3G Fair Usage Policy

[Dario]

When I bought my iPhone 4S from True last month, my first Apple phone, I subscribed to the "unlimited" usage package for - I think - it is 899 Baht plus taxes. After a couple of days enjoying maximum speed my speed suddenly dropped to 300K/s. Those days I received a message from my provider True saying: "Your internet fair usage policy has been applied and will be effective until 09/02/2012 23:59. You can enjoy maximum speed of your promotion by next cycle."

It is sure that I had signed for some small script I did not read before signing. In the meantime I understand why this fair usage policy is applied worldwide with all carriers offering 3G.

My home now is in Nakhon Nowhere amidst the rice fields and there is no Internet provider coming with cable Internet. So far I had subscribed to the crappy Ipstar service for which I pay 2'782 Baht every month for mostly about 300-400KB/s. The amount of money I pay for this mediocre speed is no comparison to the 9MB I get from True by cable at my home in Pattaya for a mere 1'000 Baht/month.

Somehow I am lucky that there is 3G coverage at my upcountry home!! I would like to use my TRUE-H 3G service from my iPhone via USB to my computer in my upcountry home. I was told today by True-H customer service that I could subscribe to another package (590Baht/month) and pay 2 Baht per additionlaly used MB. Are there any members here who might be in the same situation as I am who have opted for that other package where they get full speed 3G and pay for the additonally used bandwidth? It would be interesting for me to know as to how much such a bill would amount to per month.

[skippybangkok]

Yup...feel for you. I think there should be a "pay for use" model too. In the west, they tried full unlimited, and it ended in disaster as the data usuage chewed up the transmission infra structure. ( in short, total unlimited data is not financially viable ).

So most operators world wide have something similar. For thailand, i guess the only choice would be to have a few SIM's for your aircard that you change as they max out. At the end of the day, data via mobile will never be as cost effective as ADSL or Cable modem network ( for the foreseeable future anyway ).

Edit.... yeh, your right...there is a package for using more than 3GB ( 2 bt per MB = 2000 Baht per GB, or 6000 Baht per 3GB (?).)... as such it makes more sense to go for a 2nd SIM.

Edited January 30, 2012 by skippybangkok

[Dario]

So most operators world wide have something similar. For thailand, i guess the only choice would be to have a few SIM's for your aircard that you change as they max out. At the end of the day, data via mobile will never be as cost effective as ADSL or Cable modem network ( for the foreseeable future anyway ).

Edit.... yeh, your right...there is a package for using more than 3GB ( 2 bt per MB = 2000 Baht per GB, or 6000 Baht per 3GB (?).)... as such it makes more sense to go for a 2nd SIM.

Never thought about the option to have 2 or 3 SIMs. Thanks skippibangkok for the tip. How would that be in reality? Would TRUE allow me to buy an additional SIM for the same telephone number? Or just another number?

[lomatopo]

TrueMove (H or otherwise) needs to make a profit; they've been #3 here for a long time, and have not had the best financial performance. The CP Group (65% ownership) expects that they should be able to make money given their "influence". Gone are the days of the "Free Sizers" tethering 50 GB each month.

Which plan do you have exactly? I think the XL, 899 baht plan gets you 2 GB fair use, 384 Kbps beyond, XXL maybe 5 GB fair use, 99 baht, 384 Kbps beyond.

Welcome to the new world.

Edited January 30, 2012 by lomatopo

[Dario]

For thailand, i guess the only choice would be to have a few SIM's for your aircard that you change as they max out.

Sorry, I did not get that about the aircard you mentioned. I'm using a microSIM with my iPhone 4S. I would connect my iPhone via USB to my PC and activate "Personal Hotspot" in my settings. What aircard exactly were you talking about? And does TRUE or another provider has a SIM card for 3G I could use with such an aircard?

[Dario]

TrueMove (H or otherwise) needs to make a profit; they've been #3 here for a long time, and have not had the best financial performance. The CP Group (65% ownership) expects that they should be able to make money given their "influence". Gone are the days of the "Free Sizers" tethering 50 GB each month.

