The coworking space wifi tip that saved my deadlines

I spent 6 months hopping between cafes in Chiang Mai thinking their free wifi was just slow because everyone was online. Then a guy named Dave at a hostel told me most cafes throttle bandwidth for free users after 30 minutes. Now I always use a tool called Speedtest before buying anything and ask for the business plan password instead. Has anyone else found that coworking spaces in Bangkok are actually worse for this than random coffee shops?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_davis8d ago

You're putting a lot of faith in some guy named Dave and a free speed test tool. Most coffee shop owners in Chiang Mai aren't running some shady bandwidth conspiracy - they just have cheap internet and too many people on it. I've been working out of cafes in Bangkok for three years and the "free user throttle" thing is mostly a myth from people who don't understand how shared wifi works when 20 people are all streaming YouTube at once. The best connection I've ever had was at a random 7-11 in Pattaya where the cashier just shrugged and gave me the staff password. Coworking spaces are actually worse because they intentionally cap speeds to push you into paid plans, while most coffee shops just don't care enough to bother.

vals388d agoTop Commenter

You're wrong about coworking spaces - I've watched the speed drop exactly at 30 minute intervals in three different ones, like clockwork, while the coffee shop next door (with twice the customers) ran smooth as butter the whole afternoon. Cafe owners absolutely DO throttle free users, at least the smart ones who don't want their entire bandwidth eaten by remote workers nursing a single iced coffee for four hours.