VDSL Quesion

[LongTimeLurker]

Having recently experienced some internet connection issues with TOT, admittedly for the first time in many years, that left me disconnected for 2 days with very little help I started looking at alternatives, one being the 3BB VDSL 30/5 connection for Baht 590 a month.

 

As I'm currently on the TOT ADSL 10/1 at the same price it seems a no brainer to swap so I went to question 3BB as to their service availability and they confirmed that I can have a VDSL connection to my place.

 

When the TOT technician was came to fix my connection problem I asked him if I could get a VDSL connection (TOT advertise a 15/1 connection) and he told me no as there is no equipment installed and it would cost too much to install it (I assumed he meant at the nearest exchange).

 

As I always figured that there is one set of infrastructure which all ISPs share, then if there is no VDSL equipment available at my nearest exchange how can 4BB provide me with a VDSL connection at 30/5? Were they just misinforming me and I would end up with the same ADSL service I now have from TOT but with having to pay 1 year up front for a service that may be no better than I currently have?

 

 

[KittenKong]

The ISPs have different equipment.

 

Be aware that the international bandwidth of that 30/5 VDSL connection may be worse than the international bandwidth of your current ADSL connection. The speed is quoted for within Thailand only. Several 3BB staff advised me strongly not to change my existing 18Mb 3BB ADSL to their cheaper and supposedly faster VDSL service for this very reason. YMMV.

[sniffdog]

It depends where you use it for. I get 24MBs on my 3bb 200/50 connection for torrents and multi thread downloads. Streaming is, on the other hand, not good.


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[LongTimeLurker]

32 minutes ago, sniffdog said:

It depends where you use it for. I get 24MBs on my 3bb 200/50 connection for torrents and multi thread downloads. Streaming is, on the other hand, not good.


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I would want it for streaming which the last week has been bad on TOT but the engineer told me it is due to a fibre optic cable being repaired off Singapore.

[Peterw42]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

The ISPs have different equipment.

 

Be aware that the international bandwidth of that 30/5 VDSL connection may be worse than the international bandwidth of your current ADSL connection. The speed is quoted for within Thailand only. Several 3BB staff advised me strongly not to change my existing 18Mb 3BB ADSL to their cheaper and supposedly faster VDSL service for this very reason. YMMV.

 

ADSL and VDSL are similar technologies and is used only on the copper phone line connection back to the local exchange or equipment. Usually a few hundred metres. After that they would both be on the same internet backbone, fibre/coax and international bandwidth. I cant see why they would have different speeds, with the same ISP. Maybe it ends up at a different international gateway.

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

 

ADSL and VDSL are similar technologies and is used only on the copper phone line connection back to the local exchange or equipment. Usually a few hundred metres. After that they would both be on the same internet backbone, fibre/coax and international bandwidth. I cant see why they would have different speeds, with the same ISP. Maybe it ends up at a different international gateway.

 

Any difference in international bandwidth between ADSL and VDSL is entirely down to deliberate throttling by the ISP and has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual connection types which, as you mention, are merely variations of each other. Sorry if I didnt make this clear.

 

3BB just seem to throttle these cheap VDSL connections much more severely than they do the ADSL ones. Indeed the two different connections appear to use two different forms of login username for this purpose. It has been discussed in several threads on here.

 

3BB staff I have spoken to were quick to point this out.

[Pib]

2 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

 

I would want it for streaming which the last week has been bad on TOT but the engineer told me it is due to a fibre optic cable being repaired off Singapore.

 

Oh, the ol' fiber optic cable broke outside of Thailand excuse.  

[Peterw42]

27 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

Any difference in international bandwidth between ADSL and VDSL is entirely down to deliberate throttling by the ISP and has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual connection types which, as you mention, are merely variations of each other. Sorry if I didnt make this clear.

 

3BB just seem to throttle these cheap VDSL connections much more severely than they do the ADSL ones. Indeed the two different connections appear to use two different forms of login username for this purpose. It has been discussed in several threads on here.

 

3BB staff I have spoken to were quick to point this out.

 

Ok, thanks for clarifying. Great marketing, lets offer  faster service then slow it down. 

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

 

Ok, thanks for clarifying. Great marketing, lets offer  faster service then slow it down. 

 

In their defence, I suspect that the vast majority of their subscribers are Thais who are not very interested in international bandwidth.

[LongTimeLurker]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

So another possibility is Sophon which offers a 15/1 speed (local?) with the claim of a 6/1 international connection.

 

Slightly more expensive but a couple of Farangs I know have it and reckon it's good and they get streaming and iptv through it.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Edit: It's a fibre optic and coaxial cable connection

Edited November 10, 2016 by LongTimeLurker

[KittenKong]

13 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

So another possibility is Sophon which offers a 15/1 speed (local?) with the claim of a 6/1 international connection.

Slightly more expensive but a couple of Farangs I know have it and reckon it's good and they get streaming and iptv through it.

 

Well, at least that is an entirely honest description of the likely speed and they are to be commended for that.

 

I had Sophon for several years and was happy with them, until they changed to their fibre system which used special modems that were not compatible with my equipment and needs. So I switched to 3BB ADSL. I doubt that most people would find the Sophon modems a problem though.

[LongTimeLurker]

Any other recommendations for ADSL, VDSL, or cable ISPs?

[Pib]

You first have to see which ISPs and what kind of service they offer in your area. You may just have one ISP...or you may have multiple. Fiber, then cable, then XDSL would generally be the order of preference.

[Delboy1980]

TOT ripping us all off! when I had a regular dialup my streaming etc was perfect. Changed to 35/15 fibre promo for the same price so made sense to change.. Now I can't play ps4 online or stream... Did an international speedtest and I get less than 1mg download!!!! 35/15 in thai on the speedtest.net which is just THAILAND only so be aware... then I did a test on an international one and I get 0.89mg download and get this... I get 32.98mb for upload!!! <deleted>... totally gutted. I recommend u test ur International Bandwith speed at http://speedtest.sng01.softlayer.com/speedtest/ I am gonna have to change, but like it seems in this thread, everyone is getting the same issue.. Maybe the best option would be to go to a nearby office for either TRUE/3BB or TOT and do the speedtest in store before purchasing.. think I will do that with the local 3bb office. Just read online that TOT too don't pay extra for International bandwith too.

Edited November 11, 2016 by Delboy1980