Which plan do you have exactly? I think the XL, 899 baht plan gets you 2 GB fair use, 384 Kbps beyond, XXL maybe 5 GB fair use, 99 baht, 384 Kbps beyond.

Welcome to the new world.

Sounds pretty interesting what you write at the end. Yes, I have the 899 Baht package which you call the XL. Why only 99 Baht for 2½ times the amount? Doesn't make sense to me. Can you elaborate? Of course, I would be interested to get 5GB fair usage for 99 Baht!

[lomatopo]

Mobile broadband (3G/4G/LTE) is rarely an option for fixed-line broadband (xDSL/ DOCSIS) replacement. Fair-use on mobile broadband averages say 3 GB, while on fixed line is averages 250 GB. Notice the difference?

TrueMove (H or otherwise) needs to make a profit; they've been #3 here for a long time, and have not had the best financial performance. The CP Group (65% ownership) expects that they should be able to make money given their "influence". Gone are the days of the "Free Sizers" tethering 50 GB each month.

Which plan do you have exactly? I think the XL, 899 baht plan gets you 2 GB fair use, 384 Kbps beyond, XXL maybe 5 GB fair use, 99 baht, 384 Kbps beyond.

Welcome to the new world.

Sounds pretty interesting what you write at the end. Yes, I have the 899 Baht package which you call the XL. Why only 99 Baht for 2½ times the amount? Doesn't make sense to me. Can you elaborate? Of course, I would be interested to get 5GB fair usage for 99 Baht!

Typo. XXL is 999 baht, I assumed you can look at their website?

http://www.truemove-h.com/iphone4s_prebooking/iphone4s_price.aspx

Edited January 30, 2012 by lomatopo

[skippybangkok]

For thailand, i guess the only choice would be to have a few SIM's for your aircard that you change as they max out.

Sorry, I did not get that about the aircard you mentioned. I'm using a microSIM with my iPhone 4S. I would connect my iPhone via USB to my PC and activate "Personal Hotspot" in my settings. What aircard exactly were you talking about? And does TRUE or another provider has a SIM card for 3G I could use with such an aircard?

Sorry.... did not diligently read ur post. if in iPhone, it would be annoying to change the SIM. I have a 2000 baht "aircard" which is a USB dongle which plugs into you computer. Its quite easy to open, and put in a different card when it maxes out. No, you cannot get multi SIM with same mobile # ( and as such, you should not care if your using SIMs in the aircard as you dont manage calls from that SIM anyway)

As for profitability, i guess a company does need to make a profit, after all, isn't that the reasons people set up companies ?? I still remember the days of AIS 60,000 baht GSM handsets and high airtime fees..... and the high priced AIS / DTAC duopoly.

[Dario]

Mobile broadband (3G/4G/LTE) is rarely an option for fixed-line broadband (xDSL/ DOCSIS) replacement. Fair-use on mobile broadband averages say 3 GB, while on fixed line is averages 250 GB. Notice the difference?

Got ya. But: I cannot get any fixed line, otherwise I would have one.

TrueMove (H or otherwise) needs to make a profit; they've been #3 here for a long time, and have not had the best financial performance. The CP Group (65% ownership) expects that they should be able to make money given their "influence". Gone are the days of the "Free Sizers" tethering 50 GB each month.

Which plan do you have exactly? I think the XL, 899 baht plan gets you 2 GB fair use, 384 Kbps beyond, XXL maybe 5 GB fair use, 99 baht, 384 Kbps beyond.

Welcome to the new world.

Sounds pretty interesting what you write at the end. Yes, I have the 899 Baht package which you call the XL. Why only 99 Baht for 2½ times the amount? Doesn't make sense to me. Can you elaborate? Of course, I would be interested to get 5GB fair usage for 99 Baht!

Typo. XXL is 999 baht, I assumed you can look at their website?

http://www.truemove-...ne4s_price.aspx

The page only comes in Thai, one can click on EN as long as you want, the page always comes in Thai. The 999 Baht XXL plan doesn't say anything about more fair usage, like 5GB. Best is to call their hotline, I guess.

[lomatopo]

Yes, it's in Thai but certainly easy enough to read the small print, where one can discern the 2 GB/XL and 5 GB/XXL fair-use limits I think?

