Prepaid Sim Cards For Mobile Broadband

[presscamera]

Hello, coming to Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin in July, is it possible to get prepaid sim cards 3g for data mobile broadband, that would work on a USB dongle on a Macbook Pro. If so where would I get one and what do I ask for when I arrive. I am thinking about this compared to using internet costs at the Hotels. My son is a University Student so would probably need about 10 Gig for 3 weeks. In Australia 5 Gig costs $40 a month on an account. (no prepaid here)

Many Thanks

[monty]

Sorry to disappoint, but Thailand has no 3G yet, even though all it's neighboring countries do have it!

The best we have is GPRS/EDGE, and although it's not fast it works pretty much nationwide and is dirt cheap to boot!

Pre-paid sim-cards from both AIS (called one2call) and Dtac (called D-prompt, or happy) will give you instant internet access when popped in a GPRS/EDGE capable dongle.

Most 3G dongles have this capability so they can fall back on this older standard when out of reach of a 3G capable tower.

Frequency used in Thailand is 900 Mhz (AIS) and 1800 Mhz (Dtac).

Make sure the dongle is unlocked, if you bought it cheap, in a 1 or 2 year contract package with a 3G provider there is a big chance it'll be locked! Otherwise it should work fine.

You can buy them locally as well, around 2,600 Baht for a Chinese made one. I have one, works just as well as the more expensive ones!

Mobile internet in Thailand is time metered, as opposed to mainly data metered in Western countries. If you just put in a pre-paid sim, you'll get deducted 1 Baht per minute of internet usage.

If you plan to be on-line a lot, you can subscribe to packages, on AIS I have for example 50 hours/month for 268 Baht (or about 5 Baht/hour).

Bigger packages are available up to unlimited for 1000 Baht/month. As said, no data limit.

Call the call center of the respective GSM operator, inquire what packages are available, choose one and they'll activate it within minutes. Just make sure enough credit is your sim when applying and at the monthly renewals.

Expect download speeds between 80kbps and 220 kbps, I reckon I get average around 150 kbps. Big downloads, using a download manager, usually come in around 14 - 18 kBps, so a 50 Mb download comes down in about an hour.

Uploads are slower though, reckon about 30-40 kbps, so big uploads are a problem.

As is VOIP such as skype etc. Good downloads means you hear the other party pretty good, but the slow upload makes your voice come through to the other side with a lot of break ups!

[ignis]

Hello, coming to Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin in July, is it possible to get prepaid sim cards 3g for data mobile broadband, that would work on a USB dongle on a Macbook Pro. If so where would I get one and what do I ask for when I arrive. I am thinking about this compared to using internet costs at the Hotels. My son is a University Student so would probably need about 10 Gig for 3 weeks. In Australia 5 Gig costs $40 a month on an account. (no prepaid here)

Many Thanks

Hutch is 3G and a good service, see if you can find what you want here http://www.hutch.co.th/prepay/index_en.htm

[monty]

Hutch is 3G and a good service, see if you can find what you want here http://www.hutch.co.th/prepay/index_en.htm

Hutch is not 3G.

They are on CDMA 1X, offering maximum download speeds of 153 kbps. Edge offers up to 238 kbps.

Just look under the MBI tab (mobile broadband internet) and you'll only see MBI 1X!

The only provider offering 3G on the CDMA network is CAT with the EV-DO system.

Unfortunately CAT is not available in the area's the OP will be traveling, not sure of Hua Hin, but Bangkok and Pattaya are exclusively Hutch!

On top of this their existing 3G dongle will be incompatible with Hutch or CAT.

If interested (although GPRS EDGE is faster and works with their existing equipment) take a look here for more info on Hutch mobile internet.

The equipment is just under 5,000 Baht to buy and you'll pay 1,070 Baht/month. Plus I'm doubtful the equipment comes with the proper drivers for their macbook...

[presscamera]

Sorry to disappoint, but Thailand has no 3G yet, even though all it's neighboring countries do have it!

The best we have is GPRS/EDGE, and although it's not fast it works pretty much nationwide and is dirt cheap to boot!

Pre-paid sim-cards from both AIS (called one2call) and Dtac (called D-prompt, or happy) will give you instant internet access when popped in a GPRS/EDGE capable dongle.

Most 3G dongles have this capability so they can fall back on this older standard when out of reach of a 3G capable tower.

Frequency used in Thailand is 900 Mhz (AIS) and 1800 Mhz (Dtac).

Make sure the dongle is unlocked, if you bought it cheap, in a 1 or 2 year contract package with a 3G provider there is a big chance it'll be locked! Otherwise it should work fine.

You can buy them locally as well, around 2,600 Baht for a Chinese made one. I have one, works just as well as the more expensive ones!

Mobile internet in Thailand is time metered, as opposed to mainly data metered in Western countries. If you just put in a pre-paid sim, you'll get deducted 1 Baht per minute of internet usage.

If you plan to be on-line a lot, you can subscribe to packages, on AIS I have for example 50 hours/month for 268 Baht (or about 5 Baht/hour).

Bigger packages are available up to unlimited for 1000 Baht/month. As said, no data limit.

Call the call center of the respective GSM operator, inquire what packages are available, choose one and they'll activate it within minutes. Just make sure enough credit is your sim when applying and at the monthly renewals.

Expect download speeds between 80kbps and 220 kbps, I reckon I get average around 150 kbps. Big downloads, using a download manager, usually come in around 14 - 18 kBps, so a 50 Mb download comes down in about an hour.

Uploads are slower though, reckon about 30-40 kbps, so big uploads are a problem.

As is VOIP such as skype etc. Good downloads means you hear the other party pretty good, but the slow upload makes your voice come through to the other side with a lot of break ups!

Many Thanks Monty and Ignis for the information -great help. My modem is an Huawei HSDPA USB MODEM MODEL Number E 220 bough on contract from Vodafone Australia. It works on the slower 2g speeds when I go to country areas here in Aus. I will just make sure that it is unlocked.

Thanks again

[monty]

You'll definitely need to get it unlocked.

Check out following topic, there's some people who got the same huawei model unlocked!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Mobile-Inter...modem++unlocked