Which Mobile Phone

[pokerkid]

I want to buy a cheap 3g mobile phone to be able to get an internet connection on my laptop.

does anybody know which phone would be a good choice.

[monty]

There's no 3G internet yet in Thailand, apart from very limited HSDPA access in Chiang Mai by AIS, and of course CAT's EV-DO.

AIS's HSDPA runs on 900 Mhz for which hardly any phones exist, and for CAT's EV-DO you need a dedicated aircard or USB modem.

GPRS/Edge is available almost nationwide now, the best value Edge capable phone I think would be the Nokia 3110 Classic.

Does class 10 Edge and quite a bit of other stuff, can connect through bluetooth or data cable.

Priced I think at around 3500 Baht.

Expect speeds of between 100 and 220 kbps download and between 30 and 90 kbps upload. Try both AIS and Dtac, depending on location one can be much better then the other, while somewhere else it'll be he other way around.

[pokerkid]

thank you for the info. i currently have the choice of buying a telephone to get an internet connection or the usb connect 881. In my area they both seem to work best with dtac.

the usb connect device would cost me in the region of 11000 baht . that's why i am thinking of buying a telephone which could also do the job at maybe the same speeds.

[Gary A]

The EDGE capable Solomon modem is popular here in Thailand. I think they cost about 6,500 baht. I used a Solomon modem for a while but it was NOT EDGE capable. Rather than spend the money for just the new modem, I decided that a decent EDGE capable phone was a better option. I use Nokia E51 and am quite happy with it. If I get a call while connected to the Internet, it stops the Internet connection while I answer and re-connects automatically after the call is finished.

I quit using AIS and now use only Dtac. Dtac is MUCH more consistent and another plus is that you don't lose your hours at the end of the 30 days. 350 baht plus VAT for 100 hours.

The AIS SIM card is my regular number so I bought a cheap new Nokia 1200 to use for voice calls and only use the E51 with the Dtac card for the Internet.

[monty]

The USB 881 is currently overkill as it is a 7.2 mbps hsdpa capable card.

It does 850 Mhz hsdpa, so when Dtac deploys it'll work.

It won't work for AIS HSDPA (900 Mhz), untill the government approves the 2100 Mhz spectrum which is not expected anytime soon.

The modem will however do Edge on both AIS and Dtac.

[pokerkid]

Thanks for the replies guys.

in my case where i want to use d-tac i understand that i can use any tri band,edge capable mobile phone. is this correct or are there specific models which perform better?

I am also looking for a mp3 player so maybe i can buy the nokia 5300 express music

[rroland]

Thanks for the replies guys.

in my case where i want to use d-tac i understand that i can use any tri band,edge capable mobile phone. is this correct or are there specific models which perform better?

I am also looking for a mp3 player so maybe i can buy the nokia 5300 express music

pokerkid

I am with monty here.

After an exhausted check out of the best mobile phones or air cards to use for internet connection my conclusion is the nokia 3110 classic.

In spite of using before the nokia 5310 express music for an internet connection in my PC (or laptop) I found the 3110 a little bit faster, even the price (about 3.500 baht) is quite affordable.

Cheers,

Roland

PS – BTW, the AirCard Sierra 881U that you said coasts 11k can be bought at aircardshop (www.aircardshop.com) for 7k

[lomatopo]

Thanks for the replies guys.

in my case where i want to use d-tac i understand that i can use any tri band,edge capable mobile phone. is this correct or are there specific models which perform better?

I am also looking for a mp3 player so maybe i can buy the nokia 5300 express music

You don't necessarily need a tri-band phone (GSM900/1800/1900) unless you plan to use pre-paid services in the U.S.A. (T-Mobile/AT&T). GSM900/1800 will suffice. Having said that most decent EDGE-capable phones have tri-band radios, probably as a result of integration.

