AIS Fiber and Playbox Review Comments

[SooKee]

FWIW AIS have a redesigned Programme Guide page accessible through web browsers.  Better than the last one (a little) and some channels (like HBO HD) still 'Coming Soon' (and Fox Action Movies mis-labelled as Fox Movies, for which there are two entries) but at least it's now possible to take a look at what's coming up in a manner more usable than the god-awful Playbox version.  Clicking on channels now provides a drop down so it works quite well on smartphones if you save the link as a Home Screen icon.   It also distinguishes between which channels are part of AIS Play and which are Playbox only (quite a few!):

 

http://www.ais.co.th/aisplay/programguide.html

Edited April 27, 2018 by SooKee

[shady86]

I noticed AIS has revamped their packages. I got a free upgrade to 75/30 package using Serenade for 699 per month.
I was considering to change to CS Loxinfo but this free upgrade convinced me to stay with AIS.

[ExpatOilWorker]

2 hours ago, SooKee said:

FWIW AIS have a redesigned Programme Guide page accessible through web browsers.  Better than the last one (a little) and some channels (like HBO HD) still 'Coming Soon' (and Fox Action Movies mis-labelled as Fox Movies, for which there are two entries) but at least it's now possible to take a look at what's coming up in a manner more usable than the god-awful Playbox version.  Clicking on channels now provides a drop down so it works quite well on smartphones if you save the link as a Home Screen icon.   It also distinguishes between which channels are part of AIS Play and which are Playbox only (quite a few!):

 

http://www.ais.co.th/aisplay/programguide.html

Thanks for the update. They have now added CNN news.

 

Nice if they also one day add BBC and CNBC.

[touch]

7 hours ago, shady86 said:

I noticed AIS has revamped their packages. I got a free upgrade to 75/30 package using Serenade for 699 per month.
I was considering to change to CS Loxinfo but this free upgrade convinced me to stay with AIS.

I just hung up after talking with a CSR at AIS and she was adamant that they don't have a 75/30 package...

She wanted to upsell me to 100 down or other more expensive packages.

Would you happen to have a link to your package?

[janclaes47]

29 minutes ago, touch said:

I just hung up after talking with a CSR at AIS and she was adamant that they don't have a 75/30 package...

She wanted to upsell me to 100 down or other more expensive packages.

Would you happen to have a link to your package?

I think you could have looked it up yourself, and discovered that the 100/30 package is cheaper than the 699 Baht Shady86 pays.

 

[touch]

51 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

I think you could have looked it up yourself, and discovered that the 100/30 package is cheaper than the 699 Baht Shady86 pays.

 

Yep I could have done that, and in fact I did. That package doesn't include the internet SIM or the AIS play box. I'm not using the play box, but I do need the SIM card. 

[lamyai3]

On 4/27/2018 at 10:07 AM, SooKee said:

FWIW AIS have a redesigned Programme Guide page accessible through web browsers.  Better than the last one (a little) and some channels (like HBO HD) still 'Coming Soon' (and Fox Action Movies mis-labelled as Fox Movies, for which there are two entries) but at least it's now possible to take a look at what's coming up in a manner more usable than the god-awful Playbox version.  Clicking on channels now provides a drop down so it works quite well on smartphones if you save the link as a Home Screen icon.   It also distinguishes between which channels are part of AIS Play and which are Playbox only (quite a few!):

 

http://www.ais.co.th/aisplay/programguide.html

I agree, the redesign is much more more slick. I'd have been pleased with it if they hadn't removed access to third party apps. 

[mtls2005]

On 27/04/2018 at 11:21 AM, shady86 said:

I noticed AIS has revamped their packages. I got a free upgrade to 75/30 package using Serenade for 699 per month.

 

It seems like most existing 50/20 Serenade customers at 699 have been upgraded to 100/40, with new Serenade customers getting 100/30 for 629 (from 699).

