Mobilephone Shop With Good English In Cm?

[Dustoff]

A friend recently discovered, after buying his phone and getting on with AIS that their software forces you to use their own internet connection rather than being able to dial direct to one like Inet Thailand.

I am looking for a Motorola or like-quality phone with a USB cable for my laptop with direct-dial access to my own internet server. No other fancy stuff wanted, just a very basic phone...

Any suggestions, or am I dreaming?

Thanks

Dustoff

[Ajarn]

A friend recently discovered, after buying his phone and getting on with AIS that their software forces you to use their own internet connection rather than being able to dial direct to one like Inet Thailand. 

I am looking for a Motorola or like-quality phone with a USB cable for my laptop with direct-dial access to my own internet server.  No other fancy stuff wanted, just a very basic phone...

Any suggestions, or am I dreaming?

Thanks

Dustoff

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think your best bet is the AIS sales center inside the AIS building on Thapae rd., or the Telewiz shop in the soi, across from the AIS building.... They have the best selection of accessories that I've run across...

And maybe Pantip?

[Dustoff]

Thanks and I will check them out perhaps as a phone-purchase source?

But, as I stated, I am not interested in them as a cellphone service provider so my question remains.

I make frequent trips into the depths of the Land of No Landlines and need internet, or at least email access, from my account with Inet. AIS simply is not going to supply this in any reasonable manner from what I have seen...

Who are the major cellphone service providers here and where can I find an office of their's who provide English-speaking employees? Keeping in mind, of course, that it is MY problem that I have yet to learn sufficient Thai to deal with such technical things...

Dustoff

[chanchao]

Ok, don't go that route: You don't need your existing I Net internet. That would mean double costs, one for your internet subsccription, and then 2-3 baht per minute (or whatever) dialling into it. Plus that's slow; very slow.

You want to use GPRS internet. Both AIS and DTAC have plans for it, like 99 baht for 30 MB or 250 baht for 12 hours or 990 baht (?) unlimited. If you're mostly doing email then paying by the megabyte may make sense; you can be online all the time but only pay for actual bytes sent and received. This works very well for instant messaging like MSN/ICQ, too.

So GPRS is cool. Google for it. Many phones these days connect to your PC using Bluetooth (a wireless connection), which works quite well.

Oh, Motorola blows. For a basic phone + GPRS (and bluetooth) I'd look into Sony Ericsson phones. T630 is very affordable now. I use Nokia myself, but if you're just looking for a basic phone then a recent Nokia Series 60 phone would be overkill perhaps. (Though they rock. )

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Ajarn]

In my post above, I was thinking more about your request for a USB cable... Not carried many places, but the two I mentioned are your best bet, in my experience when looking last year..

I never did find a cable, so I just used the infrared ports- which is what I should have done in the first place. And that would be my suggestion to you, too.

[Dustoff]

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

I reside full-time in Chiang Mai and use landline/Inet almost exclusively for email access and access to my Stateside accounts where I create/maintain webpages for myself and non-profit orgs. The only time I find an inconvenience is when I am in the more remote regions of Thailand where finding a landline for access is difficult, to say the least.

In order to exchange the info I recieve/send out, I wish to be able to download/upload email and website info from my laptop, not just surf the internet.

My ideal, and the only thing that will work for me, is to be able to direct-dial Inet thru a cellphone and access my account directly, not just simply through AIS internet access. Cost is not a consideration...

While I appreciate that this may not acutally be available in Thailand, I would at least like to find a cellphone service provider with employees who speak my language (MANY apologies for having not learned Thai as yet!) so that I may set this up or be told specifically why I cannot.

Not to mention that my beloved Thai wife rides a motorbike and I am most interested in having an emergency number available...

Thanks,

da Dustoff

[Ajarn]

Sorry for my continued confusion, but I can't see why you can't dial your Inet account from a handphone if you want to... Can't you simply make the data connection to your laptop, then dial through your cellphone? It seems there should be no problem accessing your INET email account from your laptop via your phone...

