Cat Or Tot For Internet Via Satellite Dish?

[Pormax]

I am soon moving into a very rural area of Buriram, where there is no possibility of ADSL internet and using a toggle is no good as signal strength from all phone networks very poor and very often losing all signal strength. My only option is internet via satellite dish but which company is best? I hear there is 'CAT' & 'TOT' (IPSTAR). Any expewreiences or recommendations please.

[gymboy33]

i had wirenet (tot) installed,

which is some sensor thing attached to yr tv aerial pole

but its gotta be within 5 or 7 km's from the internet antenna thingy,

dunno if its any good for you

but its pretty good

Edited May 6, 2011 by gymboy33

[mario299]

i had wirenet (tot) installed,

which is some sensor thing attached to yr tv aerial pole

but its gotta be within 5 or 7 km's from the internet antenna thingy,

dunno if its any good for you

but its pretty good

We had TOT (Ipstar) a little over a year ago,and it was terrible...not only the reception during storms but the service from TOT was non-existent. Right before last December they approached our village with the idea of a wireless tower, saying they needed at least 16 subscribers. I was nervous about TOT, but very sick of the alternatives..i.e. AIS aircards, etc, which were very, very slow.

They erected the wireless tower about 1/2 km from our house and ran an ADSL cable along the power lines, then to our house. On New Year's eve they connected the ADSL to a router/modem and hooked us up. The total cost was 500 baht for the ADSL line to the house, then 1000 baht for the router, then 631 baht per month for the service. It is excellent and very fast (up to 500kbs, usually 250 or so).

Check to see if they have a wireless tower anywhere close. We are a very small village, 12 km from Prasat, maybe you will get lucky.

Good luck, I HATE slow internet !!!

:blink:mario299

[prakhonchai nick]

I can recommend the CAT package. Works well in the Buriram rural villages. Buy the kit - install yourself then 836bt a month.

[afarang]

Go to the C.A.T. office in Buriram , located next to the clock tower at the intersection that leads to the Railway Station and talk to them about C.D.M.A.If you have a mobile phone tower within about 15 kilometres ( fairly clear sight) it should work,using an antenna. The man who works there speaks pretty good English. Cost: About B8,500 -B9,000 for the dongle and antenna, + B850 per month (unlimited).Your only other alternative, if C.D.MA. will not work , is IPStar, internet by satellite. This requires a concrete block to be laid , to attach a satellite dish. Cost(from memory) B5,000 for dish and installation + B1,600 per month (unlimited). Good luck.

[surayu]

IP-Star, the illegally sent into the space satellite, currently cost 2700 baht per month for 1MB from TOT, in our case the dish just got installed as any other dishes on our roof, can't remember exactly how much i paid for installation, probably 5000 but i got a month free so in the end is like just paying the monthly fee only.

Only choose them if you have no better alternatives....

[afarang]

When I had IPStar ,I had no dealings with TOT> I The complete transaction from go to whoa was directly with Loxley. In Bangkok.

[afarang]

You CANNOT install a Loxley IPStar satellite dish on a roof. It must be installed on its own dedicated concrete slab,on the ground. Loxley sent out a technician to tell me where to site it. We then Laid the slab (about 6" thick) and a week later , they came and installed the dish. Securely fastening it to the slab. Then they used a laptop to find the satellite and to line up the dish, ( in Sync?) with the satellite

[surayu]

This is the current list of the official authorized resellers of IPSTAR directly from their website: ...sorry, i can't post it as i keep getting this error: "Sorry, but you have posted more images than you are allowed to" there are no images at all in my list however that's it i guess, so here it's a link for it

http://www.ipstar.com/en/whereto_thailand.htm

[surayu]

You CANNOT install a Loxley IPStar satellite dish on a roof. It must be installed on its own dedicated concrete slab,on the ground. Loxley sent out a technician to tell me where to site it. We then Laid the slab (about 6" thick) and a week later , they came and installed the dish. Securely fastening it to the slab. Then they used a laptop to find the satellite and to line up the dish, ( in Sync?) with the satellite

That's good to know Afarang, thanks for the info, is the dish supplied by Loxley like one of those huge ones seen at NASA or do you think they might just want to overcharge you for a piece of concrete?

The ones given by TOT are about a meter wide, as i say, nothing requiring any special added item to them.

Regarding the installation part of it and the "technician" doing the setting up with their laptop, that's one of the moments you really need to pay attention at, i already described in one of my previous posts, how the "technicians" RUNNED away as soon as i turned my eyes away from them, no jokes! i discovered 5 minutes later why, as they basically did something wrong and even if there was some sort of connection, it was downloading something at a speed of maybe 10KB against the 1MB i subscribed for, i immediately called their customer service to come and take all their krapp away immediately or to fix it.

