Evdo Usb Modem That Works On Cat Cdma

[nikster]

I was at the CAT shop in Chiang Mai today - the only EVDO device they sell are sierra wireless 580 cards which are PC-cards.

They also had a huawei USB modem but it was out of stock and more importantly didn't support EV-DO, only CDMA 1x. Same for the terminal.

The lady at the CAT shop promised me I could just buy the SIM card if I got my modem elsewhere. I looked online and it was a bit confusing since some EVDO cards work only on some EVDO networks and not on others. You have to have the correct card.

So does anyone have a working EVDO CAT connection using

- An ExpressCard (the new, smaller PC-cards)

- A USB modem

- A phone?

And can anyone confirm that CAT does actually sell SIM cards? I mean this isn't a GSM network and I don't know if CDMA uses SIM cards. If they do I could get the cheapest device they sell, extract the SIM, and put it in my own EVDO device.

[lomatopo]

My guess is that you are limited to a Sierra 580 (rev. A), or 595 (Rev. 0 & A) (which replaced the 580 which was 'end-of-lifed' a while ago).

A further guess is that the CAT network is rev. A.

"A phone?" Now that's a good one.

[nikster]

My guess is that you are limited to a Sierra 580 (rev. A), or 595 (Rev. 0 & A) (which replaced the 580 which was 'end-of-lifed' a while ago).

A further guess is that the CAT network is rev. A.

"A phone?" Now that's a good one.

Like one of the phones on this list: http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/category/3/71/40/

CAT indeed offers the 580 - I was wondering why the lady was showing me these 580 packages that looked like they were about 5 years old - original Sierra Wireless 580 boxes looking very worn like out of a thrift-store. Way to go to sell high-tech

[Thanh-BKK]

Hello

My advise: Get a data-capable Hutch phone such as the Sanyo SCP 550 or SCP 588, or the newer Samsung ones (i use the S-179), plus a matching data cable (the latest Samsung even includes that cable in the package).

These phones are sold in Hutch shops even without SIM/contract, they are not locked and may be used on any CDMA carrier that uses SIM cards. Expect to pay the full price when not going with any contract (with contract you get the phones cheaper).

Another possibility is to get a second-hand such phone at places like MBK.

The Samsung phones are better than the Sanyo's because, when the data cable is hooked up, the battery gets charged too thru that same cable, via the USB port, so you won't run out of juice (data transmissions flatten the battery quickly, the Sanyo SCP 588 holds up less than one hour in data mode).

Having such phone you will only need CAT's SIM card and data details ("dial up number", as in *777 for Hutch), a modem driver (can be downloaded from Hutch's website for any of their data-capable phones) and there you go

As to EV-DO, i haven't seen any phone yet that is EV-DO capable but to my knowledge, there is no EV-DO service in Thailand as of yet (neither Hutch nor CAT), Hutch uses 2000-1x while CAT is mostly IS-95.

Best regards....

Thanh

[lomatopo]

As to EV-DO, i haven't seen any phone yet that is EV-DO capable but to my knowledge, there is no EV-DO service in Thailand as of yet (neither Hutch nor CAT), Hutch uses 2000-1x while CAT is mostly IS-95.

Best regards....

Thanh

Hutch is currently running a sort of expanded trial of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO in certain areas in Thailand. I think that is the whole point of this thread? This CDMA2000 1xEV-DO data network overlays the existing CDMA2000 1x network data network.

There are some CDMA2000 1xEV-DO-capable phones, I've seen them in the U.S.A. for Sprint and Verizon's networks, but there are no similar handsets available here.

I am pretty certain the OP is limited to the Sierra 580 or 595 cards, for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO services.

[nikster]

lomatopo is right, CAT is running a 1xEV-DO network in Thailand. There is some weird co-operation with Hutch but it seems to not work very well. I asked in the Hutch store if I could use a Hutch data plan on the CAT network and was told no - they told me if I had a Hutch phone, I could make calls on the CAT network but no data

CAT is building up this EV-DO everywhere where Hutch isn't. But apart from some very small posters, CAT doesn't seem to advertise it at all. So I think they are still thinking about how to make it into a business. It is working and up and running though.

