Cat Cdma

[lungpeter]

Hi. I`m living in the North and using Cat since many years and I`m very happy with it. I read in TV that they will stop CDMA at the end of the year. now my local CAT office told me that the will stop this month and I have to buy a new USB device, but will give me a sim card for free. has anybody more infos on that. I would like to use CDMA as long as possible.

thanks for all infos in advance

[lomatopo]

By all accounts most current CAT CDMA users expect they network to be shuttered at the end of this month, August, 2012.

There have been many, many threads here on this subject with many people saying that they are getting a USB aircard which supports, at a minimum, 850 MHz 3G and the post-paid, contract My by CAT four gigabyte package.

There may be other options, including service from TrueMove H, which operates on the exact same physical network as My by CAT, or even TOT which operates on 2100 MHz 3G. Finally, TOT does have an interesting service called WiNET, which many have commented positively on. This is a longer distance WiFi service, which may or may not be available in your exact location.

http://www.mybycat.com/products.php?id=14&sid=44

http://www.mybycat.com/products.php?id=16&sid=47

http://www.mybycat.com/products.php?id=16&sid=48

http://www.totalaircard.com/categories/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%81-Aircard-%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%82%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2/DTAC-3G-Aircard/ (DTAC also uses 850 MHz)

http://www3.truecorp.co.th/truemoveh/packagedetail/79/3G_Topping_%E0%B8%8B%E0%B8%B7%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%9B%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%97%E0%B9%8C_:_%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9E%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%81%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%88%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%9A%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%99

http://icoverage.tot3g.net/

http://www.tot3g.net/PromotionInfo.aspx?pid=3

http://www.overclockzone.com/forums/showthread.php/1197169-TOT-WiFi-Wi-Net-%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81-TOT/page17

[Gary A]

I would hope that CAT will notify me when they intend to cut off my CDMA service and what, if anything, they have to replace it. I am quite a distance from the tower (about 5 KM) but I do have a full CDMA signal.

[lomatopo]

I would hope that CAT will notify me when they intend to cut off my CDMA service and what, if anything, they have to replace it.

I think your hope may be misplaced.

[Gary A]

My wife called CAT today and it appears that they are going to pull the plug on CDMA at the end of this month. When asked what will replace it, she was told that we have to go to the Loei office to make the decision.

[lomatopo]

I think your options would be:

1.) My by CAT, 850 MHz 3G, post-paid fair-use: 4 GB/384 Kbps

2.) TrueMove H, 850 MHz 3G, various pre- and post-paid plans.

3.) TOT, or one of their MVNOs, on 2100 MHz 3G.

4.) TOT WiNET, a longer distance PTP WiFi service: have the wife contact the closest big TOT office.

You might consider a 3G router which accepts a SIM directly as this simplifies things a bit and allows you to share the 3G connection locally via ethernet and/or WiFi.

In theory the 850 MHz would/may offer broader geographical service, but you may be close to a TOT tower?

A lot of people rave about the TOT WiNET service, it seems pretty good - although that could be due to very few users - and it is cost-effective.

I would talk with neighbors to see what they are using. Look for some younger folks with maybe iPhones, they'll know what's going on.

[4evermaat]

i would wait until CAT actually turns off the internet. I doubt very much that CAT will finish the CDMA service everywhere at once. And you will know about it.

You can begin testing the truemove H / My By Cat and see if you get a signal, speeds, etc. Truemove H has a promotion right now for their smaller packages:

You'd have to pay for a sim, but even the sim should come with 75-100MB free data for 60 days on activation.

[Gary A]

Today I went and bought a Truemove-H SIM card and was pleased to find out that my phone has a good signal and my phone is faster than my computer using CDMA. The next step is to go to the CAT office and see if they are going to give me anything for the soon obsolete CDMA modem.

[lomatopo]

Today I went and bought a Truemove-H SIM card and was pleased to find out that my phone has a good signal and my phone is faster than my computer using CDMA. The next step is to go to the CAT office and see if they are going to give me anything for the soon obsolete CDMA modem.

FWIW, you can tether your phone via USB or bluetooth, or use it create a mobile AP and share the mobile broadband connection with up to five (5) devices via WiFi. So you may not need to purchase a new USB aircard, or USB-capable router.

I would definitely be looking into that TOT Wi-NET service, assuming you use the internet a reasonable amount.

Edited August 10, 2012 by lomatopo

[lomatopo]

Re; TOT 3G and TOT Wi-NET, this coverage maps shows TOT 3G towers, which may also be able to provider Wi-NET, and there may be other taller TOT masts, enabled with Wi-NET but not with 3G?

