3bb vs ais fiber vs true online ( fttx)

[kevinhsn]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Thanks for that crossfeed.   Testing about an hour later on my 50/10 plan my Frankfurt speed was better than your 200/10 plan but my LA speed was worst but not a whole lot worst.     See below.   But it should be noted international speeds can change greatly during a 24 hours period....even a few minutes later testing can result in big changes (up or down) on single-thread testers like testmy.net...much less so than on multi-thread testers like OOKLA based testers such as Speedtest.net.

 

Since I was able to pick-out your Testmy.net session ID last night in the Testmy.net database when you were running tests to LA, SF,  Oz, Frankfurt and London I saw you were generally only getting speeds of a couple of Mbs to most of those locations.   I found that info about 45 minutes after  you had run them and when I ran the tests to the same locations I got basically the same results.   International speed was much worst last night than this morning....not an uncommon event.   And your tests above are still linked to the session ID I looked at last night for your tests.

 

One thing this did reconfirm to me from comparison testing over the last year with some other TV members when I was on True DOCSIS/Cable, my True 15Mb DOCSIS plan at the time was just as fast as those others members 30Mb DOCSIS plan for international sites beyond Singapore.   And doing some similar testing with a TV member on a AIS 50/10 PowerPro vs my 50/10 PowerHome revealed the same result...and for the PowerPro plan higher international speed was one of its selling point supporting it's approx double monthly price.   And some comparison tests with a TV member on 3BB Fiber 200/50 plan showed the AIS 50/10 speed was generally better than his international speed.

 

Or said another way, a much faster plan on with the same ISP, like comparison of your AIS Fibre 200 plan and my AIS Fibre 50 plan, may not result in an associated linear international speed increase.  Like with your plan being four times faster than my plan (200 vs 50) does not mean your international speed will be four times faster than mine although it will indeed be four times faster for domestic/in-Thailand speeds.

 

And due to faster lines between Thailand and Singapore it's usually easy to get good/full speed to Singapore, but when reaching out beyond Singapore (and generally this part of Asia)....like reaching out to the U.S. and Europe the international speeds really roll- off.

 

Thanks again for the crossfeed.   It confirmed to me that if I do upgrade from the 50 to 200Mb plan that my international speed beyond Singapore will probably not increase.

 

 

 

 

 

I was curious and just did a test on 3BB 200/50 and got this.

 

 

[arkom]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Yes, I'm not seeing things!!!!   Although the 100/10 at Bt1100 briefly showed on the AIS Fibre homepage and then disappeared I just logged onto my AIS Fibre account and I'm "now" being offerred the option to upgrade to a 100/10 plan at Bt1,100....that option was not available to me a week or two ago when I last looked at my account...nor was it yesterday when talking to the AIS Call Center rep.  

 

I bet there has been an overnight update.   That is, a new promotion getting ready to come out (that is, hasn't went final yet on the AIS Fibre homepage yet) but my account has just been updated to show it's availability.   Or maybe it's only available to current customers.  I'll probably call AIS again today about upgrading and asking specifically about the 100Mb plan (again)....hopefully I get a different answer today.

 

I'm much more comfortable with paying Bt1,100/mo for a 100Mb plan since I'm already paying Bt888 right now for my 50Mb plan....get double the speed for only a couple hundred baht more....and definitely more comfortable that paying Bt1,888/mo for the 200Mb plan.

 

Now I know neither the 100 or 200Mb plan will probably give me any significant better international speed (except to Singapore) than my current 50Mb plan, but I'm more than willing to pay a couple hundred more baht per month to double my domestic speed and probably double my international speed to Singapore where a lot of  US/European sites are mirrored.

 

But right now I have to go shopping with the wife---priorities you know.

 

 

I was hoping they would come out with a 100/10 plan and just upgraded and since I am an AIS Serende customer I only pay 899 thb, not a bad deal.  Like you I was considering the 200/10 but at 1,888 its a bit steep.   Their fiber website is now updated and shows the 100/10 plan as an option. 

[kevinhsn]

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[shariq607]

Anyone know if Dmz or Upnp works normally with CGNAT in order to open gaming ports?

I am seriously considering downgrading from powerpro to power home but the downside is home comes with private IP (CGNAT) while pro comes with public IPv4.


