Can Now Get Extra AIS Playboxes...Max 3 Spots

Pib · August 6, 2017

Now let's talk HDMI CEC and power outages, whether long or very brief outages of a second or two...outages long enough to make the on/off power light on the Playbox to go dark as in no power to it...it's not even in standby mode anymore.

I expect many folks in Thailand experience power outages all the time...brief (a second or two) to long (hours). For me, I'm lucky, I rarely experience a long power outage here in western Bangkok but brief power outages of less than a second to a few seconds occur frequently due to the electric company switching/balancing electrical loads around the area usually around 7 to 8am and/or say around 3am/O-dark early....but they can and do happen any time during a 24 hour period I definitely don't want these brief off-on power events to turn on and leave on certain electronic/electrical devices at night while sleeping, when away from home, or just any time I don't want those device turned on.

The other day the wife mentioned after a brief power outage of a only a few seconds, the TV and Playbox turned on by themselves. OK, I figure that the HDMI CEC function in the Playbox Android 6 CEC settings was causing that. First, I simulated what the wife said happened by putting both the TV and Playbox in standby mode, and then unplugging the Playbox's power adapter long enough for the Playbox's Power On/Standby light to go dark. You have to remember in many cases a power adapter can still provide stored power of few seconds to the device its powering after the line power to the power adapter is cut. Then I applied power to the Playbox again by plugging back in its power adapter. The Playbox turned on automatically and shortly afters also turning on the TV. Well, if you are not at home, maybe even gone for days or longer you probably don't want that to happen.

So, I begin experimenting with the CEC settings in the Playbox Android settings, then turning the Playbox and TV to standby mode, and then unplugging the Playbox's power adapter long enough for its Power/Standby light to go dark (takes about 3 seconds), and then I would plug the power adapter back in which simulates the power coming back. I'll call this this outage a power off-on event.

1. I figured I would just turn CEC Off and that would fix the issue, but it didn't. What happens is after the power off-on event, the Playbox automatically turns on, but the TV is not immediately turned on. Instead, about 30 to 45 seconds later, which is the time it apparently takes the Playbox to fully reboot/load all apps after completely loosing power, the TV now also turns on and a few seconds later the Playbox goes to standby mode. OK, the box is in standby (which is good) but your TV is now left turned on. That's no good that the TV is on with a blue screen shining just eating energy.

2, With CEC On which will show 3 subsettings underneath it which are all set to the default position of On, after the power off-on event the Playbox turns on and the approx 30-45 seconds later the TV also turns on. Both Playbox and TV stay turned on. Definitely no good with both now on and you just left for the entire day (or longer).

3. With CEC Off, but before turning it off , I changed one of its subsettings titled "One Key Play" to the off position. Note: you have to leave the CEC On while changing the "One Key Play" setting otherwise the 3 subsettings (one of which is the One Key Play setting) disappear. You think if these subsettings are not displayed then they are deactivated/not being use but that's not the case. OK, after turning the One Key Play subsetting to off and then turning off CEC I turn the Playbox and TV to standby. Then I simulate the power off-on event and the Playbox comes on but the TV does not come. OK, that seems fine for a power outage situation, but if you now turn the TV on with the Playbox still on, the TV does indeed turn on but turns off the Playbox requiring you to turn the Playbox back on.

4. Final setting test I did tonight which I'm sticking with for now to handle power outages. With the CEC On, but the "One Key Play" subsetting set to off, when simulating the power off-on event, the Playbox turns on and stays on but does not turn the TV on. OK, that fine....I would rather have the Playbox On (low energy user) than the TV (much bigger energy user) caused by a power off-on event. However, with the One Key Play setting to off the Playbox will not automatically turn the TV on and switch to HDMI port on your TV....you will need to manually turn the TV on and select the video input source....no biggie.

Below is a snapshot of Paragraph 4 settings to keep a power off-on event to your residence from possibly turning on and leaving on your Playbox and/or TV:

SooKee · August 7, 2017

17 hours ago, Pib said:

Go into the Settings, Common menu. and change the Standby setting from the default of 5 hours to Never if you don't want the box to go into standby. You have a choice of Never, 3 hrs, 5 hrs, or 10 hrs. As mentioned, the default is 5 hours.

When you mentioned your problem earlier something in the back of my mind told me I had seen a 5 hr setting somewhere in the Playbox settings but I just couldn't remember what it was until I just went and looked in the Settings, Common menu.

Now I don't know if say you have it set to 5 hrs that Standby will kick-in after 5 hrs even if you have been watching the Playbox "and at least clicking the remote onetime or just having some kind of User interface with the Playbox. Or, once any User activity occurs like changing to another TV channel, just clicking the remove one time, that the standby time such as 5 hrs resets and starts over.

When your Playbox went into Standby after 5 hours had you had any User interface with it within those 5 hours, like clicking the remote to change a channel, open up an app, etc? If you had some User interface during those 5 hours and it still went into Standby after 5 hours I guess the Standby clock starts once you Power On/Restart the Playbox and any User activity after that doesn't count to reset the standby time.

Thanks. Gawd knows how I missed that. Guess I'm just so used to going direct to the Android Settings and Android Advanced settings. Now you mention it I may have seen it when I first got the box and was checking out the various sections but then forgotten about it. I didn't interact with the box at all prior to the 5 hours shut down, was busy on the laptop and just happened to look up. I'm guessing that the timer resets if you interact with the box, but it is only a guess.

One thing that did surprise me, if you do power down and restart with the power button on the box itself, when it boots up it'll boot back into Thai and you have to go change it back in Quick Set Up, whereas, if you've changed to English in the 'TV' Settings menu, that'll stick. Maybe because that setting is app / cloud based vs OS/device based. I can see that it would reset to Thai for a factory reset, but surprised it does for a power down.

