Cdma? Internet In The Sticks Faster Than Edge?

[SimonIffe]

I live 20km outside the local town, and internet access is a nightmare - flashbacks to the 1980's in Australia.

There are 2 CAT CDMA phone boxes in the village, does this mean I ought to be able to get CAT CDMA, - they say not.

Are there any options at all for faster internet or should I relax and just accept I live in the 3rd world?

Simon

[ericthai]

You need to go and speak to Cat, speaking to the people in the village it not going to help. Dont know where you are. I live in Surin, Im about 10K from down town. i checked into TOT and they wanted 45K to run a line so I got CAt CDMA, luckly there is a CAt box right at the entrance to our street. On the side of the box it does say CDMA, so I went to CAT and they confirmed I would have a good signal. I dont get great speed but not bad I can download movies and webpages come up ok. My friend stopped by my place and used his AIS and it was really slow compared to CAT, he thought I had ADSL installed as I could use internet radio without it cutting out.

Check with CAT and see what they say.

Good Luck!!

[tlcwaterfall]

You need to go and speak to Cat, speaking to the people in the village it not going to help. Dont know where you are. I live in Surin, Im about 10K from down town. i checked into TOT and they wanted 45K to run a line so I got CAt CDMA, luckly there is a CAt box right at the entrance to our street. On the side of the box it does say CDMA, so I went to CAT and they confirmed I would have a good signal. I dont get great speed but not bad I can download movies and webpages come up ok. My friend stopped by my place and used his AIS and it was really slow compared to CAT, he thought I had ADSL installed as I could use internet radio without it cutting out.

Check with CAT and see what they say.

Good Luck!!

Same here. I live 15 kms out of Surin and have had Cat for 2 years now. Good service but as mentioned it is slow compared to western countries.

Good advice about going to see Catcom. In Surin they came out to my place with a laptop and modem to see if signal would work prior to me buying their modem. Very good service.

[SimonIffe]

Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful.

I did speak to CAT, the lady there said that the phone boxes didn't mean anything because the signal was different and much slower than I would need. She said the max range is 10km, no point even trying for more than that. No offer to try it on for size either… I live in a village 20km (crow flies) from Nong Bua DDaeng in Chaiyaphum province.

To be honest, though she seemed very civil, I got the impression she didn't want to sell the service, I have no idea why, and can't even put my finger on what it was about her that gave me that impression.

[nikster]

Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful.

I did speak to CAT, the lady there said that the phone boxes didn't mean anything because the signal was different and much slower than I would need. She said the max range is 10km, no point even trying for more than that. No offer to try it on for size either… I live in a village 20km (crow flies) from Nong Bua DDaeng in Chaiyaphum province.

To be honest, though she seemed very civil, I got the impression she didn't want to sell the service, I have no idea why, and can't even put my finger on what it was about her that gave me that impression.

That's CAT. They don't want to sell you their service. They had CAT CDMA running for 2 years without telling anyone. I had to get my CDMA modem from the CAT headquarters in CM back when, because they weren't selling it anywhere. The only reason I even knew about it was a very small poster next to the post office in Pai. I was one of the first people to get it, and certainly the first to know about it in Pai, and given that I was treated to the tour of the CAT headquarters by a senior technician, I was also probably one of the first in Chiang Mai. Still, when I got it this service had already been up for a pretty long time....

CAT is not a company that does marketing - rather the opposite. They want to change, but it looks like they can't... just last year I went to the shiny new CAT office in Central Airport CM to ask about DSL connections. "Don't have". Well, but surely CAT does DSL?? Answer yes, but waiting for promotion from BKK. So... they weren't selling DSL for the time being. Waiting for new prices. TIT!!

[tlcwaterfall]

Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful.

I did speak to CAT, the lady there said that the phone boxes didn't mean anything because the signal was different and much slower than I would need. She said the max range is 10km, no point even trying for more than that. No offer to try it on for size either… I live in a village 20km (crow flies) from Nong Bua DDaeng in Chaiyaphum province.

To be honest, though she seemed very civil, I got the impression she didn't want to sell the service, I have no idea why, and can't even put my finger on what it was about her that gave me that impression.

I know how important it is to have the internet when you are living in a small village. I would go bananas if I had no internet here.

A couple of suggestions for you.

1 Do you have a local expat community where or close to where you live? If so ask these guys about internet providers as they should be able to help you. Maybe a local expat internet forum such as my local one. www.surinfarang.com

2 Go back to Catcom(preferably with your girlfriend to help with the language) and request that they come out to your house to do a test to see if Catcom will work there. If necessary offer some petrol money or offer to pick up the technician and take him back to Catcom later.

Modems through Catcom are not cheap, mine cost 8000 baht but I am unsure of the current cost. So you really do need them or a local expat who is on Catcom to come to your house and check to see if the you are going to get a signal or not.

Good luck and remember do not give up as living in small village without the net is unbearable(at least for me)