3G Mobile Services Attracting Large Numbers Of Users, Kicks Off In Thailand

[wilcopops]

I'm using Dtac and to be honest at 12 Mbps average is better then my TOT home broadband ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1367908718.550226.jpg

A pigeon with a note tied to it's leg would be better than TOT - and just about as communicative!

[axact]

So I may take it that starting from Thursday my Dtac 3G connection will improve over the 40 KB/s download speed and not cut off anymore when 90% of downloaded file is reached ?

You can but dream......

[HerbalEd]

"The country’s three operators will roll out their 3G mobile services, starting with Advanced Info Service (AIS) today, True Move tomorrow and DTAC on Thursday."

When the world moved on to 4G in 2009, Thailand launches 3G on Thursday! Welcome to Amazing Thailand where even our poorer neighbors have already launched 4G as well!

There are still large areas of the USA that don't have 4G service.

[thaifrelst]

Instead of criticizing, I applause. thanks for the great work. For those who think there is such a huge difference between 3 and 4G.... I think a normal user won't see much of a difference, but will see it on his phone as it will die much faster than 3G. They have not been able to overcome the power consumption issue with the introduction of 4G. So, even tomorrow, I get the choice between 3 or 4G, I'll stick with the 3G just because of the battery life that is once more scarified for a tiny bit of more speed.

Your information could not be more incorrect. When I am in the US using a 4G network, my ACTUAL download speeds are around 9MB, and my uploads average 4MB. Sometimes my speeds on 4G exceed my wireless speeds. So, there is a HUGE difference between 3G, and 4G. Of course, the 3G in Thailand is slower than most. How long till we have 4G in Thailand? Five years? They have had 3G now in rural Africa for years.

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Hello!

4G is 10 times quicker than 3G. And that is the technical fact.

[lomatopo]

Instead of criticizing, I applause. thanks for the great work. For those who think there is such a huge difference between 3 and 4G.... I think a normal user won't see much of a difference, but will see it on his phone as it will die much faster than 3G. They have not been able to overcome the power consumption issue with the introduction of 4G. So, even tomorrow, I get the choice between 3 or 4G, I'll stick with the 3G just because of the battery life that is once more scarified for a tiny bit of more speed.

Your information could not be more incorrect. When I am in the US using a 4G network, my ACTUAL download speeds are around 9MB, and my uploads average 4MB. Sometimes my speeds on 4G exceed my wireless speeds. So, there is a HUGE difference between 3G, and 4G. Of course, the 3G in Thailand is slower than most. How long till we have 4G in Thailand? Five years? They have had 3G now in rural Africa for years.

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Hello!

4G is 10 times quicker than 3G. And that is the technical fact.

I think the 3G theoretical limit is 42 Mbps (down), while LTE (4G) is 100 Mbps.

Service providers here (in Thailand) could deploy LTE on 2100 MHz. LTE will give service providers a lot more capacity, maybe not such huge speeds for consumers.

There aren't a lot of LTE/4G-capable handsets here.

I've had 3G here in Thailand for ~ 2 years; I just got 3G in the U.S. (albeit on 1900 MHz with T-Mo) a few months ago. Here in Thailand I pay ~ 50% of what I pay in the U.S., for similar services.

[tbailo]

Instead of criticizing, I applause. thanks for the great work. For those who think there is such a huge difference between 3 and 4G.... I think a normal user won't see much of a difference, but will see it on his phone as it will die much faster than 3G. They have not been able to overcome the power consumption issue with the introduction of 4G. So, even tomorrow, I get the choice between 3 or 4G, I'll stick with the 3G just because of the battery life that is once more scarified for a tiny bit of more speed.

In London 3G speeds are around 5mb down and 1mb up. 4G around well connected locations is close to 30mb down and 10mb up. That's a huge difference in my eyes.

[monty]

!

4G is 10 times quicker than 3G. And that is the technical fact.

Technical facts are not always relevant to day to day life.

The LTE standard allows for a maximum of 300 mbps down speed.

Practically, all networks at the moment use a 100 mbps version, as well as pretty much all LTE phones/dongles.

Current top of the line 3G systems, used in many places (True-H and Dtac in Thailand) allow 42 mbps.

And the numbers for both systems are purely theoretical. A recent real life test in the US saw speeds averaging around 15 mbps on lte (with AT&T a bit faster and Verizon a tad slower) and 4 - 5 mbps on 3G. Pretty much par for the course.

So real life at the moment sees a speed improvement of 4X at best...

Sent from my B1-A71 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[monty]

In London 3G speeds are around 5mb down and 1mb up. 4G around well connected locations is close to 30mb down and 10mb up. That's a huge difference in my eyes.

Pretty decent speeds, and indeed a big improvement.

However, I fail to see much advantage of such high speeds on systems where you get a 5 or 10 GB download cap.

Such high speeds are really only improving the downloading of big files, you're not going to see much difference if at all when browsing or emailing on your tablet or mobile!

Although I recall there is one provider in the UK offering real unlimited on mobile data, but usually such providers can seldom consistently supply those higher speeds.

Sent from my B1-A71 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[monty]

Currently the only provider offering 4G in Belgium is Proximus.

Current promotional offer of 1150 Baht/month (normally 1450) for 4GB of data.

1150 Baht extra for every GB you go over...

Speeds very well suited to download full hd movies, but a single 30 GB blue-ray file would cost you a whopping 31,000 Baht :-)

Might just as well stay on 3G.

It is generally accepted that the big winner by deploying lte is the providers, as the system is relatively cheaper and much simpler...

Sent from my B1-A71 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[skippybangkok]

There aren't a lot of LTE/4G-capable handsets here

Yes there are, iPhone 5, iPad 3 and iPad Mini, also some Sony and Nokia high end models.

