Using Unlocked U.s. Tri-band Phone With Ais 1-2-call

[donx]

I have used unlocked quad-band phones in the past in Thailand. Unfortunately, my wife's current U.S. phone is a tri-band (850/1800/1900). I have always used 1-2-Call in the past because we spend much of our time in Thailand in rural areas (specifically a farming village in Phatthalung) and it appeared to me as though AIS always had the best coverage. Now that my wife has a tri-band phone, will a 1-2-Call SIM card work? Does it use the 900 band or the 1800 band or both bands? If it uses both bands, will it be a problem that her phone doesn't support the 900 band?

From searching previous posts, it looks like she could use a DTAC or True SIM card. Does anyone have a recommendation? We prefer pay-as-you-use plans since we will only be there 2 months and we visit Thailand on average every other year.

[kennkate]

YES. Just buy a Thai SIM card and slap it in. Tri Band OK

[MYKTHEMIN]

The best network in my experience is DTac, the others are very hit and miss. I am based just south of Loei and the coverage is excellent, have tried 1 - 2 - call but very hit and miss and true coverage is really poor.

[donx]

The best network in my experience is DTac, the others are very hit and miss. I am based just south of Loei and the coverage is excellent, have tried 1 - 2 - call but very hit and miss and true coverage is really poor.

From what I have discovered from searching the internet, it looks like DTAC's Happy SIM prepaid plan runs on the 1800 frequency band network, so this should be compatible with my wife's phone. It also looks like DTAC's coverage is much better than it was several years ago when I was comparing options for SIM cards the first time I brought unlocked phones from the US.

Thank you for the suggestion. Any other good pieces of information from you or other is greatly appreciated.

[Gary A]

AIS uses 900 but Dtac uses 1800. I think you will find that there is very little difference as far as coverage. In fact Dtac EDGE works much better than AIS for me in the Loei area.

[lomatopo]

FWIW you can purchase a new GSM900/1800 phone here in Thailand for ~ 1,100 THB (Nokia 1200: 1,000 THB, Nokia 1208: 1,150 THB). Decent used handsets are available for 500 THB.

If you use GSM1900 in the U.S. (AT&T, T-Mo) then a new GSM900/1800/1900 handset can be had for 3,400 THB (Nokia 3110 Classic, which also has EDGE), giving functionality here and at home.

With your current phone you can access both DTAC (aka Happy) and/or TrueMove voice networks with a locally-purchased pre-paid SIM card. One-2-Call/AIS operates a GSM900 voice network. Without details on the model it is not possible to make a specific data recommendation other than to assume the handset possibly supports GPRS.

[donx]

FWIW you can purchase a new GSM900/1800 phone here in Thailand for ~ 1,100 THB (Nokia 1200: 1,000 THB, Nokia 1208: 1,150 THB). Decent used handsets are available for 500 THB.

If you use GSM1900 in the U.S. (AT&T, T-Mo) then a new GSM900/1800/1900 handset can be had for 3,400 THB (Nokia 3110 Classic, which also has EDGE), giving functionality here and at home.

With your current phone you can access both DTAC (aka Happy) and/or TrueMove voice networks with a locally-purchased pre-paid SIM card. One-2-Call/AIS operates a GSM900 voice network. Without details on the model it is not possible to make a specific data recommendation other than to assume the handset possibly supports GPRS.

My wife's phone is a Sony Ericsson W350a tri-band (850/1800/1900) from AT&T. My phone is a Motorola RAZR2 V9x quad-band from AT&T. I already received the unlock codes from AT&T and I have already unlocked my phone, but I haven't had the opportunity to unlock my wife's phone yet. We just bought these in November, so I have no interest in buying any other phones. I also have two Motorola RAZR V3 quad-band AT&T phones that currently are locked. I plan on getting these unlocked and bringing them to Thailand as backup phones in case something happens to our other phones. After our trip I wouldn't be surprised if my wife leaves them in Thailand for family members to have.

We only need the phones for calling, so I have no plans for using them for internet access.

[skipvice]

I am using a moto V-7 and Razr V3 That was used on At&t in the States. Using them on 1-2-Call with no problems.

[donx]

I am using a moto V-7 and Razr V3 That was used on At&t in the States. Using them on 1-2-Call with no problems.

I used a different set of RAZR V3 phones with 1-2-Call two years ago. I knew they worked because they are quad-band. What I didn't know was whether the Sony Ericsson W350a tri-band would work with 1-2-Call. From the information I have gathered thus far, it seems like it will not work since 1-2-Call uses the 900 MHZ band and the W350a only works with 850, 1800, and 1900 MHZ bands. Fortunately, DTAC's Happy SIM will work with the W350a.

