Internet Access In The Phi Mai Area

[Hornell]

I have a house and land near Phi Mai just off the Mitraparp Road. I would be interested to know from any farang living in the 'boonies' how they manage their internet access. I don't yet have a telephone line.

[afarang]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @. C.A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

[Hornell]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @.C .A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

Thanks very much for the swift reply. A couple of questions: 1. I'm not sure I understand " !1.I.P.Star" and 2. ditto @.C .A.T. C.D.M.A. Where would I get hold of either of these two systems? Yes we have mobile phone towers pretty close.

[Tropicalevo]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @. C.A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

Good Advice about the CDMA - but crikey, they are stitching you up a bit on the purchase price out there in the sticks. On Samui (most expensive place in Thailand?) the CDMA device is 6,000 to buy.

[afarang]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @. C.A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

Good Advice about the CDMA - but crikey, they are stitching you up a bit on the purchase price out there in the sticks. On Samui (most expensive place in Thailand?) the CDMA device is 6,000 to buy.

That does include the antenna, save B2,000 if you do not need it. Also depends on which model Modem you get. Each later model seems to go up by about B 500

[afarang]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @.C .A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

Thanks very much for the swift reply. A couple of questions: 1. I'm not sure I understand " !1.I.P.Star" and 2. ditto @.C .A.T. C.D.M.A. Where would I get hold of either of these two systems? Yes we have mobile phone towers pretty close.

I.P star is the company that sells Satellite systems. They are in Bangkok, near Central World , Sukumvit. C.A.T. is the Communications Authority of Thailand. You buy the system(modem) from wherever there is a C.A.T. office.In your case , either Phi Mai or Korat. Satellite comes via a dish outside, connected to a box, which connects to your computer. Their technician hooks the whole thing up. C.D.M.A. comes via a modem , which plug in to your computer. Very Easy. Hope this helps.

[Hornell]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @.C .A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

Thanks very much for the swift reply. A couple of questions: 1. I'm not sure I understand " !1.I.P.Star" and 2. ditto @.C .A.T. C.D.M.A. Where would I get hold of either of these two systems? Yes we have mobile phone towers pretty close.

I.P star is the company that sells Satellite systems. They are in Bangkok, near Central World , Sukumvit. C.A.T. is the Communications Authority of Thailand. You buy the system(modem) from wherever there is a C.A.T. office.In your case , either Phi Mai or Korat. Satellite comes via a dish outside, connected to a box, which connects to your computer. Their technician hooks the whole thing up. C.D.M.A. comes via a modem , which plug in to your computer. Very Easy. Hope this helps.

That's tremendous, many thanks for the advice.

[Tropicalevo]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @. C.A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

Good Advice about the CDMA - but crikey, they are stitching you up a bit on the purchase price out there in the sticks. On Samui (most expensive place in Thailand?) the CDMA device is 6,000 to buy.

[afarang]

@ ways to go. You do nt need a land line. !1.I.P.Star,internet by satellite. Costs to install ,around B5,000-6,000 + B 1650, (including V.A.T.) Reliable, except during VERY heavy rain, when you can lose connection to the Satellite. Quite fast. @. C.A.T. C.D.M.A.. Costs around B 9,000 to buy the modem + B 850 per month, (including V.A.T). If you are within 3-4 kilometres of a mobile phone tower, you should not need an antenna. Further away and you will. I have used both ,and much prefer C.D.M.A. . It is faster, much faster than a land line, Reliability is very good. Good Luck.

Good Advice about the CDMA - but crikey, they are stitching you up a bit on the purchase price out there in the sticks. On Samui (most expensive place in Thailand?) the CDMA device is 6,000 to buy.

N

As I said, price includes antenna- don't like people getting nasty surprises ,Antenna about B 2,000, if you need it. Each new model of modem seems to cost about B500 more. Mine is Novotel Ovation M C 760. Cost about B 7,000.Mine was more expensive than my friends, who bought his 6 months earlier, being a later model.

[jazzbo]

I would have said before I got it that it was an unnecessary extravagance but I now have a BlackBerry with 24/7 DTAC INTERNET -- I have INTERNET wherever there is a mobile phone connection which in Thailand is just about anywhere... if I can make a phone call I can get internet and email.

Also, if I travel for a day or 2 I do not have to bring my laptop and then leave it in a hotel room or elsewhere ... I already have in-room WiFi but it goes in and out and is often out a critical moment ... I pay monthly flat rate to DTAC 650B + VAT.

[Hornell]

I would have said before I got it that it was an unnecessary extravagance but I now have a BlackBerry with 24/7 DTAC INTERNET -- I have INTERNET wherever there is a mobile phone connection which in Thailand is just about anywhere... if I can make a phone call I can get internet and email.

Also, if I travel for a day or 2 I do not have to bring my laptop and then leave it in a hotel room or elsewhere ... I already have in-room WiFi but it goes in and out and is often out a critical moment ... I pay monthly flat rate to DTAC 650B + VAT.

Thank you for that, most interesting. I was about to ask about something like this which one can use anywhere. It sounds like the answer. Does it have to be a Blackberry?

[jazzbo]

Not sure but I don' think so ... Nokia or iPhone as well.

[afarang]

I take it you are using your Blackberry ,as a computer?Not connecting it by a cable to a computer.I have no experience with that.However I have used a Nokia phone(phone cost about B 6,000),with a cable connection to a note book and a P.C..It cost B100 for 20 hours.It works, but it is so VERY slow,it is boring.Good for someone who uses a computer for a little time. C.D.M.A. is unlimited.And Much faster. You need to be aware of how much time you will be using your computer.If you are a heavy user, the phone is awful.I was very happy to find out about C.D.M.A.

[jazzbo]

I use my BlackBerry 8520 Curve strictly as a wireless computer ... no telephone calls ... it is very fast at least for emails w/ reasonable size attachments and web-browsing ... haven't yet tried to work with PDF files ... I am not suggesting it as a replacement for a PC/laptop ... just that you are always connected wherever you are... Many websites (including ThaiVisa.com ) have a default to a fast mobile version (where you can still post) but you can switch to the full version i.e. for a bank account or other data intensive mode