I really do wish they'd do some work on the Channel Guide, it REALLY REALLY SUX!!!!!

SooKee · August 7, 2017

15 hours ago, Pib said:

Now let's talk HDMI CEC and power outages, whether long or very brief outages of a second or two...outages long enough to make the on/off power light on the Playbox to go dark as in no power to it...it's not even in standby mode anymore.

I expect many folks in Thailand experience power outages all the time...brief (a second or two) to long (hours). For me, I'm lucky, I rarely experience a long power outage here in western Bangkok but brief power outages of less than a second to a few seconds occur frequently due to the electric company switching/balancing electrical loads around the area usually around 7 to 8am and/or say around 3am/O-dark early....but they can and do happen any time during a 24 hour period I definitely don't want these brief off-on power events to turn on and leave on certain electronic/electrical devices at night while sleeping, when away from home, or just any time I don't want those device turned on.

The other day the wife mentioned after a brief power outage of a only a few seconds, the TV and Playbox turned on by themselves. OK, I figure that the HDMI CEC function in the Playbox Android 6 CEC settings was causing that. First, I simulated what the wife said happened by putting both the TV and Playbox in standby mode, and then unplugging the Playbox's power adapter long enough for the Playbox's Power On/Standby light to go dark. You have to remember in many cases a power adapter can still provide stored power of few seconds to the device its powering after the line power to the power adapter is cut. Then I applied power to the Playbox again by plugging back in its power adapter. The Playbox turned on automatically and shortly afters also turning on the TV. Well, if you are not at home, maybe even gone for days or longer you probably don't want that to happen.

So, I begin experimenting with the CEC settings in the Playbox Android settings, then turning the Playbox and TV to standby mode, and then unplugging the Playbox's power adapter long enough for its Power/Standby light to go dark (takes about 3 seconds), and then I would plug the power adapter back in which simulates the power coming back. I'll call this this outage a power off-on event.

1. I figured I would just turn CEC Off and that would fix the issue, but it didn't. What happens is after the power off-on event, the Playbox automatically turns on, but the TV is not immediately turned on. Instead, about 30 to 45 seconds later, which is the time it apparently takes the Playbox to fully reboot/load all apps after completely loosing power, the TV now also turns on and a few seconds later the Playbox goes to standby mode. OK, the box is in standby (which is good) but your TV is now left turned on. That's no good that the TV is on with a blue screen shining just eating energy.

2, With CEC On which will show 3 subsettings underneath it which are all set to the default position of On, after the power off-on event the Playbox turns on and the approx 30-45 seconds later the TV also turns on. Both Playbox and TV stay turned on. Definitely no good with both now on and you just left for the entire day (or longer).

3. With CEC Off, but before turning it off , I changed one of its subsettings titled "One Key Play" to the off position. Note: you have to leave the CEC On while changing the "One Key Play" setting otherwise the 3 subsettings (one of which is the One Key Play setting) disappear. You think if these subsettings are not displayed then they are deactivated/not being use but that's not the case. OK, after turning the One Key Play subsetting to off and then turning off CEC I turn the Playbox and TV to standby. Then I simulate the power off-on event and the Playbox comes on but the TV does not come. OK, that seems fine for a power outage situation, but if you now turn the TV on with the Playbox still on, the TV does indeed turn on but turns off the Playbox requiring you to turn the Playbox back on.

4. Final setting test I did tonight which I'm sticking with for now to handle power outages. With the CEC On, but the "One Key Play" subsetting set to off, when simulating the power off-on event, the Playbox turns on and stays on but does not turn the TV on. OK, that fine....I would rather have the Playbox On (low energy user) than the TV (much bigger energy user) caused by a power off-on event. However, with the One Key Play setting to off the Playbox will not automatically turn the TV on and switch to HDMI port on your TV....you will need to manually turn the TV on and select the video input source....no biggie.

Below is a snapshot of Paragraph 4 settings to keep a power off-on event to your residence from possibly turning on and leaving on your Playbox and/or TV:

Interesting. I'm actually not even sure what 'One Key Play' is supposed to do, can't find any info on it either, albeit that was just a cursory search. Not sure on the auto-language either? Language for what? Where?

With CEC, my PB is connected to a sound bar. Can't say I've ever seen it power up the sound bar from a power cut while it was in standby mode though. Not too bothered if it did though. I've (now 5555) got it set to Standby after 10 hours (ample to not interrupt a night's viewing) and the sound-bar will sleep after 20 minutes of no active feed. Most TVs can be set to auto power down after # time with no active HDMI feed. If you really wanted no chance of the box powering up you could always use the physical 'Off' button on the back if going away for any time. I'll have a look over the next couple of days with a simulated power down with the box i) up and running at the time of the 'failure' and ii) with the box in standby, see what it does.

One thing I have noticed with CEC sometimes (at least with the Shield, not come across it with the PB yet) is that a power failure can sometimes seemingly screw up the CEC connection such that powering the box on will turn on the CEC device but turning it off won't turn off the CEC device. I have a feeling it maybe something to do with it messing up the HDMI connection or it MAY be because I'm using a passive HDMI switch that has a Mac Mini, Playbox and Shield connected to the sound bar and from the sound bar to the TV.

