Mobile Internet

[toret]

If I was to get some mobile internet connection, preferrably using my PCMCIA card that requires a SIM card, what operator is best, what are the prices, and what is your experience with this?

My card accept the protocols of GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA.

But even other ISP's that use a mobile phone as antenna is of interest, and if it is prepaid it would be very interesting.

[geoffphuket]

If I was to get some mobile internet connection, preferrably using my PCMCIA card that requires a SIM card, what operator is best, what are the prices, and what is your experience with this?

My card accept the protocols of GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA.

But even other ISP's that use a mobile phone as antenna is of interest, and if it is prepaid it would be very interesting.

The CDMA G3 network from CAT Telecom works with the Sierra aircard - 590 Baht/month and should give a realistic 450kbps download and a much slower 70kbps upload.....depends on your location.

geoffphuket

[BelfastMike]

590bht a month. That's cheap!

What are the download limits?

[toret]

Thanks a lot Geoff. How much does this card cost, and is there a comittment to a certain amount of subscription time to get the card through the ISP (i suspect it is Hutch since it is CDMA)?

[monty]

The CDMA EV-DO network is only available in Phuket, where it's still a trial (I don't think they are billing yet).

It is run by the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), and will be rolled out in 51 more provinces during the year.

The remaining provinces are managed by Hutch which also runs the CDMA network, but for data they still use the old technology allowing speeds of up tp 144 kbps.

Thailand wide your best bet would be the Edge network, available both from AIS and Dtac. Edge offers speeds up to 240 something kbps, but count on an average of a bit above 100 kbps.

If Edge is not available where you happen to be, the system will revert to the GPRS network, with speeds of up to 48 kbps, average a bit slower then dial-up...

The gprs/Edge network is available with prepaid simcards, with the easiest to get going one2call from AIS (and the widest Edge coverage).

[naka]

The CDMA EV-DO network is only available in Phuket, where it's still a trial (I don't think they are billing yet).

It is run by the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), and will be rolled out in 51 more provinces during the year.

The remaining provinces are managed by Hutch which also runs the CDMA network, but for data they still use the old technology allowing speeds of up tp 144 kbps.

Thailand wide your best bet would be the Edge network, available both from AIS and Dtac. Edge offers speeds up to 240 something kbps, but count on an average of a bit above 100 kbps.

If Edge is not available where you happen to be, the system will revert to the GPRS network, with speeds of up to 48 kbps, average a bit slower then dial-up...

The gprs/Edge network is available with prepaid simcards, with the easiest to get going one2call from AIS (and the widest Edge coverage).

Monty.

I use GPRS (AIS prepaid) in Pattaya, how do I know if EDGE is available and how do I get it ?

Thanks

Naka.

[monty]

With most Edge capable devices, next to your signal strength is an indicator as to what network is available. Normally you'll see an E when edge is available, when no edge is received only a G will appear.

Obviously, if your device is not Edge capable, all you'll ever see is a G

I think pretty much all of Pattaya is covered by Edge, both from AIS and Dtac.

I get it all the way out at lake Mabprachan and at Soi Siam Country club road, along with most places in Pattaya where I connected...

[g00dgirl]

You can find some information about the CAT Telcom CDMA Aircard if you do a search in this forum.

I wrote about this in my post here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...=113798&hl=

[chanchao]

Question: Is EDGE prices the same as GPRS? GPRS is charged either by the minute or, which I greatly prefer, by the megabyte. Is it the same on EDGE or are there extra/different charges?

And how much faster is it?

Any word on technologies faster than EDGE and if/when/where they will be available in Thailand?

[naka]

With most Edge capable devices, next to your signal strength is an indicator as to what network is available. Normally you'll see an E when edge is available, when no edge is received only a G will appear.

Obviously, if your device is not Edge capable, all you'll ever see is a G

I think pretty much all of Pattaya is covered by Edge, both from AIS and Dtac.

I get it all the way out at lake Mabprachan and at Soi Siam Country club road, along with most places in Pattaya where I connected...

A belated thanks Monty.

I can see the E above the connection symbol. Seems like it defaults to Edge as it is almost always showing.

Naka.

[monty]

I can see the E above the connection symbol. Seems like it defaults to Edge as it is almost always showing.

As I said, almost all off Pattaya's AIS towers are Edge capable.

Question: Is EDGE prices the same as GPRS? GPRS is charged either by the minute or, which I greatly prefer, by the megabyte. Is it the same on EDGE or are there extra/different charges?

Same price for Edge as for GPRS...

You really want to get billed by the Mb? Costs bloody expensive at 10 Baht/Mb! An hour worth of surfing easily sets you back over 100 Baht!

