Gprs Vs. Dialup

[stevehaigh]

i was using DTAC GPRS for about 6 months. the service was quite reliable but VERY slow. i recently got a phone line in my house and now i use plan old dialup. dialup is costing me about 500bhat/month vs. 1500bhat/month for GPRS and the speed in far better than GPRS.

steve

[billd766]

Lucky you. We have been waiting for over 2 years for a line.

I use AIS GPRS at 350 baht for 120 hours a month. Best times are early morning and mid afternoon and sometimes later in the evening but not always.

[gharknes]

Lucky you. We have been waiting for over 2 years for a line.

I use AIS GPRS at 350 baht for 120 hours a month. Best times are early morning and mid afternoon and sometimes later in the evening but not always.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I tried it for a month when I first arrived, used with laptop and PDA, it is just rubbish, ended up getting a temp dialup connection while waiting for my ADSL, still use on my PDA - 10hrs month for 50baht AIS but is just awful, if you can afford a little extra get ADSL for about 600bht month from TT&T, i find it very good and reliable

[makavelithedon]

Think it depends wildly on where you live. Have to agree with the comments in regard AIS though on the whole my umlimited internet sim which costs 900 ish a month is woeful. Speed varies between 25-50 kbps but reliabilty is appalling and they have apparently spent a fortune this year on network improvements via Siemens. Obviously not enough. I'm cancelling mine at the end of the month to switch to Orange which I have tried and appears for me at least more relibiable and a far better package for the buck!

On dial-up, well I was getting just 14 kbps so this is hardly a better option, although I'd imagine location again plays a large part in everything internet in the LOS!!!!

Mak

Edited November 2, 2005 by makavelithedon

[ProThaiExpat]

Take look at Wednesdays BKK Post Database section on the article on CAT's stranglehold on international website connectivity.

The article says even Broadband is woefully slow due to the bottleneck that CAT permits to throttle all international connectivity. TIT

[Plus]

This has been discussed extensively earlier. I just add what I always say - get a Dtac GPRS Edge aircard, or Edge capable phone connected to your computer.

Not that great for surfing multiple sites at the same time but "straight" download speeds are impressive - 120-140 kbps seem to be the most common in the past few days and it goes upto 200 kbps when downloading music off P2P.

You can use Google Earth - impossible on dial-up or simple Gprs.

The only downside is that Edge covers only Central Bangkok.

Another option is Hutch aircard - it's slower but covers all of Thailand, and it's a lot cheaper.

[ovenman]

The article says even Broadband is woefully slow due to the bottleneck that CAT permits to throttle all international connectivity.  TIT

Thailand, the IT hub of Asia.

[ProThaiExpat]

Checked Hutch's web page yesterday and they show only central provinces are provided service at this time, although there has been news that their Thailand wide service has been delayed due to their Chinese contractor having difficulty getting the towers up due to property disputes and the like.

[spacebass]

Think it depends wildly on where you live.  Have to agree with the comments in regard AIS though on the whole my umlimited internet sim which costs 900 ish a month is woeful.  Speed varies between 25-50 kbps but reliabilty is appalling and they have apparently spent a fortune this year on network improvements via Siemens.  Obviously not enough.  I'm cancelling mine at the end of the month to switch to Orange which I have tried and appears for me at least more relibiable and a far better package for the buck!

On dial-up, well I was getting just 14 kbps so this is hardly a better option, although I'd imagine location again plays a large part in everything internet in the LOS!!!!

Mak

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It not only depends on where you are but what day and time of day it is etc. I have been on dial up with Ji net for one year more or less useable , then last month lost telephone line for a week , now restored with loads of crackle, cannot connect half the time for various reasons which change with subsequent dial ups including connecting at dead slow and stop speeds and random disconnection after a few minutes. Last phone bill 500 baht for all that s***t , have called TOT they say they will check line never heard anything back from them.

The Thai mentality must be if the service we provide makes more money when it doesn't work then what are we in business for? Lets make the money.

It is clear that If Mr Thatskin believes his country is going to be a big player in the world telecommunications market, as I believe he has stated, he is suffering from serious delusions of grandeur, and one wonders how far this extends throughout his policies in general.

I live within the borders of in Pattaya city and cannot get broadband from TOT the nations telephone provider, probably a good thing as I will not have to endure the even greater rip off occurring in that market according to posters on this and other boards.

Anyway I thank Thailand for having me as their guest and I guess all this nonsense is part of the charm.... which can only be provided in a third world country.

[billd766]

This has been discussed extensively earlier. I just add what I always say - get a Dtac GPRS Edge aircard, or Edge capable phone connected to your computer.

Not that great for surfing multiple sites at the same time but "straight" download speeds are impressive - 120-140 kbps seem to be the most common in the past few days and it goes upto 200 kbps when downloading music off P2P.

You can use Google Earth - impossible on dial-up or simple Gprs.

The only downside is that Edge covers only Central Bangkok.

Another option is Hutch aircard - it's slower but covers all of Thailand, and it's a lot cheaper.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually this is not correct at all.

As you say, Edge only covers Central Bangkok, Orange up country only covers the main roads and the cities, Hutch and CDMA is fine again in the cities and on the main roads.

That leaves about 80% of Thailand on DTAC and AIS.

Probably 60% of the population live in this bit and a lot of them don't have access to a land line anyway.

This is what I do for a living worldwide and the average cell site covers about a 10km radius, less in cities where there are more sites and a bit more in the flat country. Hills and water affect the signal a lot.

The cost of an average cell site including buying or renting the land, building works, tower errection, fencing the site in so nothing is stolen, power and then the equipment cost is around $75,000 to $100,000 and that is for a small site. Add in running costs, site expansion for more customers and maintenance (it does happen) and then you find out how much a network costs.

Then every 4 or 5 years new technology comes along and if you are lucky you can

use some of the existing buildings but the rest of the equipment has to be paid for.