When it happens I've tried numerous things to correct it including, powering off both devices, pulling the HDMI cord etc etc. After much trial (sometimes I was changing things so much I couldn't recall what I did just before I 'fixed' it so recently got round to listing what I did and what did / didn't work. I've pretty much got it down the the process I need to go through if I get this 'failed CEC link' (normally for powering the CEC device down only) again (I will also check next time it happens if any of the actions are actually redundant and might be able to be deleted):

* Sound Bar: Turn Anynet off ('Anynet' is the Samsung function that needs enabling for CEC to work)
* Shield / Box: Turn 'CEC On/Off' OFF
* HDMI cable: Pull HDMI from switch / plug in again
* Shield / Box / Sound Bar: Reboot both / all
* Sound Bar: Turn 'Anynet' ON
* Shield / Box: Check resolution at 1080 (couple of times with a failure I've seen the box has defaulted to a 720 resolution)
* Shield / Box: Turn 'CEC On / Off' ON
* Test.

Edited August 7, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · August 7, 2017

1 hour ago, SooKee said:

Thanks. Gawd knows how I missed that. Guess I'm just so used to going direct to the Android Settings and Android Advanced settings. Now you mention it I may have seen it when I first got the box and was checking out the various sections but then forgotten about it. I didn't interact with the box at all prior to the 5 hours shut down, was busy on the laptop and just happened to look up. I'm guessing that the timer resets if you interact with the box, but it is only a guess.

One thing that did surprise me, if you do power down and restart with the power button on the box itself, when it boots up it'll boot back into Thai and you have to go change it back in Quick Set Up, whereas, if you've changed to English in the 'TV' Settings menu, that'll stick. Maybe because that setting is app / cloud based vs OS/device based. I can see that it would reset to Thai for a factory reset, but surprised it does for a power down.

I really do wish they'd do some work on the Channel Guide, it REALLY REALLY SUX!!!!!

When using the power switch on the back of the box to power down/up my settings "do not" change. Did the test a couple of times...turned the box off with the power switch on the back....wait about 5 seconds...long enough for the box's power light to go dark...then turn the box back on with the power switch....all settings retained to include those in the Quick Setup menu which is just for language and time zone settings. Did this test several times....settings retained everywhere I looked....in the Quick Setup menu, Advanced Setup menu, the Settings where you can select English or Thai for things like TV channels menu displays, just everywhere I looked over a few minutes of looking around the menus/settings.

Regarding the box going into Auto Standby in 3, 5, or 10 hrs or Never depending on which time setting you chose, I just started a test. I changed the Auto Standby setting to 3 hours at 2pm today, left the box on with TV off as I go do some outside work, and hopefully I will remember to come back in before the 3 hours are up like around 4pm, turn the TV on so I can see the box menus, and then I will click the remote once just to change to another app selection icon, TV channel, etc....just do "one" click of the remove to show some User activity. Then I will check it shortly after 5pm to see of the box is still on. If it's still on that means that one User interaction reset the standby countdown clock....but if the box still goes into standby more that means the standby clock is referenced to the last power on and not User activity. Will know a little after 5pm assuming I remember to do that one User activity before 5pm.

SooKee · August 7, 2017

How odd. Any time I power off with the button I have to set the language in Quick Setup again?

Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Edited August 7, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · August 7, 2017

5 hours ago, Pib said:

Regarding the box going into Auto Standby in 3, 5, or 10 hrs or Never depending on which time setting you chose, I just started a test. I changed the Auto Standby setting to 3 hours at 2pm today, left the box on with TV off as I go do some outside work, and hopefully I will remember to come back in before the 3 hours are up like around 4pm, turn the TV on so I can see the box menus, and then I will click the remote once just to change to another app selection icon, TV channel, etc....just do "one" click of the remove to show some User activity. Then I will check it shortly after 5pm to see of the box is still on. If it's still on that means that one User interaction reset the standby countdown clock....but if the box still goes into standby more that means the standby clock is referenced to the last power on and not User activity. Will know a little after 5pm assuming I remember to do that one User activity before 5pm.

Completed the test. I set the Auto Standby to 3 hrs at 2pm....left box on....went and did other stuff....at 4:15pm the box is still on and I click the mouse once just to show User input...at 5pm when the box would have gone into Standby if o User Input had occurred it did not go into Standby....box still on since I provided User input at 4:15pm. OK, since I clicked the mouse at 4:15pm which probably reset the standby clock to zero, if I don't provide any more User input the box should go into Standby at 7:15pm....so, I did not provide any more User input and at 7:15pm the box went into Standby.

So, if you are using the Playbox for something that does not require any User input like just watching one TV channel and never changing channels, adjusting volume, etc., and don't want the Playbox to go into Standby you will need to set the Auto Standby setting to Never. The box comes with an Auto Standby setting default setting of 5 hrs....as mentioned earlier there are 4 possible settings....Never, 3, 5, & 10 hrs.

rexall · August 27, 2017

Wow! A seven page thread! That's more of an investment than I care to make in my teevee! Just to add my two satang. I was nudged to get a Playbox as KTV--the local cable here in the frigid Northeast--dropped Fox News and a couple of other English channels, and recently, Universal and SyFy pulled out of the Asian market. What's left can't justify even the B300 I have been paying the pas 12 years.

I am happy with my 6.0 Playbox. So far (one week), streaming is fine; no dropouts, buffering or garbled transmission. Streaming is fine even though the router and the box are in different rooms separated by concered walls, down a long hall. The 200/50 fiber is as good as the 3BB 200/50 was.

Getting service, however, was RIDICULOUS! We live right in town, but admittedly most people don't know where our village is, and it has a weird address that doesn't doesn't seem ring any bells for Thais. Nonetheless, we kept getting different stories about whether they were able to service our area. The website said OK. Several SMS followed, saying OK. AIS Call Center then said can't do. They got 5 SMSs confiring service and appointement. Then got phone call saying can't do, sorry for the system error sending SMS. Then more SMS. Then the boys show up the next day!