You can get unlimited connection for about 1000 Baht/month I think. There's also a 400 hours package for 900 Baht. That's over 13 hours/day.

And how much faster is it?

Very variable as with most connections in Thailand. I get a relative stable 100 kbps with Dtac, and with AIS it goes from dead slow on a bad day (10kbps) to pretty fast on a good day (+200 kbps).

On average you could say 3-4 times faster then gprs...

[toret]

Got some info from Hutch (CAT) the other day.

Unlimited CDMA connection is 999 THB a month, they have a package price that includes one of their modems/cards and either 6 months access (unlimited as far as I could understand) at 9xxx THB, or 12 months at 12xxx THB.

Last time I asked at DTAC, a year or two ago, it was 999 THB for unlimited EDGE connection.

Anyone who can get me an estimate of actual speed and coverage for the two networks?

[monty]

Theoretically Edge will be faster then Hutch's old CDMA system.

Hutch has a top speed of around 144 kbps, whereas Edge offers up to 236.8kbps

Practically however, speeds are all over the place due to local network load (phone calls will always get priority over data, so heavy voice usage in your area will bring down data speeds), saturation of available international bandwidth of you provider etc...

Obviously the higher the top speed, the bigger the chance is of good throughput!

I often download big files with Edge, coming in at over 18 kBps (144kbps) average, which would be the unsustainable top speed of Hutch. The very few times I used Hutch, download speeds seemed to hover around the 10 kBps (80 kbps)...

I also had speeds as low as 1kBps (8 kbps) when on Edge on a bad day These bad days happen more with AIS then with Dtac, but on a good day AIS beats Dtac with a pretty big margin ...

That's why I have a sim card from each of them, one slows to a halt, I just pop the other sim in my aircard!

[chanchao]

You really want to get billed by the Mb? Costs bloody expensive at 10 Baht/Mb! An hour worth of surfing easily sets you back over 100 Baht!

Oh, right, I should have qualified that more. It depends on your typical use of course. If you're using it as a main internet connection to your computer and/or do a lot of browsing & downloading then per time unit may be better.

My use however is strictly 'mobile', i.e. emails (very little kB), mostly text webbrowsing of news websites (pre-rendered using Opera Mini so again very little kB) and the main killer: MSN Messenger Chat: TINY amount of kB but hours of online idle time.. So for my use per Megabyte is a lot better; I pay 99 baht for 45 MB per month, and there's no way I even use that up. However for that I can be online on MSN just about 24/7.

You can get unlimited connection for about 1000 Baht/month I think. There's also a 400 hours package for 900 Baht. That's over 13 hours/day.

Right.. Suitable if it's your prime connection. But my main connection is just ADSL at home and some leased line connection at the office. It's there that all the high-bandwidth stuff happens. My mobile use is really strictly mobile use.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[monty]

99 Baht for 45Mb? What kind of package do you have, or where? On Dtac this would cost 450 Baht (with a prepaid sim) I think...

You're right of course, in your case you'd be better of being billed by the Mb, although my usage on my gprs PDA is over 300 Mb/month, and that is mainly browsing the lofi version of Thaivisa, browsing the pda version of The Nation and my favorite home newspaper. Also using skype chat and msn chat, and downloading my e-mails, headers only, apart from some e-mails I want to attend to quickly...

Probably the biggest data eater would be my surveillance system. I can watch on my pda all my surveillance camera's at my business when on the road through my gprs connection. Although this function only gets used maybe once every other day for 1 or two minutes...

So without using my pda connected to a PC and only specific PDA applications, pay per Mb would cost me over 3000 Baht/month!

I really didn't know one could use kb's so frugal

PS, I use spb gprs monitor on my PDA for accurate GPRS usage monitoring!

[toret]

So this aircard takes both CDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE protocol?

What brand and model is it?

My card takes the 3 GSM protocols, but also UMTS and HSDPA. Do you know if anyone in Thailand offer the latter two?

[toret]

Upping this one.

Any news on this subject? Changes in speeds, plans, costs etc?

Still mostly interested in pre-paid.

[monty]

Only change is the slow appearance of theCDMA EVDO system.

Both CAT and Hutch have it, although Hutch's coverage is still pretty limited.

Theoretical topspeed of 2.4 mbps, practically people seem to be getting between 400 and 700 kbps.

Not available pre-paid, post paid is under 1000 Baht/month unlimited.

[nikster]

Only change is the slow appearance of theCDMA EVDO system.

Both CAT and Hutch have it, although Hutch's coverage is still pretty limited.

Theoretical topspeed of 2.4 mbps, practically people seem to be getting between 400 and 700 kbps.

