Internet Advice Please For Data Card Purchase

[makavelithedon]

Hi all,

I am going to continue educational study soon via online learning through my laptop from Thailand, and hope someone can give me advice on the CAT data card. I have not been in to look at what's on offer and can't find it on there website so would appreciate if you could tell me a little about it.

How much is the service (monthly) and what brand and model of card is it they sell? I used to use a slower service but the new CMDA and HSPDA cards I haven't kept up with so haven't a clue what they are, mean and/or what I will need. Is their service the same as a normal European 3g or different? And what type of card is required as I would prefer to get one sent me at about 30% of the cost they'll want in CAT if past experiences continue.

Any comments that will get me up to date will be appreciated!!!!

Mak

Edited May 15, 2008 by makavelithedon

[monty]

Hi Mak,

The situation at the moment is very much in transition.

CAT currently uses CDMA EV-DO (maximum 2.4 mbps), for which they sell two different modems, one a USB version, the other a PCMCIA Sierra Wireless aircard.

I have not heard of reports from people successfully using imported EV-DO cards.

Additionally it is a bit of a confusing standard, with some operators using sim cards, while other use aircards with the user info hard coded onto it.

Maybe users of CAT can post if it is the Simcard version or the hard coded one CAT uses.

AIS has just started rolling out HSDPA, which is used in many places all over the world, but AIS uses the 900 Mhz band, which very little devices support!

Chiang Mai is operational, with supposedly Bangkok, Chonburi and Phuket coming soon.

Dtac will also roll out HSDPA soon, starting in Chonburi and Phuket, on the 850 Mhz band, which is more widely supported then the 900 Mhz band. Quite a few devices (phones, pda's data cards,...) support both the widely used 2100 Mhz and the 850 Mhz bands...

The two latter systems have the potential of being much faster, with a theoretical top speed of 7.2 Mbps.

Do note those speeds are never achieved in real life, but since CAT's EV-DO averages between 400 and 800 kbps practically, there's a good chance the HSDPA systems can double that, which would be pretty good for mobile internet.

In short, be patient and keep an eye on how the mobile broadband systems get on over here. The next 6 or so months will be quite interesting!

[makavelithedon]

Many thanks for the reply. I'll hang on, I prefer the sound of the HSDPA system although even something wireless at 500k would do me (it's more the reliability of connection I want) for studying.

Mak

Edited May 15, 2008 by makavelithedon

[monty]

Many thanks for the reply. I'll hang on, I prefer the sound of the HSDPA system although even something wireless at 500k would do me (it's more the reliability of connection I want) for studying.

Mak

Supposedly latency and upload are also much better on HSDPA then on EV-DO.

EV-DO's upload is seldom over 60 kbps, with latencies of 600-1000 msec...