Toady boys, got job done, but nothing more, could not wait to escape, and consequently forgot to plug the router into my pc! Not a big deal, but if there had been a problem, would have had to set up another service call. Worse, I had to tell them to change the system to English, but unbeknown to me, they only changed part of the interface, which dragged the process out for another couple of days until I could sort it out. Bad boys! Bad boys! Go to your box! What a fine example of saving face!

The only good thing to say about the KTV cable we will be letting go is that it required no skill set or learning curve to operate!

rexall · August 27, 2017

One question: Once we got all of the interface in English, discovered a tab along the top of the slider "MyChannels." That's progress! However, still can't figure out how to assign individual channels to that tab. I assume that is what it for?

Tks.

Pib · August 28, 2017

18 hours ago, rexall said:

One question: Once we got all of the interface in English, discovered a tab along the top of the slider "MyChannels." That's progress! However, still can't figure out how to assign individual channels to that tab. I assume that is what it for?

Tks.

See below post I just added in a similar topic that explains the My Channels selection. I stumbled upon the answer last night trying to figure out again what the "My Channels" selection is used for. Unfortunately, it does not mean a group where you can subtract/add/list only your favorite/frequently viewed channels.

SooKee · August 28, 2017

4 hours ago, Pib said:

See below post I just added in a similar topic that explains the My Channels selection. I stumbled upon the answer last night trying to figure out again what the "My Channels" selection is used for. Unfortunately, it does not mean a group where you can subtract/add/list only your favorite/frequently viewed channels.

Indeed. It's a shame there's no Favourites section to save scrolling through all the stuff I'm not interested in.

Bizarre too that this device picks up the q201 name from somewhere. As intuitive as hell when it shows up on other devices when looking to play content to an app on the PB. Oddly, in Common Settings and Advanced Settings / About it's correctly named AIS Playbox, just a pity that that is not where other apps pick up the name from. Seems to derive from the other set of settings under the TV app that can't be edited.

Pib · August 29, 2017

On 8/1/2017 at 9:19 PM, Pib said:

I see AIS has just come out with a new plan called AIS Fibre Power4 Package where you can get AIS Fibre up to 200/50 (notice the upload speed increase from the previous 10Mb), TV to include the Platinum channels and the HooQ, Mobile Post Paid, and AIS Wifi.

Full details at their website

http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/power4pack/en/index.html

Well, yesterday I went onto my AIS Fibre account and upgraded from my current 100/10 plan to above 200/50 plan. Since upgrades kick-in on the start of a member's billing cycle which is the 4th of the month for me, come 4 Sep I will hopefully be running at 200/50 speed. I really don't expect much, if any, international speed increase...just the increased domestic speed and speed to Singapore since there are special lines/peering arrangements between Thailand and Singapore that pretty much gives a person full domestic speed to Singapore. One person who just upgrade to above 200/50 confirmed he was getting 200/50 to Singapore.

I already have Platinum HD and HooQ under my current plan...with the 200Mb plan I will also get a SIM which provides "unlimited" mobile 4G/3G data at up to 6Mb speed (calls and SMS you pay extra for), and the AIS Wifi. 6Mb speed is more than enough for what I plan to use the SIM in. The SIM will go into a 10 inch tablet the wife uses all the time for youtubing, but only uses it on wifi within our house....she been bugging me about getting a SIM for the tablet so she can take the tablet on trips and still access the internet....so she is now happy. The AIS Call Center said they mail you the SIM...you get it approx 10 days after the upgrade kicks-in.

When reading the promotions details/fine print, like most Thai ISP combo promotions (i.e., internet, TV, mobile, etc) it indicates after the 12 month contract period the price may or will change (like more any ISP promotion in Thailand). Now the only place the AIS Fibre fine print is perfectly clear (to me and in my opinion) regarding a "for-sure" price increase after the 12 month promotion/contract period is the HooQ service which change from free per month to Bt119/mo unless you cancel the HooQ portion before the price increase kicks-in....just call approx 30 days before the pricing changes and HooQ will stop for you at the end of the 12 month period.

I talked to two different AIS Fibre call center reps late last week regarding their promotion pricing fine print and each one said the price would remain the same beginning at the 13th month with the exception of the HooQ which would no longer be free...would cost Bt119/mo if I still wanted it.

I had concerns that after the 12 month period the SIM might start costing me an additional/approimate Bt600/mo which is AIS's approx price for this service my itself and the TV HD Platinum premium channels would start costing an additional Bt899/mo which is their normal price for this service (I currently get it for Bt599 on my current plan). But based on my interpretation of their fine print, pass experience over the years with similar promotions with True and DTAC, my talk with the AIS Call Center, and thinking if AIS Fibre did start charging for the Platinum and SIM packages at regular price, people would immediately cancel/switch Power4 plans because then it would no longer be a good deal. It would basically just be a 200Mb internet plan(or what Power4 speed you signed up for) costing a lot more than other ISPs 200Mb plans and then you have to pay a extra for the Platinum TV and mobile SIM services. Yeap, subscribers would just jump boat.

So, I pulled the upgrade trigger. However, but, if a year from now the pricing don't turn out as I expected and what AIS told me on the phone was a lie, I'll just switch to whatever their latest combo promotion is which will probably be better/cheaper anyway considering how these type of promotions seem to continually get cheaper/better year by year....a person ends up wanting to change just to get the lower price of the new promotion.

