Internet On The Move

[falangman78]

Hi,

I have been looking at some of the other posts about conecting to the Internet with a laptop on the move but they dont answer my problem.

I have a laptop but it is not bluetooth compatible so I will buy a bluetooth dongle (25 meter) which is about 1200 baht. I was also looking at a Sony Ericcson phone for about 8000 baht which is bluetooth compatible.

The guy in the shop didnt seem very bright but told me that i can connect to the internet with the dongle, the phone and a 300 baht pay as you go Orange sim card and a KSC internet card.Is this correct?

Asked some more detailed questions and I just get the "look at the stupid falang smile.

Also what the ###### is GPRS about? Would this phone support that? If it doesnt can i still call just using the bluetooth dongle, laptop using the phone as a modem (I suppose) and connecting to KSC via pay as you go Orange?

Perhaps i should sign up for DTAC contact 1200 baht a month but "can call 2000 baht".

It seems the cell phone industry suffers from the same problem as in the UK, full of buzzwords like 3G bluetooth, gprs. Nobody seems to know what the ###### they mean - also made overly complicated by many different tarrifs, free minutes etc etc. I have been put off by mobile Internet when i bought a phone in the UK they said could surf the net but I never managed to actually get into my hotmail with it.

There dont seem to be any shops where you can take your laptop and have them set it up for use on wireless Internet.

I just want an easy way to get my Laptop on the internet with good coverage (ok i know Orange not too good). Could someone tell me how I can do this (not interested in spending $$$ on phones with cameras and other crap)

Thanks

[email protected]

[Pieman]

Also what the ###### is GPRS about? Would this phone support that? If it doesnt can i still call just using the bluetooth dongle, laptop using the phone as a modem (I suppose) and connecting to KSC via pay as you go Orange?

GPRS works with a GPRS modem (USB) which costs about 10,000 baht. You then get a sim card which will work with the modem for about 1,000 baht per month. This is for unlimited connect time and unlimited down/uploads. I've got a friend who has one and he's impressed witht the portability. He travels alot and is able to remain connected all day, even when in his car. Speeds compare to a a reasonably good landline with a 56K modem.

[stumonster]

for when I travel and wish to use the internet in far flung reaches of thailand I have my laptop a usb bluetooth dongle and a GPRS enabled phone ( nokia n-gage). I get charged about 1 baht per minute on my pre-paid AIS sim card.

you can also buy a pc card for your laptop which you can use to access GPRS, though I amm not sure of the cost.

the dongle you really only need a 700baht 10 metre one because your phone will not work past 10 metres on bluetooth anyway. a dongle using widcomm chipset seems to be the best kind( there is only 2 types I know of ). my dongle is a billiton brand.

the nokia n-gage can be purchased for about 6200 baht though I would recommend buying a MMC card ( flash memory ) for the ability to utilise your phone with a variety of other things, not least as an mp3 player. I purchased a 256 meg apacer MMC card from panthip 2 weeks ago for 1300 baht.

you can buy a prepaid sim for about 350 baht with 50 baht credit included.

you do not need a seperate KSC isp card, as AIS(or DTAC or ORANGE) is your ISP.

the nokia n-gage runs symbian OS which allows you to run many good programs on your phone, for example I have the opera mini-browser on my phone and can connect to the internet and check my email via the web quickly using GPRS without having to set up my laptop...I have even posted to thai visa this way. If you decide on an n-gage as the phone , get the original not the new QD as it s inbuilt mp3 player is full stereo and also has a hardware FM radio. If you are worried about sidetalking into the n-gage it comes with a headset microphone combination. I also use my phone as a remote control for winamp on my computer. If you buy an n-gage PM me and I can give you some tips.

buy your phone from MBK and your dongle and MMC from pantip.

[Sunny Valentine]

Here's an abstract:

Buy a Phone with Bluetooth and GPRS functionality. Ask the seller, or check with model number at the manufacturer's Webpage. THE PHONE MUST HAVE BLUETOOTH AS WELL AS GPRS FUNCTIONALITY!

Buy a Bluetooth Dongle and install the drivers.

Now, depending on where and for how long a month you want to use it to access to the internet, get the right service provider, plan and card.

For users who just want to connect a few times for not too long, IMHO the best deal is a simple AIS One2Call Card. Costs somewhere around 200 or 300 Bt, and can be topped up with 300, 500 and 800 Bt refills.

The Tariff for GPRS Data Calls is one Baht per Minute Connected.

I don't know much about other tariffs, but when you think you will need more than 15 or 20 hours Connection a month a post-paid plan might be cheaper.

Next step is, activate the card (phone shop will tell you how),

install a new dial up connection on your computer with the Bluetooth Modem as the Modem (you will see this Modem listed once you installed the drivers of the Bluetooth dongle).

You need to connect the phone and the Laptop once, check out the manual that comes with your Dongle.

For One2Call: Use *99***1' as the number to dial, and leave Username and Password empty!

In the Modem properties for your Bluetooth Modem you have to add the following string at extended Option:

+CGDCONT=1,"IP","Internet"

Hope it helps!

Sunny

[chanchao]

Let's see if I can further confuse things...

* No KSC or other internet subscription needed. Your phone provider (i.e. AIS, DTAC) is also your ISP. As far as I know, Orange does NOT offer GPRS yet so Orange is OUT.

* Borth AIS as well as DTAC have special add-on plans for people who use a lot of GPRS data, and when you connect one to your laptop then you WILL use a lot. I personally think charging by the minute is somewhere in between 'silly' and 'raping the GPRS concept'. I think GPRS should be charged by the kilobyte, and AIS used to do that but not anymore, but DTAC still does. So go chat with DTAC about what they offer. Then again, if AIS offers something that's unlimited then that may be worty of consideration too.

