Availablity Of Cat Cdma

[hijiji]

Just went to the CAT office in Krabi to try get a CDMA setup. Apparently there are no devices available until maybe next month or December. And they said the price of the air card is 2499 but that is the previous model and are unsure about the new model.

Anyone know if there is anywhere I could get this now? I need the air card and somewhere to signup. If this means catching a bus to some random province then this is what I will do. I really need some faster internet and ADSL is unavailable, EDGE is crap slow, Satellite isnt going to happen I dont own the property, yeah CDMA is what I need but am told I can't get it now.

Thanks.

[Digitalbanana]

Unless you have an incredibly old laptop I don't see much use for an aircard. Everyone is using USB these days. The fact that CAT is still promoting them says much indeed for the old dinosaur regime.

http://www.catcdma.com/product/product.htm

Go to other CAT offices and demand what you want. I had a colleague get a similar brush off in Phichit and he had to travel to Bangkok to buy what he wanted. The wonders of government bureaucracy. Note these are post paid accounts so you'll need and address and ID, not to mention a CAT tower in range.

[sarahsbloke]

CAT CDMA USB 760 dongle 5,900bht

CAT CDMA (MIFI) rechargable personal hotspot 7,900 bht

CAT home wireless/wired router for use with USB dongle 4,500bht

CAT rechargable hotspot for use with USB dongle 4,900bht

both include 3 months unlimited airtime, not sure what you wanted to buy .......

Edited October 9, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[hijiji]

Correction, USB - not air card.

CAT CDMA USB 760 dongle 5,900bht

CAT CDMA (MIFI) rechargable personal hotspot 7,900 bht

CAT home wireless/wired router for use with USB dongle 4,500bht

CAT rechargable hotspot for use with USB dongle 4,900bht

both include 3 months unlimited airtime, not sure what you wanted to buy .......

I wanted the USB dongle and an account. Told not available. ID and address is not a problem.

Where to buy USB dongle and get an account? Krabi and Trang office said sometime November.

[Digitalbanana]

There are CAT offices all over Thailand (one in each province?). My colleague had to travel to the Bangkok CAT office to get the USB dongle he wanted. You get the account at the same time as the dongle is hardware fixed to the account. If the Krabi office was of any use at all they could tell you where to travel to to find stock.

[hijiji]

There are CAT offices all over Thailand (one in each province?). My colleague had to travel to the Bangkok CAT office to get the USB dongle he wanted. You get the account at the same time as the dongle is hardware fixed to the account. If the Krabi office was of any use at all they could tell you where to travel to to find stock.

Thanks, Krabi office said it is unavailable anywhere until maybe November or December. Hard to believe hence my post here.

[tolsti]

I got mine from the CAT shop in Central Festival Phuket. 2ndd floor over in the left hand corner. Dongle, works a treat. WP and Passport copy needed. First 3 months free. Will only work in certain provinces. Won't work in Bangkok.

[hijiji]

Nice one, thanks, will give them a try.

[sarahsbloke]

Unavailable anywhere??

Well 10 days ago when I bought mine from the CAT shop at Pantrip Plaza in CM .... they had boxes of them.

They took a photocopy of my Thai driving licence.

Edited October 11, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[hijiji]

Unavailable anywhere??

Well 10 days ago when I bought mine from the CAT shop at Pantrip Plaza in CM .... they had boxes of them.

They took a photocopy of my Thai driving licence.

Well called CAT Phuket has no CDMA product.

CM might be a bit far from here.

Here's a thai site that has some CDMA USB modems (half way down) http://www.hispeedaircard.com/ - could I just buy one of these then get the service connected?

[4evermaat]

CAT CDMA USB 760 dongle 5,900bht

CAT CDMA (MIFI) rechargable personal hotspot 7,900 bht

CAT home wireless/wired router for use with USB dongle 4,500bht

CAT rechargable hotspot for use with USB dongle 4,900bht

both include 3 months unlimited airtime, not sure what you wanted to buy .......

I got mine from the CAT shop in Central Festival Phuket. 2ndd floor over in the left hand corner. Dongle, works a treat. WP and Passport copy needed. First 3 months free. Will only work in certain provinces. Won't work in Bangkok.

Avoid the after-the-fact wireless router/hotspot as the connection speed is limited. Get either the USB dongles, or the MIFI hotspot modem.

I believe the hotspot or the USB dongle 5900 or above comes with 2 months free. I got the EC150 for 3000bht new and did not qualify for the promotion at the time. They say if you do not have a work permit, they make you prepay. But they typically don't straight cut you off if your bill isn't paid right on time. I usually pay for 2 months at a time anyway. They have a refund policy for unused portion of service for termination.

This was about 5 months ago @ the CAT CDMA office near Junceleyon in patong beach, phuket. They had a ton of product, and a "used" list. They keep a list of people who want to sell their equipment used. I figured for 3000, I was new to thailand and didn't want any hassles, so just bought new. You may get lucky with the MiFi hotspot.

I'm currently traveling through Chumphon provence (Lang Suan) and most of these guesthouses give you a blank stare when you ask for internet. But I'm able to pick up EVDO signal most places. Good idea to set the modem software to "Force EVDO only", otherwise, it likes to switch to the 1x network.

It's not blazing fast, but great option for high speed and portability.

All I needed was copy of passport. no work permit, they demand prepay 1 month.