Cha-am Fibre Internet, alternative to TOT, almost unusable

[sam123]

I am located 5 km outside Cha-am town, heading towards Bangkok. I am looking to change from TOT's ADSL service, because of constant reliability issues and the company's inability to resolve them.

Some years ago I was interested in using 3BB but while its service covered Cha-am, it did not cover the outlying areas just outside the town.

What alternatives do I have now? If there are none, I will most probably use 3G, as it is faster and more reliable than TOT's ADSL. Thanks for any advice from others in Cha-am.

[Dannie Boy]

I am located 5 km outside Cha-am town, heading towards Bangkok. I am looking to change from TOT's ADSL service, because of constant reliability issues and the company's inability to resolve them.

Some years ago I was interested in using 3BB but while its service covered Cha-am, it did not cover the outlying areas just outside the town.

What alternatives do I have now? If there are none, I will most probably use 3G, as it is faster and more reliable than TOT's ADSL. Thanks for any advice from others in Cha-am.

I live about 6km on the other side of Cha Am towards HH and have the 10 MB service from 3BB. Whilst the service does vary from time to time, overall I'm reasonably satisfied - have you checked with them recently to see if they now cover your area?

[sam123]

I might enquire from 3BB, since you are using them outside Cha-am. How often does the service fail, if you don't mind me asking?

My problem is two-fold here. The wire terminals inside the telephone junction box outside the house (in the street) are rusty. The TOT man 'fixed' it in 2012 but didn't fix it at all. He simply bypassed the terminals inside the junction box and twisted the cables together. The wire ends themselves are corroded too. I cleaned them with sandpaper myself. It helped, slightly.

The second problem is that even when the connection is working, TOT's service periodically loses it's IP address for several minutes at a time. In other words the connection is fine but the service equipment elsewhere has a problem.

Regarding the junction box in the street, I showed TOT's staff a picture of the corroded terminals and talked to the engineer but it was useless. I have a good relationship with the staff at the local TOT office, but they have their limitations. In a developed country, it would be standard practice to replace the dysfunctional rusty junction box.

Ideally I would like a fibre connection. I think the two baked-bean tins and a piece of string offers a more reliable form of communication than Thailand's.

[Dannie Boy]

I might enquire from 3BB, since you are using them outside Cha-am. How often does the service fail, if you don't mind me asking?

My problem is two-fold here. The wire terminals inside the telephone junction box outside the house (in the street) are rusty. The TOT man 'fixed' it in 2012 but didn't fix it at all. He simply bypassed the terminals inside the junction box and twisted the cables together. The wire ends themselves are corroded too. I cleaned them with sandpaper myself. It helped, slightly.

The second problem is that even when the connection is working, TOT's service periodically loses it's IP address for several minutes at a time. In other words the connection is fine but the service equipment elsewhere has a problem.

Regarding the junction box in the street, I showed TOT's staff a picture of the corroded terminals and talked to the engineer but it was useless. I have a good relationship with the staff at the local TOT office, but they have their limitations. In a developed country, it would be standard practice to replace the dysfunctional rusty junction box.

Ideally I would like a fibre connection. I think the two baked-bean tins and a piece of striing offers a more reliable form of communication than Thailand's.

as I mentioned, the service is pretty good and generally works fine - I use it to download programmes and watch Thai Expat TV with very few problems. I'm not sure where they connected my supply from, but I got the impression there were not many other subscribers in our area at the time of installation just over 2 years ago - certainly worth calling into their office to see if they can provide you with a service - I'm not sure if its fibre or not, but they are offering 30 or 50 MB at 1200 & 2500 baht a month, the 10 MB is 599.

[sam123]

Thanks Dannie, that is certainly quick... 6 Mb/sec is fine just so long as it works consistently.

Incidentally, here is the offending junction box that TOT isn't interested in replacing.