Air Cards Bought In U.S. Work Here?

[david_je]

Hi,

Has anyone ever bought an Air Card in the U.S. and gotten it to work here with DTAC or AIS SIM? If yes, what model please? Should any Air Card purchased abroad be able to work here?

Thanks for your help.

[lomatopo]

This is model dependent. Assuming the aircard were from T-Mo or AT&T and could accept a SIM then you could probably unlock it and it would work here, albeot on 2G or in the case of an AT&T aircard, 3G on DTAC/TrueMove H.

If you plan to sue 3G in Thailand you should research which would be your preferred providers: AIS/One-2-Call (900 Mhz/3G), TrueMove H (850 Mhz/3G) or DTAC/Happy (850 Mhz/3G).

Most GSM aircards would work here on GSM data: lower-speed, 2G: EGPRS/EDGE.

Aircards are reasonably priced here.

http://www.totalaircard.com/

Are you looking at a certain model?

[TongueThaied]

Whatever you get, make sure it is unlocked. I just bought a NEW UNLOCKED SIERRA WIRELESS 308 USBCONNECT SHOCKWAVE GSM 4G AIRCARD MODEM on eBay in the US for $34US to use with DTAC 2G (EDGE) and 3G. It is a 21 Mbps card. This card will work with AIS only at the lower speed 2G (EDGE).

AIS 3G cards are not compatible with DTAC 3G cards. If you want to use it for 3G, before you buy the card, you have to choose which company you want to use.

That Total aircard link given above has the best prices I have found in Thailand, but more expensive than the US in most cases (the exact card I bought on eBay for $34 is also sold by Total, and costs 2,000 baht). At least if you buy from Total, you will know it is compatible. DTAC has a new 42 Mbps card they are selling for about 3,000 baht, and it includes a promotion of one month free.

I am not sure what the benefit to these fast cards is, though, since the maximum 3G download speed anybody here has ever actually achieved is something like 3 Mbps. If anybody knows the answer to this, I would sure like to hear it.

[david_je]

Thank you for your very useful reply. Have you started using that new U.S.-bought Sierra card with DTAC SIM, with no problems?

If I don't buy it unlocked, I'd call Sierra to unlock it for me over the phone? And if it still doesn't work, could it be unlocked in Thailand?

And for the air card to work in Thailand, is the only requirement that it be unlocked? Or must the card also have other specifications?

Whatever you get, make sure it is unlocked. I just bought a NEW UNLOCKED SIERRA WIRELESS 308 USBCONNECT SHOCKWAVE GSM 4G AIRCARD MODEM on eBay in the US for $34US to use with DTAC 2G (EDGE) and 3G. It is a 21 Mbps card. This card will work with AIS only at the lower speed 2G (EDGE).

AIS 3G cards are not compatible with DTAC 3G cards. If you want to use it for 3G, before you buy the card, you have to choose which company you want to use.

That Total aircard link given above has the best prices I have found in Thailand, but more expensive than the US in most cases (the exact card I bought on eBay for $34 is also sold by Total, and costs 2,000 baht). At least if you buy from Total, you will know it is compatible. DTAC has a new 42 Mbps card they are selling for about 3,000 baht, and it includes a promotion of one month free.

I am not sure what the benefit to these fast cards is, though, since the maximum 3G download speed anybody here has ever actually achieved is something like 3 Mbps. If anybody knows the answer to this, I would sure like to hear it.

[lomatopo]

IMO, You should buy an unlocked GSM aircard which works with the 3G provider you think might be your best option here in Thailand, if that is your only requirement. Do you need to use this aircard in the U.S.? In other countries? Just Thailand? Where in Thailand do you think you will be spending the bulk of your time? Do you need 3G?

You can buy an un-locked 3G aircard here for 1,500 baht, or less; no auction, no sales tax, no shipping. (SIM and data plan extra of course, but some SIM packages in retail outlets do come with a free SIM and even a little bit of credit/free data.)

DTAC/Happy and/or TrueMove H: http://www.totalaircard.com/products/DTAC-3G-Aircard-Speedy-190.html

AIS/One-2-Call: http://www.totalaircard.com/products/AIS-Aircard-E303-3G-7.2Mbps.html

Any unlocked GSM aircard will work here with any service provider for GSM Data: aka 2G aka EDGE/GPRS ~ 225 Kbps real-world.

Most locked aircards are locked to a service provider, and they can be unlocked. However the service provider will probably not help you. The unlocking process is moderately tricky, but can be done by yourself, or you can pay a 3rd party to generate the unlock code (which is usually based on the IMEI number) or take it to a shop here and have them unlock it.

If you want to buy on eBay then just make sure to buy an UNLOCKED aircard (even if it is branded AT&T) as it will work here.