Suggestions For Internet Provider in Central Pattaya?

[JayBird]

Hi all!

 

I'm getting a new condo in Central Pattaya and need Internet!  I need *good* internet with fast and low-latency access to overseas servers.  I'm also considering business class lines (if I can convince them to install it).

 

I'm presently pondering CAT or 3BB.  But am open to any other suggestion (TOT?)

Anyone have feedback on which of these would be the best bet to go with?

 

Thank you kindly All!

[peeba7]

Good question, the best answer is a dedicated line, from whom I don't know, sorry .

[JayBird]

I'm starting to wonder if no one has good internet in Central Pattaya and that's why no one has spoken up!

[petermik]

7 hours ago, JayBird said:

I'm starting to wonder if no one has good internet in Central Pattaya and that's why no one has spoken up!

Spot on,I,m afraid 

[JSixpack]

Often the condo building mgt deals w/ one provider, so you may not have a choice. Of course we have complaints against all the providers. Sophon seems to come out pretty well here, but that may be because fewer have Sophon. I haven't heard that Sophon has fiber, however, and fiber is a lot more reliable than ADSL on a phone line.

[marinediscoking]

I have been very happy with TOT fiber, I get good speeds overseas and it is up more than comcast when i am back home. I am close to the tot building so that helps. If you are worried so much about speed and stability you should get a back up line from another provider. I have a 3bb line i use at work also in center pattaya that is very stable, I have also had a CAT line that worked well. You could get a load balancing router with both lines connected into it so it should work seamlessly when there is a problem.  You can also buy a point to point connection to your country from any isp here if you really need a dedicated connection. Just remember most of the servers are overseas so there will always be latency no matter what you decide on.

[wpcoe]

As @JSixpack said, you might be pursuing the solution backwards.  Rather than asking which is the best ISP and then seeing if they're allowed in your building, go to the building front office and ask which ISPs they permit in the building.  Once you have a list come back here and ask for opinions of which is better.  It's not common, but you might only have one choice for an ISP.

[JSixpack]

2 hours ago, marinediscoking said:

I have been very happy with TOT fiber . . .

 

Me too. TOT gets a lot of hate here but TOT fiber's been great for me, MUCH better than 3BB ADSL. 

 

Re: load balancing etc. @tropo has, or used to have, a great setup and knows a lot about it, so OP might ask him later on, after visiting the condo office.

[digbeth]

Ais Fibre does run along central road, I don't have personal experience in Pattaya, but I do have them in Condos and house in Bangkok, They have static IP (ipv6) even for home use and pretty knowledgable engineers that can help out with issues pretty good. Business tier package is competitive but I don't see the need, but their overseas interconnect isn't as good as True and their signup team isn't quite organized 

 

Within condo, at least for my case, the Fiber only run to the condo's basement cabinet and the condo's own copper telephone line is used for the connection up to your room, and the connection is VDSL so that limits your choice in router a bit, If your condo is new, it might be possible to run fiber up all the way to the room

 

I've also head only good things about TOT's fibre too, which is unusual compared to their ADSL days.

 

3BB's parent company Jasmine also owns UIH which does 'leased lines' and mission critical stuff like Cash machines and credit card terminals... they do go down a lot but they seem to have solid local presence,

[JayBird]

I was informed by the Condo that I can have *any* provider I want.  So i'm going on that premise for now.

 

So far it seems TOT has the most recommendations so I may start looking at them!  Thank you kindly all!

[JSixpack]

19 hours ago, JayBird said:

I was informed by the Condo that I can have *any* provider I want.  So i'm going on that premise for now.

 

So far it seems TOT has the most recommendations so I may start looking at them!  Thank you kindly all!

Having endorsed TOT, I had no choice in my building, so I was lucky. AIS is the new kid on the block and getting really positive reviews. May not have coverage in your area but I'd take a close look at them too. 

[tropo]

On 2/3/2017 at 4:30 PM, JSixpack said:

 

Me too. TOT gets a lot of hate here but TOT fiber's been great for me, MUCH better than 3BB ADSL. 

 

Re: load balancing etc. @tropo has, or used to have, a great setup and knows a lot about it, so OP might ask him later on, after visiting the condo office.

 

It's called Speedify. It's computer based software which joins multiple connections - as many as you like. I used to use it to join 3 adsl connections until I went to fiber optic. It supports speeds to over 150 Mbps, so you could use it to join several fast fiber connections if need be.

 

 

It joins your connections at a server based in another country, of which there are several to choose from. The closest is in Singapore. It doubles as a great proxy as all your traffic runs through the international server.

 

There is a monthly $9 fee for unlimited bandwidth or $50 per year.

 

I won't provide the link here but a Google search will soon get you there.

[JayBird]

Back again, sorry!

 

So I've been digging around.  I'm going on the assumption that a Fixed/Public IP Address will be best (avoid double NATing, and maybe, just maybe, they offer better quality speed).

