Whats Going On With Cat - Cdma

[loong]

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.

Sometimes I can operate without the external antenna, but usually not. My signal strength is usually 3 bars with the MC727. Occasionally I see it pop up to 5, but then back to 3.

I'm only 3 Km from the nearest tower, so you would have thought that an external antenna would be unnecessary.

I wonder why CAT have discontinued the MC727, could they have had a lot of problems with them? Now they don't supply a modem with the option of an external antenna?

From what I am now led to believe, CAT do not supply external antennas, all antenna installations by the CAT engineers are their own little sideline apparently. So I can understand why CAT don't consider it important to offer a modem with the antenna option.

Outside of my knowledge range, but from what I have read, it also seems that most of these antennas that the CAT engineers supply are not ideal for the frequency range of the signals. Apparently they do very little to boost the upload signal, but do improve the download.

It's 2AM now and the internet is acceptable, afternoons it is very slow though.

[loong]

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 ....

Data sheet for X720

http://nexaira.com/pdf/Merlin_X720_Datasheet.pdf

Nexaira FAQ

http://nexaira.com/faqs

It seems that the X720 connects to the Expresscard slot of modern laptops. An adaptor (XUA-1) is available to connect to USB, whether or not it's available from CAT is another matter.

X720 does have an external antenna connection.

PDF for the X720, showing the adaptor

http://www.catcdma.com/download/file/drive...kStartGuide.pdf

Maybe will have more to add, but will post this now as my internet is iffy a bit

[loong]

It appears that CAT are replacing the MC727 with the MC760 (after all, it was only launched a year ago!)

http://www.catcdma.com/product/detail_mc760.htm

http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2628/64/

Yes, it does have a connection for an external antenna.

I can only imagine that they are running down supplies of existing modems that are about to be discontinued and that is why they are not letting on about the MC760

Hope that this helps.

If they tell you that the MC727 is "finished" then ask them about the 760 and point out that they are advertising it on their website.

[ThaiLife]

It appears that CAT are replacing the MC727 with the MC760 (after all, it was only launched a year ago!)

http://www.catcdma.com/product/detail_mc760.htm

http://www.evdoinfo.com/content/view/2628/64/

Yes, it does have a connection for an external antenna.

I can only imagine that they are running down supplies of existing modems that are about to be discontinued and that is why they are not letting on about the MC760

Hope that this helps.

If they tell you that the MC727 is "finished" then ask them about the 760 and point out that they are advertising it on their website.

Hi, Thanks for the info, I was wondering what would happen if my current MC727 packed up, and CAT did not offer another USB modem with out the external antenna option, good to know about the MC760

TL

[loong]

And it's a little less expensive as well

[joka]

Hello all,

My CAT connection has been very poor lately, again. I am still using the old aircard though, so am thinking about upgrading to the MC760. Too bad I can't get it for less than 2000 baht, like in America.

There are good CDMA antennaes available in the U.S., has anyone here tried one? I am talking about one of the electrical plug-in jobs with an amplifier.

[John 1]

Does the MC727 accept a sim card. I current use a EC321 and swap sim from Hutch to Cat depending where I'm working.

[loong]

Does the MC727 accept a sim card. I current use a EC321 and swap sim from Hutch to Cat depending where I'm working.

I'm not sure, but you may be confusing the telephone and the internet network. I've not had any experience with EC321 and I thought that all CAT modems had the account details hard wired in. I didn't think that they had any modems that accepted a SIM card

The MC727 and 760 are modems, purely for internet use - not telephone. They definitely do not accept any SIM card

Hutch and CAT have a roaming agreement for their CDMA telephone customers, but not for the CDMA internet access

[loong]

I had a quick look at the EC321 and I see that it doesn't support CDMA EV-DO Rev A, only 1X RTT. So even if you can access the internet in the CAT service area, you wouldn't get much in the way of speed.

[joka]

How about using one of CAT's phones as a modem, is this possible yet?

[loong]

How about using one of CAT's phones as a modem, is this possible yet?

As far as I know - and don't quote me, if you use a mobile phone as a moden, you are going to get the lowest common denominator service wise.

Edit Typo

Edited October 7, 2009 by loong

[HolyHarmonica]

Morn' folks. I'm using an EC226 modem up here in Nong Khai.  I've got a 5 star signal.  This morning at 10am I can use my browser and check my email.  But I cannot send email.  It looks to me like CAT's SMTP server is down.  I usually use relay1.catcdma.com.  Today they told me to try relay.catcdma.com but that didn't work either.  Is anyone else having email sending problems this morning.  The staff told me that I'd have to wait until 4pm for a staff to help me.  

