How Much Does Internet Cost In A Isaan Village ?

[johnson36]

Hi Guys

How much would it cost to have the internet installed in my wifes parents home near Sakhon Nakhon (Isaan) ?

Her daughter is 11yr and lives with her parents, she has a computer but does not have the internet yet. We live in the UK at the moment and it would be good for my wife to be able to talk to her family on Skype Video call. At the moment we buy Skype credit and she calls them from our laptop to their mobile phone.

Is the internet done via a satalite dish ?

What would the approximate installation cost be ?

What would the monthly cost be ?

We will be in Thailand on 25th Dec and going to the village after new year on the 2nd Jan, we would like to do it then if the cost is not too expensive.

Cheers for any help you can give me

Edited December 8, 2012 by johnson36

[Lite Beer]

It will all depend on if the village already has Internet available and who the provider is.

The monthly fee will be from around 600 Baht if there is a service available.

Installation costs would depend on how far they have to run the cable. It should not be very expensive.

Sent from my i-mobile i-note WiFi 9 using Thaivisa Connect App

[beano2274]

Not in Isaan but the prices are set by TOT, my promotion gives me upto 7MB and also 200 bahts worth of free calls, total with tax is 738baht per month.

I remember years ago, getting TRUE, they laid a cable to my condo, cost 2000baht, as about just over 100metres of cable to the outside wall.

Edited December 8, 2012 by beano2274

[johnson36]

It will all depend on if the village already has Internet available and who the provider is.

The monthly fee will be from around 600 Baht if there is a service available.

Installation costs would depend on how far they have to run the cable. It should not be very expensive.

Sent from my i-mobile i-note WiFi 9 using Thaivisa Connect App

Is it not done by Satalite dish ? just cable ?

Edited December 8, 2012 by johnson36

[Pormax]

I too live in an Issan village Nr Prachonchai, this is my experience.

When I first moved here no internet in village, No towers or cables. Had to have large ariel attached to house pointing to nearest tower. This was done through CAT. Not brilliant as could not use Skype all that well specially with video. But this was my only option. TOT have a satellite dish system but were not interested in supplying as they said they had too many problems with farangs complaining about poor speed or loss of connection when weather was not good. The cost to me for ariel, modem etc was 18,000B then 890B per month

CAT this year are changing their system and I couldn't be sure it would work in my area, Some said it would others not sure. I was in the process of arranging to try the new system when TOT put up a tower in the village and to cut a long story short was able to have connection through this. Cost 4,500B plus 7b per metre for the wire from tower to my house (first 500mts was free). The speed is good enough for Skype video calls and downloading. Not brilliant at times but much better than I had. Cost 590B per month. Did not reqire to have a phone in the house.

The problem you have is, if there is a tower in your village, the amount of households already connected. With TOT there is a maximum of 12 per 'box' on the tower. They would put on an extra box if another 10 to 12 households signed up, but in a small village it is hard enough to get enough people wanting/can afford it, to get one box on the tower.

Not sure if True have a satellite system in the area but there are True towers around but maybe only for mobile phone signal.

So my suggestion is to find out if the village has a tower, if so find out who owns it.

If not contact CAT in Buriram (can give phone number plus the internet shop CAT uses to do the connections if you require them)

Contact True and see if they have satellite internet capabilities in your area. Supposedly CAT and True are now working together now.

From my experience I would be wary of satellite or connection by large ariel as I had, as I doubt you would get sufficient speed for using Skype and this is the main reason you wanting it.

I hope for your daughter's sake that you are able to get internet because not only is it good for you to communicate via Skype but I also have a 14 year old daughter and it is almost an essential piece of technology now required for doing their school work. Before I had internet she had to travel 20kms to an internet cafe. Not ideal.

Good luck, if I can be of any futher help either reply or PM me.

[johnson36]

Thank you very much Pormax. I will find out if there is Tower in the village when arrive there on the 2nd Jan. If there is I assume that is where the cable has to go to from the house ?