Granted, I'm no expert in this by any means, so maybe someone can set me straight...

All the cellphone provider's sales folks should have English speakers, or maybe grab your wife to help you with communication?

[Dustoff]

Thanks so much for the replies but, so far, none of them refer to what I need.

I can dial Inet directly with the mobile while it is connected to my computer but unless the connection is dialed with the Inet's dialer in the computer, the connection is not 'negotiated' and Inet hangs up.

Infra-red is sorta convenient but is the slowest connection to the computer, even slower than the serial connection provided by Samsung and some others along with the GPRS software.

There are some VERY good and necessary reasons I cannot work with simply surfing the internet with a mobile or even simply reading my email there. I need very much to be able to download these to my computer and upload webpage upgrades for the non-profit orgs I volunteer for as a webmaster.

I can order a triple-frequency phone from the States or somewhere else but that still leaves me with needing a Thailand mobile service provider that will simply let me dial my internet provider (Inet) from my computer. This is ALL I want and need - except for a provider center who understands enough English to know what I want/need.

All of your responses are most encouraging. It is good to be on message boards where others are so willing to help however they can. Thanks again...

Dustoff

[Ajarn]

He wants to use his handphone in the boonies, but doesn't want to use AIS, it seems... In my experience, AIS's coverage in the boonies is far superior to anything else..

I'll bet he ends up using an internet cafe in the boonies, like the rest of us

[Dustoff]

....an dial Inet directly with the mobile while it is connected to my computer but unless the connection is dialed with the Inet's dialer in the computer, the connection is not 'negotiated' and Inet hangs up.

Did you consider the fact that the problem could be at I-net ?

As I can dial-up anywhere with my mobile phone and have my pc conected to it. But I still do not understand WHY u need to dial up to I-net ..... imo there is no reason for that at all. What ever you want to do .....

Chang Noi

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My needs are far more complex than simply reading my email and this is seemingly not the appropriate forum for my questions... All I wanted to know from the very beginning was if someone knew of a cellphone provider's office in CM with techno-English capability, etc...

No worries and thanks for your responses!

da Dustoff

[maitembot]

And I always thought there were good TROLL spotters here

[PeaceBlondie]

I have no idea what this is all about, but if he can't explain it to native speakers who seem to know a few things, how's he going to explain it to Thais?

Welcome to the jungle!

[Steve2UK]

....an dial Inet directly with the mobile while it is connected to my computer but unless the connection is dialed with the Inet's dialer in the computer, the connection is not 'negotiated' and Inet hangs up.

Did you consider the fact that the problem could be at I-net ?

As I can dial-up anywhere with my mobile phone and have my pc conected to it. But I still do not understand WHY u need to dial up to I-net ..... imo there is no reason for that at all. What ever you want to do .....

Chang Noi

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My needs are far more complex than simply reading my email and this is seemingly not the appropriate forum for my questions... All I wanted to know from the very beginning was if someone knew of a cellphone provider's office in CM with techno-English capability, etc...

No worries and thanks for your responses!

da Dustoff

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I suggest that you post your query in the "Internet, computers etc" forum on here. The expert folk there actually love this kind of question and may well identify the solution for you - if there is one. Someone may even be able to give you the spec in Thai - so that you could show it to the Chiang mai suppliers.............

This is Thailand - persevere

Edited March 13, 2005 by Steve2UK

[Dustoff]

Thanks Steve and that was what I meant by this is seemingly not the appropriate forum for my questions.

I am already on the tech forum and receiving very beneficial help.

Thanks to you all for responding and sorry if any of you for some reason took offense.

The Troll

Edited March 13, 2005 by Dustoff

[chanchao]

Sheesh.. for anyone interested, it's kind of funny:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...32entry301232

Indeed it's more on-topic overthere. (But pretty much the same answers..