The 3110C does have a good music player, I find it to be better than my iPod. It has what I consider to be a nonstandard headphone jack, 2.5 mm, so I use an adapter for my preferred headphones (min-RCA/3.5 mm). I use a 1 GB microSD memory card, with 2 GB max. It has a mini-UB connector so I normally use that for PC connectivity and E/GPRS use, although you can use Bluetooth. It has a Class 10 modem so a max. speed of 236.8 kbps.

The 5310 XpressMusic has a Class 32 modem so a max. speed of 177.6 kbps, and a micro USB connector. I love the form factor/size on this model. I priced the 5310 XM this week at 6,670 THB while the 3110C is probably closer to 3,250. The 5300 XpressMusic has a Class 10 modem.

I don't think the theortetical maximum modem speeds, will be a factor in day-to-day use.

[mgjackson69]

If I was looking for a new phone right now, I would certainly not even consider dual-band...tri-band at least, quad-band is preferable.

Granted, I do a lot of traveling internationally, including occasional trips back to USA.

I see no reason to buy "old" technology to save a few baht.

[pokerkid]

Thanks for the replies guys.

in my case where i want to use d-tac i understand that i can use any tri band,edge capable mobile phone. is this correct or are there specific models which perform better?

I am also looking for a mp3 player so maybe i can buy the nokia 5300 express music

You don't necessarily need a tri-band phone (GSM900/1800/1900) unless you plan to use pre-paid services in the U.S.A. (T-Mobile/AT&T). GSM900/1800 will suffice. Having said that most decent EDGE-capable phones have tri-band radios, probably as a result of integration.

The 3110C does have a good music player, I find it to be better than my iPod. It has what I consider to be a nonstandard headphone jack, 2.5 mm, so I use an adapter for my preferred headphones (min-RCA/3.5 mm). I use a 1 GB microSD memory card, with 2 GB max. It has a mini-UB connector so I normally use that for PC connectivity and E/GPRS use, although you can use Bluetooth. It has a Class 10 modem so a max. speed of 236.8 kbps.

The 5310 XpressMusic has a Class 32 modem so a max. speed of 177.6 kbps, and a micro USB connector. I love the form factor/size on this model. I priced the 5310 XM this week at 6,670 THB while the 3110C is probably closer to 3,250. The 5300 XpressMusic has a Class 10 modem.

I don't think the theortetical maximum modem speeds, will be a factor in day-to-day use.

It is good to hear that the 3110 has a good mp3 player. but is it limited to 2 gb memory card only?

that's not realy enough for me . was thinking more like 4gb

[TopDogger]

this has been asked before, just get one of those Solomon EDGE modems. Designed/Built specificly for this job.

[kenk3z]

The Nokia 3110 Classic looks like a great choice for Thailand.

As a tri-band phone, it can also be used on T-Mobile in the USA. But not AT&T because there is no 850 Mhz band (i.e. quad band).

The Nokia E51 mentioned above looks very good for quad band capability, but is a little higher in price than the 3110 (as it should be).

Can anyone suggest an economical phone similar to the Nokia 3110 Classic that includes quad band capability?

kenk3z

Edited August 3, 2008 by kenk3z

[lomatopo]

The Nokia 3110 Classic looks like a great choice for Thailand.

As a tri-band phone, it can also be used on T-Mobile in the USA. But not AT&T because there is no 850 Mhz band (i.e. quad band).

The Nokia E51 mentioned above looks very good for quad band capability, but is a little higher in price than the 3110 (as it should be).

Can anyone suggest an economical phone similar to the Nokia 3110 Classic that includes quad band capability?

kenk3z

AT&T now operates Cingular's GSM1900 network in the U.S.A. I use a Nokia 3110C in many locations in the U.S.A. and get signal from both T-Mo and AT&T, on a pre-paid T-Mo SIM.

Which four bands do you want/need?

[mgjackson69]

The Nokia 3110 Classic looks like a great choice for Thailand.

As a tri-band phone, it can also be used on T-Mobile in the USA. But not AT&T because there is no 850 Mhz band (i.e. quad band).