[pattayadingo]

When I lived out in the sticks - though not Issan - my only option was for a large dish from TOT. The connections were really slow. You certainly would not get video feed off that system, no gaming and useless for torrents. It was not cheap either for both the installation or running costs.

There were no spare lines available for telephone connection - according to TOT - so no chance of ADSL.

Is it not possible to connect via the mobile phone to a laptop or a dongle? Others will have better knowledge on that score. It is something I have not used in a long time.

Edited December 8, 2012 by pattayadingo

[johnson36]

Thanks Pattayadingo, I will check out the mobile route

[Pormax]

Thank you very much Pormax. I will find out if there is Tower in the village when arrive there on the 2nd Jan. If there is I assume that is where the cable has to go to from the house ?

Yes that is correct. But also find out the nearest Tower for mobile phone and find which company owns it, then you will have an idea as to what company sim card to get with the strongest signal. Meanwhile you could get your wife's daughter or her parents to ask around in the village which mobile signal is the strongest in case you have to go the dongle route. Not sure though what internet speed you can get from a dongle as never used this method. Maybe other TV members who have had this experience can advise on this.

[MrRed]

I have a friend who just had an aerial mounted on the roof and it was pointed at the nearest tower which as the crow fly's is about 7/8 klms away......result is a speed of around 8megs and skype is fine with that....the cost was 10.000baht for everything and 600 a month connected to CAT.

I think you will need to ask around the area and determine how far from the main town/Antenna you are first.

Edited December 9, 2012 by MrRed

[muratremix]

First check with head of Village (the man responsible for everything in village, kind of mini-mayor) if there is TOT internet box installed in village and some people using internet from it. If not, forget it, you can't gather minimum 20 people who willing to pay cabling fee to their home from TOT DSLAM Internet box which costs up to 8-10k baht (depending on how many meters far from box) in short time. However, in long time, you may be able to find it. We had collected 20 people (some other lady did talking with others while I was enjoying my life in Bangkok) in our village and I paid 8000 baht for cabling fee and TOT paid DSLAM BOX and fiberoptic fee to the village. Remember, there are limited number of ports in this box and every additional port will cost money and they don't sell it in 1 port configuration, it is more like 8-16-32 ports in one electronic device.

However, I'm pretty sure you can find Truemove-H (aka Cat MyNet aka 520-00 as Network name) coverage in your village if it is near to any major road. If you do, you will just need a good mifi device with external antenna pointing to Truemove base tower for best results. Then you'll get 4 Gb unlimited Cat Mynet package for 590 baht + VAT and voila! Of course, Tot 7 mbit is much better than 3G connection but if you don't have TOT adsl option, 3G is your best friend.

[lomatopo]

There may be many potential solutions but these are really dependent on location. Is the home near any sort of main road? Does the home currently have a fixed-line telephone? If so, DSL from TOT may be an option.

There are some wireless point-to-point services available from TOT (Wi-NET), AIS (Air Net), 3BB

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

http://www.ais.co.th/airnet/th/index.html

http://www.3bb.co.th/product/product_detail.php?lang=&id=2095

Finally, mobile broadband via 3G, especially My by CAT/TrueMove H might be a solution.

You really need to chat with neighbors to see what others are using in that specific location.

[Lite Beer]

3BB have a lot of coverage in Isaan. Also you are not stuck with a telephone line you do not need.

Dedicated Internet cable.

http://www.3bb.co.th...dex.php?lang=en

[lopburi3]

The most likely choice may be what they already have - mobile phone. As 3G service becomes more available expect future expansion of landline solutions outside of major populations areas is likely to be even slower than it already is. We pay about 1,000 baht per month for TRUE here in Bangkok and were able to use in countryside of Isaan on trips and use as WiFi hotspot for computers. This might be a one solution solution if phone can be used for this. If not adapters for computers are not expensive.