[Carmine6]

Here's a summary website:

http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_th.shtml

Info pasted in and cleaned up a bit:

ACT Mobile Company, Limited (ACT GSM 1900) GSM 1900

ACT Mobile Company, Limited (TOT Mobile) 3G 2100

Advanced Info Service PLC (AIS GSM) GSM 900

Digital Phone Co Ltd (GSM 1800) GSM 1800

Total Access Communications Co (DTAC) GSM 1800

True Move Company Ltd GSM 1800

[kamalabob2]

This thread is of real interest to those of us coming from USA with phones we already bought, or those going to visit the USA and will use a phone we might purchase there for calls in America and then return with the phone to Thailand. My question:

Is there any problem or caution on using the electric plug in charger? Are they commonly dual voltage, or is a common procedure to purchase a plug in charger in Thailand for a phone we bought in America?

Thanks

[skipvice]

Both my Moto V7 and my RAZR V3 have dual voltage chargers and work fine here in Thailand.

[lomatopo]

A brief scan of the AT&T version of the SE W350a specs indicate that it has a GSM850/900/1800/1900 (4-band) radio. Unless you have a different version this phone it would work on the AIS/One-2-Call GSM900 network here. It would also operate on the DTAC and TrueMove networks as well. FWIW it also has an EDGE-capable modem so reasonable internet access is also possible.

Re: chargers. Every OEM charger I’ve ever seen supports 100-240 V; 50/60 Hz, but you can simply look at the charger, which should have this information printed on it somewhere, to verify. The physical connector rarely presents a problem as most outlets here support both the round and flat plugs.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

AIS also "roams" on DPC 1800 (Digital Phone Co.) which is owned by AIS (as DPC 1800 roams on AIS if outside their own coverage area). So if you have a phone that doesn't support 900 but 1,800 MHz you should still be able to use a 1-2-Call SIM.

My boyfriend's 1-2-Call phone often switches to DPC after getting out of the lift (no AIS in there).

Kind regards.....

Thanh

[donx]

A brief scan of the AT&T version of the SE W350a specs indicate that it has a GSM850/900/1800/1900 (4-band) radio. Unless you have a different version this phone it would work on the AIS/One-2-Call GSM900 network here. It would also operate on the DTAC and TrueMove networks as well. FWIW it also has an EDGE-capable modem so reasonable internet access is also possible.

On the box that the SE W350a came in it has the following information writen:

W350a

Graphic White

Mobile Phone

GSM/GPRS 850/1800/1900

SI 1208-7144.5 AE, XL

So although I too found references to the phone being quad-band, the box says otherwise. It is my understanding that the 'a' in W350a stands for "American". What is even more puzzling is that the beginning of the first page after the table of contents in the User Guide, starts with:

Sony Ericsson W350a

GSM 900/1800/1900

I believe this is an error in the manual, but maybe the phone is really quad-band after all. It just seems strange to have two different sets of tri-bands listed in two different documents - one being the proof of purchase label on the box and the other being the User Guide. I'll have to find a more definitive answer on this, but at least I know a DTAC SIM card will definitely work with this phone.

[donx]

A brief scan of the AT&T version of the SE W350a specs indicate that it has a GSM850/900/1800/1900 (4-band) radio. Unless you have a different version this phone it would work on the AIS/One-2-Call GSM900 network here. It would also operate on the DTAC and TrueMove networks as well. FWIW it also has an EDGE-capable modem so reasonable internet access is also possible.

On the box that the SE W350a came in it has the following information writen:

W350a

Graphic White

Mobile Phone

GSM/GPRS 850/1800/1900

SI 1208-7144.5 AE, XL

So although I too found references to the phone being quad-band, the box says otherwise. It is my understanding that the 'a' in W350a stands for "American". What is even more puzzling is that the beginning of the first page after the table of contents in the User Guide, starts with:

Sony Ericsson W350a

GSM 900/1800/1900

I believe this is an error in the manual, but maybe the phone is really quad-band after all. It just seems strange to have two different sets of tri-bands listed in two different documents - one being the proof of purchase label on the box and the other being the User Guide. I'll have to find a more definitive answer on this, but at least I know a DTAC SIM card will definitely work with this phone.

I went to the Sony Ericsson website and chatted online with one of their support technicians. He confirmed that the W350a is indeed a quad band phone. He even provided the following link to confirm this:

Sony Ericsson W350a Specifications

Now I know I can use whatever SIM card I want. Thank you all for your input.

I would just like to add that if you are in the US and you have an AT&T phone, you can call their technical support and they will provide an unlock code for your phone. They did have to enable the International roaming (which is a free feature) before they could provide an unlock code.