Apple Mac

[Tom Kagai]

Does anyone happily run an Apple Mac Powerbook while over in the land of smiles?

I've only really noticed PC's and I want to be sure that broadband ISP's over there do support Macs.

Thanks in advance.

[Abandon]

Yes a few do, but not many. Mostly in Thailand the dreaded mac-word sends people Don't expect anyone to be able to help you much. There is an official Mac centre in the World Trade Center and they are not too bad. Though you have never bought anything from them so....

The ISPs mostly say they do not support Mac but in reality it should not be a problem. The 2 main ISPs for broadband can be set up but you will have to do it yourself. For TRUE broadband (the biggest adsl provider) you need to set the vpi/vci settings to 100/0, for Loxinfo change them to 35/0. Both these services give free modems (Billion) which work well if you DL the drivers and change above settings.

Your only problem is if you are not self sufficient and need support.

There's a thread in here about import tax - from that it sounds as if you might have to pay a tax on bringing the computer into the country.

Edited March 15, 2005 by pandit35

[grrr]

I have a 12" PowerBook that works very well with ADSL, public WiFi, dial-up, and even GPRS with my mobile phone. For broadband/ADSL just get a router instead of a USB modem and you are all set. I'm sure if you gave all the Windows users a Mac for a week they would be converts! Give a Mac user a Windows PC and they might hit you. Viruses are pretty much non-existent, and spyware is not a problem at all.

[Abandon]

grrr - the free usb modem works fine with a Mac if you change the vpi/vci settings. The routers are harder to set up on all systems especially if you use certain VOI services, Bit Torrent etc.. as you will need to set up port forwarding.

[OldAsiaHand]

You'll find there's no problem at all. There are excellent Mac retailers in Bangkoki, far more helpful and knowledgable on the whole than any PC retailer I've ever talked to here. The Mac store out on Soi Thonglor is as slick as any you'll find in LA and it's run by a Brit.

Granted the Mac is considered to be a very high end product here and as such is frequently caught up in the sort of I-have-less-money-than-you class warfare which is all to common here (and on this forum). Still, that are a lot of us who run Powerbooks here and we're glad as heck that we do.

Edited March 16, 2005 by OldAsiaHand

[Abandon]

Mac store out on Soi Thonglor is

where's that? full address....

cheers

[OldAsiaHand]

It's in J-Avenue, the new shopping centre about halfway between Sukhumvit and Petchburi on the west side of Thonglor. There's a Villa market, a Greyhound restaurant, an Au Bon Pain et al there. The Apple store is owned by the same folks who own the one in Saim Discovery, It's on the ground level right in the middle and facing the (small) parking lot. Ask for Ben.

[Tom Kagai]

Ask for Ben.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I already have a machine (Powerbook G4), but the kind of advice that I'm going to need is, what kind of ethernet modem to go for and a reliable ISP (with English speaking support?).

Maybe you guys could give me a heads up already. (I think my existing modem is set specifically with UK settings and I'm definitely no techie). In fact, doesn't one of the Mac wireless network routers have a built in modem? Is that up to the job?

Anyway, thanks for all the info too date. I'm a lot more confident now, it would be dreadful to have to revert back to microsoft.

[Abandon]

SAMART LOXINFO and TRUE all offer fair adsl services that can run with a mac so long as you change the vpi/vci settings to that service. Their free usb modems work just fine if you are not networking machines.

[buadhai]

SAMART  LOXINFO  and TRUE all offer fair adsl services that can run with a mac so long as you change the vpi/vci settings to that service. Their free usb modems work just fine if you are not networking machines.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you use the free USB modem, couldn't you connect the Mac's ethernet port to the upstream port of a router/switch/hub and then use the Mac's built-in software router (or something like IPNet Router) to share the connection?

[OldAsiaHand]

If you use the free USB modem, couldn't you connect the Mac's ethernet port to the upstream port of a router/switch/hub and then use the Mac's built-in software router (or something like IPNet Router) to share the connection?

Yes, that should work, but if you're using a PowerBook, there's an even easier approach.

I'm using an Airport here with several PowerBooks. Just plugged True straight into the Airport and off I went. No muss, no fuss, no configuration problems at all.

[buadhai]

I'm using an Airport here with several PowerBooks. Just plugged True straight into the Airport and off I went. No muss, no fuss, no configuration problems at all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Using the USB modem or what?

[OldAsiaHand]

Using the USB modem or what?

The Airport requires an ethernet connection with your modem, but on request, True will provide a modem that provides both USB and ethernet ports. The brand name they gave me is, believe it or not, a Billion. Those Taiwanese sure can come up with great names, can't they?

[buadhai]

Using the USB modem or what?

The Airport requires an ethernet connection with your modem, but on request, True will provide a modem that provides both USB and ethernet ports. The brand name they gave me is, believe it or not, a Billion. Those Taiwanese sure can come up with great names, can't they?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, I was under the impression that True only provided a USB modem. Glad to know Ethernet is an option.