Help Needed: Internet On Phone And Eeepc When Roaming Bkk

[sillyfools]

Hi guys,

I need your help and I'm sure a lot of people will want to do the same thing so I hope this thread can become a reference for anyone that wants to make the best out of being online in Thailand/Bangkok.

Here is what I currently have:

- EEEPC901

- Old nokia phone with GPRS (no EDGE, slow) (TBR=to be replaced)

- TOT ADSL at home (building only allows tot) (TBR later)

- My own wifi AP at home

- Failing skype base set (only at home) (TBR)

What I want to do:

(1) Replace my Skype base station at home as well as my old phone with a phone that has

* GPRS/EDGE/3G/WIFI

* GPS

* SKYPE

(2) Use my EEEPC to go onto the net in the city (no green wifi as it's only 64kbps) and use it for blogging, browsing, ...

(3) Read the news from my mobile and use google maps/GPS without having to turn on my eeepc, use skype on my mobile, ...

(4) Later on I will want to move to a True ADSL area but until such time I'm stuck with TOT so I need a solution for the rest, before that.

From what I have researched there are some options for mobiles:

- Iphone 3G (locked in or unlocked)

- Samsung Omnia

- ...?

I know of the major advantages of the Omnia such as 5MP, etc... on the other hand the Iphone is sleek, easy to use and apparently when jailbroken is more hackable. Being hackable is not the main issue, but I don't want to be locked out of certain applications that I really want to be on a phone when I shelve out 20K+.

At present I have a preference for the Iphone because the package bundle with True unlimited wifi/edge seems very good.

The Iphone offer of True seems quite a good deal but I have some questions:

Q1) Has anybody jailbroken the 3G in the True package? What are your experiences? [i'm not talking about unlocking a phone, just jailbreaking it so you can install any applications you want and not just the ones that apple has approved].

Q2) The true deal has an offer with unlimited wifi and edge (later also 3G). I am interested in that package. However, it will benefit me more to use the wifi + edge on the eeepc than on the Iphone. How can this be done? Can I just put in the true info in the eeepc to have it run at the wifi AP's in the city?

Q3) The combo Iphone unlimited wifi is 1Mbps, in comparison to apparently only 256kbps (too slow for me) of the regular truewifi 450thb subscription. Are there alternatives?

Q4) I am currently tied in to TOT until I move. When I move to another location (not immediately unfortunately) I will subscribe to True ADSL again. If I am a True ADSL member, can I use my credentials (even at an additional fee) to log in to any TrueWifi access point in the city at an 'acceptable speed' meaning 1Mbps or rather 2 or 4Mbps that I have at home?

Q5) I will want that when at home the iphone connects to my WLAN, when out of range, to the wifi by true if available, if not then to the EDGE by true... Is this easily set up?

Q6) How does this affect simultaneous use of the iphone and eeepc? Any solutions as there might be a 'username' conflict.

Q7) Is anybody using Skype on the Iphone? I've heard that 'Fring' does the job for free. Any experiences?

Q8) I would rather not connect through the iphone to access the wifi/3g/edge as it will drain the battery. I have been thinking about buying a 3G/edge stick to put in the eeepc (mod it next to the RAM). How will I be able to use it for internet? This is probably the crux of the matter. How to switch between devices when needed, optimally using the iphone for navigation and skype calls, but switching to the eeepc with fast internet browsing at wifi points or edge when roaming.

[sillyfools]

Is anybody able to use his True Internet ADSL connection passwords to log in to True Wifi with a better than 256Kb speed?

[bubba]

I can't answer all your questions, but I can have a go at some of them:

Q1: You can jailbreak any iPhone, and that would include the one you get from True. And it's a simple process. Or you can get it done for 500 baht at MBK.

Q5: The iPhone always preferentially and automatically connects to WiFi if an available WiFi network is present. For example, if you have set up your iPhone for your WiFi router at home, when you get within range, the data connection will automatically switch from 3G/GPRS to WiFi. A WiFi connection is simple to set up with the iPhone. You just go to Settings, select WiFi, select your network, enter your WPA or WEP password (and hopefully you have set one) and you are connected. Settings remembers your router and password. If it's the True WiFi network around town, it will always connect if it gets a signal, and then fall back to 3G when you lose the signal.

Q7: I use Fring for Skype on my iPhone (with WiFi) all the time, and it works great with both voice and chat.

[ozymandious]

Take a look at some of the HTC hand sets

I had the HTC TyTN II which has all that you're looking for

and recently just got the HTC Touch Pro.

Practically all the connectivity under the sun, skype, opera, gps, full qwerty keyboard, and a nice form factor also.

note about the iphone, currently you can't tether it (use as modem for your Eee PC) at least in the US. dont' know about jail-broken apps.

[bubba]

Take a look at some of the HTC hand sets

I had the HTC TyTN II which has all that you're looking for

and recently just got the HTC Touch Pro.

Practically all the connectivity under the sun, skype, opera, gps, full qwerty keyboard, and a nice form factor also.

note about the iphone, currently you can't tether it (use as modem for your Eee PC) at least in the US. dont' know about jail-broken apps.

If you have a jailbroken phone, you can tether to your iPhone and it's easy. Check out PDAnet.

Nice form factor on those thick chunks of plastic above? Hmmmm.

[ozymandious]

Dimensions for the touch pro

if it's not for you then it's not for you

Personally i like having buttons on my phone instead of the virtual keyboard on the iPhone.

I also like having some thing that woks the way I want to out of the box instead of having to hack it to make it useable.

Aslo check out, when it comes out.... the Nokia N97

[monty]

I've got the htc touch pro as well, and still love it(after some hacks to get it exactly the way I like). Tremendously powerful device.

More expensive then the iphone, but for me I love the keyboard, and the massive amounts of software available for the windows mobile platform. Along with the fact I have one crucial application I absolutely need to use and this is only available for Win mobile (remote surveillance of my security camera's, works perfect even on Edge).

This said, if you like the iphone, it looks like it doe everything apart from skype! They do have some way to use it through "skype to go", but not the full application (I might be wrong though)... http://support.skype.com/en_US/faq/FA1545/...rk-on-my-iPhone

Another thing, have you tried the Edge network from True around Bangkok? I've heard it's appallingly slow, many area's falling back to regular gprs, and even area's with full signal but no gprs at all.

Definitely so here on the outskirts of Pattaya, full signal, but no gprs. In town it constantly flips between gprs and Edge, indicating not all their cells are Edge capable!

[ozymandious]

Edit: Duplicate post

Edited January 14, 2009 by ozymandious

[sillyfools]

Thanks!

I went in to the True shop to buy a true move sim so I can try it out in the building I'm at. Sadly reception here on my old phone is quite horrible, but even AIS has problems in my building with small mini AIS antenna's in the hallway. I wonder what upgrading of my old phone to an HTC, omnia or Iphone will do in terms of call quality. I'm still using a nokia 6600.

My main area where I will use it is in and around bkk. I hope their network will improve over time. I just don't like to see that on regular truewifi.net accounts they have lowered the speed from 1Mbps before to only 256kbs... Not really hi-speed anymore IMHO and paying a few hundred bahts an hour for a high Mbps wifi card is just crazy.

What about cheap 3g, 3.5g, edge/gprs usb sticks? Which ones are good and well priced? Will they all work? I still need one of those for the eeepc.

[monty]

Just bought a cheap Chinese made one, no brand on the box, for 2,590 Baht.

Works just as well as my expensive Solomon (5,900 Baht) Edge usb modem...