3g / 3.5g / Aircard / Whathaveyou In Bkk

[RMN]

Hi everyone,

Some time ago, I was trying to find a 3G modem or something similar that would work in BKK. The idea being to be able to connect my laptop to the internet while being anywhere in Bangkok (using Edge/3G when available and failing over to mobile phone network if not).

At the time I was told that this did not exist yet in BKK. I was a little doubting, as I had used it very successfully the week before in Chiang Mai (I think it was a True offer, not 100% certain though), but took that as the answer.

How about it now ? Anyone got experience using a wireless usb-modem thingy in BKK ? What kind of speed do you get ? How much do you pay ?

[RAZZELL]

I don't think there is 3G in Thailand?

DTAC and True are going to launch it later this year.

RAZZ

[monty]

We don't have 3G yet (apart from some trials here and there), so the system will always revert to Edge/GPRS.

Nowadays Edge is available almost nationwide apart from out there in the real boonies (i.e. far away from any town).

True, as the smallest of the 3 mobile operators has the least coverage, large area's are only GPRS, and even larger area's have no data coverage at all.

Dtac and AIS are probably equally well available, some area's Dtac outperforms AIS, some other area's vice versa!

Speeds, when in Edge coverage (most of the time nowadays) expect anywhere between 50 and 220 kbps, with as average more like between 120 and 180 kbps. If you're only getting GPRS, speeds will drop to between 20 and 60 kbps.

Price, both operators charge 1 Baht/minute, unless you subscribe to a monthly package. This can be done on pre-paid cards! Prices then will vary between 4 and 10 Baht/hour, the more hours/month you choose, the cheaper it gets. Also, both operators offer unlimited for around 1000 Baht/month.

Remember, they do not charge per data amount, nor do they impose transfer limits, making mobile internet, albeit slow, very cheap compared to the rest of the world.

In most cases Edge is perfectly adequate for surfing and e-mailing, even streaming radio is normally possible without or with very little buffering.

To close, if you still have to buy a device, since 3G is not yet available, nor will it be in the near future, it'll be a waste of money buying one of the latest 3G cards/modems (unless you also plan to muse it it the west, check compatibility then)!

I have a decent working USB model, made in China, which you can get now new for around 2,600 Baht.

[RMN]

Thanks a lot Monty, that is very useful information.

Could you tell me more about where to buy both the device and one of the Edge packages with pay per use ?

[esprit]

Thanks a lot Monty, that is very useful information.

Could you tell me more about where to buy both the device and one of the Edge packages with pay per use ?

Go to a Hutch telecom outlet. For 12500 Baht you can get a USB EDGE modem and unlimted internet for 12 months

[RMN]

Thanks a lot Monty, that is very useful information.

Could you tell me more about where to buy both the device and one of the Edge packages with pay per use ?

Go to a Hutch telecom outlet. For 12500 Baht you can get a USB EDGE modem and unlimted internet for 12 months

Thanks for the suggestion Esprit. Actually right now I'm only in Thailand 3 weeks each 3 months, so that kind of deal will not be interesting until I'm a permanent resident. Paying for a few hours of credit on a prepaid card sounds a lot better for the present.

[Digitalbanana]

Thanks a lot Monty, that is very useful information.

Could you tell me more about where to buy both the device and one of the Edge packages with pay per use ?

Go to a Hutch telecom outlet. For 12500 Baht you can get a USB EDGE modem and unlimted internet for 12 months

Thanks for the suggestion Esprit. Actually right now I'm only in Thailand 3 weeks each 3 months, so that kind of deal will not be interesting until I'm a permanent resident. Paying for a few hours of credit on a prepaid card sounds a lot better for the present.

Those prices seem outrageous. I bought an Edge modem at Commart last weekend for 1790B inc a free AIS SIM for 3 hrs. Unlimited SIMS pay as you go for 990B or 99B for 30hrs.

[monty]

Thanks a lot Monty, that is very useful information.

Could you tell me more about where to buy both the device and one of the Edge packages with pay per use ?

Go to a Hutch telecom outlet. For 12500 Baht you can get a USB EDGE modem and unlimted internet for 12 months

Hutch is NOT GPRS/EDGE, although it is roughly the same speed. Hutch uses the CDMA 1X system.

Hutch is only available in Bangkok, the Eastern Seaboard (i.e. Chonburi, Pattaya, all the way up to Cambodia) and a bit to the West of Bkk.

If in Pattaya, they do use EVDO, meaning you'll get speeds up to 1 Mbps. In Bangkok their EVDO coverage is very spotty, only about 3 small area's. This device will set you back 17,000 Baht including 1 year of usage!

Hutch is useless in the rest of Thailand.

[monty]

To the OP,

the gprs usb modems you can buy in any IT mall (pantip Plaza, TukCom Pattaya etc). Solomon is the biggest brand, but expensive at 4,900 Baht. I have an unbranded model, with unlocked software from China Telecom. Works a charm at 2,650 Baht.

