Buying A Used Phone For Use As Modem For Grps?

[uptou]

Hello,if i was looking for a used mobile for connecting to the internet with grps what brand,model would you recommend regarding cheap cheap,& reliable?Or are the used phones not too much different in price than new,like used pick up trucks over here?

I'm not to fussy about getting one with bluetooth,unless you convince me otherwise.

Once i get this is it just a case of plugging it in to the laptop with a dtac 300 baht card with 250 baht used for 100 hours?

[newtronbom]

Hello,if i was looking for a used mobile for connecting to the internet with grps what brand,model would you recommend regarding cheap cheap,& reliable?Or are the used phones not too much different in price than new,like used pick up trucks over here?

I'm not to fussy about getting one with bluetooth,unless you convince me otherwise.

Once i get this is it just a case of plugging it in to the laptop with a dtac 300 baht card with 250 baht used for 100 hours?

I used a Samsung "SGH E 250" for a few months. Sim from dtac, call their call center to set up(dial 1678 - they speak english) 256 baht = 7 days x 24 hrs - average 250 kbs download and average 21 kbs upload. Dead easy to set up. Can get a free copy of the phone PC suite from any Samsung phone outlet (or off the web) saved onto a flash drive. Brainless set up. That has the usb gprs modem driver you need on it. 2nd hand phone should only cost 1800 - 2000 now, as brand new it was only 4500 with 1 gb sd mem tossed in. The usb cable to PC cost 145 baht. The newer 600 or 900 models are faster i have heard, but have not seen myself. You are right to stay away from bluetooth. Way too slow! Good luck.

[Gary A]

Hello,if i was looking for a used mobile for connecting to the internet with grps what brand,model would you recommend regarding cheap cheap,& reliable?Or are the used phones not too much different in price than new,like used pick up trucks over here?

I'm not to fussy about getting one with bluetooth,unless you convince me otherwise.

Once i get this is it just a case of plugging it in to the laptop with a dtac 300 baht card with 250 baht used for 100 hours?

I would recommend a Nokia because of the Nokia Suite. Nokia Suite sets up everything for you and makes it simple to use. Data cables are easy to get and bluetooth also works fine.

The cheapest (new) Nokia bluetooth EDGE capable phone will cost you about 4,000 baht and will come with a data cable. Just make sure the phone is class 10 or higher EDGE capable.

That said, I use both AIS and Dtac EDGE. AIS has been REALLY bad lately and Dtac is normally pretty stable. My wife has an older Samsung SGH-E370. The audio on that phone is poor. Since I have been swapping the AIS and Dtac SIM cards back and forth, I bought a new cheap 1200 Nokia for a spare. The cheap Nokia has good audio and my wife has swapped her Samsung for my cheap Nokia. The Samsung has bluetooth and EDGE but no data cable. I use it with a bluetooth dongle on my desktop. Truthfully, I can see no difference in speed between the Samsung and my E51 Nokia even when the Nokia is on the data cable.

The software that came with the bluetooth dongle is quite good and it can detect and use the Samsung or the Nokia without any problem.

[ballbreaker]

I use a few different phones including Nokia 6233, Nokia N73 and Motorola K1 and had no problems using any except for trying to get USB connections working. I have found that bluetooth installs so much easier than USB that I would never buy new phone unless it has bluetooth.

[uptou]

Thanks for the help.With regards to "dtac edge",is this different to the standard dtac phonecards,or is it the same as a phone card,but you just get billed the EDGE rate if thats what you ask for,& is the dtac rate the same regardless whether you connect with GRPS or EDGE? I'm a bit behind the times on this.

I also read on another thread that EDGE is really only good in major cities/towns,or is it now better than GRPS,throughout thailand?

[monty]

That said, I use both AIS and Dtac EDGE. AIS has been REALLY bad lately and Dtac is normally pretty stable.

AIS has been extremely good lately for me (15 km outside of Pattaya).

Absolutely no international bandwidth issues either, both the Thailand (bkk) test and the USA test return exactly the same speeds, indicating I'm just hitting the Edge speed ceiling.

So it definitely has to do with location, one could assume that Pattaya and surroundings has a pretty high level of GPRS usage!

Thanks for the help.With regards to "dtac edge",is this different to the standard dtac phonecards,or is it the same as a phone card,but you just get billed the EDGE rate if thats what you ask for,& is the dtac rate the same regardless whether you connect with GRPS or EDGE? huh.gif I'm a bit behind the times on this.

Both GPRS and Edge require only a standard simcard. Both with AIS and Dtac. The system will automatically use Edge if available in your area. Normally indicated on the screen of your phone wither a "G" or an "E" (GPRS and Edge respectively). Billed exactly the same.

Both AIS and Dtac are GPRS/Edge enables straight out of the box, but you will get billed 1 Baht/minute.

Call their respective call centers (AIS=1175, Dtac=1678)to get you on a proper package suiting your usage pattern. Make sure you have enough credit on your card, they will just deduct the amount from your card to activate your chosen package.

average 250 kbs download and average 21 kbs upload

Thats a bit optimistic methinks, Edge tops out at 238 kbps download. Additionally your upload seems very slow.

Actually Edge can handle 460 kbps, but the local operators limit this to 238 out of a (realistic) fear of overloading their systems.

I indeed had once download speeds of over 300 kbps, but this didn't last long (few weeks). Probably some technicians entered a wrong setting somewhere

[monty]

I actually like how you can check how much GPRS minutes you still have remaining when using an AIS simcard with a GPRS package.

Dial *139#, and a dialog box will pop up showing you the remaining minutes.

Also works on a normal phone.

Not sure how to do this with a Dtac package...

The above is with an AIS one2call sim with 50 hours (3000 minutes) per month package for 214 Baht.

You can also see clearly in my aircard watcher I have Edge reception with full signal strength.

High signal strength is absolutely a requirement to get the fastest Edge speeds, loosing one bar on the strength indicator sees the speed drop quite dramatically!

[Gary A]

To get you Dtac balance;

*101*4*9#

This will get you a text message telling you the balance.

[uptou]

Both AIS and Dtac are GPRS/Edge enables straight out of the box, but you will get billed 1 Baht/minute.

OK i'll get on to dtac.I'm out of the way here,so to get things clear for a mobile phone/laptop connection to the internet with dtac or ais,its 250 baht for 100 hours,plus I'm paying for the regular phone rate at 1 baht per minute?

Cheers all.

Edited July 9, 2008 by uptou

[monty]

plus I'm paying for the regular phone rate at 1 baht per minute?

No, you will not get billed the 1 Baht/minute if you subscribe to any of the packages.

The 1 Baht/minute is only if you do not subscribe to any of the GPRS packages. Useful for people only using it once in a blue moon, don't have to to the hassle of taking a package...