I don't see how CDMA 1x is an improvement over EDGE which I already have from AIS. I was mostly interested in that 1xEV-DO speed with a maximum of 2.4MBit/s and a real world data rate of around 500Kbit. There are some data cards and phones available in the U.S. that have EV-DO but it seems that this is really a very marginal technology. Kinda surprising given that Verizon and Sprint are using it all over the U.S.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hello

Sure there are EV-DO phones "in the market", after all most of Japan is EV-DO - i was indeed referring to Thailand, as i haven't seen any such phone HERE yet

The "strange cooperation" between Hutch and CAT is national roaming - a Hutch user can, in places where the Hutch network is not present (such as Chiang Mai!) "roam" on the CAT network (if present). Indeed in such case only voice and SMS is available, but that is due to the roaming, not because the phone won't do it! Any Hutch phone that does data will do data on the CAT network IF A CAT SIM IS IN THERE.

Hutch tends to BS people with similar questions, for example they will not, under any circumstances, admit that a CDMA 2000-1x terminal, bought from abroad and able to use SIM cards, will work just perfectly on Hutch. They will say "the system is different blah blah blah", own experience here. Phones brought in from China (Unicom) will work just fine, and in Indonesia they use SIM's on a CDMA network too (the Samsung S179 sold in Thailand by Hutch IS an indonesian model - how do i know? Because it has FM radio starting at 76 MHz )

Best regards.....

Thanh

[nikster]

Hello

Sure there are EV-DO phones "in the market", after all most of Japan is EV-DO - i was indeed referring to Thailand, as i haven't seen any such phone HERE yet

Very interesting, thanks for the info. I will have to get myself such a phone somehow then. Are Japanese phones usually sim-locked? Chinese ones? China isn't far away at all using budget airlines... The phones in the USA are pretty much exclusively sold with contract and sim locked.

N.

[indothai]

So.. anyone here with insights on when EV-DO will be available city-wide?

(http://www.hutch.co.th/mbi/evdo/index_en.htm).

[nikster]

So.. anyone here with insights on when EV-DO will be available city-wide?

(http://www.hutch.co.th/mbi/evdo/index_en.htm).

Hmm.. I am thinking that the rollout of WiMax - as mentioned in another post - over the next few years will greatly dampen the enthusiasm for operators to invest a lot in data networks.

As of now, none of the "consumer" revenues that 3G operators had envisioned have panned out - no-one is buying crap from them at inflated prices, no-one is using video telephony (for $5/minute), etc. So pretty much the only people using their data networks are geeks with laptops. And these will be gone instantly when WiMax is available because WiMax is 50 times faster.

If I was in charge of Hutch, I would not spend a penny for going from CDMA -> EV-DO. Sad to say. EV-DO is an outdated tech in any case, switching to it for a great cost doesn't make sense in the year 2007.

Don't get me wrong, I am still interested in getting an EV-DO backup for my DSL for the next year or two, but I don't see the business from the operators point of view.

Edited July 18, 2007 by nikster

[indothai]

So when will WiMax be available? Any insights?

[Thanh-BKK]

Hello

First of all, japanese phones are UTTERLY USELESS anywhere in the world but Japan! I happen to own a DoCoMo EV-DO phone. They do follow the CDMA standards by the book - except for the fact that they invert uplink- and downlink frequencies! This is to make sure they don't have to pay royalties to Qualcomm or whoever holds the patents on CDMA which, as opposed to GSM, is NOT an "open standard". For this reason a japanese CDMA (EV-DO or otherwise) phone will NOT work on any other CDMA network and vise-versa.