[skippybangkok]

Mobile broadband (3G/4G/LTE) is rarely an option for fixed-line broadband (xDSL/ DOCSIS) replacement. Fair-use on mobile broadband averages say 3 GB, while on fixed line is averages 250 GB. Notice the difference?

Got ya. But: I cannot get any fixed line, otherwise I would have one.

TrueMove (H or otherwise) needs to make a profit; they've been #3 here for a long time, and have not had the best financial performance. The CP Group (65% ownership) expects that they should be able to make money given their "influence". Gone are the days of the "Free Sizers" tethering 50 GB each month.

Which plan do you have exactly? I think the XL, 899 baht plan gets you 2 GB fair use, 384 Kbps beyond, XXL maybe 5 GB fair use, 99 baht, 384 Kbps beyond.

Welcome to the new world.

Sounds pretty interesting what you write at the end. Yes, I have the 899 Baht package which you call the XL. Why only 99 Baht for 2½ times the amount? Doesn't make sense to me. Can you elaborate? Of course, I would be interested to get 5GB fair usage for 99 Baht!

Typo. XXL is 999 baht, I assumed you can look at their website?

http://www.truemove-...ne4s_price.aspx

The page only comes in Thai, one can click on EN as long as you want, the page always comes in Thai. The 999 Baht XXL plan doesn't say anything about more fair usage, like 5GB. Best is to call their hotline, I guess.

Says in Thai the XL package is 2GB fair use , and XXL is 5GB (meaning speed will drop back from what ever speed you can get ( many variables i.e. iphone 4, iphone 3, dongle 21Mbs or 2Mbs dongle etc ) back to 384k ).

[Dario]

Thank you lomatop, I just called True-H and they confirmed that with the XXL package I would get 5GB. But in my case, I should get an aircard which can handle 850Mhz and subscribe to 2 "Netsim" packages @ 899 Baht/month which would give me 5GB each.. When one has maxed out I just change the simcard,

[lomatopo]

"Free to Surf" Net packages (Post-pay)

Note that TrueMove H also have a Prepay 10 GB plan for 1,699. Free to Topping"

Not sure who came up with these idiotic and oxymoronic names?

[Dario]

"Free to Surf" Net packages (Post-pay)

Note that TrueMove H also have a Prepay 10 GB plan for 1,699. Free to Topping"

Not sure who came up with these idiotic and oxymoronic names?

I very much appreciate your input, lomatopo! Yes, I can see the 1'699 Baht plan with 10GB. Can that be used with an Aircard?That is in fact what I need, in conjunction with an aircard for my PC. The cheapest True Aircard is 2'500. Their 3G is on 850MHz. I saw an affordable aircard for 3G 850MHz here. Would that do the job? I think the package I have on my iPhone should do.

Edited January 31, 2012 by Dario

[lomatopo]

"Free to Surf" Net packages (Post-pay)

Note that TrueMove H also have a Prepay 10 GB plan for 1,699. Free to Topping"

Not sure who came up with these idiotic and oxymoronic names?

I very much appreciate your input, lomatopo! Yes, I can see the 1'699 Baht plan with 10GB. Can that be used with an Aircard?That is in fact what I need, in conjunction with an aircard for my PC. The cheapest True Aircard is 2'500. Their 3G is on 850MHz. I saw an affordable aircard for 3G 850MHz here. Would that do the job? I think the package I have on my iPhone should do.

Yes, I believe those PrePay packages are meant for air-card applications. Note that these are PREPAID, so you'll have to add value.

Any air-card which supports 850 Mhz 3G would work with TrueMove H and/or DTAC. I use a D-Link DWM-156, which is limited to 7.2 Mbps.

http://www.totalaircard.com/categories/Truemove-3G-Aircard/

[lomatopo]

In this post ThaiLife shows how to add value (top-up) a TrueMove H iSIM.

Note that the CAT My Net has a 4 GB fair-use plan for 590 baht. This is the same physical 850 Mhz 3G network as you are currently using as TrueMove H.

[Dario]

"Free to Surf" Net packages (Post-pay)

Note that TrueMove H also have a Prepay 10 GB plan for 1,699. Free to Topping"

Not sure who came up with these idiotic and oxymoronic names?