Not available pre-paid, post paid is under 1000 Baht/month unlimited.

EV-DO works now everywhere outside the Hutch coverage area. Costs 790 / month unlimited which comes to about 850 including taxes.

I have used it in Samui, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pai, and Mae Hong Son - worked fine. Didn't work in BKK because BKK is covered by Hutch. No data roaming!

It's amazingly fast right now in northern Thailand, but I am fairly certain that's because it is not wide-spread and basically not many people are using it. I should really shut up about it now, the more are using it the slower it will get

It's horrible, don't get it.

Edited February 1, 2008 by nikster

[wangsuda]

One thing about EDGE is that it comes in different classes. There's EDGE, EDGE class 10, and some ungodly superfast EDGE in the hi-so phones. I use EDGE class 10 with DTAC and have excellent speeds.

[toret]

Looks like i will be using EDGE from DTAC, they have prepaid unlimited use at 249 THB pr week.

Anyone has experience with this one in Samui/ Hua Hin/ BKK?

[dave_boo]

Looks like i will be using EDGE from DTAC, they have prepaid unlimited use at 249 THB pr week.

Anyone has experience with this one in Samui/ Hua Hin/ BKK?

If it matters to you, I could not connect to a EDGE tower in Samut Prakarn (industrial city on the southeast side of Bangkok).

I noticed nikster said that EV-DO is working in non-Hutch areas. According to the chart as I read it, it seems that I should be able to get it up in Nakhon Sawan near where it, Tak and Uthai Thani all come together. Should anyone be able to confirm that, it would obviously be heads and shoulder above the GPRS connection that seems to behave like a chipmunk on crack. Also, can anyone verify that VOIP is possible over EV-DO, or is latency too bad there?

[monty]

Also, can anyone verify that VOIP is possible over EV-DO, or is latency too bad there?

Poor quality!

High latency, and upload is slow on EV-DO. Even when downloads test at 800kbps or more, uploads are often stuck at 40-60 kbps Theoretically 60kbps is fast enough, but the data tends to go in short, fast chunks, not in a steady stream. Not much use if you can receive very good, but you are coming through broken up at the other side!

[nikster]

Also, can anyone verify that VOIP is possible over EV-DO, or is latency too bad there?

Poor quality!

High latency, and upload is slow on EV-DO. Even when downloads test at 800kbps or more, uploads are often stuck at 40-60 kbps Theoretically 60kbps is fast enough, but the data tends to go in short, fast chunks, not in a steady stream. Not much use if you can receive very good, but you are coming through broken up at the other side!

Is that an actual experience, or theory? I thought it would be too slow, but I recently had a 1 hour skype conversation that just worked 100% over EV-DO. No outage, no delay, no nothing. I found it surprising. Meanwhile the TOT DSL was unusable but that's a different story.. happens a lot

[Gary A]

I have discovered that AIS now has EDGE coverage here in southern Loei province. I am really pleased with the speed. I have a pre-paid package where they deduct 107 baht per month from my balance. That is for 20 hours. If it continues to work this well, I will subscribe to a bigger package.

[dave_boo]

I have discovered that AIS now has EDGE coverage here in southern Loei province. I am really pleased with the speed. I have a pre-paid package where they deduct 107 baht per month from my balance. That is for 20 hours. If it continues to work this well, I will subscribe to a bigger package.

I would have been kinda happy with EDGE the speed differntial between it and CDMA x1 not withstanding (because I am what that little street urchin told me "You cheap charley #1") simply because my current Aircard supports it.

I've noticed a lot of internet connections are 'bursty'. I didn't have problems using True's 1024 ADSL package with VOIP, so I guess the only thing I can do is try it and see.

[Gary A]

I just ran another speed test;

Last Result:

Download Speed: 146 kbps (18.3 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 43 kbps (5.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

Still quite good as compared to what I was used to.

[monty]

I've noticed a lot of internet connections are 'bursty'

It's very typical for mobile internet connections, be they GSM or CDMA!

[toret]

I am in my cheap charlie bungalow on the fantastic beach here. Only palm trees, waves and streaming NRK Radio.

Thank you DTAC

[toret]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the price: Unlimited use at 249 Baht pr week, deducted from my prepaid package. Gotta call them once a week and say "GPRS one week package, please!"

There might be monthly packages but i haven't checked yet.

Speedtest at Ko Samui, from server in Norway:

Test 1: 57 kbps down, 43 kbps up. Not exactly for watching Youtube, but i can get the low bandwith version of my local norwegian radio.

Test 2: 61/38

Test 3: 41/36

Card used: Huawei E620

Edited February 9, 2008 by toret