Home WiFi In Pattaya

[huck1895]

I will be moving to a condo that does not provide WiFi I am not sure if I will be there for more than a year so would like to avoid an expensive upfront fee.  I also want simplicity as I am not good with tech and don’t want to set up a router myself. Lastly, I prefer not using my mobile phone as a hotspot.  Probably the most bandwidth we will use is watching YouTube.  

 

I have been googling around and just getting more confused.  If if you have any ideas your solutions, please let me know. Thnx

 

 

 

 

[RichCor]

First, you should be asking the condo what options they recommend for INTERNET (not WiFi). If a condo is offering building-wide WiFi Internet you should run away. You want a dedicated / private service.

 

WiFi is typically a consumer one-time-cost add-on to an Internet subscription.

 

For a condo you'll need to ask the management what options they allow for Internet to be delivered direct to you, as some have exclusive contracts limiting what fixed-line service providers you can access the building (3BB, AIS Fiber, SBN, TOT, True cable or fiber...). Unfortunately with a fixed-line provider your only option may be agreeing to pay an up-front fee.  

 

The alternative is to go with a Mobile Internet Provider. If you don't want to hotspot off a phone then many also provide 'Pocket WiFi' devices or AC plugin 4G/LTE WiFi Routers that take a SIM Card and prepaid Internet on a daily, weekly, or longer subscription basis. Some of the 1-year subscriptions are quite affordable. 

[shortstop]

7 hours ago, RichCor said:

Pocket WiFi' devices  prepaid Internet on a daily, weekly, or longer subscription basis. Some of the 1-year subscriptions are quite affordable. 

I went to AIS today and they said the building that I'm in is not eligible for super speedy internet with them.  But they have a pocket wifi plan where I would get the pocket wifi unit plus a Sim card for the unit that would give me 100 GB per month at a speed of 10 Mbs for a year with a total cost of 2345 for the year including the pocket unit.  The service rep at AIS seemed to indicate that there were no other AIS options for me.

 

I will ask at the condo what the wired options are.   

 

But if I go the wireless route does anyone have a recommendation for a pocket unit and data plan as I've been told that 10 Mbs is not fast enough.

 

 

[richard_smith237]

Many projects (Condo’s or Moobaans) have an agreement with one of the major players for hi-speed (fibre) internet. 

 

Your Condo committee will know which companies can offer this. 

 

 

For Example: We moved into a new house and wanted AIS Fibre, couldn’t have it, the only option was a to chose a true package. 

 

You can get Internet / TV / Mobile phone packages which are all inclusive, or more simple packages - all companies offer the similar deals. 

 

Thus: Finding out which company services your building, then you can choose a package

Note: Some packages are 24 months.

 

 

 

 

[RichCor]

One of the issues in condos is new wiring restrictions. Pre-approved service providers can bring services to the building, but are sometimes required to reuse existing CABLE, TELEPHONE or WIRED PAIR cabling rather than run new. So even if the provider has run FIBER to the building, they may be required to convert to the existing phone wiring (defaulting to SDSL 50mbps service). 

 

You can many times 'roll your own' Mobile Internet but you'll be paying through the nose for the 100+ mbps access speed, when most times 10 mbps would do for a single device streaming a movie and another lightly surfing the Internet.

[Eindhoven]

On 8/31/2020 at 3:05 PM, shortstop said:

I went to AIS today and they said the building that I'm in is not eligible for super speedy internet with them.  But they have a pocket wifi plan where I would get the pocket wifi unit plus a Sim card for the unit that would give me 100 GB per month at a speed of 10 Mbs for a year with a total cost of 2345 for the year including the pocket unit.  The service rep at AIS seemed to indicate that there were no other AIS options for me.

 

I will ask at the condo what the wired options are.   

 

But if I go the wireless route does anyone have a recommendation for a pocket unit and data plan as I've been told that 10 Mbs is not fast enough.

 

 

 

Who told you that 10 Mbps is not fast enough? A 'know it all' who clearly knows nothing?

 

10 Mbps is more than adequate for your suggested usage.

 

RichCor is being conservative in his estimate, which is a good thing. But you'll have no issue with 10 Mbps, as long as you can actually achieve 10 Mbps at your location with AIS.

 

Always a good idea to test the speed with a 49 baht prepaid SIM from the network with whom you intend to subscribe.

Of course if you already have an AIS SIM and a 4G mobile phone, you can run a speed test right now: https://testmy.net

 

The AIS pack is a good deal, as a standalone 4G MiFi unit would set you back around 1300 baht. Leaving around 1100 baht in the budget for an annual pack(which sells on Lazada for around 1400 baht). 

 

The sticking point is not the 10 Mbps bandwidth, but the 100 GB per month allowance. That's just one Full HD movie per day. So you'll need to keep to lower quality downloads. ????

 

The alternative is to buy the items separately, AIS 8 - 10 Mbps unlimited data SIM costs around 1900 baht. with a MiFi costing around 1300 baht.

 

Examples:

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/ais-1-8-mbps-i1466114407-s3838176255.html

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/ais-8-mbps-1-i610402783-s1150674856.htm

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/huawei-e5573s-606-white-4g-mobile-mifi-dongle-lte-wifi-router-pocket-wifi-aisdtactrue-e5573-i352506263-s690026061.html

 

So closer to 3200 baht, but unlimited data as opposed to 100 GB per month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Eindhoven

[Eindhoven]

Just realised that there are two, supposedly separate, posters asking similar questions on the same thread....

 

But the reply remains the same. Start with a prepaid SIM to see if you can achieve 10 Mbps at your intended location, before committing to a SIM from that network.

 

All the main networks have annual SIMs, with DTAC coming in the cheapest; https://www.lazada.co.th/products/10mbps-12-i1144698922-s2664492774.html

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by Eindhoven