100/10 fiber, True asked me why I was canceling, and I told them. But beyond that, they offered no incentive whatsoever to keep me as a customer.

 

And frankly, I don't think there's anything they could have offered that would have changed my mind.

 

Exact ditto for me when I cancelled my TrueOnline plan for an AIS plan.  

 

And since I had already had the AIS Fibre plan for several weeks, any TrueOnline offer to keep me would have had to been an eye-opening, jaw-dropping type offer I just couldn't refuse since I was now locked into the AIS 12 month contract and just didn't need a second home internet service provider.  In those rare cases where my home internet plan might go down for a brief period I would just use my DTAC 3G mobile data via phone Hotspot.   When I had TrueOnline DOCSIS/cable for 5 years its uptime was like over 99.9% and so far after having my AIS plan for almost 3 months its uptime has been 100%.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Folks, re the AIS Playbox, which I'm assuming is an Android based device, is it locked down, or does it come pre-installed with access to the Google Play Store, which lets you choose pretty much whatever apps you desire?

 

Also, is it connected via wifi or direct to the AIS Fiber cable. If the later, I'm wondering about the ability to get it to operate with a different country IP address other than native Thailand, such as by installing an Android VPN app?

 

[Pib]

39 minutes ago, Pib said:

I see as of 28 Sep 16 (today) AIS Fibre has some new pricing....also now includes a 100/10 PowerHome plan where before today 50/10 was their highest speed PowerHome plan.  And don't confuse their PowerHome plans with their PowerPro plans that go all the way up to 2000/200.

 

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

 

Where I said PowerPro plans up to 2000/200...that's a typo...meant to say up to 1000/200.

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Folks, re the AIS Playbox, which I'm assuming is an Android based device, is it locked down, or does it come pre-installed with access to the Google Play Store, which lets you choose pretty much whatever apps you desire?

 

Also, is it connected via wifi or direct to the AIS Fiber cable. If the later, I'm wondering about the ability to get it to operate with a different country IP address other than native Thailand, such as by installing an Android VPN app?

 

Yeap, you can load apps from Google Play...and it can connect via ethernet or Wifi to your router.   

User Manual here: http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/en/package_playbox.html

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, Pib said:

Where I said PowerPro plans up to 2000/200...that's a typo...meant to say up to 1000/200.

 

Fine print re the AIS packages for potential new subscribers:

 

Quote

 

FREE installation and Wi-Fi router with a combined value of 4,000 Baht. If the customer cancels the service before the 12th billing cycle for any reason, the company reserves the right to collect the installation discount and customer must return the equipment to the company.

 

FREE AIS PLAYBOX activation fee 2,500 baht for normal packages only

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yeap, you can load apps from Google Play...and it can connect via ethernet or Wifi to your router.   

User Manual here: http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/en/package_playbox.html

 

Thanks Pib.. I thought it might have been an in-line connection direct via the fiber line.

 

But, based on what you're saying, someone could install their PlayBox in any room/TV in their house, regardless of where their AIS Fiber router is located. Although obviously, the box is likely to get a faster connection if it's hard-wired thru ethernet as oppposed to wifi.

 

But given that AIS is offering up to AC dual band routers and typical video streaming only requires between 5 and 25 Mbps, the AC wifi ought to be fine, especially via a 5 GHz connection.

 

"Free Dual Band Wi-Fi Router that support 2 GHz and 5 GHz frequency increase efficiency improvements for any packages for condominium and up to 50/10 Mbps package for Fibre to the Home from today – 30 December 2016 (For new registration only) "

Edited September 28, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Pib]

TG,
And let me say I have not used Google Play on the Playbox...but when looking in the settings it shows Google Play is already installed but I can't find it on any menus. On the Playbox's app page it just shows a Browser, Email, Downloaded, and App Install selections/icons. When selecting the App Installer icon the next menu that pops up is a menu allowing side loading.

Although Google Play comes installed as part of the basic OS maybe its actual use is not allowed on this box's setup.

So I'll let others who have used the box a lot talk about regarding loading more apps as I've pretty much just used it to watch some TV. But I did go into the boxes Wifi setting just to turn off the Wifi since I use a hard connection to the router.