Gprs Internet Set Up

[Rigger]

I just ordered a GPRS internet connection set up 9900 bht so I can get internet at home is it as good as they claim. I intented to use it in the nongbualamphu area I can get a decent signal from my phone at home. Any one else try it

[gharknes]

I just ordered a GPRS internet connection set up 9900 bht so I can get internet at home is it as good as they claim. I intented to use it in the nongbualamphu area I can get a decent signal from my phone at home. Any one else try it

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have GPRS on my P910 which is good if I am out and about and need to check email and net, I also had my laptop running on GPRS until my ADSL was connected, AIS prepay with 50 hours for 300 baht per month, it is pitifully slow and unreliable, for me not good as a long term solution, you can veiw a few text based web pages and down load text emails, as a general connection for any sort of internet use forget it.

[cdnvic]

Before you commit to a package try the bundled WAP browser on a gprs phone on the same network and try loading some pages in it to get an idea of speed. I've heard alot of speed complaints from gprs users.

cv

[Rigger]

Before you commit to a package try the bundled WAP browser on a gprs phone on the same network and try loading some pages in it to get an idea of speed. I've heard alot of speed complaints from gprs users.

cv

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are we talking about the same thing here it is the wireless gprs set up for my lap top they clam it is the fasts gprs system avaliable 40 to 60 kbps (new) or have I just been cond out of 9900bht.

[kid]

Before you commit to a package try the bundled WAP browser on a gprs phone on the same network and try loading some pages in it to get an idea of speed. I've heard alot of speed complaints from gprs users.

cv

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are we talking about the same thing here it is the wireless gprs set up for my lap top they clam it is the fasts gprs system avaliable 40 to 60 kbps (new) or have I just been cond out of 9900bht.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[monty]

Rigger,

GPRS is usable but I would not call it good at all.

Top speed of a class 8 or 10 device (most mobiles and gprs cards) allow a top download speed of 48kbps (4 slots down). This depends on the load of the antenna(cell) you are connected to.

If there is a lot of voice traffic going on, less slots can be allotted to you so you end up with slower speeds (1 slot is 14kbps)

I can see it very good when downloading, speeds vary wildly between 1 and 5kBps...

Practically, I would say your average speed / user experience would be close to a 28kbps dial-up connection.

Latency tends to be very high as well. Most times at least 2 seconds between a request and the start of receiving...

Most annoying are the frequent freezing of connections, requiring a disconnect-reconnect to get things going again, sometimes even the phone has to be shut down and restarted. Like every couple of minutes...

I would hate it to use it as a primary connection for PC or laptop, but I love to use it on my gprs PDA, having my e-mail always at hand, or taking a quick browse in Thai-visa (I do watch the Lo-Fi version at Lo-Fi, much faster without the graphics!

[autonomous_unit]

I also used GPRS for a while as my primary service for several months, using my Motorola phone connected via USB to my laptop. Speeds about as suggested above... varying 20-50 Kb/s and 2 second latencies.

Unlike the others, I did not have very frequent disconnection problems. I have a bad cable and it would come loose from the phone if I moved the laptop the wrong way, but otherwise I was able to stay connected all day long on AIS in BKK. Several times a day, a single TCP connection would hang, but I could just restart that without resetting the modem link. I think this is unavoidable as TCP was not really designed to tolerate 2 second latencies and high packet loss! I used DTAC pre-paid here and there and found it OK too, except different signal strengths between AIS/DTAC at different locations in the city.

There were some outages but I've had more than a few with True ADSL as well. I am relieved to have only 300 ms latencies to the US now instead of 2000 ms, and much more bandwidth. However, I did learn to cope w/ GPRS even for interactive (text login) stuff. Kind of reminded me of the good old days with 1200 baud modems.

BTW, the speeds you quoted are normal old-fashioned GPRS that is part of standard GSM. It has been available for many years as a technology though some providers are slow about offering it as a service.

The newer speed is EDGE, an "upgrade" of regular GSM that increases air speeds by 5 times or more. EDGE has been available in other parts of the world for several years, but seems to be just starting in small areas of metro BKK. The future is UMTS, which is a replacement for GSM and will probably take a shocking amount of time to arrive here (just going by the previous history). Multi-band UMTS-capable phones are on the market now. UMTS is a bit faster than EDGE right now but, if I understand correctly, has an upgrade path defined so it will keep going up in the future revisions.

I cannot understand why people shell out money on the GPRS cards for their computers... any decent phone can be had for similar or better prices, works just as well as a modem, and can be kept as a backup phone if you really insist on a separate device and SIM for GPRS and voice.

