Using Cellphone For Internet Connection

[garro]

I am sure that this has been discussed before but here goes. I am moving in a few weeks and will lose my current ipstar internet connection. The house I'm moving to has no phone line. Could I use a cell phone internet connection to my mac? Is this any good? Is it expensive? How would I go about organising it?

[dave_boo]

Sure can. Prepaid numbers can get you an unlimited connection on GPRS/EDGE for 1000 bhat/mo. I believe it's the same price for Hutch/CAT, however, there's been talk they're going to drop CDMA, which is a shame. Even at 1x speeds, it was almost as fast as EDGE, and everything I've read suggested it was more consistent. At full 3G speeds (EV-DO), it blew all others away.

Assuming your phone and Mac have bluetooth, that's usually the easiest way to set up your phone as a modem. Using a USB cable can be a dicey affair. Having said that, setting up my wife's N70 was much easier on Linux than on Windows. Nothing to install, just configure the dialer's GUI.

[Gary A]

I am sure that this has been discussed before but here goes. I am moving in a few weeks and will lose my current ipstar internet connection. The house I'm moving to has no phone line. Could I use a cell phone internet connection to my mac? Is this any good? Is it expensive? How would I go about organising it?

I don't know how good your Ipstar but mine was absolutely pathetic. I finally got disgusted enough to tell them to discontinue the service. I was quite enthused about CDMA EVDO but now understand that CAT plans to drop the service. That's the bad news. The good news is that since I must rely on AIS EDGE, I decided I needed the best phone for the service. Last week I bought a Nokia E51. I just hooked it up here in Loei just today because I was in Jomtien for a week. I was a little apprehensive while in Jomtien because the service was sometimes quite fast and other times pretty slow. I have come to the conclusion that the speed must depend on how many people are using the AIS towers. It appears to be quite fast and dependable up here, maybe because there are so few users. I was using my Nokia N80 before but the E51 at least seems better. I am quite impressed with the E51 so far.

While in Jomtien, I checked the WiFi services with the E51 and counted 7 live connections, all protected of course. One was totally new to me. It is called Mama. (seriously). It is some sort of a paid service so since I don't live in Jomtien, I didn't find out any details. That may be another option for the city boys. As for myself, I am really happy with EDGE, at least for the past couple of weeks. It meets my needs and is MUCH better than Crapstar when Crapstar was having a good day.

[BigSnake]

Best of luck a friend gave it a try didn't like it. He kept lose the signal every 5 or ten mintues.

[garro]

Will I pick up a phone with bluetooth for less than 10,000.

I am fed up wasting money on mobile phones.

I know this makes me sound like a skinflint

[misterman21]

You can pick up a bluetooth pnone for a few thousand baht and then buy a usb plug in for 400 baht.

I use DTac and get 100 hours for 370 baht and that does me for the month - the connection is perfect

[dave_boo]

Will I pick up a phone with bluetooth for less than 10,000.

I am fed up wasting money on mobile phones.

I know this makes me sound like a skinflint

That's not being a skinflint....that's being fiscally responsible!

But oh yeah, you'd be able to get one for less than 10K bhat. My wife's N70, which has EDGE built in (not that I can use it in the sticks) only cost ~8k. I even have an Aircard (you'd need to have a PCMCIA slot however), that I'd let go cheap. You said 'mac', and I was unsure as to wether that was a 'macbook' or an 'imac' or a 'mac pro'.

[garro]

<br />

Will I pick up a phone with bluetooth for less than 10,000.<br />I am fed up wasting money on mobile phones. <br />I know this makes me sound like a skinflint <img src="style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

<br /><br />That's not being a skinflint....that's being fiscally responsible!<br /><br />But oh yeah, you'd be able to get one for less than 10K bhat. My wife's N70, which has EDGE built in (not that I can use it in the sticks) only cost ~8k. I even have an Aircard (you'd need to have a PCMCIA slot however), that I'd let go cheap. You said 'mac', and I was unsure as to wether that was a 'macbook' or an 'imac' or a 'mac pro'.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I have a macbook with airport for wifi/bluetooth

[nidge]

garro, i have a mac book pro and i connect with my mobile all the time when i'm in the village. I'm busy now but i'll post later on what you need to do to set it up.

Nidge.

[Richard-BKK]

Buy a older Nokia 6210 (black and white) and buy a USB data cable with this combination I connect sometimes to the Internet and it does wonders. Total cost of it all including Nokia and data cable is about 1300 Baht.

Newer telephones with bluetooth and other (for this) useless options only drain the battery power and with datacable you will not have a problem.

[sjaak327]

I use my Nokia 6230 for internet connection, works fine on Leopard and any other OS I havfe tried, of course it's only gprs, so sloooow.

Of course having a USB cable doens't make any difference, as the bottleneck is not bluetooth or the USB connection, but the gprs connection.

[nidge]

Garro, are you using Tiger or Leopard? I think Tiger is a little different. With Leopard you need to open network preferences, select bluetooth from the list on the left and then click set up bluetooth device. follow the instructions.

