Ais Or Dtac?

[Thug]

Which network is more convenient?? Privileges, promotions, fees, good signal on the phone??

I am willing to change my phone number so I need some advise here

Thanks

[ilyushin]

Try DTAC. My wife uses it and seems much cheaper / mth/cell and equal in service. I use 2 different cells, Moto and Nokia on AIS and it is only fair service and higher statements. DTAC has on-going promotions and packages.Just my thoughts! Hutch still around?

[cdnvic]

AIS has a larger coverage area, but it is more expensive and it depends on how comfortable with the PM (or his maid) getting money everytime you press <send>.

cv

[Buff-horns]

AIS seems more reliable if you are moving around country regions ,but DTAC seems less reliable . AIS you pay more than DTAC.

I seem to get more bad connections with DTAC.then i end up using AIS again.

[Thug]

ilyushin: Yes Hutch is still around, but I'm not going to get it in any way.

Prolly will just stick to AIS because of privileges and coverage. Still need to check some other things out thou

[yuyi]

Prolly will just stick to AIS because of ... coverage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Coverage? AIS better?

When will people stop to tell that nonsense?

There are areas where DTAC is better, and there are areas where AIS is better (I haven't found one yet though).

As I posted here already, I got told in the deepest Isaan, there where all the sick buffalos live, that only AIS would work there. Even in a phone shop selling DTAC stuff.

But the signal strength on my DTAC was 2 ticks better than their AIS. 2 ticks is a lot. I could still use the phone as it is, they needed an antenna on a 10 meter post, and even with that my signal was better.

So much about the coverage area

[indolent]

AIS has generally better coverage in my experience. Where I am (rural Phayao) it's the only available operator. But not always the case as the previous poster shows .

For a week AIS deemed it necessary to send me tens of text messages saying they couldn't activate my GPRS package when I tried using GRPS. Somewhat irritating.

It all depends

[monty]

Not sure about Dtac, but one thing I like with AIS is when you call customer service (1175) and choose English you actually get to talk with somebody who speaks English!

At my girlfiends parents' house there is only AIS signal, movet about 5 clicks to the north and only Dtac is available.

[Totster]

I would prefer to use D-tac but there is no coverage in my wife's village, so I have to use AIS, which is ok anyway.

Why prefer D-tac - cheaper

totster

[yuyi]

Not sure about Dtac, but one thing I like with AIS is when you call customer service (1175) and choose English you actually get to talk with somebody who speaks English!

Same with DTAC. I had a GPRS problem with them once, a billing problem actually, and you could even say it was my fault because I did not see the letters about changes which they send to the Thai address in sick buffolo village, which I used when registering for GPRS with them, because they did not want me without showing my work permit at that time, which I did not carry with me, and I did not see the SMSs they did send me, because I didn't use that card all the time (Hutch cdma internet is so much better...)

Anyway, I got the service people, in English, they did even have to call the manager, because I told them to shove the 4000+ baht "per megabyte downloaded" bill up their axx, which I got for 4 hours of email and updating some files, using up all the standard credit line, and switch me back to unlimited. And in the process they did call me back, as they promised.

Now 4000 baht is a lot for a Thai company to shove anywhere, but they did, they only asked me to wait for the next day, then the unlimited would be active again, and I would not have to pay the 4000+ baht, just the monthly fee, as before.

As said, it was not really their fault. I asked friendly, but insisting, and they did give me what I wanted, all negotiated on the phone with the service people. They did make the promised call back.

I do not think AIS would have made the 4000+ baht bill dissappear. I experienced them as rather inflexible. However DTAC service did shine!

At my girlfiends parents' house there is only AIS signal, movet about 5 clicks to the north and only Dtac is available.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So the best coverage area does not help, if it is not there where you need it. I even had experienced holes in AIS's network within BKK, in the sukhumvit area, where despite a good signal strength you cannot make a call with AIS. And that exactly in the condo I used to live. Now you have your nice AIS VIP number, and the long awaited call comes in, and you cannot take it And this is a permanent problem there. DTAC / Orange work fine there though

So check where you will be most of the time, and see how your favorite operator works there.

Let me add also Orange as operator. Low low costs, and works fine almost everywhere. Not in some very remote areas may be. In sick buffalo village mentioned earlier, Orange worked only near the school (AIS did not, btw). I did not test Orange with these 10 meter antennas they use there to get AIS, but I assume it would work also. I use Orange without any problems in all BKK and Chonburi area, and down the south, even in Samui. It is simply nonsense to say not to use it because behind the third mountain left of Chiang rai there is no Orange signal, and on Koh Tao, and I never go there anyway.

