Computer With Dongle

[swissie]

Is there any truth to this ?

If one uses a Dongle and it starts to rain = can do nothing online (like SKYPE). Have to wait until the rain stops !

Can this be ????

Thanks & cheers.

[kimamey]

Not sure about dongles but it does seem a bit strange. My gf has a normal landline broadband and sometimes if I'm talking to her on Skype the connection keeps dropping. She quite often says it's because it's raining. I suppose that's slightly more rational having seen the complete mess of cables strung up everywhere. I'm amazed it works at all.

As for your dongle the only thing I can think of is it might be the clouds as much as the rain but then does this sort of thing happen in .....how can I put this?..........normal countries?

As is often said amazing Thailand.

[H2oDunc]

I think you will find it is an urban myth. Your sat TV drops out as it needs a direct line of sight that is disrupted by heavy rain. The dongle doesn't need this. I often find that when it rains I can get a better WiFi signal from a resort at the bottom of the mountain than when it is fine

[manhattan55]

No. I use a dongle with my CAT CDMA service and never have a problem with rain.

[isanbirder]

Your dongle is basically a mobile phone. If a mobile phone works, a dongle will too.

[swissie]

I think you will find it is an urban myth. Your sat TV drops out as it needs a direct line of sight that is disrupted by heavy rain. The dongle doesn't need this. I often find that when it rains I can get a better WiFi signal from a resort at the bottom of the mountain than when it is fine

Thanks for all the input folks. Indeed, if a dongle works on the basis of a mobile phone and not on the basis of satellite reception, rain should not be a problem.

But where does my question come from? It's connected to my desire to learn the Thai-Language, therefore also staying in Thailand with an ED-Visa, but since I would not be staying in a "Tourist-Hub", I would have to do my schooling "online".

So, if I would miss half of my "online-lessons" due to "rain", that would not go down well with the school and even more so with "immigration". HeHe !

Cheers.

[kimamey]

I phoned my gf today and she said she couldn't log on to Skype although she had managed to email some pictures. She said it was raining a little but there was thunder so it may be connected to that. I don't know if that would effect mobile signals as well.

[wildoates]

I use a dongle, have an antenna on the house to help with the signal.....rain is theleast of my worry, mostly the network traffic in the rural areas….

Edited April 26, 2011 by wildoates

[swissie]

I use a dongle, have an antenna on the house to help with the signal.....rain is theleast of my worry, mostly the network traffic in the rural areas….

/quote]

"Network traffic" meaning something like: Too many users at any given time and not enough capacity of the provider to handle the amount of traffic ?

Also I heard, that it makes a big difference how far away the next "tower" is (?)

Thanks & cheers.

[remiss]

"Network traffic" meaning something like: Too many users at any given time and not enough capacity of the provider to handle the amount of traffic ?

Also I heard, that it makes a big difference how far away the next "tower" is (?)

Thanks & cheers.

Probably what it means. And yes, distance to the tower you are connected to has some impact, but doesn't help if it is 100 meters from the tower and there are several concrete walls between you!

[wildoates]

[

/quote]

"Network traffic" meaning something like: Too many users at any given time and not enough capacity of the provider to handle the amount of traffic ?

Also I heard, that it makes a big difference how far away the next "tower" is (?)

Thanks & cheers.

yes that is network traffic, signal stregth is for the distance to the tower,

[isanbirder]

Obviously it depends on where you are living, just as a mobile phone does. I too live in the sticks (between Krasang and Huairat in Buriram), and have no problem at all with this or with a mobile. Mine is AIS, by the way; the provider may also make a difference.

[swissie]

Thanks for all the input folks !

In a nutshell: If the distance to the nearest "Tower" should emerge to be the problem, it would always be less cumbersome to move a bit closer to the nearest tower to attend classes, (once a week, for 4 hours) instead of travelling to BKK once a week to physically attend classes.

- What remains to be clarified is rather: Will "immigration" accept online-schooling in connection with an ED-Visa ? At this point and as far as I gather, it's still "in limbo".

Surely, the schools that offer those courses claim "no problem". But in the end, "authorities" will decide if this fits into the legal "Visa" framework or not.

Cheers.

[SanukJoeII]

I use a dongle, have an antenna on the house to help with the signal.....

Could you enlighten me about the antenna helping thte signal?

How is the antenna connected to the dongle/computer?

