Buying My Own Usb Wireless Adapter

[luvthailand]

I can get a new, unlocked Sierra Wireless 885 USB modem for around 1700 baht in the USA. Sierra modems seem to be respected by many posters on this board. I am planning a trip around the Philippines and parts of Thailand and I am hoping to have a single modem that works for all. I am already familiar with the requirements in the Philippines. Having my own modem is a good option there because I can buy the sim cards cheap (Globe and SmartBro) and connect with whoever has the best connection.

The modem datasheet is here:

http://www.sierrawireless.com/resources/pr...tasheet_web.pdf

But I am wondering if this adapter will cover any popular choice of wireless access at this time in Thailand.

The specs say it covers:

* 850/1900/2100 Mhz WCDMA - North America; Europe and Asia Pacific

* 850/900 Mhz GSM/GPRS/EDGE

* 1800/1900 Mhz GSM/GPRS/EDGE

3G UMTS 3.5G HSDPA

So my first question is, does this adapter cover the frequencies for all the main options in Thailand (Tru/DTAC/AIS), and for the reasonable future (next 6 months)?

Secondly, is it reasonable to have my own adapter instead of buying the vendor's adapter? I am wondering if configuration can be fairly tricky or if the vendors have issues when you don't use their adapter that is sold with their data kits.

Thanks in advance.

LuvThailand

[Gary A]

I think most higher end cell phones will give you the same thing. This is the Nokia E 51;

2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network HSDPA 850 / 2100

[luvthailand]

I think most higher end cell phones will give you the same thing. This is the Nokia E 51;

2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

3G Network HSDPA 850 / 2100

Thank you for the suggestion. But it looks like it costs around 7500 baht in the USA Plus I already have an Ipod Touch for some mobile surfing (although it requires WiFi) and I already have a cheap but decent quad band phone. And can one receive calls while surfing? I had figured to buy a separate sim for talking and surfing, with the talking sim in my quad band phone and the surfing sim in my USB adapter. I am not even sure if there are separate data and voice sim types in Thailand.

Q: So does the N51 cover all the various Thailand wireless options? If it does, then it sounds like the Sierra wireless adapter would, also.

LuvThailand

[JoePai]

The good thing about having a separate usb device (rather than phone) is that with Ais you can get a plan which offers very cheap data with a new SIM - the same number as your phone. i.e. 2 SIM's, both same number, but one for phone and one for data. One bill the end of every month makes things so much easier

[whyshouldi]

I don't know if this helps..

but when in thailand i use 2 nokia phones with 1 2 call sim cards

one I register for the internet 350 baht for 100 hours

the other I use for private calls

great connection every time

cheers for help on my topic

[Gary A]

My AIS SIM card does both voice and EDGE. An incoming call puts the Internet connection on hold. I use pre-paid.

Using a stand alone SIM modem is handy but you need an extra SIM card.

[luvthailand]

I did some more research, and it appears that this modem will not work on the AIS 3G network which is at a non-standard 900 MHz, like is offered in Chiang Mai, for instance. This is due to the delay by the Thai government of approving 3G spectrum (2100 MHz).

In fact, I don't know of any modem that includes 900 MHz HSDPA. Apparently, once it gets Thai government approval, AIS wants to heavily invest in the 2100 MHz equipment. But it will probably be quite some time before this happens. So using the AIS 3G network requires buying a modem from them, there is no other solution that I know of.

LuvThailand