Also why forgetting Hutch? Cheap, and works really good, at least in and around BKK and down the Eastern seaboard. Their internet access using cdma is lightyears ahead of all the others in speed and reliability, be it AIS and even DTAC's EDGE. What do you say, it does not work behind the third mountain left of Chiang Rai, where you might go one day? Oh well No problem, just pay Toxin's AIS for the myth it works everywhere, it's your money

[Plus+]

The first time I asked Hutch about their cdma Internet they told me that none of their phones can be connected to a computer, not even PDA they were selling for 30k.

Second time I looked they had aircards but their speed was only up to 155kbps and they advertised it as "almost like a modem". Is it any better now?

On Dtac's EDGE I routinely get 150 kbps download speeds, which, I admit, is slower than 250kbps I used to get just a few months earlier but still faster than I get on my school's ADSL.

[yuyi]

The first time I asked Hutch about their cdma Internet they told me that none of their phones can be connected to a computer, not even PDA they were selling for 30k.

Second time I looked they had aircards but their speed was only up to 155kbps and they advertised it as "almost like a modem". Is it any better now?

It always was. A modem has only max 56 kbps.

On Dtac's EDGE I routinely get 150 kbps download speeds, which, I admit, is slower than 250kbps I used to get just a few months earlier but still faster than I get on my school's ADSL.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Plus+, I did write a longer post about this subject very recently here, with lots of details. You might want to look it up.

In short:

Hutch has currently

- 2 phones which you can connect to your PC, and

- 1 USB modem "Airplus", and

- 1 PCMCIA card sierra wireless (which is currently not available though).

I get with EDGE sometimes download peaks in the range you describe (20 kBps, notice the B, not . But in average it is much slower, and downloads often get interrupted by timeouts.

Hutch cdma gives me and many others here a reliable internet connection with download speeds of around 15 kBps continuously. This is 3 times modem speed.

"almost like a modem", that is nonsense, it is 3 times as fast!

EDGE should theoretically be faster, but so far I do not know anybody getting the better speeds here. I tested it also in several places in BKK, and average download speed could never match Hutch's cdma, despite higher peaks with EDGE. And EDGE always shows a much higher latency, which is annoying.

[Thug]

Prolly will just stick to AIS because of ... coverage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Coverage? AIS better?

When will people stop to tell that nonsense?

There are areas where DTAC is better, and there are areas where AIS is better (I haven't found one yet though).

As I posted here already, I got told in the deepest Isaan, there where all the sick buffalos live, that only AIS would work there. Even in a phone shop selling DTAC stuff.

But the signal strength on my DTAC was 2 ticks better than their AIS. 2 ticks is a lot. I could still use the phone as it is, they needed an antenna on a 10 meter post, and even with that my signal was better.

So much about the coverage area

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope, you're wrong. AIS is much better in terms of coverage; AIS service network covers 795 districts throughout Thailand, plus international roaming across in six continents. And so the packages AIS provides you (I have friends who have been using AIS since few years already the same number and they get numerous package promotions + privileges) are pretty convenient with good discounts; although D-TAC being slightly cheaper I chose AIS. Also, Serenade club.

[yuyi]

Coverage? AIS better?

When will people stop to tell that nonsense?

There are areas where DTAC is better, and there are areas where AIS is better (I haven't found one yet though).

As I posted here already, I got told in the deepest Isaan, there where all the sick buffalos live, that only AIS would work there. Even in a phone shop selling DTAC stuff.

But the signal strength on my DTAC was 2 ticks better than their AIS. 2 ticks is a lot. I could still use the phone as it is, they needed an antenna on a 10 meter post, and even with that my signal was better.

So much about the coverage area 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope, you're wrong. AIS is much better in terms of coverage; AIS service network covers 795 districts throughout Thailand, plus international roaming across in six continents.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thug, what is wrong?

That there are areas where DTAC is better, and there are areas where AIS is better?

That there are areas, even remote ones, where the DTAC signal strength is clearly better, and AIS not working without a 10 m high special antenna?

That many people say that only AIS works "there", and when checking it out DTAC works better "there"?

That's wrong ?

What is also not wrong is that I had to change my beautiful and expensive AIS VIP number, because it did not work, and that in the center of BKK

But you mention the 795 districts of AIS. Very impressive. Isn't it important that it works where you usually are? And if it happens to be DTAC which works fine in the areas where I am, even the remote ones, then 795 districts of AIS coverage is a pretty useless figure for me. It does also not say how many districts DTAC covers, nor how many AIS does not cover. And is it usable there, or do you need a special antenna on a 10 meter post?

International roaming? Well, also that's not an AIS exclusive. But then again, six continents, wow, that sounds so good

[BambinA]

i always use AIS ..more expensive than Dtac.. but i think AIS is ok ..stronger in Signal ..

[udon]

I have DTAC & AIS on identical Nokias, no difference in sig strength wherever I've been in LoS.