[Digitalbanana]

>wifes parents home near Sakhon Nakhon

Cannot you just ask on the phone what everyone is using for internet access these days? Chances are its ADSL phone line if near a sub-district center. Either that or mobile network. Satellite dishes are very rare these days.

[Gary A]

I live out in the boonies where there are no land lines. I suffered with the crapstar satellite dish for several years and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. During one complaint trip to their office, they finally gave me some good advice. They told me that if I was not happy with the service to discontinue it. That's what I did and used Dtac and AIS EDGE until I got lucky and CDMA came along. In August of this year they discontinued that service but had CAT 3G available from that tower. I'm pretty happy with the My CAT unlimited post paid service. The 3G is NOT unlimited but after the "fair" usage, the slower speed is unlimited. It's fine for email and surfing. It's still faster than EDGE.

The easiest way to check if you have a decent signal is to buy a Truemove-H SIM card and try it in a smart phone. True and CAT are in bed together and apparently share towers. I think their coverage area is quite broad. The CAT postpaid is 590 baht per month. Truemove-H service is NOT unlimited. The unlimited part of their service is WiFi and there is NO WiFi in the boonies. Cat post paid is by far the most bang for the baht.

[XINLOI]

Hello, just thought I would add my two cents. If there is a PHONE line running through or past your village, you may be able to tap in and get a ADSL hookup from TOT. If there is not, you will try and search for a nonexistant connection. I live in the rice fields outside of Udon Thani, all the other providers did not or would not work except for DATC, which was horribly slow at best. Beware of their claims. They will not tell you of certain terms, like disclose termination procedures. Any contract you might get will be for at least 90 days/3 months, whether you use it or not. TIP, Locate nearest TOT Main office to your village, not the subdistrict one. They may have WIFI available in your area too. Ist try to locate one of the little orange trucks that TOT runs around in and ask the technician, what is available. I managed to get ADSL 7MB sometimes. Ok for VIOP protocols and vids are slow but work, downloads are slow at times but fast also with no load on system, using TOT.

[seasia]

Hi

I`m not in Issan but in Pattaya currently using the AIS 3 G service, dongle/air card connected to laptop.

I use it as a back up for when the provided internet service fails, as it has done.

For reading, e.g. this forum, general news sites etc. it seems OK to me.

The air card, a 7.2 Mbps AIS model cost me approx 1500 baht, I notice though that it is now on sale at Family Marts for 990 baht.

I buy 1 GB data useage at a time, cost I think 350 baht, vaildity a month, there are various packages including monthly.

I don`t use Skype but it has been fine for general browsing.

I don`t know what sort of signal strength would be available where your wife`s parents home is nor what would be the best mobile provider but have found it a handy thing to have.

Edited December 9, 2012 by seasia

[4evermaat]

.......

The air card, a 7.2 Mbps AIS model cost me approx 1500 baht, I notice though that it is now on sale at Family Marts for 990 baht.

I buy 1 GB data useage at a time, cost I think 350 baht, vaildity a month, there are various packages including monthly.

........

I would future-proof yourself and get an aircard or mifi device with at least 14.4 Mbps down capability, preferably 21 Mbps or higher. I have achieved as high as 18 Mbps on MyCat, but the avg is 9-12 Mbps now when you are within the 4GB fair use limit. But this is in Chumphon Town; not sure about the speeds in Issan. But if your tower isn't loaded with users, don't be surprised if you are not getting good speeds. Until they offer larger plans, you may have to have 2 My sims with 2 myClick plans.

Edited December 9, 2012 by 4evermaat

[johnson36]

Hi.

I have just found out that the school in the village has internet. The school is on the same road, on the same side and is only about 300 metres away from their house. Any ideas what method the school will use to get internet ? My wife has asked her mum to find out but up to now no answer.

[Pormax]

Hi.

I have just found out that the school in the village has internet. The school is on the same road, on the same side and is only about 300 metres away from their house. Any ideas what method the school will use to get internet ? My wife has asked her mum to find out but up to now no answer.