I think back on my time here in Thailand....when I first got here in 2008 I only had one choice for an ISP and internet plan....and that was TOT ADSL at 2Mb speed....a year or so later they upgraded their service to my moobaan and I could now get 4Mb speed. Then in 2001later True installed DOCSIS (cable) in my moobaan (I now have 2 providers to choose from ) with plans up to 100Mb but their 20Mb and below plans (I got the 20Mb plan) was all a common-man could really afford...their plans above 20Mb were just too expensive. ..I stayed with True DOCSIS internet up until mid 2016 year. In mid 2016 AIS Fibre came to my moobaan (I now have a choice of 3 ISPs) with low cost plans up to 50Mb...I got that 50Mb plan...about 6 months later I upgraded a new 100Mb promotion and also got their Platinum HD premium TV/movie (i.e., HBO) services, and come next week I will have a 200Mb plan with Platinum HD, unlimited mobile data 4G/3G SIM up to 6Mb speed, and AIS Wifi access.

Yeap, it just keeps getting better and cheaper along with additional services such as IPTV, mobile, Wifi, etc., being included in combo packages. And when I say cheaper it's not only in terms of what ISP/internet plans cost, it's also in terms of how it allows a person to dump other pay services such TrueVisions. Because with the AIS Fibre IPTV, its Platinum HD TV/HBO/movies add-ons, ability to now have up to 3 AIS Playboxes in your residence, you basically have equivalent (or mabye better) TV channel/movie choices. Throw-in Youtube live streaming, Kodi, Netflix and other streaming/TV/movie apps which a person can reliability use when having a reliable and fast internet plan it just makes cable/satellite TV services such as TrueVisions (which I canceled last month) an unneeded and added cost to your day-to-day living expenses.

Note: this is not an endorsement of AIS Fibre....it's just my story on how internet access has changed for me while living in Thailand....and I have lived in western Bangkok the whole time. Heck, if True would come out with some significantly lower pricing on they TrueVisions service combined with their TrueOnline internet service I would give them a serious look again...but I doubt that will happen especially on their TrueVisons Platinum/Gold packages which will probably stay pricey.

JaiMaai · August 30, 2017

Has anyone performed an Antutu Benchmark test on the new S912 box?

SooKee · August 30, 2017

23 hours ago, Pib said:

Well, yesterday I went onto my AIS Fibre account and upgraded from my current 100/10 plan to above 200/50 plan. Since upgrades kick-in on the start of a member's billing cycle which is the 4th of the month for me, come 4 Sep I will hopefully be running at 200/50 speed. I really don't expect much, if any, international speed increase...just the increased domestic speed and speed to Singapore since there are special lines/peering arrangements between Thailand and Singapore that pretty much gives a person full domestic speed to Singapore. One person who just upgrade to above 200/50 confirmed he was getting 200/50 to Singapore.

I already have Platinum HD and HooQ under my current plan...with the 200Mb plan I will also get a SIM which provides "unlimited" mobile 4G/3G data at up to 6Mb speed (calls and SMS you pay extra for), and the AIS Wifi. 6Mb speed is more than enough for what I plan to use the SIM in. The SIM will go into a 10 inch tablet the wife uses all the time for youtubing, but only uses it on wifi within our house....she been bugging me about getting a SIM for the tablet so she can take the tablet on trips and still access the internet....so she is now happy. The AIS Call Center said they mail you the SIM...you get it approx 10 days after the upgrade kicks-in.

When reading the promotions details/fine print, like most Thai ISP combo promotions (i.e., internet, TV, mobile, etc) it indicates after the 12 month contract period the price may or will change (like more any ISP promotion in Thailand). Now the only place the AIS Fibre fine print is perfectly clear (to me and in my opinion) regarding a "for-sure" price increase after the 12 month promotion/contract period is the HooQ service which change from free per month to Bt119/mo unless you cancel the HooQ portion before the price increase kicks-in....just call approx 30 days before the pricing changes and HooQ will stop for you at the end of the 12 month period.

I talked to two different AIS Fibre call center reps late last week regarding their promotion pricing fine print and each one said the price would remain the same beginning at the 13th month with the exception of the HooQ which would no longer be free...would cost Bt119/mo if I still wanted it.

I had concerns that after the 12 month period the SIM might start costing me an additional/approimate Bt600/mo which is AIS's approx price for this service my itself and the TV HD Platinum premium channels would start costing an additional Bt899/mo which is their normal price for this service (I currently get it for Bt599 on my current plan). But based on my interpretation of their fine print, pass experience over the years with similar promotions with True and DTAC, my talk with the AIS Call Center, and thinking if AIS Fibre did start charging for the Platinum and SIM packages at regular price, people would immediately cancel/switch Power4 plans because then it would no longer be a good deal. It would basically just be a 200Mb internet plan(or what Power4 speed you signed up for) costing a lot more than other ISPs 200Mb plans and then you have to pay a extra for the Platinum TV and mobile SIM services. Yeap, subscribers would just jump boat.

So, I pulled the upgrade trigger. However, but, if a year from now the pricing don't turn out as I expected and what AIS told me on the phone was a lie, I'll just switch to whatever their latest combo promotion is which will probably be better/cheaper anyway considering how these type of promotions seem to continually get cheaper/better year by year....a person ends up wanting to change just to get the lower price of the new promotion.

I think back on my time here in Thailand....when I first got here in 2008 I only had one choice for an ISP and internet plan....and that was TOT ADSL at 2Mb speed....a year or so later they upgraded their service to my moobaan and I could now get 4Mb speed. Then in 2001later True installed DOCSIS (cable) in my moobaan (I now have 2 providers to choose from ) with plans up to 100Mb but their 20Mb and below plans (I got the 20Mb plan) was all a common-man could really afford...their plans above 20Mb were just too expensive. ..I stayed with True DOCSIS internet up until mid 2016 year. In mid 2016 AIS Fibre came to my moobaan (I now have a choice of 3 ISPs) with low cost plans up to 50Mb...I got that 50Mb plan...about 6 months later I upgraded a new 100Mb promotion and also got their Platinum HD premium TV/movie (i.e., HBO) services, and come next week I will have a 200Mb plan with Platinum HD, unlimited mobile data 4G/3G SIM up to 6Mb speed, and AIS Wifi access.

