Hi.

I will be in Thailand for a little over a month (mostly BKK, but with side trips to Phuket and the like. Need a fast and VERY reliable internet connection to work for about 5 hours per day during regular business hours (i am a trader, so one poorly timed 5 minute internet disconnect could cost me more than the cost of my entire month holiday!). Hotel connections are just not good enough speed-wise, but, particularly for reliability.

Haven't been to Thailand for about 4 years, but internet cafe's back then had pretty good connections- though i'm not sure they were up to the quality i need. 4 years on, i'm hoping they're a good route to go. i am very open to suggestions. I only say internet cafe's because that is the best idea i've come up with on my own.

Thanks.

The only way to get a reliable always-up connection in Thailand is to load balance a DSL line + a USB 3G card, I guess True 3G for bangkok, CAT CDMA for the provinces. I'd think that a 3G card would be a good investment for you - tends to be more stable than DSL. Has a higher lag though so might be problematic for trading. What are you trading during Thai business hours? Don't you need to be online during U.S. market hours?

But if internet cafes were good enough for you last time, they certainly haven't gotten worse. The very expensive connections in the big hotels are often surprisingly crappy. It's hit or miss and you don't now if it's good or bad before trying it out (staff doesn't know anything about it usually).

Best internet cafe kind of connection I ever had was the TOT headquarters in Samui - they have a 6Mbit connection, 1 baht/minute. But that was on Koh Samui, and as I recall - I was there every day - it was down at least once while I was there.

i am a trader, so one poorly timed 5 minute internet disconnect could cost me more than the cost of my entire month holiday!

Internet outages are a fact of life in Thailand, and even 'good' internet connections usually have the odd drop out for a few minutes here and there. And its not uncommon for international cables to get cut and throw the whole country into disarray for days or weeks.

Maybe you should have a real holiday?

i am a trader, so one poorly timed 5 minute internet disconnect could cost me more than the cost of my entire month holiday!

Internet outages are a fact of life in Thailand, and even 'good' internet connections usually have the odd drop out for a few minutes here and there. And its not uncommon for international cables to get cut and throw the whole country into disarray for days or weeks.

The first statement is correct. Even my CAT "premium" line goes down a few times a day.

The second statement - nah. Thailand has not been disconnected wholesale for as long as I can remember, 5 years. Sometimes all of Thailand was slow, like when this cable or that broke for one or another reason. But not offline. These days, chances that it all breaks down are even lower as there are now numerous international gateways.

The only way to get a reliable always-up connection in Thailand is to load balance a DSL line + a USB 3G card, I guess True 3G for bangkok, CAT CDMA for the provinces. I'd think that a 3G card would be a good investment for you - tends to be more stable than DSL. Has a higher lag though so might be problematic for trading. What are you trading during Thai business hours? Don't you need to be online during U.S. market hours?

But if internet cafes were good enough for you last time, they certainly haven't gotten worse. The very expensive connections in the big hotels are often surprisingly crappy. It's hit or miss and you don't now if it's good or bad before trying it out (staff doesn't know anything about it usually).

Best internet cafe kind of connection I ever had was the TOT headquarters in Samui - they have a 6Mbit connection, 1 baht/minute. But that was on Koh Samui, and as I recall - I was there every day - it was down at least once while I was there.

yeah, the worst internet connection i had when last in Thailand was at the JW Marriott business centre- go figure. Best was actually some internet cafe full of gamers in the middle of nowhere area in BKK way away from downtown.

I trade asian markets: HK, Japan, Taiwan- futures. As such, the only server i will be connected to is in Hong Kong- so i am hopeful that the ping isn't too horribe. Only really trade the US around major economic releases.

Yeah, i was wondering about being able to use my iphone or 3g laptop card as backup. My plan is to (hopefully) find an internet cafe or the like with a very good connection with a wireless backup to allow me to get out of a position if the other goes down. i can always call, but by the time i get thru security questions, they get the order in etc etc....... it's always a minimum of 5 minutes- even if not on hold. waaaayyy toooo long to avoid heart palpitation! i know from in the US that even there wireless 3g has too much of a lag for my type of trading- so it will only get good for emergency backup.

have googled trying to find reviews of different internet cafe's in Thailand without an success.

Best internet cafe kind of connection I ever had was the TOT headquarters in Samui - they have a 6Mbit connection, 1 baht/minute.

missed this part first go 'round (trading and reading forums is not a good combo- on lunch break now).

anyway, was this an anomaly or does TOT have these type of offices with connections throughout Thailand? if so, one would think that would be a good option.

Maybe you should have a real holiday?

ah, if only that were an option. gotta pay for the trip somehow. that and 2009 was an unmitigated disaster to my net worth. finally, i really view this as a test run for living in Thailand part of the year. ability to work is obviously paramount in that decision. As such, i want my working vacation to approximate those conditions as much as possible. The other option is Singapore, which i know will work for trading, but Thailand is less expensive and certainly more fun.