Next who's the troll saying that EV-DO is "outdated"..? Get a grip mate....... EV-DO blows UMTS ("3G") out of the water - compare the two directly in terms of speed (10.2 Mb/s vs. 384 Kb/s) and think about it again. Yes, EV-DO is available since a few years (with Japan indeed being the first country to actually use it, followed by South Korea which even uses world-standard CDMA!) The next evolution step is "EV-DV" which is under development, not yet in use and promises speeds up to 2 GB/s. Mind you this speed is still achieved on narrowband-CDMA which keeps the phones downward compatible - a EV-DV phone will still work on a IS-95 network and vise-versa! You can not exactly say that of GSM-UMTS - which are two entirely different technologies (UMTS is, in fact, based on the CDMA principles, it's therefor also known as "W-CDMA", the "W" standing for "wideband"). To have a phone work both standards you need a dual-band-dual mode phone, while in CDMA a single-mode is sufficient. A pure GSM phone will not work on a pure UMTS network, not that one such would exist - every UMTS network HAS TO HOLD an underlying GSM network, roughly doubling the cost for the network operator - while in CDMA, upgrading from IS-95 to 2000-1x or EV-DO is as easy as installing new software, since the frequencies, coding etc are still the same.

About SIM cards: CDMA "with SIM" is ONLY available in Thailand, China and Indonesia. This is fairly new technology and most CDMA operators worldwide don't want to adapt to it yet. You can at any time buy a phone off China Unicom (closest to Thailand and most phones available) and use it on Hutch or CAT. They (in China) have even genuine dual-mode phones available - they hold a SIM (GSM) and a R-UIM (CDMA-"SIM") at the same time and support both technologies SIMULTANEUSLY!! Meaning you can be "online" on Hutch and D-TAC at the very same time with a single phone. But i have heard the software on those is still buggy (i've got a friend in China who supplies me with such information). The chinese sell you a phone without SIM happily, so if you happen to get there, get some

Best regards.....

Thanh

[stumonster]

Thanh,

I have a coolpro uni100 pcmcia cdma x1 card which I purchased in china with a china unicom sim card.

what sim card options do I have to use it in thailand , and what sort of pricing plans are available?

the other problem I had was when I was looking for generic drivers so I did not have to use the unicom application was all the info concerning the part number was in chinese

[nikster]

Thanks for the info on the SIM-enabled EV-DO devices. I certainly didn't know that but it makes a lot of sense. The EV-DO devices sold in the U.S. all come without SIM, but with mandatory Verizon service plans - so now I know why, thanks

EV-DO in Thailand is on Rev0 with 2.4Mbps max. download and, according to information posted in this forum, about 600Kbps in real life. EV-DO Rev A (3.1Mbit/s) is just a little bit better and has been deployed in some places around the world, whereas Rev B (14Mbit/s) hasn't been deployed anywhere. So we are waiting for that just like we are waiting for WiMax

EV-DV seems completely dead since no one has implemented it..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution-Data_Optimized

About UMTS - not that it matters too much for this thread - HSDPA and HSUPA have been deployed in many countries in Europe as well as the U.S., pretty good at a theoretical data rate of 14.4Mbps, certainly beats EV-DO. And WiMax beats everything with 70Mbps in both directions....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of...ndards#overview

I hereby refine my assessment on EV-DO: EV-DO Rev 0 is outdated tech

Hello

First of all, japanese phones are UTTERLY USELESS anywhere in the world but Japan! I happen to own a DoCoMo EV-DO phone. They do follow the CDMA standards by the book - except for the fact that they invert uplink- and downlink frequencies! This is to make sure they don't have to pay royalties to Qualcomm or whoever holds the patents on CDMA which, as opposed to GSM, is NOT an "open standard". For this reason a japanese CDMA (EV-DO or otherwise) phone will NOT work on any other CDMA network and vise-versa.

Next who's the troll saying that EV-DO is "outdated"..? Get a grip mate....... EV-DO blows UMTS ("3G") out of the water - compare the two directly in terms of speed (10.2 Mb/s vs. 384 Kb/s) and think about it again. Yes, EV-DO is available since a few years (with Japan indeed being the first country to actually use it, followed by South Korea which even uses world-standard CDMA!) The next evolution step is "EV-DV" which is under development, not yet in use and promises speeds up to 2 GB/s. Mind you this speed is still achieved on narrowband-CDMA which keeps the phones downward compatible - a EV-DV phone will still work on a IS-95 network and vise-versa! You can not exactly say that of GSM-UMTS - which are two entirely different technologies (UMTS is, in fact, based on the CDMA principles, it's therefor also known as "W-CDMA", the "W" standing for "wideband"). To have a phone work both standards you need a dual-band-dual mode phone, while in CDMA a single-mode is sufficient. A pure GSM phone will not work on a pure UMTS network, not that one such would exist - every UMTS network HAS TO HOLD an underlying GSM network, roughly doubling the cost for the network operator - while in CDMA, upgrading from IS-95 to 2000-1x or EV-DO is as easy as installing new software, since the frequencies, coding etc are still the same.