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[Pib]

55 minutes ago, kevinhsn said:

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More confirmation I was not seeing things this morning when the 100/10 promotion briefly appeared and then disappeared.   But above is still not what I saw....it was a promotion/banner that appeared on the top half of the main screen.   AIS was just loading-up/adjusting their website with the new promotions.

 

I see 12 months of free HOOQ is now included with the 50 thru 200 plans PowerHome plans where before some or all was just one free month.  For the PowerPro plans with the exception of their lowest speed plan I think they always came with 12 free months. 

 

Now that I'm back from shopping with the wife I need to give AIS a call about upgrading to the 100/10 program.   And I'm going to ask like I asked yesterday do I get to keep the free HOOQ thru Oct 17 like I have on my current 50/10 plan "and now I will also ask" do they add-on another 12 months since I'm upgrading to the 100/10 plan which comes with 12 free months.    See how their fine print works on that.  

 

Seems how many months of free HOOQ they give has changed a lot over the last 6 months or so I've been watching AIS promotions.  When I first signed up for my 50/10 plan in early July it came with a 50% monthly discount for 3 months...so instead of paying Bt888/mo I was only paying Bt444/mo.  And I'm just not sure how many months of free HOOQ was included....I think only 1 free month...but I didn't care then as I didn't really care about the AIS Playbox/TV, but now I'm using it a little more and even using HOOQ a little more to watch free movies and TV series.      But after the 3 months of 50% discount ended at the end of September I'm pretty sure I noticed in my Playbox settings I didn't have free HOOQ.  However, but, effective 1 Nov 16 thru the end of Oct 17 it started saying 12 months free HOOQ.  It's like the free 12 months came out of the blue....I'm not complaining.   So when the dust settled when I signed up in July I got a 50% discount for 3 months and then after that I got 12 months of free HOOQ.  Promotions can get confusing/complicated sometimes.

[Pib]

Just went to the AIS website after posting above and the promotion I briefly say this morning is now appearing....it wasn't just before I wrote above post.   Guess they are still updating the website as we speak.   Now time for me to call AIS.

 

[Pib]

OK, I gave AIS a call today at 2:30pm...talked upgrading from 50/10 to 100/10 "with emphasis on how my free HOOQ would be affected" since I had free HOOQ through late Oct 17 under my current 50/10 plan.  Would I retain that, would I be given 12 more months on top of the Oct 17 date till Oct 18 since the 100/10 plan comes with 12 months free HOOQ?   The rep understood what I wanted clarification on and he said he would check into it and call be back by 4pm...and he did call me back a little before 4pm.

 

The answer was kinda what I was expecting which was: I would retain my current free HOOQ through Oct 17 and but not receive an additional free 12 months of free HOOQ since that is for "new" customers/registrations....I'm already an AIS Fibre customer.   And like I showed in my post a little above showing what my upgrade options were showing when checking my AIS online account, it said nothing about free HOOQ...just upgrade/costs options for internet.  

 

I gave the rep the go ahead to upgrade my account from 50/10 to 100/10...this will occur on the start of my next billing cycle which is early Jan 17.    AIS begins upgrades at the start of your next billing cycle versus immediately and doing a prorated bill like other ISPs such as True will do.

 

While I would like to have the 200/10 plan (I don't really need it, but it would be nice to have) I don't want to pay Bt1,888/mo...with 7% VAT that comes to Bt2,020/mo.     I don't want to pay more than around Bt1,200/mo for internet....with the 7% VAT on the 100/10 Bt1,100/mo plan I'll be paying Bt1,177 total.   Plus I already know from speed  testing crossfeed with other TV members it appears a 50 and 200Mb plan provide about the same "international" speeds beyond Singapore and I expect the 100Mb will be the same.    Does not appear to be an linear relationship between your plan's domestic speed and its international speed beyond Singapore.    And if I do change my mind in a few months in wanting faster speed or AIS lowers the price of its 200Mb plan, there is nothing preventing me from calling AIS and say upgrade me from 100Mb to 200Mb since upgrades to higher speed/priced plans is allowed during your contract period.

 

And from looking at the AIS Fibre website a few minute ago they have replaced the 100/10 Thai advertisement with an English advertisement (see below)....the ad below is "if you are already an AIS mobile customer spending at least Bt300/mo with them..basically you get a 10% discount.   Also been other changes to their website today.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2016 by Pib

[guzzi850m2]

I got my True 50/20 installed yesterday and at the same time transferred my satellite TV to cable as well in order only to have 1 subscription thus saving money.