 

 

[touch]

Still on 50/20 with no upgrade at 699/month 

Edited April 29, 2018 by touch

[shady86]

Yep I could have done that, and in fact I did. That package doesn't include the internet SIM or the AIS play box. I'm not using the play box, but I do need the SIM card. 

I'm using condo package so the max speed is 75/30. I'm not sure which sim you are talking about but the 4mbps unlimited internet Sim is pretty much useless, I cancelled my power 4 subscription after 3 months trial of Platinum HD.

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, touch said:

Still on 50/20 with no upgrade at 699/month 

 

Maybe try a speedtest at nperf, with a known, good, working CAT 5/6 ethernet cable?

 

If you're not seeing ~ 107/44-ish, maybe check your ethernet drivers and/or ring AIS.

 

The 75/30 package is presumably delivered using fiber to the basement, and then copper/VDSL in the riser; this is more cost-effective: utilize installed copper and avoid a lengthy fiber run. So the VDSL (cable run, modem) may be the limiting factor?

Edited April 29, 2018 by mtls2005

[touch]

I have ftth all the way to my router, no copper at all ?

All cables are CAT 6 and ethernet card have been reset. No speed increase

On the power4 package 50/20. 

@shady86 yep I was talking about the internet SIM. Daughter is using it.

AIS said they had no information about a free speed increase for Serenade members... 

[SooKee]

Whether I'm not looking in the right place or not (AIS are pretty notorious for leaving defunct pages up, resulting in dead-end links) but I can't find any reference as to which of their packages now have a public ipV4 address option.  Maybe they now merely offer public ipV4 as a paid upgrade across all packages.

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, touch said:

I have ftth all the way to my router, no copper at all ?

All cables are CAT 6 and ethernet card have been reset. No speed increase

On the power4 package 50/20. 

@shady86 yep I was talking about the internet SIM. Daughter is using it.

AIS said they had no information about a free speed increase for Serenade members... 

 

My mention of VDSL was for those referencing the 75/30 option.

 

And the free bump from 50/20 to 100/40 for existing 699/mo Serenade customers, is for the Home Broadband package, and not the Power4 package.

 

[touch]

@mtls2005 thanks for the clarification. I guess it'll trickle down to other packages. Just have to wait a bit. Switching to Home and buying Mobile Internet seperately wouldn't be cost effective.

 

[shady86]

I noticed they removed the home broadband package from website. I was using power 4 for 3 months until Platinum HD package expired and switched to Home Plus to save 100B. They upgraded to 75/30, which was perfect for 4K streaming.

[Pib]

5 hours ago, SooKee said:

Whether I'm not looking in the right place or not (AIS are pretty notorious for leaving defunct pages up, resulting in dead-end links) but I can't find any reference as to which of their packages now have a public ipV4 address option.  Maybe they now merely offer public ipV4 as a paid upgrade across all packages.

 

Before they only offered "public" IPV4 when you pay extra (Bt200/mo I think) or they just gave a person a public IPv4 because of trying to solve a problem like they did with me late last year in working my international speed problem that did get fixed after over a month of bitching at them.  After they fixed my international speed problem I was left with a public vs private IPv4 address...and please note the IPv4 address was "not" the fix to my international speed problem....my international speed problem went on for weeks after they gave me a public IPv4 address...it was just something they tried before finally getting it fixed...don't know what the actual fix was.  Just know it was on their end because they never came to my house.

 

Additionally, "before" when going into my AIS Fibre account there was a option for me to pay an extra Bt200 month to get a public IPv4 address.    I noticed that after you mentioned it in a post months ago about the Bt200 public IPv4 option.  Although the option was there for me to select, I never took it, and do not pay anything extra for my IPv4 public IP.   I just went into my Asus 86U which is fed by the bridged AIS-provided router just before positing this to confirm I still had a public IPv4 address beginning with 184 versus a CGNAT IP beginning with 100 like I use to get. 

