Gprs Map Drawn From Your Mobile Phone In Los

[bolognamare]

If you are in Thailand now (or Cambogia-Laos-Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore), you could look to your GPRS mobile phone and see if there is written :

1G

1,5G

2G

2,5G

3G

Where G is for Gigahertz.

Please post your location (country, city, street, day+hour) and the GPRS vault.

We can draw a detailed GPRS coverage map with a good quality, very useful to decide in advance the best zone where to use a good internet connection (like the Dtac one) with our laptop+connect card.

Try making a call to a free service, it's the real vault (my mobile phone says 3G now but if i make a free call it becomes 2,5G), so post the right value.

Thanks to everyone.

for ex:

Thailand, Bangkok, Sukhumvit Soi 4, 18-02-2006 13.53 : 3G

Edited February 18, 2006 by bolognamare

[LivinLOS]

If something is 1G or 3G has nothing to do with gigahertz..

Is 3G even live anywhere in Thailand ?? I thought no ??

Edited February 18, 2006 by LivinLOS

[monty]

Woops Bolognamare,

seems you have mixed things a bit up

The G's you are referring to have nothing to do with frequencies (like your Gigahertz would imply), but are simply short for Generation of the mobile phone communications systems.

The generations start at 0G (very early "radio-telephones") all the way up to 4G, a system not yet defined but even improving on 3G.

1G were the first real mobile phones, completely analog in operation. In Thailand the AMPS system was quite popular...

2G GSM...is what made mobile phones hugely popular, being digital, sms messaging became possible, as well as using your mobile as a fax-line, or dial-up modem (albeit at only 9.6kbps)

2.5G, the best available in Thailand at the moment

Following Thai operators offer 2.5G services:

AIS offers GPRS (8-12Kbps Send - 32-48Kbps Receive)

Dtac offers GPRS-Edge(up to 236.8 kbit/s), but only in BKK, outside the EDGE coverage the system automatically reverts to regular GPRS

Hutch using the cdma network offers speeds of up tp 144kbps. Hutch is only available in a limited number of provinces, mainly greater Bangkok and the Eastern Seaboard.

Note: some people refer to the CDMA and the Edge system as 2.75G, as they offer increased speeds over regular GPRS, but not quite 3G speeds.

3G In Europe and Japan the UMTS system is used as 3G. This offers up to 1920kbps datarates, however practically at the moment this is limited at 384kbps.

What system and when 3G will be implemented in Thailand is a big unknown...

4G NTT DoCoMo is testing potential 4G systems giving datarates of up to 1Gb/sec!

So to your original question about a map giving different speeds available in Thailand, this would be quite easy!!!

Regular GPRS is available throughout Thaiand, both from Dtac and AIS.

Edge GPRS is at the moment available in Bangkok through Dtac.

Hutch is available in selected provinces in Central Thailand and the Eastern Seaboard.

Simple as that...

What you see on your phone in Europe might be that your carrier is 3G capable. When you do connect and you see 2.5G, it might mean you are connected on GPRS. MAybe you need a seperate subscribtion to get 3G connections...

On my phones in Thailand, I only see a G appear when I connect to GPRS, either when I use my phone as a modem for my laptop, or when I use the built in WAP browser. No indication of 2.5 or 3 at all...

For a more detailed reference of the G's check out Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System..._Communications

Edited February 18, 2006 by monty

[bolognamare]

2.5G, the best available in Thailand at the moment

Following Thai operators offer 2.5G services:

AIS offers GPRS (8-12Kbps Send - 32-48Kbps Receive)

Dtac offers GPRS-Edge(up to 236.8 kbit/s), but only in BKK, outside the EDGE coverage the system automatically reverts to regular GPRS

Hutch using the cdma network offers speeds of up tp 144kbps. Hutch is only available in a limited number of provinces, mainly greater Bangkok and the Eastern Seaboard.

Note: some people refer to the CDMA and the Edge system as 2.75G, as they offer increased speeds over regular GPRS, but not quite 3G speeds.

Regular GPRS is available throughout Thaiand, both from Dtac and AIS.

Edge GPRS is at the moment available in Bangkok through Dtac.

Hutch is available in selected provinces in Central Thailand and the Eastern Seaboard.

Simple as that...

What you see on your phone in Europe might be that your carrier is 3G capable. When you do connect and you see 2.5G, it might mean you are connected on GPRS. MAybe you need a seperate subscribtion to get 3G connections...

Monty I don't know how to thank you.

You cleared perfectly the matter. Thanks!

Do you think that in Phuket i can find only the standard GPRS (8-12Kbps Send - 32-48Kbps Receive)?