 

This installation comes with a cable modem/router, a monster thing. Humax HG 100RE-02V? It's definitely giving a much better/strong wi-fi signal than my old D-Link router but I can't find any specs on it? I can see it's both giving 2.4 & 5 radio bands but doubt its in 802.11ac but n only??  

 

Here is one test result from L.A to Tokyo via VPN

 

All in all no too bad, a good improvement from my old 12Mbps Banglamung cable TV

 

Download :: 38.5 Mbps 4.8 MB/s

  My Speed :: 38.5 Mbps
 220% faster than my average US 12 Mbps
 190% faster than my host average 13.3 Mbps
 61% faster than my city average 23.9 Mbps
 70% faster than the US average 22.6 Mbps
 83% faster than Index Speed 21 Mbps

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

The "other" newspaper (Bangkok Post) has a report about the Thai fibre internet market (Fixed internet service price war...).

AIS seems to be the catalyst for the price war and ever increasing bandwidth promises.

 

A virtual mate says via Skype:

I went to ToT, asked and got 100/20 for 1200 Baht without such offer being advertised.

I still have 30/15 for 750 and do not miss anything.

I still doubt that the (real) international bandwidth can grow nearly as quick as these bandwidth offerings.

For cached/mirrored content it has its value.

(10 GB in about 15 mins).

He has ordered an UDHTV already.

I told him to order some additional screens and PCs.

[Pib]

AIS and 3BB's major entry into the fiber/VDSL internet market over the last year or so has definitely driven significantly lower priced high speed plans....more competition.

I figure that's the only reason True just over the last few months greatly lowered the prices of their "over" 30Mb speed plans....that is, they were losing internet customers.

True lost me as a True cable/DOCSIS customer for 5 years...I switched to AIS Fibre 50 in July and upgrading to AIS Fibre 100 come next month. But I will say if True had come out with their greatly reduce in price 50 and 100Mb plans just a few months earlier they would probably still have as a customer.

[guzzi850m2]

Competition is always good, keeping the prices down or even lowering them.
Today we were down at a True center and giving them back the old satellite box/remote and it was packed with people and I noticed a few of them was signing up to the 50mbps package deal.


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[Pib]

True has lowered the prices on some of its high speed plan by approx three-fold over the last few months....you know they are still making a profit at the new, lower price.   Just think of the profit they were making before the competition forced them to lower prices.

 

See below prices....first image is their prices about a year ago....second image is their prices now.  And if they want to make their 200Mb plan competitive (which they don't even advertise now on their website) with 3BB and AIS they will need to drop its price by about nine-fold.

 

Prices Before

 

Prices Now

 

Edited December 15, 2016 by Pib

[Pib]

A few people have talked about Bufferbloat, which is really just an upload issue....latency associated with upload to another site...usually gamers wanting the fastest response in their gaming identity it as an issue.    Here are a few links/snapshots from DSLReports regarding Bufferbloat comparison between True, 3BB, and AIS:

 

What is Bufferbloat

 

 

Bufferbloat Grades  (Most People/ISPs pull a "C" score)

 

True Bufferbloat Grades

 

 

3BB Bufferbloat Grades

 

 

AIS Bufferbloat Grades

 

[SooKee]

Interesting thread as I'm just pondering this with an impending move to BKK. Here in CM I'm on 3BB 200/50 FTTx.  Of late the service has been very patchy, even testing to their own speed test it's often been down and international gets about 45 mbps to Singapore and 20-30 to the USA.  Their customer service I find to be poor though and while their call centre talks a good job even getting basic things done like changing the contact numbers for us was a PITA.  The techs were OK though.  I don't like their 12 month up front thing though (even though we registered in the GFs name so didn't have to do it).  I likely wouldn't choose 3BB again anyway but there is no 3BB at the new condo so they are out.  No loss.

 

Remaining, providing fibre options, is True, TOT and AIS.  True I don't fancy simply because I believe you can't use their modem / routers in bridge mode.  Not sure about port forwarding either.  They're still the most expensive too, at least last time I checked.  TOT I had in Phuket as there was no other choice.  They seem to have such a bad reputation but I don't know if it's changed or if it's different in BKK.  Service and staff I found to be OK but speeds nothing to celebrate.