I very much appreciate your input, lomatopo! Yes, I can see the 1'699 Baht plan with 10GB. Can that be used with an Aircard?That is in fact what I need, in conjunction with an aircard for my PC. The cheapest True Aircard is 2'500. Their 3G is on 850MHz. I saw an affordable aircard for 3G 850MHz here. Would that do the job? I think the package I have on my iPhone should do.

Yes, I believe those PrePay packages are meant for air-card applications. Note that these are PREPAID, so you'll have to add value.

Any air-card which supports 850 Mhz 3G would work with TrueMove H and/or DTAC. I use a D-Link DWM-156, which is limited to 7.2 Mbps.

http://www.totalairc...ove-3G-Aircard/

I've seen your Aircard on sale at www.shop4thai.com. But I thought about the 7.2MB limit, so I looked for another one.

[Dario]

In this post ThaiLife shows how to add value (top-up) a TrueMove H iSIM.

Note that the CAT My Net has a 4 GB fair-use plan for 590 baht. This is the same physical 850 Mhz 3G network as you are currently using as TrueMove H.

Then I think the CAT My Net 4GB fair-use-plan for 590 Baht is currently the best value for money, e.g. with 3 x 590 = 1'770 + 7% VAT = total 1,894 Baht I would have 12 GB fair use.

Edited January 31, 2012 by Dario

[lomatopo]

I am fairly confident that the 7.2 Mbps will not be the short-straw.

You should try these services out for a few months before doing any complex value calculations and/or making a decision.

Edited January 31, 2012 by lomatopo

[Dario]

I am fairly confident that the 7.2 Mbps will not be the short-straw.

You should try these services out for a few months before doing any complex value calculations and/or making a decision.

You are very right, lamatopo! In fact I ordered the aircard you have this afternoon, exactly that one, online, the D-Link DWM-156. The other D-Link I had seen was another model, the DWM-153. I ordered it here at a very good price. Thanks for the tip!

[Dario]

"Free to Surf" Net packages (Post-pay)

Note that TrueMove H also have a Prepay 10 GB plan for 1,699. Free to Topping"

Not sure who came up with these idiotic and oxymoronic names?

I very much appreciate your input, lomatopo! Yes, I can see the 1'699 Baht plan with 10GB. Can that be used with an Aircard?That is in fact what I need, in conjunction with an aircard for my PC. The cheapest True Aircard is 2'500. Their 3G is on 850MHz. I saw an affordable aircard for 3G 850MHz here. Would that do the job? I think the package I have on my iPhone should do.

Yes, I believe those PrePay packages are meant for air-card applications. Note that these are PREPAID, so you'll have to add value.

Any air-card which supports 850 Mhz 3G would work with TrueMove H and/or DTAC. I use a D-Link DWM-156, which is limited to 7.2 Mbps.

http://www.totalairc...ove-3G-Aircard/

After doing my homework and especially checking out CAT, it appears that the My Click 590 Baht package is still not available in the provinces and surely not in the Isaan. True is quite easy and straight forward (good marketing is oh so important!), I just talked with an officer at their #1331. I can go to any 7/11 and buy a TRUE-H 3G SIM card for 99 Baht. I want to have the best package which is for 1'699 Baht which gives me 10GB fair usage and 384KB/s beyond. So I have to top up 2'000 Baht and contact *900*47# to activate the package.

In the area where I live I can get good 3G signal on my iPhone. I just wonder how good that signal will be using the aircard D-Link DWM-156 I yesterday ordered online. Will I need to amplify the signal with an antenna? I actually have a quite good directional antenna which I bought from someone for a CAT-CDMA setup I bought a few months ago, but was unable to get a signal. Seems that CAT-CDMA service has died. I'm ever so happy that I can catch 3G signal out here in the rice fields!!

Edited February 1, 2012 by Dario

[lomatopo]

Maybe have a read through this thread; I'm not sure where ThaiLife is located but he was able to find a CAT/My Net SIM, and he is savvy re: antennas.