[HolyHarmonica]

Well, well well, maybe my call to 1322 2 0 2 did some good.  I can send email now.

[John 1]

try RELAY.CAT.NET.TH or RELAY2.CAT.NET.TH see if they work for your e-mail

[leftnose]

How about using one of CAT's phones as a modem, is this possible yet?

[leftnose]

How about using one of CAT's phones as a modem, is this possible yet?

Yes, I have been using the Samsung SCH-S179 as my modem for about a year now without any problems.

It is limited in bandwith, but usable for e-mail and small-sized downloads.

If anyone goes this route, be sure to get the USB cable link capable of charging the battery while using the modem on your PC or notebook. Early models did not charge the battery, so after 3 hours you have to disconnect from the PC and charge from an outlet.

Edited October 10, 2009 by leftnose

[HolyHarmonica]

Thanks John1, they do!

[Bryzn]

I am moving to Sukhumvit Soi 22, and the building supposedly has pretty bad internet so I am considering getting this CDMA service. I need very reliable internet, not necessarily fast, but stable. Anyone have experience in Bangkok around that area, or Bangkok in general?

Would Tesco or Carrefour sell them?

Thanks

[Totster]

I am moving to Sukhumvit Soi 22, and the building supposedly has pretty bad internet so I am considering getting this CDMA service. I need very reliable internet, not necessarily fast, but stable. Anyone have experience in Bangkok around that area, or Bangkok in general?

Would Tesco or Carrefour sell them?

Thanks

Hi, I think you'll find that the CAT CDMA service is not available in Bangkok.. you will have to use Hutch, Edge or the buildings own internet.

Regards

Totster

[george]

It's confirmed with CAT customer service. Use their own DNS servers, if you use OpenDNS for example it will be very bad connection.

[Gary A]

I'm on my EDGE connection again. NEVER has CAT EVDO been such a pathetic connection as it is now. For the past week or so it has been up and down and on and off. At this time, it won't even connect even though it shows a full signal.

[Gary A]

My CAT EVDO absolutely totally STINKS. It seems to get worse by the day. It will work great for short periods of time then totally stalls for longer periods of time. If not for my EDGE connection, I'd be out of luck.

[loong]

I am so pissed of with this connection recently. It just keeps getting worse and worse

At times it will work just fine, but then I have periods where it is just totally unusable. Everytime I try to open a new webpage it will disconnect.

This country needs more competition with service providers. they might then just realise that customer satisfaction is important for their business.

I will actually be quite amazed if I am able to post this, it took 5 timeouts before I was able to open this reply page!

[Totster]

Things may improve (more choice at least) once the others get their 3g services rolled out.. might happen in the next 10 years.

totster

[Totster]

Anyone else experiencing a considerable drop in performance today (other than the usual)?

totster

[loong]

Anyone else experiencing a considerable drop in performance today (other than the usual)?

totster

Hello Tots,

Today has been a big improvement compared to recent times. Not great, but usable.

I think that CAT's advertising campaign has worked and they have a lot of new subscribers, but everyone has to share the same infrastructure.

When it's bad, just keep reminding yourself how bad Ipstar was!

As far as i know, all the business users around here have now changed from Ipstar to CAT. I was probably the only user around here when I changed and now there are a lot more sharing the same bandwidth I guess.

[Totster]

On the whole I am happy, it is far better than CrapStar, speed/price

Just today my BKK speed dropped considerably with a very high ping, I may have to check the antenna, as it has been a bit blowy here the last few days.

Totster

[Totster]

On the whole I am happy, it is far better than CrapStar, speed/price

Just today my BKK speed dropped considerably with a very high ping, I may have to check the antenna, as it has been a bit blowy here the last few days.

Totster

Actually, being a bit of a dinlo today, was still connected to my VPN which gave an inaccurate result, it's same as usual.

totster

[bodunchar]

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?

CMDA-EVDO maximum distance for fast connection is about 3-4km. Longer distances will drop to base-connection with the speed of 150kbps upload. Also latency will get much higher.

Here are the approximate CAT telecom CDMA tower locations in Phuket. I already posted the link to the GPS section and hope this is not considered as flooding. The source is a map in CAT Phuket office.

http://internet.panphuket.com/home-internet/cat-cdma

-Pekka

Hi Pekka, thats a great link thanks. Where are the towers or are the base stations on your map the towers? I have heard there is a tower near Prince Of Songkla Uni in Kathu, but its not on your map.

To all, how is the service going in the new year?

[Gary A]

My connection is now usable but still has problems. It stays connected but totally stalls for for maybe a minute at a time. At first I thought it may be my browser but that is not the case. The stalling occurs quite often, maybe every ten minutes but only for a minute or so. It is much better than it was.