If your wife cannot see a tower in the village (has she looked for one) then I would suspect they are using an ariel dish which should be easily visible if she walks round the school grounds. They could be using a'dongle' but I doubt it.

[johnson36]

Hi.

I have just found out that the school in the village has internet. The school is on the same road, on the same side and is only about 300 metres away from their house. Any ideas what method the school will use to get internet ? My wife has asked her mum to find out but up to now no answer.

If your wife cannot see a tower in the village (has she looked for one) then I would suspect they are using an ariel dish which should be easily visible if she walks round the school grounds. They could be using a'dongle' but I doubt it.

Hi Pormax.

My wife can't see any tower because she lives here with me in England. We will be in the village on the 2nd Jan so we can find out then. I just thought someone on here might have an idea as to how the schools normally get the internet in Isaan. I asked her to ask her Mum / Dad / Daughter a week ago but up to now nobody has found out. Its like banging your head against a brick wall. I am English and don't speak Thai and I think it would take me all of 5 minutes to find out if I was there.

Edited December 17, 2012 by johnson36

[Pormax]

Hi.

I have just found out that the school in the village has internet. The school is on the same road, on the same side and is only about 300 metres away from their house. Any ideas what method the school will use to get internet ? My wife has asked her mum to find out but up to now no answer.

If your wife cannot see a tower in the village (has she looked for one) then I would suspect they are using an ariel dish which should be easily visible if she walks round the school grounds. They could be using a'dongle' but I doubt it.

Hi Pormax.

My wife can't see any tower because she lives here with me in England. We will be in the village on the 2nd Jan so we can find out then. I just thought someone on here might have an idea as to how the schools normally get the internet in Isaan. I asked her to ask her Mum / Dad / Daughter a week ago but up to now nobody has found out. Its like banging your head against a brick wall. I am English and don't speak Thai and I think it would take me all of 5 minutes to find out if I was there.

Appreciate your promblem 'banging your head against a brick wall'. Yes sometimes the simplest things are hard for Thais to comprehend.

Let us know when you arrive in January what solution if any you have come up with.

[johnson36]

Hi.

I have just found out that the school in the village has internet. The school is on the same road, on the same side and is only about 300 metres away from their house. Any ideas what method the school will use to get internet ? My wife has asked her mum to find out but up to now no answer.

If your wife cannot see a tower in the village (has she looked for one) then I would suspect they are using an ariel dish which should be easily visible if she walks round the school grounds. They could be using a'dongle' but I doubt it.

Hi Pormax.

My wife can't see any tower because she lives here with me in England. We will be in the village on the 2nd Jan so we can find out then. I just thought someone on here might have an idea as to how the schools normally get the internet in Isaan. I asked her to ask her Mum / Dad / Daughter a week ago but up to now nobody has found out. Its like banging your head against a brick wall. I am English and don't speak Thai and I think it would take me all of 5 minutes to find out if I was there.

Appreciate your promblem 'banging your head against a brick wall'. Yes sometimes the simplest things are hard for Thais to comprehend.

Let us know when you arrive in January what solution if any you have come up with.

Ok, will do

[Lite Beer]

Yes it really is about what is available in the area and what everyone else uses.

It could be the best internet you have ever had or it could be absolutely useless.

You really do have to be there and find out.

[johnson36]

Yes it really is about what is available in the area and what everyone else uses.

It could be the best internet you have ever had or it could be absolutely useless.

You really do have to be there and find out.

Hi.

Yes I know. Myself and my wife will arrive in the village on the 2nd January. I will walk into the school and ask the 1st teacher I see, simple. If he or she doesn't know we will ask who does know.

[Lite Beer]

Bear in mind that the school might be closed for the New Year break.

They don't need much excuse to close.

[johnson36]

Bear in mind that the school might be closed for the New Year break.

They don't need much excuse to close.

Hi. My wife thinks it will open on 3rd Jan