What antenna is it?

I've seen dongles with an aerial attached to it, would that be the same?

Info: I live in the sticks, no landlines, computer with dongle under the table. Mobile phone (AIS) works only (calls) in the bed room, sms ok. Connection to Th AIS drops frequently, sometimes even impossible to connect. Needless to say downloads impossible if larger than 2 Mb.

Help!

Joe

[Lickey]

Swisse, perhaps not much to do with reception ect, but you might remember a post a few years ago about storms & gold ect, we had our first big storm yesterday [sunday] started at 4.30pm, mrs has a box for such ocasions, off came the gold necklace bracelet and ring, her mobile, she turned off, put them all in a box and under the stairs they went, it wasnt till 9pm did she retrive them, and then called all her family to see if they were ok,

Some times i get 2/3 wi fi possible conections here, i can see 7 towers from the top floor, if only i knew the sign in passwords, mmm, free internet!!

[CTO]

Yes, a dongle is similar to a mobile, however if your having reception problems, remember the "antenna" in a dongle is inferior to one in a phone,.

So - 2 ways around this, get a 1 meter usb extension cord, stick it vertically above you, dongle on the end, you should get better reception.

Or - my preferred method, connect using your mobile phone. You DON'T need a dongle, it's just useful incase you get a lot of phone calls.

Not getting a phone call when using the mobile to connect in poor reception area, the internet drops and you need to re-log in.

With the TV Dish, if you use C Band you'll notice minimal rain fade, sadly minimal anything worth watching on C Band, J-Sat have some good solutions I seem to remember.

True uses Ku Band, and the reason rain causes the black out is the frequency of the beam and the size of the rain drops. I would add minimal anything to watch on True also, but then I work with TV often so it's the last thing I want to watch when home.

CTO

[swissie]

Yes, a dongle is similar to a mobile, however if your having reception problems, remember the "antenna" in a dongle is inferior to one in a phone,.

So - 2 ways around this, get a 1 meter usb extension cord, stick it vertically above you, dongle on the end, you should get better reception.

Or - my preferred method, connect using your mobile phone. You DON'T need a dongle, it's just useful incase you get a lot of phone calls.

Not getting a phone call when using the mobile to connect in poor reception area, the internet drops and you need to re-log in.

With the TV Dish, if you use C Band you'll notice minimal rain fade, sadly minimal anything worth watching on C Band, J-Sat have some good solutions I seem to remember.

True uses Ku Band, and the reason rain causes the black out is the frequency of the beam and the size of the rain drops. I would add minimal anything to watch on True also, but then I work with TV often so it's the last thing I want to watch when home.

CTO

Interesting !

By using your preferred method (mobile phone), as far as cost is concerned, is it comparable to a dongle ?

Thanks & cheers.

[CTO]

Exactly the same price,

[SanukJoeII]

Yes, a dongle is similar to a mobile, however if your having reception problems, remember the "antenna" in a dongle is inferior to one in a phone,.

So - 2 ways around this, get a 1 meter usb extension cord, stick it vertically above you, dongle on the end, you should get better reception.

Or - my preferred method, connect using your mobile phone. You DON'T need a dongle, it's just useful incase you get a lot of phone calls.

Not getting a phone call when using the mobile to connect in poor reception area, the internet drops and you need to re-log in.

With the TV Dish, if you use C Band you'll notice minimal rain fade, sadly minimal anything worth watching on C Band, J-Sat have some good solutions I seem to remember.

True uses Ku Band, and the reason rain causes the black out is the frequency of the beam and the size of the rain drops. I would add minimal anything to watch on True also, but then I work with TV often so it's the last thing I want to watch when home.

CTO

Without seeing your advice I bought a 3m extension USB cable (70 baht), connected to the desktop (under the table), hung the dongle out of the window to the terrace (under roof) and tried..... excellent! Wonderful improvement! Today we had severe thunderstorms during 3 hours, worked on line all the time without connection dropping. Connection speed and download speed have not increased but due to the constant (today 5 hours continue) connection it is now possible to download substantially larger items.

I also bought a USB hub, with 4 ports, but the comp doesn't find the modem so no use of this. The cable is the solution, thanks for your advice!

Joe

[PadThaiVisa]

Skype specifies that GPRS is not supported.

Does anybody run Skype on mobile live ?

P.