Yeap, it just keeps getting better and cheaper along with additional services such as IPTV, mobile, Wifi, etc., being included in combo packages. And when I say cheaper it's not only in terms of what ISP/internet plans cost, it's also in terms of how it allows a person to dump other pay services such TrueVisions. Because with the AIS Fibre IPTV, its Platinum HD TV/HBO/movies add-ons, ability to now have up to 3 AIS Playboxes in your residence, you basically have equivalent (or mabye better) TV channel/movie choices. Throw-in Youtube live streaming, Kodi, Netflix and other streaming/TV/movie apps which a person can reliability use when having a reliable and fast internet plan it just makes cable/satellite TV services such as TrueVisions (which I canceled last month) an unneeded and added cost to your day-to-day living expenses.

Note: this is not an endorsement of AIS Fibre....it's just my story on how internet access has changed for me while living in Thailand....and I have lived in western Bangkok the whole time. Heck, if True would come out with some significantly lower pricing on they TrueVisions service combined with their TrueOnline internet service I would give them a serious look again...but I doubt that will happen especially on their TrueVisons Platinum/Gold packages which will probably stay pricey.

Be mindful that where Netflix is concerned it will not show up in the Play Store as being available for the AIS Playbox due to Netflix's new signing credentials post v5. If you want Netflix you'll have to sideload and APK AND the default resolution is 480. There is a hacked APK out there that will give you 720 and this still works, at least for now. What is not certain is how long Netflix will allow these side-loaded APKs to be able to log on to their service.

Pib · August 31, 2017

On 8/30/2017 at 9:16 AM, JaiMaai said:

Has anyone performed an Antutu Benchmark test on the new S912 box?

Did one today....got a score of 41,974...see snapshot of score below.

But since Antutu just compared/ranked that score against smartphones which is like an apples and oranges comparison I needed to google something that would give me a apples to apples comparison....that is, comparing it to other Android box scores.

For some reason I remembered you mentioned you had a Beelink GT1 box in a similar topic which also uses a S912 chip. So I found this webpage that compared the Beelink GT1 against 18 other similarly priced Android boxes earlier this year....but most importantly it had a Antutu score comparison chart also and a snapshot of that score comparison is below. The new AIS Playbox, a Q201, with an Antutu score of 41,794 would have been the second fastest box and just barely be nosed out by the fastest box (a HiMedia Q5 Pro) which had a score of 41,942.

JaiMaai · August 31, 2017

The reason I asked for Antutu is that a lot of the guys who do box reviews on YouTube use it.
That does look like a pretty good score.
If I upgrade to the Power 4 package I wonder if they'll throw a box upgrade in as part of the deal.

Sent from my SM-J200GU using Tapatalk

Pib · August 31, 2017

41 minutes ago, JaiMaai said:

If I upgrade to the Power 4 package I wonder if they'll throw a box upgrade in as part of the deal.

I seriously doubt it because the old/original box does the same thing at the new box...just slower. And since the box's main purpose is just to display the IPTV the old box does that just fine although channel changing/scanning is a little slower than the new box.

You would most likely have to pay Bt650 for box replacement/upgrade of your old box....they take your old box and give you a new one....they charge you that Bt650 on your next bill. And if you want a 2nd or 3rd box for other rooms in your residence those would cost Bt1000 each which you pay to the AIS tech that delivers/installs the box....then a monthly Bt100 charge on your bill for each additional box.

For me I didn't need them to do anything "wiring-wise" for the second box as I was going to use it via a Wifi connection initially/for several weeks. But I did have them make me a 20 meter long ethernet cable which is included in the Bt1000 charge as I was going to switch to an ethernet connection later on (which I have done recently using that 20 meter cable they made). But for the several weeks I used the 2nd box via Wifi connection only...it work just fine...just like an ethernet connection.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Pib

shady86 · August 31, 2017

The reason I asked for Antutu is that a lot of the guys who do box reviews on YouTube use it.
That does look like a pretty good score.
If I upgrade to the Power 4 package I wonder if they'll throw a box upgrade in as part of the deal.

Sent from my SM-J200GU using Tapatalk

I would suggest you to change to a non playbox package and later switch to power 4. Maybe they will give you a new box...

Pib · August 31, 2017

If going that approach and you want to quickly switch/upgrade to the Power4 package, be sure to take in account when upgrading before your 12 month contract is up you can only upgrade to a higher priced/faster package which could be problematic if you are trying to switch from a fast/pricey package already.

However, AIS Fibre did seem to handle upgrading to the Power4 package a little differently than their normal upgrade policy and current customers might not be strictly held to the "higher priced/faster" package if wanting to switch to a Power4 package. Maybe that's because of this is AIS Fibre first package to include a SIM also which also gets you into the AIS Mobile side of their house for billing purposes. The AIS Mobile SIM bill is suppose to be included with/in the AIS Fibre bill...basically a combo bill.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Pib

JaiMaai · August 31, 2017

I'm at the end of my year on my plan so I could cancel and then take out a new subscription straight away but I'm not really that bothered either way and probably won't be until my Minix U1 is declared out of date by Kodi or whatever.

My Beelink box looks like it's getting Nougat so there's life in that one for a while.

Pib · September 9, 2017

Regarding the problem the new boxes have with HooQ as described earlier in this thread...specifically in the two below posts...the problem appears to have been fixed with the HooQ update from Ver 1.0.2.3 to Ver 1.0.2.6 which apparently updated over the last few days...sometime on 6 Sep or later.

