Whats Going On With Cat - Cdma

[mellow1]

Using the EC226 since last week and am, so far, very impressed with speeds. Am located in Patong where I used it so far. ThaiVisa speed test gives me 1200 to 1700 download and around 450 upload. Better than my wired TOT connection...

Was a bit anxious after reading this conversation but happy I bought it.

Whats EC226 and how far are you from the tower? What did it cost?

[ThaiLife]

Using the EC226 since last week and am, so far, very impressed with speeds. Am located in Patong where I used it so far. ThaiVisa speed test gives me 1200 to 1700 download and around 450 upload. Better than my wired TOT connection...

Was a bit anxious after reading this conversation but happy I bought it.

Whats EC226 and how far are you from the tower? What did it cost?

The EC226 ...

CAT - Link

Huawei - Link

TL

[mellow1]

^ Thanks for the info. Too bad its range is so limited. At 10Km from the tower it leaves me out.

[Smile4u]

EC226 work in Pattaya?

Where can it be tested / bought?

Any users is same area - how is your Download/Upload speed (TV speedtest)?

[loong]

EC226 work in Pattaya?

Where can it be tested / bought?

Any users is same area - how is your Download/Upload speed (TV speedtest)?

CAT CDMA internet coverage does not include Pattaya unless things have changed recently. Central Thailand is covered by Hutch. If you want to know about it go to the Hutch shop on South Pattaya Road. It's near Dtuk Com.

[nikster]

EC226 work in Pattaya?

Where can it be tested / bought?

Any users is same area - how is your Download/Upload speed (TV speedtest)?

CAT CDMA internet coverage does not include Pattaya unless things have changed recently. Central Thailand is covered by Hutch. If you want to know about it go to the Hutch shop on South Pattaya Road. It's near Dtuk Com.

Yes central thailand is covered (or "poisoned" - take your pick) by Hutch. Hutch has 3G packages but they run on CDMA 1x and it's slower than EDGE, so it's better to just use DTAC or AIS GPRS/EDGE.

[PS3]

EC226 work in Pattaya?

Where can it be tested / bought?

Any users is same area - how is your Download/Upload speed (TV speedtest)?

Yes I tested it today in Pattaya. See my topic about the speedtest.

Some areas in Pattaya get good download speed 500-1200kbps, other area slower.

Staff told me I can test at home, and if less than 153kbps (i think it was) then you can cancel the contract.

[mellow1]

I don't know what they supposed to have fixed, but the disconnections have not stopped, and I believe they are getting worse. For the last 2 hours its been constantly disconnecting. This is truly shit.

[loong]

No problems here Mellow, I've been connected for 10 hours and no disruptions. Uploads are still slow but I have a usable service

[mellow1]

^This is not a constant problem. It is running fine right now. When the kids get out from school, around 4PM it will probably do the same again. The worst day seems to be Sunday. Not enough bandwith for all the users here. It doesn't bother the company though, as long as they are getting paid. TOT has wires here, but you can only get 28kbps. Been here, same place for 8 years, they never upgrade, dropped them a long time ago for CAT which has gotten progressively worse. I'm not the only person around here. Although we are out in the countryside, there is nowhere you are going to go where there are no people. Lots of villages here, lots of people. The parts well covered such as in town, only represent a small fraction of the population. Can't understand their business decisions. Such a big market of potential users.

[ThaiLife]

It Some times seems a little slower that normal, but no disconnections and downloading non stop ok ( at the Moment ) , but as ive often said

internet connections here in Thailand are like being on a Roller Coaster Ride . ⇡ ⇰ ⇣

TL

[loong]

My internet has been so bad these few days, but it appears that a mouse has chewed through the outer cable and stripped the outer criss cross copper from the coax. This is the thin cable that joins the main cable from the antenna to my modem.

The engineers have not responded, so it seems that the 500 Baht tip I gave last time has had no effect!

I now have the stripped section of coax away from any power points, but I'm getting disconnects anywhere between every 30 seconds an every 10 minutes. Really annoying! I will try to get a new connection between the main cable and the modem and see if things improve

[loong]

My internet has been so bad these few days, but it appears that a mouse has chewed through the outer cable and stripped the outer criss cross copper from the coax. This is the thin cable that joins the main cable from the antenna to my modem.

The engineers have not responded, so it seems that the 500 Baht tip I gave last time has had no effect!