What kind of GPRS ISP do you suggest me for my favourite island?

Have you ever heard about IPSTAR? Any good feedback?

I need internet to surf the web, send/receive emails, voice calls with voip and admin my website.

Is it the 2Gbyte/month of IPSTAR enough if i don't have peer2peer needings?

So i don't need something like the Sierra AirCard® 775? http://www.sierrawireless.com/product/ac775.aspx

It's enough my Palm Treo 650

http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphone...eo650/specs.epl

Treo 650 has this wireless feature:

GSM/GPRS model: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz world phone

CDMA model: 800/1900 MHz nationwide phone digital phone

And i can take advantage of my laptop with wireless lan.

Am i right?

Edited February 18, 2006 by bolognamare

[monty]

iPSTAR needs you to have a fixed home address, with the space to install a quite big satellite dish.

With the correct package there is no 2Gb limit!

http://www.csloxinfo.com/broadband/ipstar4_en.asp#1

2500 (+7%vat) for 256/128 unlimited...

When it works, it works good, the problem seems to be their modem (connected to your dish and PC), it has problems with heat, and Thailand is hot

Your Treo will connect guaranteed anywhere in Thailand, in Phuket it will be on the regular gprs network. This works OK for e-mails, and very light surfing, but in general it's very slow...

Good as a back-up though...

The Treo would not support the faster Edge GPRS...

I'm not sure you can use the Treo as a gprs modem for your laptop/PC... I use an O2 XDAIIs, which I can use as a modem for may Laptop, either through Bluetooth or infrared...

The O2 also has wifi built in, so I have faster internet where there is a wifi hotspot...

[LivinLOS]

GRPS is fine for a fall back option when on the road.. Checking email etc.. Terrible for real use and for running an online biz forget it..

IPStar ok but.. has high latency (ping times) so voip gets delayed and while being workable requires patience from both parties.. Not very professional but as I say workable.. IPstar is also expensive for the amount of speed you get and drops out during (very) heavy rain.. Of course once out in the sticks its the only option so YMMV..

ADSL, if you live in an ADSL area then its the premier connection.. Speeds and prices range from the gov sponsored and not to great 500 baht - 1000 baht packages up to many 1000's for low or no contention packages.. Being Thailand I have found nothing to be reliable enough to run servers or do things I would consider 'normal' based on a ADSL or cable connection elsewhere.. Then again I couldnt pop out of my office and walk to the beach back home so its swings and roundabouts. ADSL is effected by distance from exchange, quality of cabling, (telco issues) and ISP outages and problems like proxy, DNS, etc servers chocking.

On phuket a new service offered by pacific singapore is supposed to cut out the CAT connection (and hence bottleneck) and communicate direct with Singapore, its not even very expensive and I am considering a dual line setup with my current ADSL and Pacific Sing to test both..

100's of posts on Thai connectivity options... But I think that boils down the essentials.

[bolognamare]

Your Treo will connect guaranteed anywhere in Thailand, in Phuket it will be on the regular gprs network. This works OK for e-mails, and very light surfing, but in general it's very slow...

Good as a back-up though...

The Treo would not support the faster Edge GPRS...

I'm not sure you can use the Treo as a gprs modem for your laptop/PC... I use an O2 XDAIIs, which I can use as a modem for may Laptop, either through Bluetooth or infrared...

The O2 also has wifi built in, so I have faster internet where there is a wifi hotspot...

You are right i cannot use Treo as a gprs modem. Fortunately i haven't still bought it.

O2 XDAIIs seems the right solution, but it seems not support the faster EDGE (very useful in BKK).

I agree with you LivinLos that a ADSL is the best solution, but i want to be free to too move myself without a room on my back. LivinLos one day i will offer you a Chang beer, if you agree.

So if a standard GPRS cannot do more than (8-12Kbps Send - 32-48Kbps Receive) it can be enough for my needing (the portability of my business needs it), if this value is exact.

Is "8-12Kbps Send - 32-48Kbps Receive" an ideal availability or a real opportunity?

What kind of GPRS problems could i find in Phuket island? too many users in the same time? Suggested place?

My firm coder says that he experienced standard GPRS not far from my working place (200km) and the connection was totally unstable (like falling down after each minute).

If i found a public WLAN what kind of Kbps-Send/Kbps-Receive can i expect to find? more than the standard GPRS offer?

I imagine that i can use Voip with a standard GPRS, can i use it with a VOIP mobile phone?

Do they work in Los?

Does it exist a VOIP mobile phone that support GPRS/EDGE features with modem and with a wifi built in that has been tested in LOS (that costs less than 400$)?