And when I say updated, I don't mean an update from Google Play, I mean an update from AIS Fibre which just installed automatically. Remember the HooQ version that is provided by AIS Fibre Playbox is completely different form the Google Play version...different layout...different logon method/credentials required, bigtime difference in version number and install size, and just looks completely different. If you want to use the the AIS Fibre credentials to use/log onto HooQ you must use the AIS Fibre-provided version of HooQ.

Don't update HooQ from Google Play because as mentioned the version on Google Play is just completely different....in fact, if using Google Play to keep your other apps updated on the Playbox be sure not to allow automatic update of the HooQ app otherwise you have to do a box Factory Reset the get the AIS Fibre-provided version reinstalled.

I say fixed over the last few days because on 4 Sep I upgraded from the 100/10 plan to the Power4 200/50 plan which also included 12 free months of HooQ and the problem still existed....and it existed on 5 Sep also when using HooQ.

However, last night/8 Sep when using the box upstairs HooQ worked like charm....no error message as described before...I must have briefly started/viewed dozens of movies/TV shows over several hours....not one 1547 error message....worked like a charm like how HooQ worked without problem on the old box.

And this morning when checking the downstairs box I did get one 1547 error when first using HooQ but after that it worked like a charm with more testing...viewing many movies/shows..over multiple sessions during the day. Maybe the downstairs box had the one 1547 error/glitch because that would have been the first HooQ use on that box since HooQ updated to the new version. Both new boxes worked fine this morning, midday, and as still working fine this evening with HooQ....that error which ended with a 1547 number is gone.

Have briefly viewed probably 50 movies/shows in multiple sessions over the last 24 hours in multiple sessions. If I exclude that one 1547 error on the downstairs box which may have been due to first use of the new version, the 1547 error is completely gone on both new boxes...not to imply it may not occur occasionally in the future. But in the past with the new boxes that HooQ 1547 error was so frequent it made you not want to use HooQ. And as I mentioned in my earlier posts AIS Fibre admitted to me in on of my numerous calls to them over two weeks regarding the HooQ problem that many others were calling in with the same problem with the new boxes and they were awaiting evaluation/a fix from the HooQ company....so it just was not me or just my new boxes with the problem.

And if the new version was not the fix, I noticed that my public IP Address which use to begin with 49.xxx changed to beginning with 184.xxx on 6 Sep. That's also the date my upload speed changed from 50Mb to 60Mb...so, now I really have a 200/60 plan. Maybe now being on different AIS Fibre servers/having a different IP Address basic range was the fix. If my IP Address ever goes back to being with 49.xxx and the HooQ problem returns then I will know.

Anyway, more use over the coming days will confirm whether that HooQ 1547 error with the new boxes is gone for good, but I'm assuming right now based on testing over the last 24 hours using the new versions was the fix. Yeap, time will tell.

SooKee · September 10, 2017

Don't actually watch HooQ much as there's so little on it (especially once you take out the anime junk etc.) but tried it this morning in light of the above. Mine has also updated to 1.0.26. First few times I tried it I got the 1547 error. Quit the app a few times and then it started working OK (ish). Played a few shows without glitch but then got the 1547 error back when I tried to play Jack Reacher. Quit the app once and started again and this time it loaded OK. Not sure how often it'd be a problem still, seemingly less, but mostly I use the Nvidia Shield on which the app works without problem and can also be updated without problem so I'd probably stick to that when I eventually start watching Nikita.

My package has not changed and I see my public IP address starts 184 now vs 49 before. But I doubt the IP address configuration would have anything to do with the HooQ app.

On the app update front, I'm even thinking of uninstalling the Play Store from the PB (if you can) and replacing it with Aptoide where you can actually select installed apps and add them to an ignore list instead of having to click x amount of apps each time to update them (being unable to use 'Update All' because it would update the HooQ app and screw it up completely).

Still don't actually watch the PB much, probably would use it more if the 'Programme Guide' wasn't such a disaster, probably one of the most user-unfriendly GUIs (and practically useless programme guides) I've EVER come across, total PITA to use, the inability to add your own favourite channels in either 'My Channels' or within the Programme Guide doesn't help, so it's back to sifting through dozens of channels of crap each time you want to see what's on. That or just keep randomly selecting the channels for a look-see. I find the PB useful for the news channels (esp Sky which has been locking down its free to view live feeds since last year and finally ended up putting the nail into YouTube which, AFAIK, was the last remaining free Live Feed that you could get), HBO Go and the occasional movie I may have missed (or just to have something playing in the background when I'm working) and in light of that I don't really begrudge the 400 baht a month I'm paying extra for it. Worth it though? Still not so sure.

Edited September 10, 2017 by SooKee

Pib · September 10, 2017

SooKee,

You might want to give below a try and then retry the HooQ app for frequent 1547 errors. It involves clearing cache files in two areas. No data entries like passwords, setup, etc., on any apps will be loss doing this to the best of my knowledge and based on my own testing. I have done it dozens of times...mostly when working the HooQ 1547 error over the last month. Basically, below should clear any old data is system level apps and the HooQ app itself possibly confusing the updated HooQ app version "if the updated app version was the fix to my HooQ 1547 problem" versus something else AIS Fibre did with their system which ended up just happening to fix my HooQ problem.

First: go to Settings, Advanced, Storage & Reset, Internal Storage, Cached Data, and then select OK to Clear Cached Data. I've done this dozens of times over the last month in working the HooQ issue....it never helped me although I thought it did at times.