I now have the stripped section of coax away from any power points, but I'm getting disconnects anywhere between every 30 seconds an every 10 minutes. Really annoying! I will try to get a new connection between the main cable and the modem and see if things improve

I went to the CAT sales office in Khon Kaen (Dtuk Com), they did not have the cable link that I wanted to replace, but told me that I could buy on the next floor up. I went up 1 floor and could find nobody with the cable I wanted. The disconnects became more and more frequent and eventually I ended up with "Searching for Network" No connection at all! After numerous phone calls, finally managed to get the engineer out. He told me that my 5 month old MC727 was shagged and that I would have to buy a new one!

I had found out that there was another CAT office in Khon Kaen and took the modem to them. They said that they will have to send the modem for repair and that it will be done under guarantee. As it could be away for 1 month or more they have lent me another modem. NB. The CAT sales office in Dtuk Com are totally uninterested in any problems, they only care about sales and just give you the telephone number of the engineer. They will do nothing!

Meanwhile, the engineer had sorted out a replacement link cable for the antenna and so I went to the Head office to meet with him. He had the new cable and informed me that it was 1000 baht. I laughed at his funny joke and asked him what the real price was. He wasn't joking! I asked how can I go and buy a telephone for 800 Baht, a DVD player for 700 Baht and yet a little bit of cable is 1000 Baht? He just told me that I need it because my old cable is no good. He even brought out an associate to give me a second opinion. I told him that I would try out the old cable with the replacement modem first.

To be honest, I had no idea how much this cable should cost, but 1000 Baht seemed a bit steep and I felt that they were taking the pee.

I wanted to at least see if the old cable would work or not first and i could see that they were not best pleased.

I'm online again - aren't I !!

Everything is working, but I've probably alienated the engineers, which doesn't bode well for the future. But then again a 500 Baht tip when he fitted the antenna did not ensure good service. My telephone calls were met with the response "I'll be there if I have time"

[loong]

One thing that I don't understand - the connector into my modem flopped about a bit, yet the same connector fits really snug into the modem that I have borrowed. Why would that be?

[ThaiLife]

One thing that I don't understand - the connector into my modem flopped about a bit, yet the same connector fits really snug into the modem that I have borrowed. Why would that be?

Hi , sorry to hear about your problems, I have been wondering about just how reliable the MC727 USB Modem was, I originally purchased the small

adapter lead , to connect the external antenna coaxial to the MC727 USB modem from CAT , I did notice that the fit of the plug going into the socket on the MC727 was not too good and a bit loose, I had to keep it in place with an elastic band, I was told by another forum member here where to buy the correct adapter cable from on Ebay , In the photo shot you can see the Two different adapter plugs , at first glance they look the same , but the important difference is the length of the actual metal part that goes into the MC727's socket, you can see there's Two different lengths. So getting the correct length is important for a better connection .

Hope this helps, and please let us know how things turn out

TL

[loong]

Thanks for that Thailife.

It looks like you needed to get an additional adaptor to connect to the threaded female connector on the main co-ax as well. I did have a quick look online and saw various adaptor leads, but with different ends, so I wasn't sure about them. Prices seem to range from 3 to 9 US$. Certainly nowhere near 1000 Baht!

Everything seems to be working fine, although not super fast. Pretty much the same as I'm used to.

[ThaiLife]

Thanks for that Thailife.

It looks like you needed to get an additional adaptor to connect to the threaded female connector on the main co-ax as well. I did have a quick look online and saw various adaptor leads, but with different ends, so I wasn't sure about them. Prices seem to range from 3 to 9 US$. Certainly nowhere near 1000 Baht!

Everything seems to be working fine, although not super fast. Pretty much the same as I'm used to.

Hi, The small adapter to connect the Main external antenna coaxial to the small adapter cable is I think This one...

Please Don't forget that we are using the CAT- CDMA - RCR System

TL

[loong]

Thanks Thailife.

I didn't think about it at the time, but next time I am in Khon Kaen, I will ask at the office that loaned me the modem if they have the lead in stock. I didn't think to ask at the time as I knew that the engineer had one. I just didn't know he was expecting 1000 Baht for it. I thought that it would be 2 or 300 Baht max.

[mellow1]

I am currently trying out EDGE (wireless), using EDGE MODEM DT-616U. It also constantly stops sending any incoming signal during busy times such as lunch time or evenings. I also put some money into my son's 1, 2 call sim card to try out DTAC, which totally sucks, and most of the time cannot even connect, much less get a signal. This whole internet thing is turning into a scam where all the rural people are getting screwed.

[loong]

Well, things seemed to be going ok, then I started to get disconnects again.