The Nokia E51 mentioned above looks very good for quad band capability, but is a little higher in price than the 3110 (as it should be).

Can anyone suggest an economical phone similar to the Nokia 3110 Classic that includes quad band capability?

kenk3z

AT&T now operates Cingular's GSM1900 network in the U.S.A. I use a Nokia 3110C in many locations in the U.S.A. and get signal from both T-Mo and AT&T, on a pre-paid T-Mo SIM.

Which four bands do you want/need?

Correct...a tri/band phone works just fine with AT&T in USA. I have been an AT&T customer (and vendor to their wireless side) for years. I use the Nokia 6820 (tri-band) in USA.

[kenk3z]

I believe the quad-band phones are mostly to include full coverage for the USA GSM market. The bands are 850/900/1800/1900.

Cingular, before the merger with AT&T, operated on the 850-Mhz GSM band.

AT&T for their GSM service historically was on the 1900-Mhz band along with T-Mobile.

When Cingular and AT&T merged operations into the "bigger" AT&T, they continued service on both the 850 and 1900 bands, often operating the two bands in the same area. But sometimes it will be exclusively one or the other in a particular area.

The propaganda put out by "bigger" AT&T is that they reserve the right to prevent you from accessing their mobile network if you have an exclusively 1900-Mhz phone (in USA market terms, even though it might also cover 900/1800 as a tri-band phone). I don't know exactly why they do this, but all the phones they sell currently are at least going to cover 850 and 1900 bands.

So, the benefit of the quad-band phone, in the USA, is wide coverage on two bands as supposedly required by the AT&T network. On T-Mobile, a tri-band phone is sufficient.

At my home, I only have AT&T coverage. If ever there is T-Mobile coverage I'll switch instantly due to their better rates for prepaid service.

It looks like the Nokia 6085 is a good candidate for a data capable quad-band phone. It has Bluetooth and EDGE, but not the extras that increase the price to the Nokia E51 level.

kenk3z

[kenk3z]

I was typing from memory and got the quad bands wrong.

The quad-band phones access 800/850/1800/1900. I went with the Nokia 6085, new (locked to AT&T) for $70 on EBay. I've been on AT&T for several years so can call in to get the phone unlocked on my account. It has the EDGE capability, bluetooth or USB connect, and E-Mail client. Getting a Net SIM from AIS. Thought a lot about the E51, but didn't want to invest the extra money to gain the Wi-Fi capability.

kenk3z

[phuketrichard]

I want to buy a cheap 3g mobile phone to be able to get an internet connection on my laptop.

does anybody know which phone would be a good choice.

CHEAP and 3 g?

I use a nokia E51 great phone for everything about 10,000 baht

its 4 band and 3.5 g

Cambodia uses 3 and its fats there!!

I use it all the time here in thailand as well but its not that fast

ais offers various deals on connection times and u can connect anywhere the phone gets a signal. basic acocunts start at 100 baht for 30 hours!!!

[raro]

as we are at it...there are phones out there that can do also GPS tracking.

Can anybody advise the cheapest model that can do Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and GPS? I would glue it to my dashboard.....

[mgjackson69]

I was typing from memory and got the quad bands wrong.

The quad-band phones access 800/850/1800/1900. I went with the Nokia 6085, new (locked to AT&T) for $70 on EBay. I've been on AT&T for several years so can call in to get the phone unlocked on my account. It has the EDGE capability, bluetooth or USB connect, and E-Mail client. Getting a Net SIM from AIS. Thought a lot about the E51, but didn't want to invest the extra money to gain the Wi-Fi capability.

kenk3z

You were correct the first time. Quad-band phones cover 850/900/1800/1900.

A USA-market tri-band will cover 850/1800/1900.

An Asia-Pac tri-band (such as my Nokia 6820, purchased in Thailand) will cover 900/1800/1900...which makes this phone less than optimal for my use in USA (AT&T)...but it gets the job done, sort of.

Edited August 10, 2008 by mgjackson69