ADSL in Bangkok

One thing I got used to in Australia was having quite a reliable ADSL Internet connection (512kb/s download, 128kb/s upload, 8GB monthly limit through Internode for $AU40 per month). Before arriving, getting a similar service in Bangkok was a concern.

Thammasat have a deal with TOT who provide all the ADSL Internet access to the campus accommodation. So when I signed up for my room I also signed up for the TOT 512/128 Silver Cyber plan for 700Baht per month. I think there was a small connection fee and free ADSL Modem provided.

The initial setup was quite easy because TOT advised using the Windows PPPoE client. That is, in Windows XP, add a new connection and select the broadband connection that requires a password. (For info to TOT users, your username is phonenumber@plan, e.g. 12345678@silvercyber and your password is your phone number). This requires you to connect in Windows, as opposed to having the ADSL Modem/Router connect for you (which is what I was used to in Australia). A bit more cumbersome, but hey, it worked.

My experience over a couple of months is that it has been ok, but a few too many disconnections or network outages, where I have to manually reconnect or even worse, sometimes reboot to get things back to normal.

The download/upload speed is great – so long as you are visiting Thai sites. International traffic is significantly less than maximum acheivable over a 512kb/s link. At least I’ve been able to find a few good Thai software mirrors (e.g. NECTEC and Thai National Mirror) for downloading linux and other open source apps.

A real plus for some people for the plan (and I think most plans in Thailand) is the unlimited download. There is no 8GB or 20GB limit per month. But for me its not a big plus (I hardly used any where near my 8GB in Australia), I’d prefer to have the better speed.

I have also tried setting up the modem to log in (rather than using the Windows client for PPPoE). This does work but it seem the PPP connection is often lost, meaning a reboot of the modem is needed. Again, not very convenient. For those using the DB108 single Ethernet port modem from TOT (or other ISPs), you can configure the modem by browsing to http://192.168.1.1/ and entering the default username of admin and password tot. There is quite a bit you can configure on the modem.

Created on Mon, 23 Oct 2006, 11:43pm

Last changed on Wed, 06 Dec 2006, 10:13pm