Edge Signal Koh Phangan

[sbk]

I have signed up for the Internet service on my mobile phone, I sometimes use it as a modem for my computer as our DSL is extremely spotty.

Anyway, I live in Ban Kai and have gotten an EDGE signal here on my phone since I bought it in June. But, in Thong Sala, I got a GPRS signal (I checked, I was curious) and we were told that Koh Phangan did not have EDGE so I must have been getting my signal from the tower in Samui while at our house.

Well, at least as of today, I can receive an EDGE signal in Thong Sala. The difference is quite noticeable and its pretty fast. Not DSL fast, but still better than my dial up was.

And for those who want to know how I know, when the signal is EDGE, I get an E and when its GPRS, I get a G on my phone display.

And for those who don't know what EDGE is, google it

[mac.wheeler]

I also get EDGE in Seethanu, it's not bad, I get about 12kbps, when I'm in Bangkok using the same phone I get about 35kbps though, if it was as good as that on KPG then it would be extremely useful.

What I really like about it is that when the power goes down, my laptop and phone still work for 2-3 hours and I can carry on working.

[Samuian]

Cost, Company?

[sbk]

I use 12call, 100 baht a month for 20 hours. You get it through your mobile phone. It is also possible to get one of the cards for your laptop, but if you already have a phone that can get an EDGE signal, I don't think the extra cost of a card is worth it. My phone plugs into my laptop as a modem, I don't know that the card would be much faster.

DTAC doesn't seem to have as good a deal as 12call with the hours, either 1b minute or you get charged 30 satang for 1kb of data (if I remember correctly).

Mind, this is only for use when the phone line doesn't work, not a permanent solution, unless of course, you live somewhere where they won't put in a phone line.

[Tywais]

Well, at least as of today, I can receive an EDGE signal in Thong Sala. The difference is quite noticeable and its pretty fast. Not DSL fast, but still better than my dial up was.

Just curious as to what your speeds are? Outside of Chiangmai my Edge speed within Thailand is between 90kbps and 200kbps depending on time of day. You can test here > http://www.adslthailand.com/ select Speed Test at the top. Gives a good indication of internal speeds.

[Tywais]

DTAC doesn't seem to have as good a deal as 12call with the hours, either 1b minute or you get charged 30 satang for 1kb of data (if I remember correctly).

Mind, this is only for use when the phone line doesn't work, not a permanent solution, unless of course, you live somewhere where they won't put in a phone line.

My DTAC costs 269.00 +VAT for 7 days unlimited time/data. This is pre-paid, post-paid have better deals such as 999.00/month unlimited. Currently using it pretty much as a permanent solution since my phone line now is so bad can't even keep a dialup connection alive more then a few minutes.

[sbk]

Well, on my phone (not plugged into the computer) that site gave me a speed of 713.80 kbps with a download speed of 89.23!

On the laptop it gave me a speed of 101.90 with a download speed of 12.74. It also gave me (on the flash speed test) download 105 upload 24.

Not sure I understand the differences. But, still appears faster than my dialup which is just terrible. Perhaps I should get a card for desktop after all.

The DTAC site doesn't list those promotions, btw Tywais.

OK, retested a minute later and its a bit faster with a download of 109 and upload 54

[Samuian]

Thanx for the input!

Anymore on this topic?

Information is all, after all!

Card, Price?

[Tywais]

The DTAC site doesn't list those promotions, btw Tywais.

OK, retested a minute later and its a bit faster with a download of 109 and upload 54

Those are reasonable speeds, actually your uploads are faster then mine. As for DTAC, you have to dig down into the inner bowels to find anything about it it seems. I just dialed up their universal number to get the information how to subscribe to the GPRS/EDGE.

[Tywais]

Thanx for the input!

Anymore on this topic?

Information is all, after all!

Card, Price?

For DTAC, just buy a standard pre-paid SIM (about 100 baht) top it up enough to cover the cost of the GPRS/EDGE subscription (299.00 baht but would suggest a little more then that), call 1678, press 4 for English and ask for the 7 day unlimited GPRS package (they have 1 day unlimited also if you just wish to test it - believe 79 baht). A moment or two later a SMS message will let you know. Also, need to contact them either via phone or website to activate SMS (free).

Whether you choose AIS or DTAC will depend somewhat on your location as to which will work the best for you. Post your location and other members can let you know what they are using for that area.

//edit- sorry, just saw you are in Koh Samui plus your user name is a bit of a give away.

[sbk]

One other thing, I know AIS has EDGE in Samui, does DTAC?

[mac.wheeler]

One other thing, I know AIS has EDGE in Samui, does DTAC?

I use DTAC here on KPG so the EDGE signal is coming from somewhere, don't ask me where though.

[mac.wheeler]

One thing to point out though is that when using GPRS it can interfere with incoming calls, some times my phone will ring when I'm using it with the laptop as a gateway, most times it will not.

I'm considering buying a cheap phone with EDGE to use just for the internet, does anyone have any recomendations?

[Samuian]

Whether you choose AIS or DTAC will depend somewhat on your location as to which will work the best for you. Post your location and other members can let you know what they are using for that area.

- sorry, just saw you are in Koh Samui plus your user name is a bit of a give away.

Nothing to hide I am located in the Laem Din area, we do have wireless, good signal (1.9 ~ Mbps)...but I just want to know for outdoors, on the road, laptop... while star.ucks f.E. wants 150 for an hour card...

Input is always welcome!

[sbk]

I guess it depends on the phone. I can receive calls while connected, the phone puts the signal on hold to answer the call.

Sometimes its very good, sometimes it seems to hang a bit. But, still better than the really crappy dialup I can get.

[Tywais]

I guess it depends on the phone. I can receive calls while connected, the phone puts the signal on hold to answer the call.

My phone works that way also. I can answer an incoming call and when finished the network is still alive. Surprised me when I first started using GPRS/EDGE and a call came in. Too used to my old dialup modem.

[mac.wheeler]

My phone will keep the EDGE connection alive while I use the phone but for some reason it doesn't always ring when an incoming call comes in, I think it's a DTAC thing.

I'm tempted to try and get an EDGE modem and buy a seperate SIM card for it, dunno where to get one locally though.

[mac.wheeler]

I've been doing an awful lot of homework regarding this EDGE thing.

I've been using it a lot the last couple of weeks (bike accident hurt back so been stuck at home)

Now.. Sometimes and I mean sometimes I get a transfer rater of up to 16KBps but it varies a hel_l of a lot, sometimes back down to normal GPRS like speeds of 4KBps

So I started looking at the way EDGE works, it seems much depends upon your handset, specifically it's EDGE class.

The best you can get currently (I think) is an EDGE class 10, this will have 5 timeslots, and can use them in either a 4+1 (4 download timeslots and 1 upload timeslot) or 3+2 configuration.

The maximum theoretical download rate for an EDGE class 10 modem is 236.8kbps (29.5KBps) or to make it easier to understand, about the same speed as a 256k ADSL line.

Now... I have an EDGE class 10 device (HTC Tytn smartphone running windows mobile) and I'm not getting anywhere near that speed, usually less than 1/4 of it actually except for late at night.

So I looked some more, and it seems that 2 things will effect performance, firstly an EDGE class 10 device logically needs to connect to an EDGE class 10 network node, I'm betting that the EDGE signal we are seeing on KPG is not served by such a node.

Secondly signal quality will effect speed, but I sit on a solid maxed out signal on DTAC so it shouldn't effect me much.

I then started looking into CDMA (same same provided by Hutch), on paper it is slightly slower with a max transfer rate of 153kpbs (19KBps) but should not suffer the same problems as EDGE with regards to network node and signal strength.

So now I'm faced with a dilemma, stick with EDGE and hope that DTAC eventually provide class 10 network nodes, or switch over to CDMA.

Both cost abut the same really, DTAC GPRS just over 1k a month, Hutch CDMA 12,500 to but the modem then free for a year, 500ish baht a month after that.

Is anyone on KPG using CDMA? I would really love to know what kind of performance you are getting so I can make my decision.

[mac.wheeler]

Today I did some testing using various EDGE class 10 handsets, including a Nokia 6230i which is supposed to have one of the best GPRS modems ever put into a phone.

The top performer was my HTC Tytn smartphone, maxing out at 16KBps whilst downloading a file using 10 simultaneous FTP connections using Getright Pro.

Data rates varied from between 7KBps to 16KBps with large fluctuations during the download.

This leads me to conclude that the EDGE signal on KPG is being served by a class 6 node (2 timteslots) and we won't see anything faster than 16KBps until DTAC upgrade (if ever) the node to class 10.

Hopefully this evening or tomorrow I am going to get a demo of the CAT CDMA network, I'll post the results when I do.

[mac.wheeler]

I just spoke with the young lady in Patrick's shop up in Ban Tai regarding the CAT Aircard.

She tells me that the card will work on KPG with speeds upt o 800kbps (This is pretty much as good as a 1MBps (1024k) ADSL line) which I find frankly unbelievable.

The only way this can be true is if Hutch have rolled out the EVDO network to KPG which again I find unbelievable considering most of the mainland doesn't even have it yet.

The maximum data transfer rate for a standard CDMA x1 network which is what I believe we have on KPG is 153kbs (about 19KBps), this makes the claim of 800kbps totally impossible.

But she tells me people have purchased the cards and told her this is the speed they are getting.

If you are one of these people or know somebody who has an aircard on KPG can you confirm these performance figures please?

[Sept]

Hi!

I think this is the appropriate thread... I'd like to try that Hutch cdma service in Koh Phangan, could anyone point me to the appropriate dealer?

As this is a little old, I'll extend my question to : is Hutch's cdma still the best wireless solution in KPN, over CAT's EDGE?

thanks!

[sbk]

I remember reading that they were talking about phasing it out. Hopefully these threads will clear things up for you (be sure to read them all as together they offer a more complete picture)

CAT Telecom Ready To Abandon CDMA, Mobile network will switch over to GSM

Cat Cdma To Be Discontinued?

Cdma Ev-do Super Fast Speed Up To 2,4 Mbps !, The new cellphone system is here - is it worth the money?

Try PM'ing mac wheeler as he did buy one and used it quite successfully.

[Sept]

Ohhh, thanks! So it's still on service but they're talking of discontinuing it?

I hadn't realized that Hutch and CAT were the same? So basically I need a CAT simcard to get access to that cdma thingy?

[sbk]

mac wheeler was using something else, a sort of phone thing. He describes it in this thread here ,

But really, PM him directly, you can do so by clicking on his name, and then click send message on the drop down menu. He has used it successfully.

[Sept]

Thanks, just did that (pm'ing McW.).

I've heard of that telephone, that service looks good actually. I wouldn't want one, though, as I already have an aircard, and I plan to connect with it.

I must confess I'm still a bit confused over the various bands and protocols and generations and acronyms and...

[angiud]

I just spoke with the young lady in Patrick's shop up in Ban Tai regarding the CAT Aircard.

She tells me that the card will work on KPG with speeds upt o 800kbps (This is pretty much as good as a 1MBps (1024k) ADSL line) which I find frankly unbelievable.

The only way this can be true is if Hutch have rolled out the EVDO network to KPG which again I find unbelievable considering most of the mainland doesn't even have it yet.

The maximum data transfer rate for a standard CDMA x1 network which is what I believe we have on KPG is 153kbs (about 19KBps), this makes the claim of 800kbps totally impossible.

But she tells me people have purchased the cards and told her this is the speed they are getting.

If you are one of these people or know somebody who has an aircard on KPG can you confirm these performance figures please?

I use sometimes a GPRS EDGE simcard One Two Call with an aircard and my average speed is aroun 70/80 Kbps. Quite slow. But on the other hand you can stay online everywhere you have a One Two Call signal (nearly everywhere in KPG) and you pay about 3.3 baht 1 hour (99 Baht for 30 hours to spend in one month).

[frankman]

I have signed up for the Internet service on my mobile phone, I sometimes use it as a modem for my computer as our DSL is extremely spotty.

Anyway, I live in Ban Kai and have gotten an EDGE signal here on my phone since I bought it in June. But, in Thong Sala, I got a GPRS signal (I checked, I was curious) and we were told that Koh Phangan did not have EDGE so I must have been getting my signal from the tower in Samui while at our house.

Well, at least as of today, I can receive an EDGE signal in Thong Sala. The difference is quite noticeable and its pretty fast. Not DSL fast, but still better than my dial up was.

And for those who want to know how I know, when the signal is EDGE, I get an E and when its GPRS, I get a G on my phone display.

And for those who don't know what EDGE is, google it

I have an EDGE wireless card for my USB an it works fine in Thongsala

[anthos]

I had no problems with edge/gprs all around the island, even managed to check my mail at bottle beach to the amazement of locals

cdma signal available everywhere except tong nai pan