I assume that the D-Link air-card should work as well as the iPhone but I think some of the more recent iPhone models have enhanced antenna capabilities linked to the case design. I hope it works for you; of course I recommended it based on my experience, solely in metro-Bangkok, where I have ~ 14 HSDPA cell sites nearby.

[Dario]

I will contact ThaiLife and ask him in which area he lives.

Very interesting to see what your app shows. What kind of app is that? Would I be able to have this on my PC?

[skippybangkok]

I had a D-link modem/ wifi AP along time back- never again, was real bad. Thought it was the line, but end up to be modem. Generally I stick with Cisco or other top of the line when I can

[Dario]

"Free to Surf" Net packages (Post-pay) Note that TrueMove H also have a Prepay 10 GB plan for 1,699. Free to Topping" Not sure who came up with these idiotic and oxymoronic names?

I very much appreciate your input, lomatopo! Yes, I can see the 1'699 Baht plan with 10GB. Can that be used with an Aircard?That is in fact what I need, in conjunction with an aircard for my PC. The cheapest True Aircard is 2'500. Their 3G is on 850MHz. I saw an affordable aircard for 3G 850MHz here. Would that do the job? I think the package I have on my iPhone should do.

Yes, I believe those PrePay packages are meant for air-card applications. Note that these are PREPAID, so you'll have to add value. Any air-card which supports 850 Mhz 3G would work with TrueMove H and/or DTAC. I use a D-Link DWM-156, which is limited to 7.2 Mbps. http://www.totalaircard.com/categories/Truemove-3G-Aircard/

Hi lomatopo,

I just received the same Aircard you are using, the D-Link DWM-156 but it doesn't accommodate microSIM cards. I bought a True-H iSIM card today for 169 Baht and topups for 2'000 Baht to pay for their 1'699 10GB plan. I somehow stuck that microSIM card on the little tray and it seems to work. I haven't registered yet, but the signal strength is only 3 bars out of 5, although I have strong signal with my iPhone 4S True-H card. I try to attach some photos for you to judge, but I can't find an upload link here.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Dario

[Dario]

I just received the same Aircard lomatopo is using, the D-Link DWM-156 but it doesn't accommodate microSIM cards. I bought a True-H iSIM card today for 169 Baht and topups for 2'000 Baht to pay for their 1'699 10GB plan. I somehow stuck that microSIM card on the little tray and it seems to work. I haven't registered yet, but the signal strength is only 3 bars out of 5, although I have strong signal with my iPhone 4S True-H card. I try to attach some photos for you to judge.

[skippybangkok]

Like I said in last post - I have bad experience with DLink. You can change the sim at retail store to large one ( maybe small cost ). Would not keep micro sim cause it might shake loose and cause connection issues

[lomatopo]

I guess I am surprised the iSIM is a microSIM, since it is meant for data applications I assumed it was a normal SIM. The Smartphone SIM is normal sized and can be used with the

You can make or buy a microSIM carrier.

I guess i wouldn't judge the performance of any air-card before you try using it? Have you activated the SIM, registered it, logged in to the web portal, added value, subscribed to a plan? In the pictures attached it looks like you are on 2G: GSM data - GPRS, so maybe best to try it out with 3G?

You can also try it in your iPhone and tether that.

I think the iPhone has a very, very good antenna in it, and air-cards probably not as good given the relatively small size.

I've used this D-Link air-card for ~ 1 year on TrueMove, DTAC and AIS (EDGE), T-Mo (U.S.), AT&T (3G/U.S.) and found it to be excellent. I have provided this card to ~ 3 colleagues who continue to use it. It should be fine, but it does not accept an external antenna as do some other Huawei models.

I probably should have recommended a quad-band Huawei modem?

[lomatopo]

Some grabs using DWM-156 with DTAC. Admittedly I have 14 HSDPA DTAC cell towers nearby.

Edited February 4, 2012 by lomatopo

[rice555]

Hello All, I got the True-H package yesterday at the True Shop The Mall Korat, 1/2 price for

the sim and the E173 aircard. A little under Bt900, 1/2 price for unlimited for 4 months and

then Bt.8xx per month on prepaid account.

The sim is full size, but it is punched so you can pop out the micro sim also(2-in 1 sim).

rice555