 

I just checked my AIS Fibre account and that public IPv4 at Bt200 is no longer offered/shown...at least to me like it was before....they just offer me the 300Mb PowerBoost plan since it's a higher price than my current Power4 200Mb plan.

 

In the AIS Fibre ads the only place I see they talk IPv4 and IPv6 address is in the Terms and Conditions (the fine print) of each package...only the PowerBoost plan says a free public IPv4 address is provided; otherwise, you get a private IPv4 address (i.e., CGNAT)

 

Quote

 

The customer who subscribe HomeBROADBAND package receive free Private IPv4 with DDNS* and Public IPv6. Can use port forwarding and bridge mode.

 

The customer who subscribe PowerBOOST package receive free Public IPv4 with DDNS* and Public IPv6. Can use port forwarding and bridge mode.

 

The customer who subscribe Power4 package receive free Private IPv4 with DDNS* and Public IPv6. Can use port forwarding and bridge mode.

 

 

[SooKee]

14 hours ago, Pib said:

 

Before they only offered "public" IPV4 when you pay extra (Bt200/mo I think) or they just gave a person a public IPv4 because of trying to solve a problem like they did with me late last year in working my international speed problem that did get fixed after over a month of bitching at them.  After they fixed my international speed problem I was left with a public vs private IPv4 address...and please note the IPv4 address was "not" the fix to my international speed problem....my international speed problem went on for weeks after they gave me a public IPv4 address...it was just something they tried before finally getting it fixed...don't know what the actual fix was.  Just know it was on their end because they never came to my house.

 

Additionally, "before" when going into my AIS Fibre account there was a option for me to pay an extra Bt200 month to get a public IPv4 address.    I noticed that after you mentioned it in a post months ago about the Bt200 public IPv4 option.  Although the option was there for me to select, I never took it, and do not pay anything extra for my IPv4 public IP.   I just went into my Asus 86U which is fed by the bridged AIS-provided router just before positing this to confirm I still had a public IPv4 address beginning with 184 versus a CGNAT IP beginning with 100 like I use to get. 

 

I just checked my AIS Fibre account and that public IPv4 at Bt200 is no longer offered/shown...at least to me like it was before....they just offer me the 300Mb PowerBoost plan since it's a higher price than my current Power4 200Mb plan.

 

In the AIS Fibre ads the only place I see they talk IPv4 and IPv6 address is in the Terms and Conditions (the fine print) of each package...only the PowerBoost plan says a free public IPv4 address is provided; otherwise, you get a private IPv4 address (i.e., CGNAT)

 

 

No, before they had Power Home and Power Pro packages, the latter came with a public ipV4 address.  That's now gone of course with their new package labelling.  Then they started to offer public ipV4 for 200 baht a month.  No sign of that now either.  The ipV4 they talk about via DDNS is the same drivel they put out before and it is NOT the same as having a public ipV4 address and won't work .

 

It's not really desperate for me as I rarely use the service that used to need a public ipV4 address but I'll mail them today to see where the option now is, if it exists, or see if I can blag one off them for free. I do notice that they also offer public ipV4 via their DDNS service, might try that when I can be bothered since the previous way they did this was a real bloody mess and even then, never worked.

Edited April 30, 2018 by SooKee

[ExpatOilWorker]

Since Pib is back here, how come Speed Test (http://www.speedtest.net) is no longer working? It just keep sitting on "Connection......" forever. Has that anything to do with the IPv4/ IPv6 settings?

 

I get a 28/4 result on my AIS 30/5 connection from http://speedtest.xfinity.com, but I Speed Test use to be the leading tester.

[Pib]

16 minutes ago, SooKee said:

The ipV4 they talk about via DDNS is the same drivel they put out before and it is NOT the same as having a public ipV4 address and won't work .