Like the calypso wireless c1250i : http://www.calypsowireless.com/index.cfm

Or like the VoIP WiFi Utstarcom F1000 for the WLAN (airports, resort, bar...)

Edited February 20, 2006 by bolognamare

[monty]

GPRS is OK for checking e-mails, surfing a bit (with patience) etc. Forget VOIP, to much latency and package loss. It would even be doubtfull if it worked good with edge. For VOIP speed is not the most important factor, but low latency and no package loss are... Two things which are not the strongest point of gprs connections...

You can see it very good when downloading bigger files with gprs. Speeds vary anywhere between 7kBps and 1 kBps, up to a complete stop for a couple of seconds.

Reason is that the GSM system (which carries gprs) gives priority to voice calls. Lot's of phone calls going on, gprs slows down or drops dead...

If you use a good gprs phone/modem (In my case Samsung was great, E630 at 8000 Baht, Nokia was terrible, the O2 is ok as well) the connection stays quite stable. The falling down, or locking up of the connection your collegue mentions, happend to me all the time with my Nokia phone. Sometimes requiring a shut down and restart of the phone! I had already completely given up on gprs, until I got the Samsung phone, where I often had a stable connection for hours on row!...

The O2 indeed does not support edge, but since I'm never in Bkk it doesn't bother me, I have ADSL as home as well, so it's just mobile connectivity for me.

If you can find a wifi hotspot, you can expect adsl speeds, anywhere between 256 and 1024kbps connections...

Check out this site for free hotspots

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/wifi.htm

Of course you also have the paid hotspots like in most Starbucks outlets, but they're expensive (like 180 Baht/hour)

I'm not sure you can find a phone like you request over here (wouldn't work acceptable on gprs/edge anyways) but I think there are aplications to install on devices like the O2 (which runs windows mobile 2003) or other brands of pocketpc...

Google for VOIP clients for PocketPC...

http://www.skype.com/products/skype/pocketpc/

was one result which looks promising, although they also stipulate you need a high speed network for it to work...

[joka]

well here is my two cents on the gprs.........i have had it for about 3 weeks now, and it is very good where i am (khanom). i am using an nokia ngage qd as a modem for my computer in the home, and am using dtac postpaid.

i have to say the service has been good to very good. i get a pretty constant 4kbps download speed, though there are times when it is choppy, usually in the early evening, i guess this is when everybody is using their cell phones around here. and the ngage is only gprs class six, so that is the maximum speed my modem can handle.

to help with your surfing on a slow internet connection, try using opera browser. it is now free. with this browser, you can set up the way the webpages load very easily, so they show only text, no background images of any sort, and no java. it is also tabbed, so you can click a page to open in another window while you read the page you are already on. this is the only way i am able to use the internet . you will still probably need to use internet explorer from time to time, maybe for online banking, etc. also, there is opera mini for your cell phone, symbain OS, etc. it is also free and very good.

[bolognamare]

well here is my two cents on the gprs.........i have had it for about 3 weeks now, and it is very good where i am (khanom). i am using an nokia ngage qd as a modem for my computer in the home, and am using dtac postpaid.

i have to say the service has been good to very good. i get a pretty constant 4kbps download speed, though there are times when it is choppy, usually in the early evening, i guess this is when everybody is using their cell phones around here. and the ngage is only gprs class six, so that is the maximum speed my modem can handle.

to help with your surfing on a slow internet connection, try using opera browser. it is now free. with this browser, you can set up the way the webpages load very easily, so they show only text, no background images of any sort, and no java. it is also tabbed, so you can click a page to open in another window while you read the page you are already on. this is the only way i am able to use the internet . you will still probably need to use internet explorer from time to time, maybe for online banking, etc. also, there is opera mini for your cell phone, symbain OS, etc. it is also free and very good.

Joka your post is what i was waiting for.

Thanks for your light in the darkness, the best solutions are always the simpliest ones.

A light browser is perfect to reduce the Kbps needings, 4kbps are enough to do everything (voip apart). Do you think that a class 10 or 12 increases the speed?

Which one could you suggest, it seems not simple at all to find the right GPRS/EDGE phone.

Have you noticed if DTAC suggests any item?

What kind of DTAC postpaid have you bought? and how long did it work effectively?

As told in advance on DTAC terms of use or less?

Have you bought a DTAC sim the first time? If yes how much did it cost and has it been enough the passport to buy it?

OR have you used a 123call sim + DTAC postpaid?

Edited February 21, 2006 by bolognamare

[monty]

On a class 10 phone I get a top speed of about 6kbps, so certainly faster then class 6...

Most new phones are class 10 anyway now.

In my experience the Samsung phones gave the best gprs connections.