The 2 guys come back again and had to call their base with a mobile phone, they had to be directed by them, click after click as apparently they didn't had a clue on how to do their job, looked like their first day at work and they have probably been doing that for years.....that's a "phenomenom" you will see often in Thailand if you pay a little attention, all the best.

[afarang]

I repeat a proper installation of IPStar satellite dish is way to heavy to be installed on a roof. It must be installed on its own dedicated concrete slab, as I wrote. You have got a very different set-up ,to what I and others in our area have. I would strongly recommend that you deal ONLY with Loxley.Keep well away from TOT.Only approach CAT, if you wish to talk about CDMA. Repeat :: Deal with Loxley for IPStar, , CAT for CDMA

[surayu]

I repeat a proper installation of IPStar satellite dish is way to heavy to be installed on a roof. It must be installed on its own dedicated concrete slab, as I wrote. You have got a very different set-up ,to what I and others in our area have.

I had a look at the equipment provided by Loxley on their website, and the dish on the picture looked like not even half the size of the TOT one, was one of those similar to the UBC ones, just a different color.

Assuming one is staying in a "common" village home, with a thin layer of metal sheet as a roof, then i agree that a 15-20 kg of weight on top of that is not going to be a good choice and a different alternative must to be found, as the concrete slab mentioned for example.

Comparing prices (TOT - Loxley) i also noticed that the TOT package i am currently using (priced at 2.600 Baht monthly before tax), it's sold by Loxley for 8.500 Baht.....eeehrrrmmmm

Source: http://www.totsatell...20111200476.pdf

Sat One 1 M >> 1024/512 >> 2.600 Baht

Source: http://www.csloxhisp...otion_01_en.php4

Home 1024

8,5001024/512

EDITED:

Sorry i think i made confusion with the names, it seems Loxley to be a different company from CsLoxinfo, i made the mistake as this Loxley is not mentioned on the official list of IPSTAR resellers, i am looking at it right now, i'll be back soon.

EDITED 2:

Ok, here is what i just find out, so it seems to be the same company using different names:

Established in 1994, CS LoxInfo was formerly known as C.S. Communications Company Limited (CSC). After merging Internet business with Loxley Information Services Company Limited, the Company changed the name to “CS LoxInfo”, offering Internet services under the brand name of “CS LoxInfo”.

http://www.thaicom.net/eng/about_csl.aspx

Edited May 7, 2011 by surayu

[afarang]

Surayu, Yes the dish is MUCH larger than one metre. And is much too heavy to sit on a roof. When they did the installation ,it was supposed to take about 2 hours, Ended up being 5 !!! Had trouble locating the satellite or something. They are very methodical about doing the installation , as I said it involves the use of a lap top, which gives lots of information ,of which I basically understood zero. You are right , its correct name today is CSLoxinfo. I say again, DO NOT go near TOT- . For IPStar internet by Satellite , deal ONLY with CSLoxinfo. In Bangkok. But my recommendation is to try CAT's CDMA first. I am currently using it and find it performs , overall ,better than IPStar.,which I stopped using In December2009, because I moved into town.If CDMA will not work ,in your location ,then IPStar is your only alternative!!!Hope I have cleared the waters, Bill

[BuckarooBanzai]

But my recommendation is to try CAT's CDMA first. I am currently using it and find it performs , overall ,better than IPStar.

Agree with your recommendation but would add some of us users are concerned with all the deals taking place with CAT and other service providers and wondering if CAT CDMA is going to be around much longer. Just an unknown to be aware of.

[afarang]

Ah yes, Buck. Understand your concerns. CAT, in one form or another will be around. CDMA, as such is not under threat. People might be interested to know that EVERY communications tower in Thailand is owned by CAT. ALL International phone calls go through the CAT system. TOT is for purely internal, CAT is for external.CAT is really huge, though its physical presence ,in a way, is not seen by us

[BuckarooBanzai]

Ah yes, Buck. Understand your concerns. CAT, in one form or another will be around. CDMA, as such is not under threat. People might be interested to know that EVERY communications tower in Thailand is owned by CAT. ALL International phone calls go through the CAT system. TOT is for purely internal, CAT is for external.CAT is really huge, though its physical presence ,in a way, is not seen by us

Sorry to be unclear, I realize the Communications Authority of Thailand is not going anywhere but they appear to be moving toward the privatization of some of their operations such as the current fiasco with True etc. Privatization of the current CAT CDMA could result in a lot of things, including price increases, etc. and change what we have today.

[afarang]

Anything is possible ,which is why I alluded to "in one form or another"But it is an immensely politically powerful organisation. Just have to wait and see how it plays out, This will take a few years ,I suspect.