That very well could be regarding the IPv4 addres as I was thinking that the other day when making my above post with the AIS website quote.   But since DDNS has always been available from AIS for their Private (CGNAT) address and only their fairly new PowerBOOST plan had the "Public IPv4" wording I thought to myself that maybe their PowerBOOST plan comes with public IPv4 without needing DDNS.   

 

The PowerBOOST IPv4 wording is just different from the HomeBroadband and Power4 IPv4 wording....the PowerBOOST states Public IPv4 with DDNS while the other two state Private IPv4 with DDNS.

 

Wonder if there is anyone listening in with the PowerBOOST plan who could go into their AIS router and see what WAN IPv4 address is arriving....a 184 series or CGNAT 100 series.   If they have their AIS router set to bridge mode they would go into their personal router to see what WAN address is arriving.  

 

Like below snapshot form my Asus router which gets it's incoming IPv4 address from the AIS-provided router set to bridge mode by AIS.

 

 

[SooKee]

14 minutes ago, Pib said:

That very well could be regarding the IPv4 addres as I was thinking that the other day when making my above post with the AIS website quote.   But since DDNS has always been available from AIS for their Private (CGNAT) address and only their fairly new PowerBOOST plan had the "Public IPv4" wording I thought to myself that maybe their PowerBOOST plan comes with public IPv4 without needing DDNS.   

 

The PowerBOOST IPv4 wording is just different from the HomeBroadband and Power4 IPv4 wording....the PowerBOOST states Public IPv4 with DDNS while the other two state Private IPv4 with DDNS.

 

Wonder if there is anyone listening in with the PowerBOOST plan who could go into their AIS router and see what WAN IPv4 address is arriving....a 184 series or CGNAT 100 series.   If they have their AIS router set to bridge mode they would go into their personal router to see what WAN address is arriving.  

 

Like below snapshot form my Asus router which gets it's incoming IPv4 address from the AIS-provided router set to bridge mode by AIS.

 

 

Their whole approach to package labelling, the terms they use and even actually advertising some services is a real bloody mess.  Funnily enough, I've just had an SMS from AIS saying my Home Premium service (can't even find that now) which includes the 50/20 package together with Playbox Platinum will be automatically discounted by 20% from the current 1,299 pm from my contract renewal date.  Given that the current combined price is 799 for internet and 599 for Platinum TV a discounted price of 1,111 for both isn't bad.

 

I'll wait and see what they say about ipV4 before looking at that more.  Given I wasted a day and half trying to get their DDNS service to work with it last year (one of their engineers tried it, he finally caved in and said cannot, the whole saga was like wading uphill through treacle) I'm reluctant to spend ANY time at all trying to get public ipV4 with anything other than a straight ISP assigned public ipV4.  Now I'm close to contract renewal I may have more leverage for getting a free ipV4 from them.  We'll see.

Edited April 30, 2018 by SooKee

[Pib]

3 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Since Pib is back here, how come Speed Test (http://www.speedtest.net) is no longer working? It just keep sitting on "Connection......" forever. Has that anything to do with the IPv4/ IPv6 settings?

 

I get a 28/4 result on my AIS 30/5 connection from http://speedtest.xfinity.com, but I Speed Test use to be the leading tester.

You must have offended the Speedtest.net gods....speedtest.net works for me.  Both the HTML5 and legacy Flash versions although I have noticed many times it's hard for me to reach the full upload speed of my AIS 200 dn / 50 up plan when using Speedtest.net nowdays....didn't use to be that way even when testing with a home Wifi connection.

 

However, if I use Nper.com speedtest which is a HTML5 speedtester just like the Speedtest.net HTML5 version I have no problem reaching 50Mb upload speed even on a home Wifi connection.    See below snapshots of speedtest.net and nperf.com results...done on home Wifi connection vs ethernet.  