About SIM cards: CDMA "with SIM" is ONLY available in Thailand, China and Indonesia. This is fairly new technology and most CDMA operators worldwide don't want to adapt to it yet. You can at any time buy a phone off China Unicom (closest to Thailand and most phones available) and use it on Hutch or CAT. They (in China) have even genuine dual-mode phones available - they hold a SIM (GSM) and a R-UIM (CDMA-"SIM") at the same time and support both technologies SIMULTANEUSLY!! Meaning you can be "online" on Hutch and D-TAC at the very same time with a single phone. But i have heard the software on those is still buggy (i've got a friend in China who supplies me with such information). The chinese sell you a phone without SIM happily, so if you happen to get there, get some

Best regards.....

Thanh

Edited July 20, 2007 by nikster

[lomatopo]

I am pretty sure you can buy open or unlocked EV-DO-capable handsets in the U.S. on e-Bay.

The wait for 3G/WiMAX services here in Thailand will be lengthy; 3G licenses have not been allocated/auctioned and plans to do so are on hold. Clearly the government will not want AIS or DTAC to hold 3G licenses so some sort of graft-plagued organization will be created to ride on AIS/DTAC's networks creating further problems. I think there are some WiMAX trials here, or at least there was some press about some being planned but I'd expect the government to get involved in licensing of that technology. All in all there is little demand for mobile broadband, and the enabled applications, in Thailand, and I'm even surprised EDGE has been rolled out as much as it has. About the only real driver here is linking remote villages/towns/schools and getting them onto the Internet.

[nikster]

I am pretty sure you can buy open or unlocked EV-DO-capable handsets in the U.S. on e-Bay.

The wait for 3G/WiMAX services here in Thailand will be lengthy; 3G licenses have not been allocated/auctioned and plans to do so are on hold. Clearly the government will not want AIS or DTAC to hold 3G licenses so some sort of graft-plagued organization will be created to ride on AIS/DTAC's networks creating further problems. I think there are some WiMAX trials here, or at least there was some press about some being planned but I'd expect the government to get involved in licensing of that technology. All in all there is little demand for mobile broadband, and the enabled applications, in Thailand, and I'm even surprised EDGE has been rolled out as much as it has. About the only real driver here is linking remote villages/towns/schools and getting them onto the Internet.

As for the handsets - true but those don't even have Sim cards, at least according to Thanh. I believe it because I have searched ebay etc and have not once seen a reference to a SIM card for any CDMA devices on offer. So these would be no good here.

I also don't think anything to do with internet will improve in Thailand until there's a new elected government. The IT minister's quote that he "doesn't find the internet exciting" and "doesn't use it" pretty much says it all. They dont give a flying f.... but under a new gov't things could change fast.

[Kunchai]

I was at the CAT shop in Chiang Mai today - the only EVDO device they sell are sierra wireless 580 cards which are PC-cards.

They also had a huawei USB modem but it was out of stock and more importantly didn't support EV-DO, only CDMA 1x. Same for the terminal.

The lady at the CAT shop promised me I could just buy the SIM card if I got my modem elsewhere. I looked online and it was a bit confusing since some EVDO cards work only on some EVDO networks and not on others. You have to have the correct card.

So does anyone have a working EVDO CAT connection using

- An ExpressCard (the new, smaller PC-cards)

- A USB modem

- A phone?

And can anyone confirm that CAT does actually sell SIM cards? I mean this isn't a GSM network and I don't know if CDMA uses SIM cards. If they do I could get the cheapest device they sell, extract the SIM, and put it in my own EVDO device.

In any CAT CDMA office you can buy a R-UIM card with your own mobile phone number for 300.- Bahts.

For foreigners a valid work permit is required as it is a postpaid service.

You can use this R-UIM card for voice calls and for data.