 

1) AIS Offers a 'PowerPRO' package that has 75/30 @ 1,190 or 100/100 @ 1,990 (and a 1000/200 @ 19,990).  It indicates it gives a Public IPv4/IPv6 address -- although it does not indicate if it is static or not.

 

2) CAT Offers 'Internet by CAT' package that has 30/10 @ 1,190, 50/20 @ 2,490 and 100/45 @ 5,490.  With a public IP address.  It is part of their Business package.  I'm unsure if CAT offers any other suitable services -- their website(s) are very hard to navigate and gives me flashbacks to the web in the 90s.

 

3) 3BB offers Leased Line but when I e-mailed them they never responded.  I thought of calling but do not expect to get through the language barrier easily on the phone, so may wait for an in-shop visit.

 

4) 3bb offers '3BB Fibre' with 200/50 @ 1,200.  This looks too cheap so I'm suspecting it might be heavily shared with low results to international web sites.  I know they offer an 'add-on' pack for International Web-sites, but I'm not finding any concrete details on if it does anything.

 

5) ToT offers a ToT Fibre 2U Strong Life with 40/15 @ 1300, 70/20 @ 3,700, and 100/30 @ 3999.  It does not indicate if its public or private IP (or if it does, it's in Thai and I can not see it).  However, it seems to be more expensive than the AIS PowerPro package.  Uncertain if that means a better quality line or not.  It does seem to bundle in a phone line too.

 

6) ToT Offers an Extreme Fibre with 50/20 @ 700, 100/20 @ 800, 150/30 @990, and 200/80 @ 1200.  But it does not indicate if it's public or private IP (I suspect private), and does not give indication of international bandwidth allocation.

 

7) ToT Website hints at a Fixed Line, but I could not find any more information on their website.  If someone has a link, that would be awesome.

 

8) True offers Fiber SME Packages (Size S, M, and L).  S does not offer Fixed IP.  M/L does.  L has slightly higher upload speeds and a free laptop?  M offers 20/5 @ 1299, 30/5 @ 1899, 50/10 @ 3799, 100/10 @ 5999 and 100/30 @9999.

 

Right now, I'm leaning towards AIS.   100/100 @ 1990 with public IPv4/6 sounds good to me.  I'm also pondering CAT as part of me thinks CAT is supposed to be 'professional' class company vs. the consumer oriented ones of AIS/TRUE/etc. 

 

If anyone has further guidance to offer me, that would be most welcomed.

 

Also, I keep reading about how the ISP provides a gimped router with their service.  Is the general consensus to use the ISP's router, configure 1 port for DMZ, then plug in your own router and do everything through that *OR* get a better modem/router to replace the one provided by the ISP?

 

I'm thinking of purchasing a router anyways for purpose of installing DD-WRT or Tomato on it (eyeing the Asus right now) so I can have finer control on router configuration.

 

Thank you all.

 

[tropo]

52 minutes ago, JayBird said:

Back again, sorry!

 

2) CAT Offers 'Internet by CAT' package that has 30/10 @ 1,190, 50/20 @ 2,490 and 100/45 @ 5,490.  With a public IP address.  It is part of their Business package.  I'm unsure if CAT offers any other suitable services -- their website(s) are very hard to navigate and gives me flashbacks to the web in the 90s.

 

 

I'm currently testing out the 100/45 option as an upgrade from my existing service. 

 

That's nearly 6000 a month including VAT.

 

This is a public IP and is shared between about 20 people. If you want a fixed IP,  you'll have to pay for their premium service, which is a lot more expensive. I'm testing this service against my more expensive, slower premium service which is only shared between 5. They let me try before I buy. There is no IPv6 at this stage.

 

Unfortunately, my tests don't prove much. The speed of tests always depends on the servers I'm connecting to. For example, if I'm connecting to a server in LA, one server could be fast, and another very slow. If you use Speedtest.net there are a lot of choices of servers in big cities. Their new interface makes choosing servers a lot easier.

 

I don't believe what your condo people told you before - that you can choose any service you like. CAT told me at their office that CAT is not usually available in condos and can even be a problem for housing subdivisions. I asked about this because I may be moving and wanted to know about reconnection elsewhere. Being (much) more expensive than all of their competitors, they are not very popular and wouldn't be the first choice in condos.

 

With all these other services spewing out big speed numbers at low prices, it's hard to tell what to do. It's not like you can get 3 services and test them out because you have to pay for installation and sign a contract. I do know with CAT that I have personal phone and email contact with my account manager, and problems are solved very quickly. Whether that's worth the extra money is up to the consumer.

[bkk6060]

On 2/3/2017 at 1:26 PM, petermik said:

Spot on,I,m afraid 

Not quite.  I live at The Base.  I have True 470 b a month it is fantastic and fast never have dropped service all modern hardwired to each room.