[TwentyBaht]

With OP permission, I will comment on TOT Wi-NET;

We are in the far north. On, TOT ADSL. Saw Wi-NET a couple months ago (courtesy, Iomatopo). We made calls to TOT? No Wi-NET antenna on our local tower. But, subsequent calls to the TOT main province office indicated that if we could gather nine other customers, they would give us Wi-NET service.

Iomatopo,

While further researching Wi-NET, my other half happened across a Thai website with extensive speedtest graphs using 6 MB Wi-NET. Mostly, overseas speedtest sites. And, the bandwidth was almost exactly the same as with our 6MB ADSL.

And, Iomatopo, thanks for all your excellent posts.

Cheers

[JimGant]

I think your options would be:

1.) My by CAT, 850 MHz 3G, post-paid fair-use: 4 GB/384 Kbps

2.) TrueMove H, 850 MHz 3G, various pre- and post-paid plans.

I note you don't mention fall-back speeds for True. At one time, at least for the 5GB and 3GB plans, 384Kbps was the advertised fall-back speed. Now, it's shown in the small print to be 128 (and even worse for the lesser GB plans).

Any current real world experience with these numbers -- does True now, indeed, no longer fall back to 384? Conversely, does My CAT fall only as far as 384?

Such info would certainly influence what replaces my CDMA, even knowing nothing for certain, for very long, is the rule over here.....

[Gary A]

Today I went and bought a Truemove-H SIM card and was pleased to find out that my phone has a good signal and my phone is faster than my computer using CDMA. The next step is to go to the CAT office and see if they are going to give me anything for the soon obsolete CDMA modem.

FWIW, you can tether your phone via USB or bluetooth, or use it create a mobile AP and share the mobile broadband connection with up to five (5) devices via WiFi. So you may not need to purchase a new USB aircard, or USB-capable router.

I would definitely be looking into that TOT Wi-NET service, assuming you use the internet a reasonable amount.

According to the map, the nearest TOT Wi-NET is about 30 kilometers away from my location.

It also looks like My by CAT is cheaper than Truemove-H for the same connection speed and signal area. According to the CAT web site, they have a MiFi modem available. Will that serve to same purpose as a router?

[lomatopo]

According to the map, the nearest TOT Wi-NET is about 30 kilometers away from my location.

It also looks like My by CAT is cheaper than Truemove-H for the same connection speed and signal area. According to the CAT web site, they have a MiFi modem available. Will that serve to same purpose as a router?

If you are referring to the map I posted please be aware that that is a TOT 3G tower map, and not necessarily representative of any TOT Wi-NET capable-towers. I would contact TOT directly re: Wi_NET availability.

As far as i can determine, both by looking at web pages, and based on posts by those with the services:

Any pre-paid TrueMove H unlimited plans: 3/5/10 GB have a fair=use speed limit of 128 Kbps. The My by CAT post-paid unlimited 4 GB plan has a fair-use speed-limit of 384 Kbps.

A MiFi device will provide WiFi within your home, allowing you to share the mobile broadband 3G connection with several devices. I only mention the router option, which you may have to source on you r own rather than from CAT, as it may be more functional, less expensive and offer better performance.

http://www.totalaircard.com/categories/3G-Router/3G-Router-%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%9A%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%AA%E0%B9%88-SIM/

I have my eye on this one: http://www.totalaircard.com/products/Huawei-B200-3G-Wireless-Router.html

[Guest]

I went to CAT shop today to pay my bills and was told that from next month on the price of CDMA will be 1 bath/minute. That would be 43200B/30 days..

[4evermaat]

I went to CAT shop today to pay my bills and was told that from next month on the price of CDMA will be 1 bath/minute. That would be 43200B/30 days..

Sounds like an error. Or perhaps she was referring to the voice calls, not internet? If you have an unlimited plan, you do not have to worry about overage.

[Gary A]

I have had no EVDO service for the past two days. I complained to my wife and she told me that the service is finished. She wasn't surprised. She said they told her service would stop by the end of the month and not at the end of the month.

Why should I be surprised? No notice or anything and a vague answer even after calling them. TIT! Just normal Thai style service.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Gary A

[Guest]

I went to CAT shop today to pay my bills and was told that from next month on the price of CDMA will be 1 bath/minute. That would be 43200B/30 days..

Sounds like an error. Or perhaps she was referring to the voice calls, not internet? If you have an unlimited plan, you do not have to worry about overage.

What I understood the unlimited plans for CDMA do not exist after 1st of September. This way CAT can force all customers to move to the new system and ramp down the CMDA network.