I used the E630 and was very happy with it, although not edge capable (7800 Baht).

For edge (you never know they would expand their coverage) you'd have to go to the Samsung D500e (around 13000 Baht).

The one2call sim is from AIS, Dtac's prepaid sim is called dprompt I think...

No experience with Dtac though.

Both for Dtac and AIS you'll need either a workpermit, a company, or a Thai person to subscribe to any post paid subscribtions...

The prepaid sim's you can get by just showing your passport.

With AIS's offering, there is no speed difference or price difference on GPRS when using prepaid... Only no edge

Have no idea how the prepaid gprs is priced with dtac...

Edited February 22, 2006 by monty

[bolognamare]

The prepaid sim's you can get by just showing your passport.

This is the Dtac answer to my questions (29-1-2006):

Dear sir ,

According to your e-mail inquiry about the infroamtion of the Prepaid sim cardservice of our company. We would like to infrom you in summary promotion rate follow these :

1. Happy 25 Satang - Local call charge first minute is 5 Baht after that 25 Satang per minute.

2. Happy 1 Baht - Local call charge first minute is 1 Baht after that 1 Baht per minute.

3. Happy Krapuk - Local call charge fisrt and secound minute is 3 baht each after that 1 Baht per minute.

All the 3 packages charge for local SMS is 3 Baht and for International SMS is 9 Baht.

4. Happy Sim Hay Ha - Local charge first and second minute is 3 BAht each after that 1 Baht per minute. The local SMS is

1 Baht and international SMS is 9 Baht.

For The International Call charging reat based on the CAT and TOT condition. You can get for all information in our website www.happy.co.th.

You can buy the Happy sim card in any DTAC Shops or another Phone shops in the pricing 199 Baht , and when your number activate you 'll get first bonus for making call 50 Baht available for 30 days. Then you can buy another Happy refill card in many price with gaining many day such as 50 Baht for 3 days , 200 BAht for 20 days and 400 Baht for 50 days.

For internet access on GPRS , we appreciate to inform you that it's availble in Phuket and in the normal rate 0.10 BAht per KB or you can apply for 1 Baht per minute later or select in another package that you want.

Please don't hesitate to contact us again if you have any question. Thank you.

Best Regards ,

Customer Relations Division

Than my question:

Dear Sir,

I'm interested in the 30 days package, can you tell me more about the rates?

About the prepaid sim card where i have to activate the number first, what

kind of information i have to give you? Is it enough my passport? Or do

you need other informations?

Thanks for your kind help.

And the Dtac last answer (30-1-2006) :

Dear Sir,

According to your inquiry about GPRS package.We appreciate to inform you that you can apply for prepaid gprs package by dial *1004 if you have ever apply to DTAC gprs using before but, if you have not DTAC prepaid number, you can provide passport contact at DTAC Shop or DTAC Service Hall for registeration.

Please do not hesitate to contact us again if there is anything else we can do for you. For more information, please call 1678 from your mobile or 0-2202-7000 available 24 hours.

Best regards,

Customer Relations Division

So my good old passport seems really enough.

Edited February 22, 2006 by bolognamare

[bolognamare]

If you use a good gprs phone/modem (In my case Samsung was great, E630 at 8000 Baht, Nokia was terrible, the O2 is ok as well) the connection stays quite stable. The falling down, or locking up of the connection your collegue mentions, happend to me all the time with my Nokia phone. Sometimes requiring a shut down and restart of the phone! I had already completely given up on gprs, until I got the Samsung phone, where I often had a stable connection for hours on row!...

The O2 indeed does not support edge, but since I'm never in Bkk it doesn't bother me, I have ADSL as home as well, so it's just mobile connectivity for me.

If you can find a wifi hotspot, you can expect adsl speeds, anywhere between 256 and 1024kbps connections...

Check out this site for free hotspots

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/wifi.htm

Of course you also have the paid hotspots like in most Starbucks outlets, but they're expensive (like 180 Baht/hour)

I'm not sure you can find a phone like you request over here (wouldn't work acceptable on gprs/edge anyways) but I think there are aplications to install on devices like the O2 (which runs windows mobile 2003) or other brands of pocketpc...

Google for VOIP clients for PocketPC...

http://www.skype.com/products/skype/pocketpc/

was one result which looks promising, although they also stipulate you need a high speed network for it to work...

I have just come back from my favouritre Hi-tech shop, no trace of the O2, but i have seen this wonderful item, i need your opinion: Qtek 9100

http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=124833

It seems perfect for GPRS/EDGE, wifi, wireless modem.

What do you think about it?

Edited February 26, 2006 by bolognamare