 

AIS seems to be the one to go for at the moment.  Their prices and plans seem quite good, modem / routers can be put into bridge mode and use port forwarding, plus there's the free Playbox.  I was considering adding an Android box to my setup so it'll give me chance to see how I get on with them, at the moment the deal is 1 year free HOOQ, even though I'll mostly add other apps to get international TV.

[hml367]

1 hour ago, SooKee said:

Interesting thread as I'm just pondering this with an impending move to BKK. Here in CM I'm on 3BB 200/50 FTTx.  Of late the service has been very patchy, even testing to their own speed test it's often been down and international gets about 45 mbps to Singapore and 20-30 to the USA.  Their customer service I find to be poor though and while their call centre talks a good job even getting basic things done like changing the contact numbers for us was a PITA.  The techs were OK though.  I don't like their 12 month up front thing though (even though we registered in the GFs name so didn't have to do it).  I likely wouldn't choose 3BB again anyway but there is no 3BB at the new condo so they are out.  No loss.

 

Remaining, providing fibre options, is True, TOT and AIS.  True I don't fancy simply because I believe you can't use their modem / routers in bridge mode.  Not sure about port forwarding either.  They're still the most expensive too, at least last time I checked.  TOT I had in Phuket as there was no other choice.  They seem to have such a bad reputation but I don't know if it's changed or if it's different in BKK.  Service and staff I found to be OK but speeds nothing to celebrate.

 

AIS seems to be the one to go for at the moment.  Their prices and plans seem quite good, modem / routers can be put into bridge mode and use port forwarding, plus there's the free Playbox.  I was considering adding an Android box to my setup so it'll give me chance to see how I get on with them, at the moment the deal is 1 year free HOOQ, even though I'll mostly add other apps to get international TV.

 

Strange indeed!  My experience with 3BB, including Ftxx, has been opposite of yours.  I have had many isp's in my time in Chiang Mai, and I consider 3BB performance and support to be right at the top or at the top of what I have received from every isp I have used.  They answer me quickly, never asked for anything up front except a deposit on a fiber router.  On the extremely rare occasion when there has been minor problems, they replied and remedied things quickly. 

 

We also have AIS Fibre in our house, but my wife uses that.  I am not aware of any problems with AIS Fibre either. 

 

I pay a very high monthly fee for my 3BB....... but it works and it is consistent.

 

[guzzi850m2]

I think it all depends where you live as mentioned before, if you service works or not.

 

My friend in the village had True i-net for many many years and never had any problems with it.

 

Yes that huge cable modem/router from True is an odd fish but the range is pretty good here in my large house and at 50mbps, sufficient for the time being, so glad I didn't buy new new router as I was just about to do when my friend told me that True will supply one.

 

I can't currently get AIS fiber in my village, checked but no.

[wpcoe]

Comment about 3BB customer service in Jomtien (Pattaya).  They bungled up a simple transfer of contract from one foreigner to another.  The day after the visit to the 3BB office to sign the paperwork, I left for several days and came home to no signal.  It took 72 hours to send out a technician to fix it, and he did good work.  But, 72 hours was a bit long to be acceptable, don't you think?

 

An interesting part of the episode was a telephone call a few days later from 3BB customer service asking three questions:

 

1. Was the technician on time?  (How do you answer that after a 72 hour wait?)

2. Did the technician fix the problem? (Yes)

3. Did the technician ask for money?  (That was interesting -- indicates there might be some issues with some technicians? Answer for me, was no.)

[SooKee]

My latest problems with service from 3BB that had slowed right down.  I've been switched to the 200/50 FTTx plan and for 3-4 days it's been down to a crawl, even on their own flash based speed test, between 30-50 DL and way lower if using test.my.net.

 

As it didn't recover I thought I'd call them.  As I've said, the call centre is very good, polite, and OK when it comes to passing work on to others to do (it's just when you need the call centre to DO something themselves there's a problem - e.g. calls not returned as promised, contract issues not resolved, simple questions that can't be answered and 8 attempts to change a contact number!!!).  Operator said she'd contact the techs and get back to me.  Called me back (rarely a problem when it's relating to things the tech people need to sort out) and asked me to check again, now DL speed at 250 on the 3BB test.  I asked if they'd done something but she said no.  Strange coincidence though that speed suddenly sky-rockets after 3-4 days of poor performance before.