Therefore 1B/minute.

[lomatopo]

I went to CAT shop today to pay my bills and was told that from next month on the price of CDMA will be 1 bath/minute. That would be 43200B/30 days..

Sounds like an error. Or perhaps she was referring to the voice calls, not internet? If you have an unlimited plan, you do not have to worry about overage.

What I understood the unlimited plans for CDMA do not exist after 1st of September. This way CAT can force all customers to move to the new system and ramp down the CMDA network.

Therefore 1B/minute.

Yes, CAT will keep providing CDMA voice services and their standard rate is 1 baht/min. I believe you misunderstood as CAT is shuttering their CDMA data service permanently, and not continuing it in any format. At least that's what they've said publicly. They do not need to force people to migrate by some extraordinary pricing scheme.

[Guest]

I went to CAT shop today to pay my bills and was told that from next month on the price of CDMA will be 1 bath/minute. That would be 43200B/30 days..

Sounds like an error. Or perhaps she was referring to the voice calls, not internet? If you have an unlimited plan, you do not have to worry about overage.

What I understood the unlimited plans for CDMA do not exist after 1st of September. This way CAT can force all customers to move to the new system and ramp down the CMDA network.

Therefore 1B/minute.

Yes, CAT will keep providing CDMA voice services and their standard rate is 1 baht/min. I believe you misunderstood as CAT is shuttering their CDMA data service permanently, and not continuing it in any format. At least that's what they've said publicly. They do not need to force people to migrate by some extraordinary pricing scheme.

I would still think that they are going to shut down the CDMA data services later on this year. Not September 1st. But they do not offer any packages after this month. Therefore internet usage is rated 1B/min.

http://www.catcdma.com/en/postpaid-internet.rhtml

Anyway. Does not really matter. In any case it's practically the end of service.

[Gary A]

My EVDO has never been totally down with no service for two full days. I have uninstalled the CDMA modem and am using a ZTE MF 190 air card with Truemove-H. My wife has contact numbers for TOT WiNet and will call them tomorrow. She found out that a friend of hers in the next village is using TOT wireless. I will use the Truemove-H air card with my netbook when I make my road trips.

The speed on my desktop is much faster than the CDMA EVDO has ever been. I'm quite pleased.

[Gary A]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2116741639.png

[ThaiLife]

My EVDO has never been totally down with no service for two full days. I have uninstalled the CDMA modem and am using a ZTE MF 190 air card with Truemove-H. My wife has contact numbers for TOT WiNet and will call them tomorrow. She found out that a friend of hers in the next village is using TOT wireless. I will use the Truemove-H air card with my netbook when I make my road trips.

The speed on my desktop is much faster than the CDMA EVDO has ever been. I'm quite pleased.

Hi Gary

When you are using your MF 190 air card with Truemove-H , is there any way you can see on line , your usage amounts ?

Thanks

[Gary A]

My EVDO has never been totally down with no service for two full days. I have uninstalled the CDMA modem and am using a ZTE MF 190 air card with Truemove-H. My wife has contact numbers for TOT WiNet and will call them tomorrow. She found out that a friend of hers in the next village is using TOT wireless. I will use the Truemove-H air card with my netbook when I make my road trips.

The speed on my desktop is much faster than the CDMA EVDO has ever been. I'm quite pleased.

Hi Gary

When you are using your MF 190 air card with Truemove-H , is there any way you can see on line , your usage amounts ?

Thanks

Not that I have found yet. By using the SMS through the computer, I am able to get some information but not what I want. Putting 9789 in the number area and the letter B in the message box results in replies in the Thai language but not with the balances. The Truemove-H website is not much help.

I'm sure there is a way to get balances. If you find the right number for the SMS, please post it.

[lomatopo]

T

My EVDO has never been totally down with no service for two full days. I have uninstalled the CDMA modem and am using a ZTE MF 190 air card with Truemove-H. My wife has contact numbers for TOT WiNet and will call them tomorrow. She found out that a friend of hers in the next village is using TOT wireless. I will use the Truemove-H air card with my netbook when I make my road trips.

The speed on my desktop is much faster than the CDMA EVDO has ever been. I'm quite pleased.

Hi Gary

When you are using your MF 190 air card with Truemove-H , is there any way you can see on line , your usage amounts ?

Thanks

Not that I have found yet. By using the SMS through the computer, I am able to get some information but not what I want. Putting 9789 in the number area and the letter B in the message box results in replies in the Thai language but not with the balances. The Truemove-H website is not much help.

I'm sure there is a way to get balances. If you find the right number for the SMS, please post it.