The outer crisscross copper that has been stripped by the mouse, by my understanding is there to shield the inner core from stray electrical and radio interference - is that right?

Anyway, I bought a powered USB hub when I was trying to get this to work, before I had the antenna fitted. That's been gathering dust, so I wiped it off and connected it up. With this I was able to position the modem away from the computer and power points/cable.

What a difference. Now I'm getting better ping times and download speeds have doubled. Sometimes more than 1Mb, even to the UK, I haven't had that for some time!

Of course the upload is still pretty poor. Not much better than 100Kb.

Still, I'm quite happy for the moment.

[ThaiLife]

Well, things seemed to be going ok, then I started to get disconnects again.

The outer crisscross copper that has been stripped by the mouse, by my understanding is there to shield the inner core from stray electrical and radio interference - is that right?

Anyway, I bought a powered USB hub when I was trying to get this to work, before I had the antenna fitted. That's been gathering dust, so I wiped it off and connected it up. With this I was able to position the modem away from the computer and power points/cable.

What a difference. Now I'm getting better ping times and download speeds have doubled. Sometimes more than 1Mb, even to the UK, I haven't had that for some time!

Of course the upload is still pretty poor. Not much better than 100Kb.

Still, I'm quite happy for the moment.

Hi, glad the Hub seems to be making a difference, This is from a past post I did .

I am using a CAT supplied MC727 USB Modem on an Apple iMac , ASUS N10J Netbook ,( Running Windows XP SP3 ) and Acer E500 Desk Top PC , ( Running Windows Media Center ) . With the Windows machines all I did was install the MobiLink software from the CD supplied with the MC727 , the only initial problem I had was with the iMac , but found by using a powered USB hub , and plugging the MC727 into the powered hub, every thing works , ok every time.

Link Here ...

One thing that sticks in my mind is when my iMac was being set up at the CAT office , the engineer told me to all ways use the same exact

USB port for the MC727 every time, I wonder why ?

So it seems that a powered Hub may help, Fingers crossed

TL

[loong]

Well, things seemed to be going ok, then I started to get disconnects again.

The outer crisscross copper that has been stripped by the mouse, by my understanding is there to shield the inner core from stray electrical and radio interference - is that right?

Anyway, I bought a powered USB hub when I was trying to get this to work, before I had the antenna fitted. That's been gathering dust, so I wiped it off and connected it up. With this I was able to position the modem away from the computer and power points/cable.

What a difference. Now I'm getting better ping times and download speeds have doubled. Sometimes more than 1Mb, even to the UK, I haven't had that for some time!

Of course the upload is still pretty poor. Not much better than 100Kb.

Still, I'm quite happy for the moment.

Hi, glad the Hub seems to be making a difference, This is from a past post I did .

I am using a CAT supplied MC727 USB Modem on an Apple iMac , ASUS N10J Netbook ,( Running Windows XP SP3 ) and Acer E500 Desk Top PC , ( Running Windows Media Center ) . With the Windows machines all I did was install the MobiLink software from the CD supplied with the MC727 , the only initial problem I had was with the iMac , but found by using a powered USB hub , and plugging the MC727 into the powered hub, every thing works , ok every time.

Link Here ...

One thing that sticks in my mind is when my iMac was being set up at the CAT office , the engineer told me to all ways use the same exact

USB port for the MC727 every time, I wonder why ?

So it seems that a powered Hub may help, Fingers crossed

TL

Yes, Thailife,

It was that post that made me go and get a powered hub. At the time it made no difference, but I suspect that my modem was faulty from day 1. With this borrowed modem, I can actually use the internet without the external antenna connected, but it is much better with it. Connected via the powered hub, it's better still!

[ThaiLife]

Hi, One thing I did notice about using a USB powered hub on my Apple Mac , the MC727 seems to get a lot hotter that when I use it on my net book , which I plug it straight into a USB port, so may be keep an eye on how hot the MC727 may get using the powered hub ..?

TL

[Somnambulist]

Well, I'm moving to the countryside, probably about three kilometers from a CAT tower, and need to decide which modem to buy. Info I received last weekend from a CAT employee might be erroneous so I'm asking here. They said the MC 727 is "mot" and wanted to sell me the EC 226 but said it can't be used with an external antennae. Is this true? If so, I'd probably hunt up a used MC 727 but I hate buying discontinued products.

And what about the X720? It's more expensive but wireless? Worth the money? Faster, better? Oddly, the staff guy said it can only be used with laptops but I'm assuming he he pulled that one out of his ....