 

I also just encountered another problem which I've posted about in the Apple section, just in case it affects others.  

 

About a week ago Apple released the TVOS 10.1 update for the Apple TV.  I was on the previous OS 10.0.01 and whatever I tried kept returning "Your Apple TV is up to date".  I'd tried everything: ethernet, wifi, changing DNS, restore, restore and update and EVERY time it returned 10.0.01 "Your Apple TV is up to date".  So today I planned to take it to the Apple re-seller here to get them to take a look and possibly change the unit under warranty.

 

Then I thought I'd try one more thing, just in case it WAS a network problem. I have an Apple TV 4 and Apple released an update about a week ago to TVOS 10.1.  Whatever I tried though I couldn't get the update.  I'd tried everything, ethernet, wifi, changing DNS, restore, restore and update and EVERY time it returned 10.0.01 "Your Apple TV is up to date".  So today I planned to take it to the Apple re-seller here to get them to take a look and possibly change the unit under warranty.  Then I thought I'd try one more thing, just in case it WAS a network problem. 

 

Aside from some IP address range banning on a few very specific sites I've had no connection issues elsewhere so I thought it was a real long shot but it really was the ONLY possible thing I could think of.  So I used my iPhone, switched to mobile data (True) and switched on 'Personal Hotspot'.  I then connected the Apple TV by wi-fi to the PHS and bingo!!! "There is an update available".  Downloaded it and now all is fine running 10.1.

 

Now this MIGHT not be a 3BB problem.  It's a concern though that there is a problem somewhere and I'm not sure where / what that is?  It might be something that's an Apple problem or a problem with my ISP.  I'm guessing it's an ISP problem, not letting the ATV communicate how it needs with the Apple servers.  It could also be some kind of IP address blocking by Apple, however that's usually only initiated as a result of ISPs failing to take steps to control their networks properly.  I'm also not sure if it's just MY connection or if it will affect everyone using this (or indeed another) ISP.  I plan to do an Apple feedback later and hope they get back to me on it so whatever info is needed can be communicated to the ISP here or so that Apple can take what steps they can / need to their end.  

 

 

Edited December 18, 2016 by SooKee

[mtls2005]

For those on AIS Fiber...

 

Are you using AIS'es DNS servers or other DNS servers of your choosing?

 

Have you experienced any DNS issues, specifically web pages not loading, over the past few days?

 

I use Google DNS servers and seem to be unable to get past 49.231.x.x (an AIS internal network IP) when accessing a few non-controversial web-pages, which are available on 3BB and True, and all mobile carriers.

 

 

 

 

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, SooKee said:

 It's a concern though that there is a problem somewhere and I'm not sure where / what that is?  It might be something that's an Apple problem or a problem with my ISP.  I'm guessing it's an ISP problem, not letting the ATV communicate how it needs with the Apple servers.  It could also be some kind of IP address blocking by Apple, however that's usually only initiated as a result of ISPs failing to take steps to control their networks properly.

 

Probably just a routing/cacheing problem with the ISP. It happens quite often here and usually sorts itself out within a few hours or days.

[KittenKong]

6 hours ago, wpcoe said:

 It took 72 hours to send out a technician to fix it, and he did good work.  But, 72 hours was a bit long to be acceptable, don't you think?

 

3BB used to always intervene within 24 hours after I called them. Now I find that this has increased to 48 or 72 hours, presumably because of increased demand.

[Pib]

2 hours ago, SooKee said:

My latest problems with service from 3BB that had slowed right down.  I've been switched to the 200/50 FTTx plan and for 3-4 days it's been down to a crawl, even on their own flash based speed test, between 30-50 DL and way lower if using test.my.net.

 

Keep in mind that OOKLA/flashed based speed testers like the OOKLA-based Speedtest.net or 3BB's OOKLA-based tester are "multi-thread" tester which use multiple streams (pipes) like a download manager uses to accelerate file transfers.   Like Speedtest.net can use 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 pipes (but usually uses a max of 4) if the server it's testing to is configured to allow multiple threads.   It takes additional resources on the server-end to run more threads so some of the sites you test to may only be resourced to allow up to say 4 streams...or 2 streams....but I expect most can do up to 4 streams as I expect that is a requirement to become a Speedtest.net test location/server.