Then just take a regular pre-paid simcard.

I think for the OP, buying a netsim from AIS is the best option. 99 Baht/month for 30 hours, and if you charge with 300 Baht, validity gets extended with 90 days, so 300 Baht gives you 3 months with 30 hours/month internet. The card itself costs I think 210 Baht.

If you run out of hours, I think you can get some extra by dialing *138 and choosing how much you want through the automatic system.

Otherwise the system will deduct 1 Baht/minute if you go over your 30 hours. You can always check how much time you have left by dialing *139#. You'll get a message back with your remaining minutes.

[RMN]

To the OP,

the gprs usb modems you can buy in any IT mall (pantip Plaza, TukCom Pattaya etc). Solomon is the biggest brand, but expensive at 4,900 Baht. I have an unbranded model, with unlocked software from China Telecom. Works a charm at 2,650 Baht.

Then just take a regular pre-paid simcard.

I think for the OP, buying a netsim from AIS is the best option. 99 Baht/month for 30 hours, and if you charge with 300 Baht, validity gets extended with 90 days, so 300 Baht gives you 3 months with 30 hours/month internet. The card itself costs I think 210 Baht.

If you run out of hours, I think you can get some extra by dialing *138 and choosing how much you want through the automatic system.

Otherwise the system will deduct 1 Baht/minute if you go over your 30 hours. You can always check how much time you have left by dialing *139#. You'll get a message back with your remaining minutes.

Thanks again Monty. Very clear information.

What would the guys at Pantip be calling that GPRS USB modem ? (If I walk up to them and say "GPRS USB Modem", any chance they'll catch my drift ?)

For the prepaid card, do I need a special one or just the same kind of AIS phone card I would use for my mobile ?

[MJo]

You can also use your phone as modem if you don't want to buy the USB modem. Almost all have GPRS/EDGE data capabilities nowdays.

[RMN]

You can also use your phone as modem if you don't want to buy the USB modem. Almost all have GPRS/EDGE data capabilities nowdays.

Well, that's a great suggestion MJo. I own a Nokia N95 8gb, recently got it unlocked.

In France there's no way I can use it as a modem, because that's restricted by the service provider (who wants to be able to sell a separate modem access contract).

What kind of card do I need to put in my phone to get to use it as GPRS modem ?

Also, I get the feeling that configuring everything correctly is going to be a very "trial and error" experience.

[tinisan]

You can also use your phone as modem if you don't want to buy the USB modem. Almost all have GPRS/EDGE data capabilities nowdays.

Well, that's a great suggestion MJo. I own a Nokia N95 8gb, recently got it unlocked.

In France there's no way I can use it as a modem, because that's restricted by the service provider (who wants to be able to sell a separate modem access contract).

What kind of card do I need to put in my phone to get to use it as GPRS modem ?

Also, I get the feeling that configuring everything correctly is going to be a very "trial and error" experience.

hello Frenchman

You can use your nokia n95 as a GPRS/ EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA modem in Thailand as follows:

with a mac: switch on bluetooth on the nokia; then use the mac's bluetooth setup assistant to add the nokia to the mac's devices. settings for internet: dialup number: *99# APN: internet

with a PC: download the nokia PC suite and go from there, same settings.

I was in France last week and tried to buy a SIM card /USB modem to connect to the internet via 3G/Edge. I visited 11 different shops SFR, Bouguestel, Orange, talked to 14 different customer advisors, all of which knew next to nothing, bought 2 different SIM cards for data, returned the SIM cards because the telecom companies were unable to tell me the APN settings for them (all other countries use the above settings (Thailand, Oz, NZ, Switzerland, UK, Philippines, China), BUT NOT FRANCE!), tried using a friend's livebox WiFi, hunted for hotspots, tried using my UK easyroam data-enabled SIM in roaming mode....

I left France without ever having connected to the internet. I was even prepared to pay the outrageous prices they would have charged.

France has a long way to go until the internet becomes user-friendly there, for now let them stick to wine and cheese, (and stop trying to build aeroplanes and nuclear weapons)

as for 3G in Thailand, it's available in Chiang Mai and Chonburi, but not yet in Bangkok (for political reasons)

[MJo]

Just get AIS or DTAC or TRUE prepaid sim card. AIS has unlimited data for 999 baht per month and i believe the others have similar packages available. TRUE has even some 3G coverage in BKK but i doubt that your phone works in their frequency as it is not usual 2100MHz.

Anyways to connect you can choose the settings from your pc suite of call to AIS or whoever you have the sim from and ask them to sms the settings to you. Also they should be available in the internet pages of the operators.

[Youbloodybeauty]

 

Price, both operators charge 1 Baht/minute, unless you subscribe to a monthly package. 

Hi,

I've got a windows mobile phone and wondering what it would cost to poll a couple of email accounts every 15 minutes.

Would doing this end up with a big bill (1 Baht/minute) or just for the time it takes to poll and download any messages?

Thanks.

YBB