Gprs/edge Goes International

[tonezzz]

Hi Friends,

I'm looking to buy a GPRS/EDGE PC card (my choice could be a SonyEricsson GC83) to use with my company's notebook. I'll be carrying it to Australia, USA, UK, Europe and maybe China. Will the AIS SIM cover it all?

Have anybody ever had experience in using these kind of things to many countries like I'm gonna do? Information on speed, cost or anyghing that you think it will be useful would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony.

[Florin]

Here's a look at AIS' GPRS charges for international use:

http://www.gsmadvance.com/e/service/ir/ais...board_gprs.aspx

Speed will depend on the local network, since you're going to developed countries it shouldn't be a problem except in the middle of nowhere...

[PFV]

Hi Friends,

I'm looking to buy a GPRS/EDGE PC card (my choice could be a SonyEricsson GC83) to use with my company's notebook. I'll be carrying it to Australia, USA, UK, Europe and maybe China. Will the AIS SIM cover it all?

Have anybody ever had experience in using these kind of things to many countries like I'm gonna do? Information on speed, cost or anyghing that you think it will be useful would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony.

Hi tonezz,

I use my GPRS/EDGE/UMTS phone as a modem in the US, Thailand, Japan, and Italy. It works well in all cases, although I sometimes need to manually switch provider since not all work seamlessly. My SIM is from T-Mobile USA. On the plus side there are no settings (access points, etc.) to change, however roaming charges are fairly steep and based on volume, so I only use this system to download e-mail headers and then rely on local WIFI HotSpots or Internet Cafes for the heavy stuff. Over the years I have also picked up local pre-paid SIMs that are much less expensive to use (for instance DTAC in TH. and TIM in IT). You just pop the "local SIM" in your phone or PC card and add/change some settings (Access Points and CGDCONT settings).

GPRS speed is fairly dismal and appropriate for e-mails only IMHO, EDGE speed is OK for browsing, and UMTS is great.

Cheers,

Paul

[tonezzz]

Thanks Florin & PFV,

It seems like Thailand is the cheapest country for the GPRS. Too bad my boss is not an expert on using a computer and he use Mac Powerbook G4 (while the others are using PC notebook), that even make it more complicate for me to service him. So sad for me huh?

PFV, I think the way you use it is just for me not for my boss. He needs something super simple and easy. I think I'll find a card that will work both for Mac notebook and PC notebook and check the bill when somebody carry it out of Thailand. Then let my boss make his own decission how will he use it. If it's too expensive then I'll use it mainly in Thailand and keep it as a spare connection when somebody travel abroad.

Any more experience please....

Thanks,

Tony.

[tjo o tjim]

I use a US sim card, which has made me realize something here when everybody complains about internet speed: the country of origin for your SIM card is where traffic is routed through. It will likely have dedicated fiber to get to your gateway, but you will hook up to the internet in Country of Origin. For a Thai SIM, that could be good if your boss is trying to access content hosted in Thailand, but if it is hosted in the US, a US sim card will be faster.

I have not been able to find any unlimited bandwidth plans that allow for inexpensive international roaming.

[tavarich]

GPRS comes in at dial up speed so it is painfully slow. I use it only as a last resort. By a local GSM chip and it is not as expensive as roaming.

[billd766]

Whilst I can understand most people complaining about the slow speed on GPRS there are a lot of people who actually don't have a land line let alone ADSL etc.

I use either a Nokia 6100 or a 6260 and GPRS here in Thailand and then when I go to another country I just buy a local sim card and get them to set up a network connection.

I have a program called Mail Express Pro which turns my laptop into a server and do all my emails etc from there.

It works OK depending on the local base station.

[tavarich]

Whilst I can understand most people complaining about the slow speed on GPRS there are a lot of people who actually don't have a land line let alone ADSL etc.

I use either a Nokia 6100 or a 6260 and GPRS here in Thailand and then when I go to another country I just buy a local sim card and get them to set up a network connection.

I have a program called Mail Express Pro which turns my laptop into a server and do all my emails etc from there.

It works OK depending on the local base station.

I agree with you on the speed part. slow is better than nothing. I use it when we go up country for visits. I have a blue tooth card I use to connect, I have been told that is as fast as it gets??? Maybe someone has the tech data on the speed.

[kenk3z]

I was issued a Sony/E GC83 card by my employer and used it exclusively as my Internet connection for about 18 months. It was on the US Cingular EDGE network with a tower within line-of-sight of my house. Monthly cost for unlimited access was $80USD.

Having had the experience with it, I would never want to purchase one to use on my own - and I am in an area just outside cable modem or DSL service.

Physically, the antenna connection and the antenna itself is very weak. Any mishap with handling the laptop and the antenna is going to break. And, naturally, Sony does not make available replacement antennas.

The second issue I experienced seemed to be in their driver/ support software. This showed up as frequent dropped connections, either staying dropped or followed by restored connectivity. Extremely frustrating. This was observed over installations on about four different laptops. A search on the Internet revealed many other people having the same problem. The problem was reduced when the signal strength registered was 5 of 5 bars. Let it drop down to 3/5 and you're not going to stay connected long.

Given the need to do the same thing again, I would go for an EDGE-capable phone and tie it to the laptop by USB or Bluetooth.

kenk3z

[monty]

The dropped connection thing does seem to come from poor gprs modems, or poor drivers for them.

I've always used a Nokia gprs phone for my gprs connections and it suffered terribly from these disconnects. Always thought it was one of the quirks inherrent to gprs. Sometimes I had to shut down the phone completely before it would connect gprs gain!

Recently I got myself a Samsung phone, and pronto, my disconnects are gone. I often stay connected for 2 hours, doing a download or whatever...Even with only 2 to 3 bars signal strength...

Only dissapointment with the Samsung is battery life. My Nokia kept going strong for up to 4 days, the Samsung chickens out after 1.5 - 2 days...