If you want to use EVDO data you will need an EVDO modem. CAT is offering only one model, Sierra Wireless AirCard 580, the price is about $420.-

Now there is no stock because this model is already discontinued.

The AirCard is not so convenient as you can not use it with your desktop computer and the latest laptop computers (because there is no PCMCIA interface available).

By the way I have a brand-new EVDO modem (USB type) which can be used with CAT CDMA. Since it is connected to your PC over the USB port you can use it with any computer (both laptop as well as desktop). It comes complete with USB cable, headset (for voice calls), user manual and software CD.

Since I do not need it any more (I have a good ADSL connection now) I can sell it for just $200.-

I am based in Udon Thani, North East Thailand.

My e-mail: [email protected]

Tel. +66 868618833, +7 4957294659

Regards,

Alex.

Edited August 28, 2007 by Kunchai

[thailandfaq]

Hello

My advise: Get a data-capable Hutch phone such as the Sanyo SCP 550 or SCP 588, or the newer Samsung ones (i use the S-179), plus a matching data cable (the latest Samsung even includes that cable in the package).

These phones are sold in Hutch shops even without SIM/contract, they are not locked and may be used on any CDMA carrier that uses SIM cards. Expect to pay the full price when not going with any contract (with contract you get the phones cheaper).

Another possibility is to get a second-hand such phone at places like MBK.

The Samsung phones are better than the Sanyo's because, when the data cable is hooked up, the battery gets charged too thru that same cable, via the USB port, so you won't run out of juice (data transmissions flatten the battery quickly, the Sanyo SCP 588 holds up less than one hour in data mode).

Having such phone you will only need CAT's SIM card and data details ("dial up number", as in *777 for Hutch), a modem driver (can be downloaded from Hutch's website for any of their data-capable phones) and there you go

As to EV-DO, i haven't seen any phone yet that is EV-DO capable but to my knowledge, there is no EV-DO service in Thailand as of yet (neither Hutch nor CAT), Hutch uses 2000-1x while CAT is mostly IS-95.

Best regards....

Thanh

i don't know if there is an ev-do service in Thailand but i do know that i use a c-motech cdma modem to connect to the internet with and it gives me an ev-do connection

also the thing doesnt have a contract with either cat or anyone. But it works since the 2 years ive had it and i get about 800kbps internet free everywhere,

i actually clicked on this post froom google because i was tryng to find a way to use this modem to make phone call internationally using my mobile phone in conjunction with this usb modem

Anyone know how to do that?

The modem has a usb connector but alkso has a small hoe for inserting some other kind of cable which i wondered if it might be for connecting a mobile phone with??

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Hello

My advise: Get a data-capable Hutch phone such as the Sanyo SCP 550 or SCP 588, or the newer Samsung ones (i use the S-179), plus a matching data cable (the latest Samsung even includes that cable in the package).

These phones are sold in Hutch shops even without SIM/contract, they are not locked and may be used on any CDMA carrier that uses SIM cards. Expect to pay the full price when not going with any contract (with contract you get the phones cheaper).

Another possibility is to get a second-hand such phone at places like MBK.

The Samsung phones are better than the Sanyo's because, when the data cable is hooked up, the battery gets charged too thru that same cable, via the USB port, so you won't run out of juice (data transmissions flatten the battery quickly, the Sanyo SCP 588 holds up less than one hour in data mode).

Having such phone you will only need CAT's SIM card and data details ("dial up number", as in *777 for Hutch), a modem driver (can be downloaded from Hutch's website for any of their data-capable phones) and there you go

As to EV-DO, i haven't seen any phone yet that is EV-DO capable but to my knowledge, there is no EV-DO service in Thailand as of yet (neither Hutch nor CAT), Hutch uses 2000-1x while CAT is mostly IS-95.

Best regards....

Thanh

i don't know if there is an ev-do service in Thailand but i do know that i use a c-motech cdma modem to connect to the internet with and it gives me an ev-do connection

also the thing doesnt have a contract with either cat or anyone. But it works since the 2 years ive had it and i get about 800kbps internet free everywhere,

Don't you just love Thailand sometimes?

[ThaiLife]

Just spotted these ..

TL :jap: