Internet Access By Gprs

[simon43]

I know there have been previous threads on this subject, but the cost of GPRS seems to change all the time.

The younger sister (17 years old) of my GF lives in Isaan, and the village has no fixed line telephone. I have an old (but decent) computer which I've brought from the UK and which I will give to her to help her learn about computers and improve her English etc. (Suitable software installed).

But it would also be nice if she were able to access the internet from her village. Methinks the only solution will be via GPRS. Although mobile network signals are weak at her location, I do have a high gain Yagi GSM antenna which I've used in the UK in areas of weak reception. This hugely improves reception, so I'm confident that the GSM signal will be very adequate and with GPRS functionality.

But is there a decent (ie cheap), GPRS package/offer from the mobile networks that will enable her to access the internet and not worry about the cost? If the cost is reasonable then I will pay this cost for her, but I don't want to be lumbered with enormous monthly bills

Any suggestions much appreciated!

PS - Although the electricity supply in the village is generally OK, I do have a UPS/transient filter unit which will help to keep this PC happy...

[jayrockwell]

Simon,

I've got DTAC GPRS, 1200 baht a month unlimited time/downloads (drops to 500mb included after 6 months), been happy with it, it's a little slow but fine for light graphics, email and text (such as tv).

No calls included in that package.

J

[valentinoxxx]

http://www.gsmadvance.com/e/shop/promotion..._isim_pack.aspx

or

http://www.ucall.co.th/promotion.htm

or

http://www.ucall.co.th/promotion_dtac.htm

Note that AIS have both usage and/or time charging.

[Crushdepth]

AIS has introduced cheap GPRS data plans, just phone the call centre. You can subscribe for anywhere between 2 hours and 400 hours a month, I think the cost ranges from 30 baht / month to 900 baht - I posted an article on it Crushdepth.

I use it to connect my PC as my landline keeps crapping out. Only problem is its not very reliable - AIS seem to have an ongoing bandwidth problem. The network often drops out or is unavailable (I also had a whynge about the problem here). A bunch of other people in this forum have also had problems.

Overall its usable, just a bit frustrating at times.

[Sunny Valentine]

What is the average speed (up / down) you get with DTAC or AIS? (Once it works, of course!)

Do you have an official IP Adress or a private Network one?

Sometime ago I saw a Web Page offering a Hutchinson Aircard with Contract. This site is offline since quite some time, anyone know if this offer still exists?

Sunny

[Crushdepth]

Its a bit slower than a dial up modem - supposedly about 40KB but people here have reported slower speeds.

You can still buy aircards but they are pretty expensive - about 17,000 baht last time I looked. There are also a range of GPRS modems available now, which are also pretty expensive - about 7-9,000 baht.

I don't recommend any of these. Check out your mobile phone, odds are its already GPRS capable. If it is, and if you can buy a data cable for it, then you've *already got* a GPRS modem, and you don't need to buy another thing.

I don't know about the IP. I think AIS dynamically assigns one when you connect to the network, but I've never checked it out.

[Sunny Valentine]

Thanks for the Info!

Sunny

[stumonster]

GPRS Class Type

The class of the device determines the speed at which GPRS can be used.

For example, the majority of GPRS terminals will be able to download data at speeds of up to 24Kbps (kilobytes per second). At the higher end, speeds are theoretically possible up to 171.2 kbit/sec when 8 slots are assigned at the same time to a single user. In reality 40-50Kbps.

PC cards capable of GPRS will send data up to speeds of 48Kbps.

GPRS class explanation