When that has finished put this in the telephone number box *99#

No user name or password.

Then turn on bluetooth, (if it is not on already), scroll down the menu to find your phone and click "connect to network"

that should be all.

By the way, before you buy a phone make sure it can be used as a modem. I use the Nokia 5300, it's cheapish and has a good signal. I have also used a Motorola Razr and a Nokia N72.

Nidge.

[garro]

Garro, are you using Tiger or Leopard? I think Tiger is a little different. With Leopard you need to open network preferences, select bluetooth from the list on the left and then click set up bluetooth device. follow the instructions.

When that has finished put this in the telephone number box *99#

No user name or password.

Then turn on bluetooth, (if it is not on already), scroll down the menu to find your phone and click "connect to network"

that should be all.

By the way, before you buy a phone make sure it can be used as a modem. I use the Nokia 5300, it's cheapish and has a good signal. I have also used a Motorola Razr and a Nokia N72.

Nidge.

Hi Nidge, yes I'm using Tiger.

I will look out for a Nokia 5300.

What do I need to do to set up an EDGE/other connection?

Is it just the case of going to my local mobile phone shop and purchasing some internet hours or is there more to it than that?

[nidge]

sorry, i assumed you have a 12call sim card. Maybe the number does not work on different sims. When you dial the number the call gets charged to your phone, i think it's 1 baht per minute. I did a speed test when i had ipStar satellite internet connection installed and the mobile phone was faster than the 256k package.

I don't know if it is edge or gprs, it works and that's all i need to know. (keep it simple!)

[garro]

sorry, i assumed you have a 12call sim card. Maybe the number does not work on different sims. When you dial the number the call gets charged to your phone, i think it's 1 baht per minute. I did a speed test when i had ipStar satellite internet connection installed and the mobile phone was faster than the 256k package.

I don't know if it is edge or gprs, it works and that's all i need to know. (keep it simple!)

Hi nidge, yes I do have a one to call sim card.

What number do I call?

Sorry for being a pest.

[dave_boo]

sorry, i assumed you have a 12call sim card. Maybe the number does not work on different sims. When you dial the number the call gets charged to your phone, i think it's 1 baht per minute. I did a speed test when i had ipStar satellite internet connection installed and the mobile phone was faster than the 256k package.

I don't know if it is edge or gprs, it works and that's all i need to know. (keep it simple!)

Hi nidge, yes I do have a one to call sim card.

What number do I call?

Sorry for being a pest.

If you have a Nokia phone, dial *99# from OSX. Otherwise, we'd have to know what type of model you're using.

[monty]

sorry, i assumed you have a 12call sim card. Maybe the number does not work on different sims. When you dial the number the call gets charged to your phone, i think it's 1 baht per minute. I did a speed test when i had ipStar satellite internet connection installed and the mobile phone was faster than the 256k package.

I don't know if it is edge or gprs, it works and that's all i need to know. (keep it simple!)

Hi nidge, yes I do have a one to call sim card.

What number do I call?

Sorry for being a pest.

If you have a Nokia phone, dial *99# from OSX. Otherwise, we'd have to know what type of model you're using.

The number you have to dial is independent from what phone you use!

It's either *99# or *99***1# used by pretty much all gsm operators the world over!

Username is empty or ais

password leave empty or use ais.

[garro]

Ok guys, well I ordered a Motorola Razr v3i from our local shop. I had a look at the Nokia 5300 but the shopkeeper talked me out of it. So so I just sync it with the Mac tomorrow via isync and its ready to go? I tried to search the internet for answers but I'm more confused than ever.

[Gary A]

Ok guys, well I ordered a Motorola Razr v3i from our local shop. I had a look at the Nokia 5300 but the shopkeeper talked me out of it. So so I just sync it with the Mac tomorrow via isync and its ready to go? I tried to search the internet for answers but I'm more confused than ever.

You will want to set up an account or it will cost you per minute phone call rates. Dial *138 and that will give you a list of what is available. It has an English option and works quite well. I have a plan that costs me 500 baht per month for 250 hours. I use Windows XP and a Nokia so I can't help you with that. My phone came with Nokia Suite software and after I installed the software, I plugged in the phone with the USB data cable and I was off and running. Anything you don't understand about AIS, just dial 1175. They are quite helpful and will explain in English.

[Veazer]

Ok guys, well I ordered a Motorola Razr v3i from our local shop. I had a look at the Nokia 5300 but the shopkeeper talked me out of it. So so I just sync it with the Mac tomorrow via isync and its ready to go? I tried to search the internet for answers but I'm more confused than ever.

Why did he talk you out of it? I've been looking at possibly getting a 5300.

[garro]

Ok guys, well I ordered a Motorola Razr v3i from our local shop. I had a look at the Nokia 5300 but the shopkeeper talked me out of it. So so I just sync it with the Mac tomorrow via isync and its ready to go? I tried to search the internet for answers but I'm more confused than ever.

Why did he talk you out of it? I've been looking at possibly getting a 5300.

He didn't think it was too good with a mac.