[moonseeker]

I got 3BB- Fiber ( 1000 mb, 600mb & 250mb-accounts); TOT-Fiber; CAT ADSL Premium LIne? &  3-BB VDSL 900 Baht account.

To be honest, unless used for network/Wifi system or specific applications, I recommend all my friends to go with the VDSL + 200.--

version for international access, total 900.-- + VAT - some discount for yearly payment, router fast and good, cost extra 800.--

I am just installing one  as back-up for one of my networks, after testing for a few weeks. Important, VDSL is quite line sensitive, 3BB run new cable from their box to your property, you should consider running new outdoor ADSL line (with steel leader, 300 m price 1'250), directly to your router. Zero problems and consistent 45-65 mb international, depending on website obviously. CAT's Premium lines are VERY good too, but not cheap. Go talk to them at South Pattaya office.

3BB -service has gotten a bit slow lately, TOT I am not impressed speed-wise, but I use as back up second in load-balance, hardly ever

offline, good & fast service. Good luck!  MS>

[JayBird]

 

Hmm, so am I correct in understanding the terminology:

 

'Fixed' IP = Public Static IP Address

'Public IP' = Public Carrier Graded NAT IP Address (maybe static, maybe dynamic, but NATed and shared)

'Private IP' = Behind NAT with no real possibility of supporting in-coming traffic?

 

I do not plan to do hosting, but I do not want to be NATed if possible as that could result in performance degradation or routing issues. 

 

From what I can understand, True Move's SME Package 'M' offers Fixed IP Address  for 30/5 @ 1899 (and 100/10 @ 5999).

 

It looks like then CAT Internet's Buiness (IP Public) may not be 'Fixed'?

 

And AIS's PowerBiz Package (20/7 @ 3400 and 30/10 @ 5400) offers public IP (with port forwarding and bridge mode -- maybe they mean static fixed IP) ?

 

If this is the case, then that makes True Move's the cheapest for Public Fixed IP Address?

 

Btw, for me, the maximum speed is not that important.  I'm not looking for big numbers.  20-30 would be more than adequate for my needs.  What IS important is that I get at least 10mbps internationally, with minimum downtime.  So right now I'm eyeballing the 20/5 SME M package from True Move (only 1300 THB for a Fixed IP Address).

 

What they do not seem to tell me is how much they guarantee the international speed.

Edited March 30, 2017 by JayBird

[tropo]

9 hours ago, JayBird said:

 

Hmm, so am I correct in understanding the terminology:

 

'Fixed' IP = Public Static IP Address

'Public IP' = Public Carrier Graded NAT IP Address (maybe static, maybe dynamic, but NATed and shared)

'Private IP' = Behind NAT with no real possibility of supporting in-coming traffic?

 

I do not plan to do hosting, but I do not want to be NATed if possible as that could result in performance degradation or routing issues. 

 

From what I can understand, True Move's SME Package 'M' offers Fixed IP Address  for 30/5 @ 1899 (and 100/10 @ 5999).

 

It looks like then CAT Internet's Buiness (IP Public) may not be 'Fixed'?

 

And AIS's PowerBiz Package (20/7 @ 3400 and 30/10 @ 5400) offers public IP (with port forwarding and bridge mode -- maybe they mean static fixed IP) ?

 

If this is the case, then that makes True Move's the cheapest for Public Fixed IP Address?

 

Btw, for me, the maximum speed is not that important.  I'm not looking for big numbers.  20-30 would be more than adequate for my needs.  What IS important is that I get at least 10mbps internationally, with minimum downtime.  So right now I'm eyeballing the 20/5 SME M package from True Move (only 1300 THB for a Fixed IP Address).

 

What they do not seem to tell me is how much they guarantee the international speed.

 

Guarantee speeds to international services. LOL> that's never going to happen on cheap shared services. If you have low speeds, that's when they will tell you it's shared bandwidth and they can't control it. You buy higher potential speed when you go to faster packages, not absolute speed.

 

CAT's premium business packages are fixed IP. You don't want to know the prices - they are very high. I noticed you don't say a thing about contention ratios. Do you have any idea about them for the different services you mention? CAT specifically states this in their brochure, but do the other services? I have been told that like services share with like services, so if you get the more expensive packages your speeds will likely be more consistent. With the cheaper services, it's a matter of luck, as the most people get the cheap packages.

 

No one will guarantee the speeds of shared bandwidth services. How can they? You'll never get consistent international speeds with any shared service, and I'm sure all the cheap services you mentioned above are shared.

 

I've done extremely thorough and laborious testing to servers all over the planet using many different test sites, and there's no such thing as consistency, even with CAT's premium services. 

 

You'll just have to give it a go and hope for the best. That's why I went for CAT rather than the cheaper companies. I had a better chance of getting what I pay for. I could be wasting money - who knows. All I know is I get very fast customer service. I had a problem last Friday evening. Technicians were at my door first thing on Saturday morning to help me. I even got a courtesy email from my account manager asking me if it has been resolved.