Second: go to Settings, Advanced, Apps, select the HooQ app in the Downloaded Apps area, and then Clear both the Clear Data and Clear Cache selections even if both selection may report zero bytes. My boxes currently displays zero bytes in those two selections, but there have been times when still using the older version and HooQ was erroring out there would be many Megabytes contained/reflected in one or both selections. "Possibly, repeat, possibly" those areas retained cached data related to errors...kinda like dumped data...I'm not sure. But it don't hurt to clear both selections....done it dozens of times when working the HooQ error problem over the last month....it didn't help the old app version, but may help the new app version by providing a clean slate.

After doing both of above, turn off and back on the box....see how HooQ acts. My boxes are still working fine today with HooQ.

SooKee · September 10, 2017

Yeah I always clear data / cache and reboot with app updates, or at least with apps known to have problems. Like I say, it seems to be working OK now, but I use it too rarely to see if it's going to be a consistent fix. Just too little on it that I want to watch :)

Enjoying the series Taboo on FX though. Found it by mistake (and certainly not because of the usefulness of the programme guide LOL).

Pib · September 10, 2017

HooQ definitely has a lot of movie/TV show series to watch from a pure "numbers" standpoint....they proudly boast over 10,000 movies/TV series/etc., to look at but they reach that 10,000 number by counting all the movies and individual TV show "episodes" in the 9 or so languages of of movies/shows available depending on how a person has language settings setup in the HooQ app.

Then a person has their own viewing habits and may not be interested just for example a 1000 or so kids movies/cartoons...or another 1000 Thai language movies/TV episodes. But yea, if a person is looking for the latest and great movies/TV shows....likely really recent...they are pretty much going to be disappointed at least on the English language side.

But hey, HooQ is free for 12 months and even if continuing it after the free 12 month period it's only Bt119/mo regardless of how many boxes a person has in their residence.

SooKee · September 11, 2017

For free it's fine, there's a couple of shows I've got bookmarked to get around to watching. Those shows are of course available 'elsewhere' but I prefer the HD and subtitled versions that you get from the likes of Netflix, iFlix and HooQ. HooQ is no iFlix though, not by a long long way, and iFlix works out at only 83 baht per month. No way I'd pay 119 for HooQ to be honest, if I'm not interested in 95% of the content, it doesn't increase it's VFM by being able to not want to watch that content on 5 boxes any more than not wanting to watch it on one.

Pib · September 11, 2017

Thanks regarding the info iflix....may give it a try especially since they give a free 1 month trial period.

SooKee · September 11, 2017

Way wat

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Thanks regarding the info iflix....may give it a try especially since they give a free 1 month trial period.

Way, way, waaaaaay better than HooQ and def worth 1,000 per year. All new content since Jan 2017 (IIRC) is HD and they are back-converting the old catalogue to HD too.

suzannegoh · September 11, 2017

Regarding the problem the new boxes have with HooQ as described earlier in this thread...specifically in the two below posts...the problem appears to have been fixed with the HooQ update from Ver 1.0.2.3 to Ver 1.0.2.6 which apparently updated over the last few days...sometime on 6 Sep or later.

And when I say updated, I don't mean an update from Google Play, I mean an update from AIS Fibre which just installed automatically. Remember the HooQ version that is provided by AIS Fibre Playbox is completely different form the Google Play version...different layout...different logon method/credentials required, bigtime difference in version number and install size, and just looks completely different. If you want to use the the AIS Fibre credentials to use/log onto HooQ you must use the AIS Fibre-provided version of HooQ.

Don't update HooQ from Google Play because as mentioned the version on Google Play is just completely different....in fact, if using Google Play to keep your other apps updated on the Playbox be sure not to allow automatic update of the HooQ app otherwise you have to do a box Factory Reset the get the AIS Fibre-provided version reinstalled.

I say fixed over the last few days because on 4 Sep I upgraded from the 100/10 plan to the Power4 200/50 plan which also included 12 free months of HooQ and the problem still existed....and it existed on 5 Sep also when using HooQ.

However, last night/8 Sep when using the box upstairs HooQ worked like charm....no error message as described before...I must have briefly started/viewed dozens of movies/TV shows over several hours....not one 1547 error message....worked like a charm like how HooQ worked without problem on the old box.

And this morning when checking the downstairs box I did get one 1547 error when first using HooQ but after that it worked like a charm with more testing...viewing many movies/shows..over multiple sessions during the day. Maybe the downstairs box had the one 1547 error/glitch because that would have been the first HooQ use on that box since HooQ updated to the new version. Both new boxes worked fine this morning, midday, and as still working fine this evening with HooQ....that error which ended with a 1547 number is gone.

Have briefly viewed probably 50 movies/shows in multiple sessions over the last 24 hours in multiple sessions. If I exclude that one 1547 error on the downstairs box which may have been due to first use of the new version, the 1547 error is completely gone on both new boxes...not to imply it may not occur occasionally in the future. But in the past with the new boxes that HooQ 1547 error was so frequent it made you not want to use HooQ. And as I mentioned in my earlier posts AIS Fibre admitted to me in on of my numerous calls to them over two weeks regarding the HooQ problem that many others were calling in with the same problem with the new boxes and they were awaiting evaluation/a fix from the HooQ company....so it just was not me or just my new boxes with the problem.

And if the new version was not the fix, I noticed that my public IP Address which use to begin with 49.xxx changed to beginning with 184.xxx on 6 Sep. That's also the date my upload speed changed from 50Mb to 60Mb...so, now I really have a 200/60 plan. Maybe now being on different AIS Fibre servers/having a different IP Address basic range was the fix. If my IP Address ever goes back to being with 49.xxx and the HooQ problem returns then I will know.

Anyway, more use over the coming days will confirm whether that HooQ 1547 error with the new boxes is gone for good, but I'm assuming right now based on testing over the last 24 hours using the new versions was the fix. Yeap, time will tell.

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Thank you for all the stuff that you are posting here. I don't reply to it much but am learning a lot from it.

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