I prefer to deal with DTAC.

Next sim will be DTAC

[autonomous_unit]

I second what everyone is saying, that you need to check your own areas of travel. Anything else is just useless brand loyalty from us...

At our condo in BKK, my AIS works much better than my wife's Orange for signal strength. Also, my AIS GPRS worked better than my DTAC one when I tried it here (never tried Orange). Other places, I know the DTAC one worked better.

Also, the signal strength tells you how close you are to the cell tower, but even with good signal you can be S.O.L. if there are too many subscribers also in range of the same tower. I used to have great signal but lots of dropped calls in my office in Los Angeles, while at the beach with the least signal possible to still place a call, I would get through every time.

[Plus+]

In short:

Hutch has currently

- 2 phones which you can connect to your PC, and

- 1 USB modem "Airplus", and

- 1 PCMCIA card sierra wireless (which is currently not available though).

I get with EDGE sometimes download peaks in the range you describe (20 kBps, notice the B, not . But in average it is much slower, and downloads often get interrupted by timeouts.

Hutch cdma gives me and many others here a reliable internet connection with download speeds of around 15 kBps continuously. This is 3 times modem speed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the update, good to see some competion opening up. How much do they charge for unlimited? Last time I checked Hutch was more expensive than Dtac.

I'm just about to buy a new aircard to stick in my new notebook. So far I'm afraid of losing my Dtac - I came to love it so much. I used to leave my notebook on for the whole might and download 250MB videos/audiobooks without worrying about disconnecting, and that's in the boonies, outside EDGE. Also the fastest speed I ever saw was 37kBps. Will Hutch ever match?

I trust Dtac

[Buff-horns]

i cant even get connected using dtac in the afternoon in BKK to nong khai.

so i have to switch to AIS and then it works ok.

so that must tell you something??

[Thug]

i cant even get connected using dtac in the afternoon in BKK to nong khai.

so i have to switch to AIS and then it works ok.

so that must tell you something??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Because AIS is the best one

[yuyi]

i cant even get connected using dtac in the afternoon in BKK to nong khai.

so i have to switch to AIS and then it works ok.

so that must tell you something??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Because AIS is the best one

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's it! I understand now. Time to switch back then

[yuyi]

In short:

Hutch has currently

- 2 phones which you can connect to your PC, and

- 1 USB modem "Airplus", and

- 1 PCMCIA card sierra wireless (which is currently not available though).

I get with EDGE sometimes download peaks in the range you describe (20 kBps, notice the B, not . But in average it is much slower, and downloads often get interrupted by timeouts.

Hutch cdma gives me and many others here a reliable internet connection with download speeds of around 15 kBps continuously. This is 3 times modem speed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the update, good to see some competion opening up. How much do they charge for unlimited? Last time I checked Hutch was more expensive than Dtac.

yes, hutch was about 1400 and DTAC etc. was about 1000. But now (last time I checked) Hutch has promotions for the airplus USB modem and for the phones with datacables for about 1000 / 900 baht.

I'm just about to buy a new aircard to stick in my new notebook. So far I'm afraid of losing my Dtac - I came to love it so much. I used to leave my notebook on for the whole might and download 250MB videos/audiobooks without worrying about disconnecting, and that's in the boonies, outside EDGE.

Now that's good! I can only dream of that (with GPRS/EDGE).

May I ask you where you get that (PM if you don't want to say here, please)? We might see here again a difference in the local support of GPRS/EDGE between your area and mine. I tested several places, but that is not more than a spotcheck, of course.

Also the fastest speed I ever saw was 37kBps. Will Hutch ever match?

I trust Dtac

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You say "outside EDGE", and also "37kBps". That would mean 37kBps in GPRS? if yes, may I assume a typo, and it should be 37 kbps? (b is for bit, and B for Byte. 1 Byte = 8 bit). This would be about 4.5 kBps, which is OK for GPRS.

The current Hutch cdma technology can not do 37 kBps. A realistic value would be 15 - 16 kBps. That would be 3 times faster than a 4.5 kBps GPRS connection. I do not know their future plans, such as a WCDMA installation.

In such a "no timeout" situation with DTAC GPRS you might want to check if and when DTAC will install EDGE at your place, and it is is now or soon, then test first before thinking about switching to Hutch. The DTAC office in the (ex) world trade center can give you that info.

And if you get EDGE with 37 kBps and no timeouts, as you describe above, then forget about Hutch CDMA and stay with DTAC EDGE, and enjoy live, you are so lucky

[udon]

Has anyone considered that your phone might be the problem?

[cclub75]

Has anyone considered that your phone might be the problem? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bravo ! You may be right.

My experience : I have a Nokia 3300. With AIS it was OK. I bought a smart phone (Windows Mobile), "audiovox SPV 500" (no... not in thailand).