There have been a number of threads addressing this issue - and on one of the TrueMove H pre-paid SIMs (NetSIM) perhaps even a way to manage your account on-line?

http://www3.truecorp.co.th/truemoveh/product/detail/317/NET_SIM_3G_%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%9C%E0%B8%B9%E0%B9%89%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%8A%E0%B9%89%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%94%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%97%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%9A%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%95

[ThaiLife]

T

My EVDO has never been totally down with no service for two full days. I have uninstalled the CDMA modem and am using a ZTE MF 190 air card with Truemove-H. My wife has contact numbers for TOT WiNet and will call them tomorrow. She found out that a friend of hers in the next village is using TOT wireless. I will use the Truemove-H air card with my netbook when I make my road trips.

The speed on my desktop is much faster than the CDMA EVDO has ever been. I'm quite pleased.

Hi Gary

When you are using your MF 190 air card with Truemove-H , is there any way you can see on line , your usage amounts ?

Thanks

Not that I have found yet. By using the SMS through the computer, I am able to get some information but not what I want. Putting 9789 in the number area and the letter B in the message box results in replies in the Thai language but not with the balances. The Truemove-H website is not much help.

I'm sure there is a way to get balances. If you find the right number for the SMS, please post it.

There have been a number of threads addressing this issue - and on one of the TrueMove H pre-paid SIMs (NetSIM) perhaps even a way to manage your account on-line?

http://www.thaivisa....nce-truemove-h/

http://www.thaivisa....e/page__st__100

http://www3.truecorp...บเล็ต

As of yet ive found no way to check a usage balance '' on line '' while a USB aircard is being used , I would love to be able to do that for my CAT 3G ( my click unlimited ) account

[JimGant]

Any pre-paid TrueMove H unlimited plans: 3/5/10 GB have a fair=use speed limit of 128 Kbps. The My by CAT post-paid unlimited 4 GB plan has a fair-use speed-limit of 384 Kbps.

Yes, the current snap-shot. But just 6+ months ago, these True plans also had 384 Kbps throttle-back speeds, but then started to slip, as this quote from a related thread of 6 months ago indicates:

It should be noted that my unlimited package SMS balance says 256kbps speed limit after you reach 3GB fair use cap. I thought it was 384 kbps.

And today, it's further slipped to 128 Kpps. Is this what happens as more and more folks subscribe? If so, I guess we can expect My by CAT to also throttle back from 384, as the CDMA orphans sign-up........

[lomatopo]

As far as I know. with TrueMove H one can check 3G usage as follows:

1.) USSD: originate a USSD message by entering *900# on the dial-pad, you should get a reply.

2.) SMS: send an SMS to 9789 with a single upper-case B in the body of the message, you should get a reply.

3.) IVR: dial *9000, follow prompts.

4.) Register for iServices: http://iservice.truelife.com/members/register/ then use the web interface: http://iservice.truecorp.co.th/home/home_index

There is a TrueMove Hi-Speed Connection UI, which comes with TrueMove (H)-branded aircards, which in theory one could use to manage a variety of aircards? Of course finding that software may prove daunting.

Regarding fair-use speed-limits one should contact the service provider to verify current limits. I think we can only refer people to published web pages when they ask. And it may be challenging to predict how these might change in the future?

[Gary A]

Today I went to the CAT office in Loei. As expected they wouldn't give me anything for the CDMA modem except a free SIM card. I signed up for the post paid my Click package. The office didn't even have air cards.

On the way home, I stopped at Big C and found a MiFi wireless router, It is a ZTE MF30. I paid 2,790 baht. It seems to work pretty well but as expected, not much range which is OK with me.

My wife called TOT before we left for Loei and although her friend in the next village is using TOT, TOT told my wife that signal is coming from the nearby wat and is not available for anyone else. ???

[ThaiLife]

Today I went to the CAT office in Loei. As expected they wouldn't give me anything for the CDMA modem except a free SIM card. I signed up for the post paid my Click package. The office didn't even have air cards.

On the way home, I stopped at Big C and found a MiFi wireless router, It is a ZTE MF30. I paid 2,790 baht. It seems to work pretty well but as expected, not much range which is OK with me.

My wife called TOT before we left for Loei and although her friend in the next village is using TOT, TOT told my wife that signal is coming from the nearby wat and is not available for anyone else. ???

Hi Garry

Please let us know how things turn out with your CAT 3G ''my click '' experience ,

I too used the CAT CDMA for many years and it had its up's and down's along the way , but at least it had no usage capping , like there is with CAT 3G.

Ps , when I signed up for my post paid ''my click '' package , I got a free set of CAT drinking glasses