Dongle

[swissie]

As I gather, Farangs living "in the sticks" with no phone line going to the house, are using a "dongle" via a mobile phone company. Probably fine for e-mail, but what about things like "Skype" etc.? Have been told "forget Skype" etc. True ?

Or is it rather a question of how much one is willing to pay for the "dongle-deal"?

Thanks & cheers.

[glomp]

In the sticks internet usually comes from 2G EDGE. slow and high latency.

[MAJIC]

Skype needs a fast ISP, and you would be lucky to achieve that consistently from a Dongle. I had a Dongle in the UK once, achieved a reasonable Skype conversation once only, the rest of the time,the voice at the other end was speaking in slow motion,and unusable.

Went over to Broadband by Modem/Router,and Skype was perfect from thereon,with the same Computer.But as you say "fine for E-mail"

Also a dongle is only as good as your nearest "Hot Spot" (good signal area) and will probably be a slow connection,by other standards.

Maybe someone on Tv knows how to overcome the above problems?

[garyh]

I use Cat CDMA which is available in most areas of Thailand outside Bangkok, It works well with Skype, torrents etc, speeds are up to 2.5 MB and for around 800 Baht a month there is no download limit it is good value if you are heavy user of the net. I have tried 2G/edge and it is better than nothing but still costs around the same as CAT.

[samuijimmy]

I use Cat CDMA which is available in most areas of Thailand outside Bangkok, It works well with Skype, torrents etc, speeds are up to 2.5 MB and for around 800 Baht a month there is no download limit it is good value if you are heavy user of the net. I have tried 2G/edge and it is better than nothing but still costs around the same as CAT.

Yes I agree, I have used my CAT dongle(MC 727) in various areas of southern Thailand & as long as you are within reasonable distance off a Micro Wave tower, not a problem... I even use it for Skype & very few "hic-ups", although some times you may need to reconnect... but generally OK....

[Tropicalevo]

I use Cat CDMA which is available in most areas of Thailand outside Bangkok, It works well with Skype, torrents etc, speeds are up to 2.5 MB and for around 800 Baht a month there is no download limit it is good value if you are heavy user of the net. I have tried 2G/edge and it is better than nothing but still costs around the same as CAT.

Yes I agree, I have used my CAT dongle(MC 727) in various areas of southern Thailand & as long as you are within reasonable distance off a Micro Wave tower, not a problem... I even use it for Skype & very few "hic-ups", although some times you may need to reconnect... but generally OK....

Again - I agree - BUT make sure that it is the MC760 or similar. Cost approx 6,000 baht to buy and 840 per month or thereabouts. Made by Novatel. Quite fast most of the time

I went into the CAT office on Samui last week to buy another one (for customers) and I was sold "their new version". (CAT CDMA by Huawei)

Rubbish - it is an air card. Very slow and not reliable (but half the price sir!). It doesn't matter how cheap it is if it is no good.

[Darrel]

for around 800 Baht a month there is no download limit

Are you certain? I have yet to come across a wireless data provider that doesnt cap or throttle usage somehow or another. The most common way being to say "unlimited" in the ads and then throttling the speed down to something just barely usable if you download more than a certain amount (which may be anything from a few hundred megabytes to a few gigabytes). Other common restrictions are streaming, torrents/P2P, usenet and VOIP.

[BB1950]

If you use Skype without using video (sending and receiving) in the calls, I find Skype works well.

[garyh]

for around 800 Baht a month there is no download limit

Are you certain? I have yet to come across a wireless data provider that doesnt cap or throttle usage somehow or another. The most common way being to say "unlimited" in the ads and then throttling the speed down to something just barely usable if you download more than a certain amount (which may be anything from a few hundred megabytes to a few gigabytes). Other common restrictions are streaming, torrents/P2P, usenet and VOIP.

Yes I am certain it is unlimited download, do a lot of it. Windows 7 service pack over 900 MB downloaded in less than one hour. CAT is not the same as AIS or True 3G

[swissie]

Thanks for all the input folks !

Cheers.

[thaimite]

for around 800 Baht a month there is no download limit

Are you certain? I have yet to come across a wireless data provider that doesnt cap or throttle usage somehow or another. The most common way being to say "unlimited" in the ads and then throttling the speed down to something just barely usable if you download more than a certain amount (which may be anything from a few hundred megabytes to a few gigabytes). Other common restrictions are streaming, torrents/P2P, usenet and VOIP.

Yes I am certain it is unlimited download, do a lot of it. Windows 7 service pack over 900 MB downloaded in less than one hour. CAT is not the same as AIS or True 3G

This is definitely correct. No download limits, usually good speed but depends how close you are to a tower or if you have an external antenna. I am 12KM from the cell tower and get over 2.0Mb/s

There are many threads on CAT CDMA on this forum check them out for advice on the dongles, antennas etc

[Darrel]

Interesting. That could be preferable to relying on the rather dodgy wifi that most hotels have, or could make a hotel/condo without wifi a possibility.

[glomp]

Three days hotel wifi cost more than a simcard with 30 days prepaid last time i was around.

the speed for wifi was worse than the mobile network too.