With AIS sim... i was loosing the network constantly. and in my office north BKK... sometimes no network at all !

I thought as you did : let's change sim. DTAC. And it works perfectly then.

[thymode91]

I am using AIS for last 4 years with minimal circumstances.

[yuyi]

Has anyone considered that your phone might be the problem? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes Udon, this is a very good point, indeed. You should always check that possibility!

My experiences with Hutch cdma are with one "phone" only, actually not a phone, but the "Sierra wireless PCMCIA card #555". Because it works fine, not tested with other cards/ phones though.

My experiences with GPRS, expecially the timeouts and the latency, are with a "Sierra wireless PCMCIA card #750", then a second "Sierra wireless PCMCIA card #750", then a "Axen GPRS PCMCIA card", and then, to try EDGE, a "Sony Ericsson GC83 EDGE PCMCIA card".

GPRS tested with AIS GPRS, then with DTAC GPRS. EDGE tested with DTAC only, because no one else is offering EDGE.

The annoying latency and the timeouts with GPRS I did see with all cards, in different locations.

With EDGE I seem to see more timeouts at my current location. Testing it in center BKK, in a 3 hour period, did show less timeouts, but I also see such "less timeout periods" at my current location, outside of BKK, from time to time. This 3 hour test in center BKK (sukhumvit area) did give a similar download speed as Hutch, around 15 -16 kBps, but with interruptions.

My tests with DTAC and AIS availability and signal strength in remote Isaan areas involved swapping the SIMs to test them in the same phone(s), including placing an real call, to check the communication quality.

One of the "Sierra wireless PCMCIA card #750" had been defect at one time, and got repaired / replaced by AIS. Then it worked again, but still showing the latency and the timeouts.

(BTW, the 2 "Sierra wireless PCMCIA card #750" and the "Axen card" are 4 sale)

Some phones do show a better signal strength than others, so a fair comparison should be made bu swapping the SIMs in the same phones.

[Plus+]

In the boonies - actually Bangkok outskirts I got only 4kBps - that's why I had to leave the notebook overnight. 37kBps was near Kasetsart university and was a one off experience. It was a bittorrent file from Morpheus. I couldn't believe my eyes but there it was - file size was growing at 30+ kB per second - not just on the meter.

I don't know techincal details but with GPRS/Edge, I believe, you have very few available channels and so if you open five active browser windows chances are that it will get overcrowded with sending/receiving, especially on the uplink. I use Opera so I can see very clear what's going on with my surfing and where bottlenecks are. Straight download, on the other hand, appears to use one channel only but at a full speed.

I never get 15kBps while browsing but it's standard for downloading. I might not get this "channel" thing right, but it's a convenient model of how it works in practice.

Another thing is that the network might get overloaded and leave very little resources to GPRS traffic. That's the main problem with AIS in Bangkok - there are too many users, there are less towers (one AIS tower covers wider area that one Dtac's), there is simply not enough bandwidth left for GPRS. At night in the boonies there's nothing and nobody to interrupt downloading, even if it's slow.

As for Hutch, when they get their shit together and translate their website into English I might give it yet another thought. They have that Aircard promotion on their front page (the one you said is not available now), but it's all in Thai. I just can't trust these people. We got off the wrong foot from the very beginning.

Does your Sierra card support EDGE?

[udon]

One more thing to consider...... If looking at a condo or house to rent, check the signal in all rooms.

Nothing worse than being tied to a lease for 12 months and you can't rec calls on your mobile because you forgot to check out the sig strength b4 signing up.

[Mr. Farang]

I recently used a DTAC SIM card in both BKK and Chiang Mai and was very pleased with both service and performance.

When I went to a mountain-waterfall resort in Mai Rim, my DTAC phone did not get a signal but my (very wonderful) GF's AIS phone worked, hit-or-miss.

We really did not need cell phone coverage at the mountain-waterfall resort, as we were not there to talk on our phone :-) and has a very romantic time, better with all phone not working :-)

Bottom line: think DTAC is a great network and, with current promotions, the per minute calling rates in country are about 1/2 that of AIS (1 baht v. 2 baht per minute). On the other hand, if you are out in remote areas, I have heard (and have first hand knowledge in Mai Rim) that AIS has better coverage.

Personally, I have been quite pleased with DTAC, and the BKK Post had an article that DTAC was the only top five network in the LOS to actually grow last year, as AIS customers and revenue fell significantly in the last reporting period.

[TokyoT]

I have DTAC my wife has AIS. In BKK we both have pretty good signals – with the exception of in our condo – she had a very weak signal. Many times she had to move into the kitchen or out on the balcony to get a decent signal – until we bought her a new phone. Now she also has a strong signal in the condo.

I have not had my DTAC phone long enough to comment on signals outside of BKK.