Hi,

I was considering buying a PDA phone primarily so I could chat to my Skype (VOIP) contacts anyplace,anytime,anywhere. Great in principle, but unless I'm missing something, not exactly practical in reality.

Currently it seems you can only get a wireless broadband internet connection on your phone either if you're sitting next to your computer or you are at a hotspot in a hotel,cafe etc..Again, not exactly practical if you are always on the go.

So I have a couple of questions (forgive my stupididty )

1. Is there another way to do what I want - freely roam around and always be connected to wirelss broadband internet on my phone?

2. If not, will the WIFI network ever have the same reach as the GSM network, and if so, when can we expect this level of coverage?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Later,

whooliggen

There is something coming in about a year or two called WiMax which will be a WiFi type network for a wide area.

If the governments would just get out of the way, these things would be deployed much more quickly as there is plenty of demand for these services.

I would think that 'edge' would be fast enough.. So a Smartphone running skype and using edge you would only have your data bills not your long distance bills..

Thanks to both of you...

To LivinLOS - again, sorry for my slowness, but what is EDGE?

1. Is there another way to do what I want - freely roam around and always be connected to wirelss broadband internet on my phone?

2. If not, will the WIFI network ever have the same reach as the GSM network, and if so, when can we expect this level of coverage?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Wireless roaming yes, but not at a broadband speed. There is very good coverage of GPRS in Thailand, but it is very slow (a bit slower than a regular dial up modem). EDGE is basically the next version of the same thing, its 2-4 x faster but still pretty slow, and is only really available in Bangkok at the moment.

WIFI will never have the same reach as the phone network (though maybe there will be good coverage in city areas in a few years). The good news is that phone networks are getting faster and broadband data access is on the verge of becoming a reality. But don't hold your breath !

Intel launched a chipset for WiMax a few days ago. That means that manufacturers of laptops and other mobile devices can start building into their higher-end models as of now. The general prediction is that it'll start to really take off in 1-2 years, and that it'll quickly become cheaper for an ISP to provide broadband services via a Wimax network, than a ground-based network.

A single Wifi transmitter has a realistic range of a few 10's of metres. A single Wimax transmitter has a realistic range of a few 10's of kilometres.

My own prediction (well, and hope) is that the Thai network, which currently lags so far behind, will be in a position to upgrade it at just the right time, when the obvious technology starts to become widely available. I mean that there would be a lack of vested interest in maintaining an almost non-existent ground-based or Wifi network.

Many thanks for all of your inputs - has really helped shine a light into those murky depths.

Going back to the Skype issue - currently GPRS cannot support VOIP, only the text chat service. With EDGE capability, would this provide enough bandwidth to make VOIP a reality or does EDGE simply just enable higher data transfer speeds??

The more you find out the more it makes you realise how much you don't know..if that makes any kind of sense before a few ales

time to rectify that one then

Thanks again,

whooliggen