* Phone: Yes it needs bluetooth and gprs. While I like Nokia Symbian phones better as (smart)phones (i.e the Engage, 6600, the-one-after-6600), I also recognize that Sony Ericssons bluetooth seems to work a bit smoother. If that 8000 baht Sony Ericsson is a T610 though then keep in mind that screen clarity on the phone sucks mud. T630 is already a lot better. And T630 is smaller than Nokia's offerings. It's also a lot slower, and less flexible for a smartphone, but then again, if you're going to connect through bluetooth anyway then you basically don't care about any stuff you could run on the phone itself.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[chanchao]

> Asked some more detailed questions and I just get the

> "look at the stupid falang smile.

No, that would be the "I haven't got a clue, please go away or switch to talking about football or food or something" smile.

[Erin]

If it's really so important for you to use the internet all the time....buy and Pocket PC like O2 from Xda or HP Pocket PC....my husband uses O2 and it's got blue tooth and GPRS..the new model from HP has WiFi built in..so with many WiFi hot spot opening up in thailand it's really convenient to go online without carrying your laptop and worrying about the connection...if you live in BKK i know in Siam discover center and most of the starbucks has free WiFi...just simply turn on your computer(with WiFi enable of course) or your PocketPC, surf as you want!

[aaaaaa]

any info on wireless internet for desctop PCs in Bkk ?

[Crushdepth]

There dont seem to be any shops where you can take your laptop and have them set it up for use on wireless Internet.

* Step-by-step guide to setting up your phone/laptop/pda for mobile internet access with DTAC's GPRS/EDGE network (among other things). If you go with another carrier things will be a little different, but you should be able to get most of the same info from their call centre - process is the same, just a few access point names etc will be different.

* A bit of info on AIS's GPRS data plans (note that the unlimited data transfer was for the first six months, it might be about to expire. However, DTAC have a 999 baht all-you-can-eat GPRS/EDGE data plan now, see first link). Also, my enthusiasm has been somewhat curbed since this post, so take it with a grain of salt !

It seems the cell phone industry suffers from the same problem as in the UK, full of buzzwords like 3G bluetooth, gprs. Nobody seems to know what the ###### they mean - also made overly complicated by many different tarrifs, free minutes etc etc.

Too true. One of the biggest barriers to uptake of GPRS is simply the fact that it doesn't come ready-to-go with your sim. About half the people I work with know that they have a GPRS-capable phone, but *none* of them have ever used it because they *don't know* that they need to call the phone company and ask them to activate the service on their mobile. Perhaps this is indicated in the Thai documentation, but I doubt it...

Edited December 25, 2004 by Crushdepth

[udon]

Great thread........ and understandable responses, I'm in the same boat as the OP except I will stick to Dprompt. Orange !!!!!!!

I'll save this thread for future ref.

Thanks guys.

[grrr]

Just my $0.02 on this...but I have had good results all over Thailand using a Sony Ericsson T68i (which are CHEAP now, GPRS capable, and bluetooth enabled) with AIS GPRS with both a WinXP laptop (w/bluetooth dongle), and more recently a Mac Powerbook. Getting an older phone gives you the advantage of finding lots of detailed setup info online.

As for using a PDA as a replacement for a laptop, I tried with a Palm Tungsten T3. Even with a keyboard, it was frustrating and soon got replaced with a real computer.

Edited December 25, 2004 by grrr

[Dah fahrang]

As I live in one of the many areas where ToT simply don't want to install landlines, and so unable to use any other form of ISP (except for IPStar at 3000 baht per month)...

I took my already purchased Sony Ericsson T68i and my Bluetooth enabled laptop into the DTAC shop in Central Plaza, Pinklao. I asked about GPRS internet, and was told of the 999 baht pos-paid unlimited usage tariff - which I signed up for on the spot!

They have a resident technician who took two minutes to configure my laptop to DTAC GPRS internet.

My Bluetooth device is TDK PC Card - bought in the UK for thirty quid. It fits neatly into the PC slot at the side of my laptop. It works just fine.

I have used this service exclusively for three months now, and am nothing short of delighted with it. Sped varies acccording to time of day, but I am getting good speed most of the time - certainly good enough for me. Downloads, too, don't take forever.

I also pay DTAC bill online - Visa card on their web site. Very handy!

Seasons Greetings to all!

[Ugots2Believe]

I brought a Sony Ericsson GC83 GPRS/Edge "Air Card" to Bangkok from the U.S. hoping to use it after registering with DTAC Network. Unfortunately it seems that AT&T (the system operator in the states) locks the device from functioning with SIMS other than their own. I wonder if anyone knows if "unlocking" is possible (some shop in MBK, maybe?)

Edited December 31, 2004 by Ugots2Believe

[terdsak_12]

I use a Palm Treo 600 with GPRS, and get 60 hours a month from AIS for 200 Baht, not a bad deal, and a handy gadget for surfing the web a bit, and doing your emailing etc.

[udon]

I brought a Sony Ericsson GC83 GPRS/Edge "Air Card" to Bangkok from the U.S. hoping to use it after registering with DTAC Network. Unfortunately it seems that AT&T (the system operator in the states) locks the device from functioning with SIMS other than their own. I wonder if anyone knows if "unlocking" is possible (some shop in MBK, maybe?)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, MBK or you might try the DTAC main office in the WTCenter, 5th floor?

Let's know how you get on pls.

[Ugots2Believe]

The DTAC main office in the WTCenter is where the problem was identified; (that my device is locked) the nice tech there even called the local Sony Ericsson office for me. Sony Ericsson would not be bothered because their guarentee isn't international and only applies to products sold here in Thailand.

I guess I'll canvas the halls @ MBK next week to see if anyone there may be able to help.