 

I pretty much just use nperf.com now days....I like it better than speedtest.net.  And the Nperf.com Android app can test much more than just your speed...it has a streaming test and a bunch of other tests also...so much more testing capability than the speedtest.net app. But the Windows/deskstop Nperf.com version just tests speed.   Additionally, with the Nperf.com tester you can test to IPv4 and IPv6 servers if you connection has IPv6 capability; Speedtest.net only has IPv4 test servers.

 

And keep in mind when using XFINITY speed tester you can only test to servers in the U.S. so your speed results may not (probably will not) make full speed since you can't test to an in-Thailand server.  

 

Speedtest.net

 

legacy.speedtest.net

 

 

Nper.com

 

 

[janclaes47]

12 minutes ago, Pib said:

You must have offended the Speedtest.net gods....speedtest.net works for me.  Both the HTML5 and legacy Flash versions although I have noticed many times it's hard for me to reach the full upload speed of my AIS 200 dn / 50 up plan when using Speedtest.net nowdays....didn't use to be that way even when testing with a home Wifi connection.

If you're disappointed with speedtest.net, choose Nperf london servers, and your speed to London will be better than what you get to Thailand servers . 555555555555555555

[Pib]

14 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Their whole approach to package labelling, the terms they use and even actually advertising some services is a real bloody mess.  Funnily enough, I've just had an SMS from AIS saying my Home Premium service (can't even find that now) which includes the 50/20 package together with Playbox Platinum will be automatically discounted by 20% from the current 1,299 pm from my contract renewal date.  Given that the current combined price is 799 for internet and 599 for Platinum TV a discounted price of 1,111 for both isn't bad.

 

My contract renewal does come until Sep 18 on my Power4 200/50 plan with Playbox Platinum TV package, 6Mb speed unlimited data SIM, HooQ, Wifi, etc., at Bt1999/mo....all of this stuff was for 12 months.   

 

Will be interesting to see what they may offer me come renewal time since their current Power4 200/50 plan at Bt1,399/mo only provides free Platinum TV package for 3 months, 4Mb speed unlimited data SIM, and Wifi but not free HooQ.   To get the Platinum TV package I would need to add-on that package for Bt599/mo after the 3d month....that gets my price up to Bt1,998.  One baht cheaper than my current plan but without HooQ and a SIM speed that is 4Mb compared to my current 6Mb. 

 

Basically, their current plan is worst than the plan I currently have/got last year.

 

Will have to wait and see....AIS has definitely been changing their plans a lot, to include dropping and adding plans versus just changing current plans.  And last year they created a separate business unit to handle their TV packages, they have merged their AIS Fibre Help Center into their Mobile AIS Help Center....things keep changing. 

 

But other than that 6 week period late last year where my international speed dropped way off from what it use to be, my AIS Fibre service has been faster, more reliable, cheaper than the ISPs I was previously with which was TOT ADSL and True DOCSIS.  And now I could even switch to TOT Fiber as they have just finished installing fiber in my moobaan.  But I just don't see myself going back to True or TOT anytime soon based on their pricing, capabilities, etc.   

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

4 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

If you're disappointed with speedtest.net, choose Nperf london servers, and your speed to London will be better than what you get to Thailand servers . 555555555555555555

Not for me.  Can you post such a London result?  I know you said one time you ISP techs got such a Nperf.com result, but do you get such a result "now" you can post.  

Edited April 30, 2018 by Pib

[ExpatOilWorker]

22 minutes ago, Pib said:

You must have offended the Speedtest.net gods....speedtest.net works for me.  Both the HTML5 and legacy Flash versions although I have noticed many times it's hard for me to reach the full upload speed of my AIS 200 dn / 50 up plan when using Speedtest.net nowdays....didn't use to be that way even when testing with a home Wifi connection.

 

However, if I use Nper.com speedtest which is a HTML5 speedtester just like the Speedtest.net HTML5 version I have no problem reaching 50Mb upload speed even on a home Wifi connection.    See below snapshots of speedtest.net and nperf.com results...done on home Wifi connection vs ethernet.  