[GlutinousMaximus]

Ok guys, well I ordered a Motorola Razr v3i from our local shop. I had a look at the Nokia 5300 but the shopkeeper talked me out of it. So so I just sync it with the Mac tomorrow via isync and its ready to go? I tried to search the internet for answers but I'm more confused than ever.

Hi garro:

Does the Motorola Razr V3i you've ordered have EDGE data capability?

[garro]

Ok guys, well I ordered a Motorola Razr v3i from our local shop. I had a look at the Nokia 5300 but the shopkeeper talked me out of it. So so I just sync it with the Mac tomorrow via isync and its ready to go? I tried to search the internet for answers but I'm more confused than ever.

Hi garro:

Does the Motorola Razr V3i you've ordered have EDGE data capability?

No, I don't think that it has.

[GlutinousMaximus]

Well, if it doesn't have EDGE, the surfing speeds may be a bit slow. It's probably OK for checking emails and so on but not that much faster than a dial-up connection - maybe that's OK for you.

Personally, I'm in the market for a phone with data capability but torn between going for a reasonable EDGE-enabled phone for now like the Nokia 3110 Classic (at 4,400 Baht) or waiting a bit, saving up my satang and getting a bit more of a future-proof model with both EDGE and 3G capability like the Nokia E51 at 12,000 Baht or so. There are rumours that Thailand will be getting HSDPA 3G at some stage and one would hope that a phone like the Nokia E51 will be able to connect to it when it's available.

Then I can use it for the next 6-8 years like my trusty old Sony Ericsson T68i

I also like the idea of getting a phone that can connect to a wireless ADSL router (which I have at home) because then you can install software on it (like Fring) that allows you to make VOIP calls for free and/or you can also connect your VOIP call over public wi-fi points when you're out and about.

[Gary A]

Unfortunately I agree that the money was wasted. A phone without EDGE capability is the same as MANY older much cheaper phones. That dealer certainly did no favor selling an already obsolete phone. The even cheaper Nokia 3110 Classic would have been a much better choice.

[garro]

I will need to check again. Some websites claim that it doesn't have EDGE while others claim that it does.

[monty]

Sorry, the v3i definitely does not have Edge capability.

With regular gprs speeds limited at 48kbps, as opposed to the 238 kbps of Edge, you'll clearly see it's not much use for anything but retrieving e-mails!

Today's websites will take ages to load...

[garro]

Sorry, the v3i definitely does not have Edge capability.

With regular gprs speeds limited at 48kbps, as opposed to the 238 kbps of Edge, you'll clearly see it's not much use for anything but retrieving e-mails!

Today's websites will take ages to load...

dam_n!

[GlutinousMaximus]

Sorry, the v3i definitely does not have Edge capability.

With regular gprs speeds limited at 48kbps, as opposed to the 238 kbps of Edge, you'll clearly see it's not much use for anything but retrieving e-mails!

Today's websites will take ages to load...

dam_n!

Sounds like you might be having a bit of a Homer Simpson "Doh" type moment garo - commiserations are in order as I for one have had quite a few of those! It's not helped by the fact there are so many mobile phone models on the market at any one time and so much jargon that goes with them.

Here are my suggestions:

• If you've already paid for it (and can't get a return or a refund), you might be able to trade it in for another model or sell it privately. They're still popular phones after all and there's lots of used mobiles for sale at Thai shops - yours will be a prime example as it'll be boxed and as-new. You'll probably lose 1000-2000 Baht on the deal but just put it down to experience. In fact, the dealer you bought it from might be prepared to do this as they can just turn it around and sell it on as new (that's if you're still talking).
  
• Keep it and use it for your actual mobile calls and get another Edge-enabled phone with a different SIM with a private number which you use for data comms - you don't want people calling you up when you're on the computer anyway as it can cause the data connection to drop in some cases
  
• Earn some serious brownie points with your loved one by letting them know you've just bought them a "wonderful gift"
  
• Turn it into a handy little car-decoration type thingie by hanging it from your rear-view mirror
  

[PMK]

Personally, I'm in the market for a phone with data capability but torn between going for a reasonable EDGE-enabled phone for now like the Nokia 3110 Classic (at 4,400 Baht) or waiting a bit, saving up my satang and getting a bit more of a future-proof model with both EDGE and 3G capability like the Nokia E51 at 12,000 Baht or so. There are rumours that Thailand will be getting HSDPA 3G at some stage and one would hope that a phone like the Nokia E51 will be able to connect to it when it's available.

Then I can use it for the next 6-8 years like my trusty old Sony Ericsson T68i

I also like the idea of getting a phone that can connect to a wireless ADSL router (which I have at home) because then you can install software on it (like Fring) that allows you to make VOIP calls for free and/or you can also connect your VOIP call over public wi-fi points when you're out and about.

I have a 3110 and use EDGE, and it is terrible. That may well be due to my location in the Sattahip hills - I wish I knew for sure, but it really sucks. Not so much download speeds but the constant start and stop of downloads whether it be web pages or files. It reminds me very much of a landline dialup connection 15 years ago.

Peter