Cdma By Cat - Internet Access - How Is It For You?

[croftrobin]

As CAT now offers a faster option with their network (EV-DO), what are people's experiences with it?

There have been lots of posts from Phukhet based members, but very little feedback from elsewhere in Thailand.

Is it just an unknown quantity or is everyone so happy that they are keeping quiet by not complaining!

I asked earlier this week in the Buriram CAT office, but was told that only if I was within 5km of the nearest mast would I expect the high speed access, so was advised to go for the older terminal - which only has a maximum speed of 153 kbps. - I declined

I am a bit sceptical about this answer I was given from the lady at reception.

[joka]

I have been using the CAT EV-DO for several months now, and am very happy with it. The service has been consistently good, it's inexpensive, and it's portable. The few cons are slow upload speed and you can't use the Hutch network. And no service in Bangkok.

CAT has available a few new modems, one of which will do 512 kbps down, and 248 kbps up. I don't know what the range of these modems are.

[HDRIDER]

HI

O am one of the guys from Phuket using CAT ev-do, its crap here where i live, right now 07.30

Speed Test #41459194 by dslreports.com

Run: 2007-12-08 19:44:58 EST

Download: 112 (Kbps)

Upload: 24 (Kbps)

[LivinLOS]

Jesus !!! Is that the CDMA 2000 faster version too ???

That used to clock in 400+

[joka]

Well, the service has been slow for me for the past few days also, ever since the long holiday weekend began.

[nikster]

I am using CAT CDMA in northern Thailand. It has been working well for me everywhere in Pai, and everywhere in Chiang Mai where I have tried. They've definitely got the coverage. It's also pretty stable - by stable I mean there are not many interruptions, I can use it for hours without the VPN going down.

I am using the CCU-650 USB modem. Speed is pretty good, but lag noticeably higher than DSL. Upload is of course crap but that's part of the EV-DO standard. The only problem is that it's using a lot of power - the worse the connection, the more power it's using.

I conclude this from a few facts:

- The modem gets hot

- The modem doesn't work when the connectivity is bad on my MacBook Pro. That's because the MBP has weak-ish USB ports that just fulfill the specs, whereas the Acer laptop seems to supply way more power via USB. When the connection is not good, the modem will suck more power than the MBP can provide. The Acer can power it just fine though, and it connects and works fine.

- It's using a lot of battery as battery life drops significantly while using the modem.

All in all, I must say I am amazed when I am sitting here in the midst of rice fields and watch farmers beat rice with sticks while I am surfing on 3G.

Speeds have been fine for me, but I am not using the connection full time - only when I am out of reach of a DSL connection or when the DSL goes down.

[HDRIDER]

HI

I am using CCU-650 USB modem, still crap, when i started using it it was good, but not now.

[croftrobin]

Thanks for the responses so far.

Can you confirm using the CCU-650 modem at a distance from the mast of greater than 5km's and getting the EV-DO speeds?

The (receptionist) lady at CAT Buriram stated a 5 km limit but I suspected that they have a load of old hardware to shift!

My experiences with GPRS EDGE Speed is that as long as you have a reasonable signal then you have no problems with speed, that's why I ask!

I am using CAT CDMA in northern Thailand. It has been working well for me everywhere in Pai, and everywhere in Chiang Mai where I have tried. They've definitely got the coverage. It's also pretty stable - by stable I mean there are not many interruptions, I can use it for hours without the VPN going down.

I am using the CCU-650 USB modem. Speed is pretty good, but lag noticeably higher than DSL. Upload is of course crap but that's part of the EV-DO standard. The only problem is that it's using a lot of power - the worse the connection, the more power it's using.

I conclude this from a few facts:

- The modem gets hot

- The modem doesn't work when the connectivity is bad on my MacBook Pro. That's because the MBP has weak-ish USB ports that just fulfill the specs, whereas the Acer laptop seems to supply way more power via USB. When the connection is not good, the modem will suck more power than the MBP can provide. The Acer can power it just fine though, and it connects and works fine.

- It's using a lot of battery as battery life drops significantly while using the modem.

All in all, I must say I am amazed when I am sitting here in the midst of rice fields and watch farmers beat rice with sticks while I am surfing on 3G.

Speeds have been fine for me, but I am not using the connection full time - only when I am out of reach of a DSL connection or when the DSL goes down.

[HDRIDER]

HI

I dont know how far i am from the mast, i have full strenght here, been told there is 60 users here where i am

[nikster]

5km is a lot - I am sure I am closer than that.

Used it in Mae Hong Son recently and got the full 600Kbps for downloads. My guess is that's because CAT CDMA is not advertised in northern Thailand, and hard to get. So no-one's using it yet. Speed will depend on how many other people use the same mast / cell. If you are out in the middle of nowhere, your chances for high speeds are pretty good.

[croftrobin]

What is the latency like?

eg a Ping test to pop3.demon.co.uk on Ipstar is typically around 1200 ms.