 

I pretty much just use nperf.com now days....I like it better than speedtest.net.  And the Nperf.com Android app can test much more than just your speed...it has a streaming test and a bunch of other tests also...so much more testing capability than the speedtest.net app. But the Windows/deskstop Nperf.com version just tests speed.   Additionally, with the Nperf.com tester you can test to IPv4 and IPv6 servers if you connection has IPv6 capability; Speedtest.net only has IPv4 test servers.

 

And keep in mind when using XFINITY speed tester you can only test to servers in the U.S. so your speed results may not (probably will not) make full speed since you can't test to an in-Thailand server.  

 

Speedtest.net

 

legacy.speedtest.net

 

 

Nper.com

 

 

I tried Nper.com, but get redirected to: https://uniregistry.com/market/domain/nper.com?landerid=nper5ae691b3990443.44116543

 

Wrong site?

 

Edit, sorry just noticed the f. nperf.com

Edited April 30, 2018 by ExpatOilWorker

[SooKee]

8 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

My contract renewal does come until Sep 18 on my Power4 200/50 plan with Playbox Platinum TV package, 6Mb speed unlimited data SIM, HooQ, Wifi, etc., at Bt1999/mo....all of this stuff was for 12 months.   

 

Will be interesting to see what they may offer me come renewal time since their current Power4 200/50 plan at Bt1,399/mo only provides free Platinum TV package for 3 months, 4Mb speed unlimited data SIM, and Wifi but not free HooQ.   To get the Platinum TV package I would need to add-on that package for Bt599/mo after the 3d month....that gets my price up to Bt1,998.  One baht cheaper than my current plan but without HooQ and a SIM speed that is 4Mb compared to my current 6Mb. 

 

Basically, their current plan is worst than the plan I currently have/got last year.

 

Will have to wait and see....AIS has definitely been changing their plans a lot, to include dropping and adding plans versus just changing current plans.  And last year they created a separate business unit to handle their TV packages, they have merged their AIS Fibre Help Center into their Mobile AIS Help Center....things keep changing. 

 

But other than that 6 week period late last year where my international speed dropped way off from what it use to be, my AIS Fibre service has been faster, more reliable, cheaper than the ISPs I was previously with which was TOT ADSL and True DOCSIS.  And now I could even switch to TOT Fiber as they have just finished installing fiber in my moobaan.  But I just don't see myself going back to True or TOT anytime soon based on their pricing, capabilities, etc.   

 

 

 

 

Yes I'm mostly very impressed with their service.  When they offered me the Home Premium package they had to send me a link to it, I guess there's some packages they have that are not publicly visible, though quite why I'm not sure.  The package I had was OK anyway at 1,299 for both, quite happy to get an extra 240 baht off that (1,039 + 7%).  What I am surprised at is that I upgraded to this plan about 6 months ago (IIRC) so I thought I'd get a contract renewal date of 12 months after the upgrade, but no, they've tied it too the original contract date.

Edited April 30, 2018 by SooKee

[janclaes47]

Just now, ExpatOilWorker said:

I tried Nper.com, but get redirected to: https://uniregistry.com/market/domain/nper.com?landerid=nper5ae691b3990443.44116543

 

Wrong site?

 

https://www.nperf.com/en/

 

But the screen shot you post is the correct site.

 

Select London , Oneprovider.com

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

6 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

 

https://www.nperf.com/en/

 

But the screen shot you post is the correct site.

 

Select London , Oneprovider.com

 

I get 28/4.3 for AIS 30/5 to the London server. All good.

[janclaes47]

3 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

 

https://www.nperf.com/en/

 

But the screen shot you post is the correct site.

 

Select London , Oneprovider.com

 

But as you can see, I get speeds as high as 28.95 Mbps during the test to London...............on my 30 Mb package which gives me 26 Mbps to Bangkok.