adsl advice ?

[bigbelly]

need to know any advice on which ISP to use for the fastest broadband available to man in phuket !? seems to be some conflicting reports on who is any good and at what speeds they can deliver.

If you were flexible on location and wanted the quickest speed,

1)where is the best place to move to ?
2)what kind of speeds are we getting today ?
3)what kinds of speed (do u think) are we going to get by 2006
4)who should i go for ?

unfortunately as you can see by above i need a really quick connection to contact server in Uk for work and run other Voip applications.....

any advice would be fantastic and gratefully received...

many kap, kap, khun..... kaaaaps in advance

[LivinLOS]

VoIP via skype works fine on even the dodgy cheap 1000 baht packages (HiNet / GoldCyber).. These packages offer 2Mb and 1Mb promised but are far far less (200kbps to 600 kbps (or 800 on a great day) on goldcyber.. faster on HiNet but has DNS issues)..

A lower speed is offered via JI Net for more money but aprox 2500 baht per month gets a far more reliable and real 512/256..

Phuket does not have the cheaper high speed offers from True etc that BKK has..

Also available are net cafe packages with better min speeds (less users on contention) and even single user services with fixed IP for business going up to 10 - 12k etc per month..

The thing you will have to get used to is this is simply not Europe.. Servers go down.. Lines cut out and back.. Rain knocks electric out for the afternoon.. Shit happens.. You just have to get used to a Mai Pen Rai attitude or you will go insane..

[bigbelly]

thanks for that - you seem to know what yr talking about... i have a vonage internet phone that plugs into my broadband in london...i am aware that in some countries u can simply plug in the cisco phone router and continue to make and receive calls as if you were in the uk...( i read forums on guys in taiwan and japan etc having no problems)...any advice wd be great ?

what about leased lines ?...my reality is that i run a recruitment comany, relocating my bit to pkt and want to be able to get the call centre technology that is available in india......i.e quite clear telephone calls in and out.....and high speed internet, and then i am home and dry !...paying 10-12k for a connection that does clear voip and fast reliable internet,,,is ok if it does the job,,,,,,,,,,

am trying to set it all up,, b4 hand so this infomation is priceless !!!

on another note,.,,,i think some smart it orientate person should set up a serviced offices with everything IT wise, laid on plate .....Thy wd make a fortune with people like me !!!!

[Nicke]

You should also go for backup.

Many internet shops use telephone lines from both TOT and TT&T, so if one line is down they can use the other line.

[LivinLOS]

leased lines have a monopoly and so are expensive (I think 50 - 80k for low speeds)..

I also am told the vonage phones plug right in here and do work (people on ThaiVisa have discussed this)..

The only thing I will say is if its mission critical stuff (phone line support, must have 99.99% uptime) then Phuket is a bit of a joke.. My line works.. siezes up.. works again.. drops off..

The other week we had a storm and power was out.. then discovered my phone line was out.. then took 11 days to fix it.. then they didnt fix the adsl.. then they said it was my cabling and all had to be rewired.. now they phone and say they have fixed it and its all fine !!!! This is a typical month !!!

As nicke says having redundant systems helps but as there is no reduncy out of the island (one cat uplink to BKK) sometimes you will be without service.. fact of life..

[bigbelly]

Firstly thanx - u guys are very helpful and the most no-nonsense talking IT help, i've had yet.......

any predictions on the future ? any insights ? do u think pkt will offer a reliable service? is cable modem the future ?

so i shd be prepared to get a two phone lines from 2 different tot and tt & T

run voip but don't expect the works all the time !

and expect the service to be up n down more often then a pretty BG knickers...

one other thing...am i right in believing that mobile international calls offer the best quality and at remarkably cheap rates.......

thkx again for all the input