[Rigger]

OK heres some more info

Serra wireless 750 aircard edge class 12 acknowledged as the fastest available GPRS works world wide and comes with pre-paid sim 40 to 56kbps has anyone used this model

Edited October 15, 2005 by Rigger

[billd766]

OK heres some more info

Serra wireless 750 aircard edge class 12 acknowledged as the fastest available GPRS works world wide and comes with pre-paid sim 40 to 56kbps has anyone used this model

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is the rough cost and is the Sim AIS or DTAC?

[ProThaiExpat]

I have had a Sierra Wireless Aircard 750 in daily use from almost the day they came out in 2002.

Why did I buy it? I was without a land line and little prospect of getting one. I saw a Fujitsu dealer promo kiosk in Carrefour or Lotus advertising a wireless internet connection, all new to me.

The Fjujitsu dealer was high end, as are his laptops, but I felt comfortable with their expertise and offer to do the entire set up, even taking me to AIS office and actually making the thing work before I paid.

My cost three years ago was 15K Baht, may be cheaper now. It really requires very little to install it, so second time around, I would do it myself.

I am unhappy with the usual problems with the connections and speed but was equally unhappy with dialup through Lixinfo when I was in a rented condo.

I definitely would go to ADSL when it is available, broadband fiber optic or Ipstar when they are available or Ipstar gets its prices in line. TOT hs 25% of the new sallelite, so perhaps they will provide a service next year or two. I finally got a telephone line from TOT, after waiting three years, but at 853 Baht unlimited GPRS with AIS, for now the price somewhat justifies the slow speed.

I have explored Bluetooth, but it is just another connection to deal with. I have used my aircard empowered laptop in many ciities of Thailand and have had no problem connecting.

There has been much talk between knowledgeable members that the connections between cell phone networks and the rest of the world is one of the problems that translates into GPRS slow speed and connection problems.

The Sierra Wireless does provide phone service at the same time as your online and the software has the usual phone book and SMS messaging log, etc.

I have no clue what software one buys to get GPRS through a cellphone since my software comes with Sierra Wireless. Many have spoken on Bluetooth connections or infared connections to cellphones and then to the network through a sim card, but no clue how it works in your laptop.

I use my laptop, almost exclusively, on a lap desk on my lazyboy chair arms, so would not want to deal with a cellphone rattling around on my lap desk with a problematic bluetooth or infared connection to my laptop. Others seem happy with cellphone GPRS arrangements.

There must be cheaper versions of the Sierra Wireless card available now?

In summary, internet connections, other than in central city areas, is just under humidity, as the biggest drawback to long stay in Thailand, in my view. There is hope for the future for the internet connection and aircon is the solution for the humidity if you don't mind being a "shut in".

[autonomous_unit]

With most phones, you form a link to the laptop which looks like a modem over a serial port and then it is the usual dial-up configuration but with a strange modem init string and dial string for GPRS. The dial string varies by phone manufacturer, and the init string includes some extra provider-specific details, e.g. DTAC or AIS gateway addresses. The laptop actually talks PPP to the phone and gets its IP address that way. I imagine the Sierra wireless card is actually similar, but looks like a PC-card modem instead.

I used a USB cable to connect my Motorola, and it would show up as a new USB modem whenever I connected it. I agree I wouldn't want to fiddle with infrared links. I've never had a bluetooth enabled phone so I have no idea how difficult that is to keep operational. My problems included the cable physically separating from the phone, and running down the phone battery if I did not hook the charger into the cable too.

I cannot recall the dial strings now, but it was something I found searching on google for my model of phone and "linux", both because I needed to do it under Linux and because Linux guys tend to know all the gory technical details you might ever need. There is usually no need to go with the phone manufacturer software just for GPRS Internet access, as normal dialup settings will do. Maybe it is worth it for other features like SMS, phonebook, and calendar access (or voice access to your SIerra card)...

[BigA]

I using my GPRS Sierra Wireless Aircard 750 right now. It was 10,900 baht from Telewicz. I get 40 hrs per month free on the package. If you go over its expensive. You can subscribe to a better package but their customer service and automated features selection can be confusing and not always work,it can take 3 days to get everything reset. Mine hooks up at 40 kpbs. It works pretty good as a phone too and you can check your status while on line but you have to keep it charged up with 12call minutes from a prepaid card. I mainly use it as a backup now because the Hutch Hua Wei CDMA I bought for 7,900 plus 890 month says it hooks up at 230.4 kpbs and it sure seems faster than the GPRS. With the new service I get a bill in the mail and I can pay it at a 7-11 if I want. Regardless I'm covered and I need to be. When one is down the other seeems to work. Each one uses a sim card. The SW 750 has an external antennae the Hua Wei has a fold out internal anntenae that is nifty but flimsy. To get the Hutch service you will need to go to a Hutch company store and bring your passport and WP. The GPRS 750 although good is dated technology in other parts of the world. Sierra has replaced it with an Edge enabled card now.