[Somnambulist]

Well, I'm moving to the countryside, probably about three kilometers from a CAT tower, and need to decide which modem to buy. Info I received last weekend from a CAT employee might be erroneous so I'm asking here. They said the MC 727 is "mot" and wanted to sell me the EC 226 but said it can't be used with an external antennae. Is this true? If so, I'd probably hunt up a used MC 727 but I hate buying discontinued products.

And what about the X720? It's more expensive but wireless? Worth the money? Faster, better? Oddly, the staff guy said it can only be used with laptops but I'm assuming he he pulled that one out of his ....

[HolyHarmonica]

I live on the Udon Thani/Nong Khai border.  I have a CAT CDMA EC226 modem.  I tried a download test file.  It averages about 30kbps.  This is normal although I have gotten 120kbps once.  U-tube runs at about 30kbps.

I have been having problems with dead connections and not being able to disconnect or clear them.  I just tried uninstalling and reinstalling the modem and it hasn't disconnected again - yet.

I'd like to be able to use a different SMTP from Relay1.cattelecom.smtp  Can anyone do this?

Has anyone been able to Fax from and EC226?

[loong]

It wasn't easy to find this thread again - if a mod reads this - it's really stupid that a thread disappears from your subscriptions list if nobody posts for 15 days !

Ever since the schools have finished, I can get a decent connection in the middle of the night or very early morning. The rest of the time I just have to keep reminding myself how bad the Ipstar service was!

I don't know why, but I am unable to use the printscreen function to capture the image on my screen, but the last test that I did to Bangkok was 160 Kbs down 20 Kbs up. On the odd occasions that I can actually get a test to complete to the Uk, maybe 80Kbs down /10 up. This with at least 3 bars on the signal strength indicator!

The more people that sign up, the more sharing the same bandwidth.

I was so happy when I changed from Ipstar to Cat, but I think that it was Gary that said something like "You find a better option but after a while it all turns to Sh**."

CAT CDMA is a piss poor service and I will not recommend it to anyone!

[ThaiLife]

I don't want to say too much as the CAT God's may be watching , in the past ive had some problems with my connection just dropping off or freezing, this problem was for me fixed some time after, since then Ive had no problems at all, the speeds seem to remain constant, any time of the day . I do use an external roof antenna

and I am not that far from a CAT tower, I often wonder just what results I would get if I did live further away from the Tower, I don't live in a built up area, and I am almost sure there's not other CAT CDMA user any where near me.

With the external roof antenna I get the full signal on the signal strength indicator, with out the antenna I get Two bars less, this is with the MC727 running on either a Mac or my netbook running Windows XP.

I just keep my fingers crossed that my current results don't go down hill, as for the MC727 being no longer offered, and the alternative being the EC226 and this with out an option for an external antenna, like you get on the MC727 , I am not too sure how things would be.

As ive said many times I would not like to have to go back to my TOT dial up internet connection ever again. Should there ever be an alternative to my CAT CDMA, connection I would probably think about jumping ship , but for now I am Happy.

TL

[Gary A]

I will give you the same answer as CAT gave me;

EVDO sometimes good and sometimes bad.

I already knew that. I wanted to know why it is bad more than good and getting worse. I think they just keep on selling service that is already over sold and over loaded.

Don't look for things to improve anytime soon. According to the newspaper that we are no longer allowed to quote, 3G is dead in the water for the foreseeable future. Something about the dreaded greedy foreigners taking advantage of the poorer Thai companies.

They say they want foreign investment but then they kick them in the gonads.

[loong]

I will give you the same answer as CAT gave me;

EVDO sometimes good and sometimes bad.

I already knew that. I wanted to know why it is bad more than good and getting worse. I think they just keep on selling service that is already over sold and over loaded.

Don't look for things to improve anytime soon. According to the newspaper that we are no longer allowed to quote, 3G is dead in the water for the foreseeable future. Something about the dreaded greedy foreigners taking advantage of the poorer Thai companies.

They say they want foreign investment but then they kick them in the gonads.

I read that The Information and Communications Technology minister wants to delay the auction of 3G licences that are supposed to take place in December. Something about "it could make TOT and CAT bankrupt". I don't really understand it myself.

Who is there that can actually bid? Dtac and AIS are the 2 with part foreign ownership. True is 100% Thai. Hutch have hardly made the best use of what they already have. Are there any others?

Maybe if they actually allowed foreign companies in, the service might improve.

I have to say that AIS have done quite well with their mobile phone network and are apparently quite keen to bid. Dare we hope that they would develop a decent network if successful at bidding?