 

But testmy.net is a "single-thread" tester (only uses one stream/thread/pipe) to accomplish its testing.    That's why testmy.net results will almost always be lower than an OOKLA-based speed tester.  

 

In the perfect internet world with good internet lines, high bandwidth lines, no throttling/shaping, etc., you should be able to get your plan's full speed with only one stream but we don't live in the perfect internet world.  

 

Using both multi-thread and single-thread testers to test your plan is a good thing...both types of testers have their pros and cons.   A lot of people like to bad-mouth OOKLA/flash based testers simply because they always seem to give "too good of results" but keep in mind that's because they are using multiple pipes to feed your computer....just like how a download manager speeds up file downloads and I don't know of anyone who bad-mouths how a download manager works.  

 

Some internet functions you use will probably on be single-threaded (usually live video streaming) while other functions like file downloads/browsing will probably be multi-threads.  So testing with both types of testers is a good thing.    And with some testers like the DSLReports HTML5 speed tester you can go into its settings an set how many threads/streams you want to run and even select how many tester locations to test to at once.   Testing to multiple locations has it's benefits to since many times like when browsing a webpage usually consists of many sublinks and many of those sublinks are from servers at different locations than the primary site you are connected....so when you look at a webpage you might be viewing a page composed of links/images/icons/etc., from various servers around the world.

 

 

 

[SooKee]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

 

Probably just a routing/cacheing problem with the ISP. It happens quite often here and usually sorts itself out within a few hours or days.

 

 

This was around a week.  Plus I'd tried with repeated DNS changes (Google, Norton, Open etc) at the router and device level.  Actually with 3BB you can't change the DNS on their supplied GPON FTTx routers unless you out it in bridge mode and add your own router which is what I did.  Use the router in route mode and your stuck with hard coded 3bb DNS.  Trouble is, even when changed by using a bridge mode and a router of your own, I'm still not sure whether something in the 3BB will STILL force them back to 3BBs DNS.

[Pib]

Just as additional info regarding speed testers that are of the multi-threading/streaming type, in the DSLReports speed tester you change the number of download and upload streams allowed.   With my AIS Fibre 50/10 plan at a little before 6:30pm Bangkok time this Sunday night I ran four tests to their Singapore server....I changed the number of download & upload streams to be used for each test...number of streams set to 4, 3, 2, or 1.  See below results snapshots for the results...you can see how many streams for each test was used in the result boxes right next to the little clouds plus my titling.   With 4 or 3 threads/streams I was able to reach full speed to Singapore, but for 2 or 1 threads/streams I was not.  

 

 As mentioned earlier, Speedtest.net is one of the multi-streaming type that usually uses 4 streams....Testmy.net is a single-stream tester.   And with DSLReport HTML5 tester you can change the stream settings (otherwise it defaults to 32 but usually only uses 6 or 8 streams).   Both multi-thread and single-thread testers have their pros and cons and good for testing for different things, but in the perfect internet world of plenty of bandwidth, no throttling/shaping, etc., you should only need 1 stream to get full speed.  But since we don't live in the perfect internet world, multi-streaming capability is a very good thing.

 

4 Streams (able to reach full speed)

 

 

3 Streams (able to reach full speed)

 

 

2 Streams  (notice I can't reach full download speed with only 2 streams)

 

 

1 Stream (notice I can't reach full download or upload speed with only 2 streams...and notice the upload speed sawtooth pattern)

 

[Pib]

For you folks who want to compare recent "Testmy.net" speed results for 3BB, AIS, and True internet plans, just click on the below links. The links take you to the most recent tests results in the Testmy.net database.

 

3BB

http://testmy.net/host-history/3bb_broadband 

 

AIS

http://testmy.net/host-history/ais_fibre

 

True

http://testmy.net/host-history/true_internet

 

 

[wxpwzrd]

It would appear that True has again lowered the 100/30 plan -- was 1399, now 1099

[Pib]

Durn, True must be really feeling the 3BB and AIS competition.  They first lower their 50/10 price from around Bt2500/mo to Bt899 and the a month later upped its upload to 50/20.   And about a week later they came out with the 100/30 plan at Bt1399 but now lowered it to Bt1099.   Yeap, they are feeling he 3BB and AIS competition.