[Crushdepth]

OK heres some more info

Serra wireless 750 aircard edge class 12 acknowledged as the fastest available GPRS works world wide and comes with pre-paid sim 40 to 56kbps has anyone used this model

You should check out the capabilities of your mobile phone before shelling out for an aircard or equivalent. Most mid-range and above phones are now GPRS capable (some of the budget models are too) and perform exactly the same function as a wireless modem.

The difference between class 10 and class 12 is just that a 12 can upload *slightly* faster because it has more uplink slots. It has the same number of download slots as a class 10, so for routine browsing there is very little difference.

'Fast' and 'GPRS' are not words that should be strung together, regardless of what you use. I wouldn't call EDGE fast either (think of it as tolerable rather than excruciating). CDMA promises bigger things in Thailand but I'm not sure if its there yet...anyone got an update?

[BigA]

When I went into Hutch there were two cheaper set-ups one used a phone the other used a USB device. If you use the internet alot ie. as a base station, using the phone to hook up is supposedly not the way to go. I am happy with both GPRS and CDMA but CDMA seems faster and I can open and work effectively with several web pages simultaneously. Both sometimes suffer from latency.

Too late for me to go the phone route now, I always buy the cheap ones anyway. My wife and baby girl are hel_l on phones so by experience I stick with the cheap sturdy phones.

quote=Crushdepth,2005-10-21 00:10:59]

OK heres some more info

Serra wireless 750 aircard edge class 12 acknowledged as the fastest available GPRS works world wide and comes with pre-paid sim 40 to 56kbps has anyone used this model

You should check out the capabilities of your mobile phone before shelling out for an aircard or equivalent. Most mid-range and above phones are now GPRS capable (some of the budget models are too) and perform exactly the same function as a wireless modem.

The difference between class 10 and class 12 is just that a 12 can upload *slightly* faster because it has more uplink slots. It has the same number of download slots as a class 10, so for routine browsing there is very little difference.

'Fast' and 'GPRS' are not words that should be strung together, regardless of what you use. I wouldn't call EDGE fast either (think of it as tolerable rather than excruciating). CDMA promises bigger things in Thailand but I'm not sure if its there yet...anyone got an update?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Rigger]

Thanks for the replies

I have canceled my order for the GPRS system and instead will get IPSTAR sat dish put in as the GPRS sounds like it is crap

Thanks

[Gary A]

I live in the boonies of Loei province. My wife's D Tac and my AIS phone have the full signal strength. We can't get a land line here. I subscribed to AIS GPRS and used my cell phone. It SUCKED! I tried D Tac. It SUCKED. I paid 9,900 baht for a USB Solomon modem. It SUCKED. It never disconnected. It just kept eating up the hours while doing NOTHING! I now have the IPSTAR satellite. It is not worth the money but it was the only option available.

Thanks for the replies

I have canceled my order for the GPRS system and instead will get IPSTAR sat dish put in as the GPRS sounds like it is crap

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[bluedragon]

Hi, I have a Motorola V3 cell phone that I need a battery for.

Does anyone know where I can pick up in Bangkok one of the High Power batteries for it.. I think the battery is made in Germany.

Thanks, BD

[edd]

I using my GPRS Sierra Wireless Aircard 750 right now. It was 10,900 baht from Telewicz. I get 40 hrs per month free on the package. If you go over its expensive. You can subscribe to a better package but their customer service and automated features selection can be confusing and not always work,.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am using my new 750 aircard now, £75 in uk from vodafone and find it OK. not like my telewest 4mb speed in the uk but ok for a Thai village with no landline.

My question is how can you find how much time is left on the prepay, 200B for 60hrs.

i keep getting an automated voice that tells me how to start to get the the 60 hrs but not how much time is left.

[ProThaiExpat]

I just got it!!! Here I thought I had the best deal going back three years, unlimited internet service through AIS GPRS for 853 Baaht a month.

Even on my busiest days, three hours online is my max. Am I missing something or wouldn't buying a pre-paid for anything like 200 baht for 60 hours save me 400 Baht a month or more?