Now that we can use cellular telephones for lap top modems with a GPRS hook up and documents that used to be faxed can be sent as a pdf attachment to an email what are the advantages of having a fixed telephone line in Thailand? Can anyone discuss relative costs involved (fax vs. scanner + pdf software...GPRS costs vs. fixed line dial-up, etc)? If one lived in the countryside where one would have to pay a significant amount for a fixed line connection if there were no nearby fixed lines previously how would the different arrangements compare?

regards...

The main disadvantage of mobilephones is still speed!

A decent fixed phoneline will give you connections easily double as fast and more stable compared to GPRS...

I always have problems sending e-mail's with attachements bigger then 30kB over GPRS, dataflow stops halfway, and then I get a message the smtp server hasn't responded for more then 60 seconds...

pdf files will most of the time be bigger then 30kB!

That's basically the only thing a fixed phone line comes in handy, for internet connections... I just got my line upgraded to adsl

The main disadvantage of mobilephones is still speed!

A decent fixed phoneline will give you connections easily double as fast and more stable compared to GPRS...

I always have problems sending e-mail's with attachements bigger then 30kB over GPRS, dataflow stops halfway, and then I get a message the smtp server hasn't responded for more then 60 seconds...

pdf files will most of the time be bigger then 30kB!

That's basically the only thing a fixed phone line comes in handy, for internet connections... I just got my line upgraded to adsl 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Monty

I live in the North about 5 km from my AIS base station and apart from the times when the site falls over (usually in the evening) I don't have problems with my GPRS system and I can send and receive large files and get downloads in excess of 5 Mb, but as you say it takes a little time.

If you have the time and no access to a landline GPRS works for most people.

I'd go for a land line if I could

I'm using IP star at the moment, but its a bit pricy at 3000bht a month, wet season it was on and off all the time, but is pretty fast now. I've tried a few GPRS networks, but we are in a bit of a black spot for reception, so they have been vert slow.

I've got a 470 mhz radio phone thet you can use to send fax's, but not the internet. The phone line ends about 1 km from the house I was told it would be about 12,000 to get it to here, but I'm not sure on the price as I did'nt really look into it that much. You would still have to apply for a number as well or find someone with a number and make them an offer!!

Cheers RC

RC

A friend of mine over in Issan said he paid about 3,000 baht a kilometre per line to his house and he paid for 2 lines at around 2 km.

As you say you still have to pay for the number as well.

I am fairly lucky with my local site as it is not too busy and I get service most of the time.