 

Over the last two weeks the wife got two calls from someone selling TrueOnline internet and asked if we had it...we figure they may have got her name from True after cancelling in July shortly after switching to AIS.

[wxpwzrd]

13 hours ago, Pib said:

Durn, True must be really feeling the 3BB and AIS competition.  They first lower their 50/10 price from around Bt2500/mo to Bt899 and the a month later upped its upload to 50/20.   And about a week later they came out with the 100/30 plan at Bt1399 but now lowered it to Bt1099.   Yeap, they are feeling he 3BB and AIS competition.

 

Over the last two weeks the wife got two calls from someone selling TrueOnline internet and asked if we had it...we figure they may have got her name from True after cancelling in July shortly after switching to AIS.

 

Sad thing is they don't give two micro-sh**s about their existing customers. I have platinum cable, postpaid phone and online services (pathetic speeds 18/1.8) - even qualify as a black card customer. Called about upgrading online. Told sorry - no. Basically for new customers. They said I had to downgrade my cable (basically take their "package") and sign a new 12 month commitment. I would have even taken it straight 1099 no contract and let me keep my other services as is. I was trying to avoid moving to AIS 100/10 just because of the convenience of keeping the existing services.

 

AIS will be here tomorrow... Fired off an email to TrueCare yesterday. but I know how far that will get me.

[Pib]

Yea, wanting to upgrade only one-portion of a combo plan can be a downside to combo plans.  Combo plans are usually a very good way to go price-wise especially if you can make use of all the services (TV, internet, mobile) offered in True's combo plans.   But when wanting to upgrade just one portion of the plan, like the internet portion, that's when a combo is not so great.

 

And the part about the new & improved (and lower cost) combo plan only being available to new customers unless you pretty much cancel your old combo plan and start over is not unique to True.   And many times even if you didn't have a combo plan with any service provider, when they come out with a new & improved (and lower cost) plan that is basically a higher horsepower and lower cost version of the same plan a current customer has,they may not be willing to automatically upgrade you and switch you to the higher horsepower/lower cost plan until you complete your 12 month contract.   And even after your contract period is up they may not automatically upgrade up/lower the price unless you call and ask.

 

Regarding True's promotions, for TV, internet, and mobile, on their investor webpage a couple times a year they would load a PowerPoint briefing showing all their current promotions...and the briefing was in good English.  This briefing would give potential and current non-Thai investors a good feel for products/services offered....what the customer base was being offered.    Reviewing this periodic briefing made me aware of promotions, advertised and unadvertised, without trying to figure out/translate True's website/Thai language ads.   With that info a person could call the True Call Center and get some unadvertised promotions.   I did that several times with my separate TrueVisions Platinum package like getting settop box number 3 and number 4 in my home for completely free....no monthly fee for an additional box.   And when I was still on a separate True Cable/DOCSIS internet plan I grab a speed upgrade at a lower cost because the PowerPoint briefing in English made me aware of the upgrade.    But sadly they stopped posting the briefing last year.

 

Up until a few years ago, True website/advertisements used to carry a lot more English....but over the last two years they have really greatly cut back on the amount of English in the ads or providing English language selection on their website that actually provides a lot of English versus just showing menus in English.  I've been here in Thailand over 8 years this time around and during that time the use of English across the Thai society appears to have decreased....or best case remain stagnant regardless of the govt saying its emphasizing the increased learning of English and other foreign languages in schools.    And report after report regarding English use as a secondary language in countries around the world confirms my belief.   

[Giusy]

I don't understand much about this subject and I have quite an old TV,  a JVC mod.  LT-32FX38, with 2 HDMI sockets. 

I have just rented a flat in Bangkok,  klong san area,  in a condo with AIS and True Fiber cables. 

I would like to have internet and streaming TV (the True Visions Gold Package is too expensive for what it offers). 

A good choice could be the AIS 100/10   which comes with AIS play box and HOOQ free for 12 months at 1,100 B/m. 

As I would like to get a wider selection of TV channels in English (whatever is available mostly free free or at a low fee: movies; tv series; sport (except football) especially UFC mixed martial arts broadcasted on Fox sport,  tennis,  MotoGp; discovery channels; CI criminal investigations etc)  what can the best options?  For instance to get an android box and stream Kodi?  

Thanks