Problem with apple is they lock the software.

Other problem is of course no 4G network yet

[bobl]

Hello!

4G is 10 times quicker than 3G. And that is the technical fact.

Awesome. So I can use up my 1GB limit in 2 minutes on 4G instead of 20 minutes on 3G. Can't wait.

[atyclb]

Laos will begin initial space shuttle flights when Thailand starts 4G

[HalfSquat]

Can anyone find the 3G data packages page on the AIS website?

Or know the prices for getting it on my phone?

Thanks

[hkt83100]

Hang on, my iPhone has been showing 3G for a very long time, you mean I had been ripped off all this while?

Might this be iPhone-specfic?

[Angeledge777]

AIS have the worse 3G service ever. I moved with DTAC and no regrets bout that.

[uktony]

Celebrity spokespersons - the best reason to pick a phone service provider.

[martijn12345]

What's all the fuzz and complains about? I've had reasonably good 3G with True for over a year, before switching over to true H well over a year ago which gave me great 3G connections wherever I went at very reasonable prices. These might have been not standard frequencies but who cares! Now thailand also has 3G on mainstream frequencies allowing more phones to be able to use it.

4G... <deleted> do u guys do with ur mobile internet that can't be done on 3G now, why that need for 4G?

[uktony]

Hello!

4G is 10 times quicker than 3G. And that is the technical fact.

Awesome. So I can use up my 1GB limit in 2 minutes on 4G instead of 20 minutes on 3G. Can't wait.

That is Giga BITS and Giga BYTES. you get 1Giga BYTE allowance. Speed is in Giga Bits (1Byte=8bits) so that means it will take you 16 mins.

Bits - Small b

Bytes - Capital B

[lomatopo]

Can anyone find the 3G data packages page on the AIS website?

Or know the prices for getting it on my phone?

Thanks

Pre-paid or post-paid?

Volume-based or time-based?

http://www.ais.co.th/mobileinternet/internet-package/

I'm not sure AIS has published any new, post-paid 2100 MHz 3G packages. This page won't load for me now: http://www.ais.co.th/3g/index.aspx

Laos will begin initial space shuttle flights when Thailand starts 4G

When do they launch the shuttle?

Celebrity spokespersons - the best reason to pick a phone service provider.

The ubiquitous Nadech....(They call this "Advertising", I've been told, meant to influence consumer's decisions.)

Edited May 7, 2013 by lomatopo

[skippybangkok]

. These might have been not standard frequencies ....

850 is a standard frequency, used in Australia and US I believe. Has better propagation than 2100 MHz and as such is better

2100 has no benefits over 850, worse propagation ( = requires more investment and worse in building penetration )

[lomatopo]

4G (on 2100 MHz, or even 1800 MHz for DTAC) may be closer than some postulate?

[bobl]

Hello!

4G is 10 times quicker than 3G. And that is the technical fact.

Awesome. So I can use up my 1GB limit in 2 minutes on 4G instead of 20 minutes on 3G. Can't wait.

That is Giga BITS and Giga BYTES. you get 1Giga BYTE allowance. Speed is in Giga Bits (1Byte=8bits) so that means it will take you 16 mins.

Bits - Small b

Bytes - Capital B

Thanks for the lesson, although I don't recall getting confused between bits and Bytes...

Fwiw, it was a joke. Furthermore 7.2Mbps (one of the 3G speeds) works out at a capacity of roughly 70GB/Day - or roughly 1GB/20 minutes. GP said "10 times quicker" hence 2 minutes.

[csmith]

OK ... not 3G related .. but thought I'd share the speed test I just did in my house ... True Bhat1,200 / month

Down 25.81 Mbps

Up 1.01 Mbps

[retell]

So I may take it that starting from Thursday my Dtac 3G connection will improve over the 40 KB/s download speed and not cut off anymore when 90% of downloaded file is reached ?

keep dreaming, at best it will be horrible

[Dr Wanchai]

"The countrys three operators will roll out their 3G mobile services, starting with Advanced Info Service (AIS) today, True Move tomorrow and DTAC on Thursday."

When the world moved on to 4G in 2009, Thailand launches 3G on Thursday! Welcome to Amazing Thailand where even our poorer neighbors have already launched 4G as well!

You seemed to be uninformed on the merits and demerits of 4G.

[doctorproc156]

"The countrys three operators will roll out their 3G mobile services, starting with Advanced Info Service (AIS) today, True Move tomorrow and DTAC on Thursday."

When the world moved on to 4G in 2009, Thailand launches 3G on Thursday! Welcome to Amazing Thailand where even our poorer neighbors have already launched 4G as well!

You seemed to be uninformed on the merits and demerits of 4G.

I am very well informed, I am an electrical engineer. You cannot deny the fact that Thailand did take about 10 years to implement 3G services. 4G services are also used by mobile internet users using a dongle or modem and has nothing to do with battery life of mobile phones. There are a lot of uses for 4G such as deep penetration for very high speed internet without the need of even laying out any infrastructure. Malaysians used the 4G system there extensively for high speed internet for their PCs and Laptops and 4G usage for mobile phones is still currently very low. When 3G was introduced in Japan, they managed to develop radio chip sets that actually saved energy on 3G networks when compared to 2G networks, people of course said that it was impossible to do when 3G was first launched. Now i'm not saying the same can be achieved for 4G, but battery technology will get better and it will improve. Please do not stop progress.

[dominique355]

Instead of criticizing, I applause. thanks for the great work. For those who think there is such a huge difference between 3 and 4G.... I think a normal user won't see much of a difference, but will see it on his phone as it will die much faster than 3G. They have not been able to overcome the power consumption issue with the introduction of 4G. So, even tomorrow, I get the choice between 3 or 4G, I'll stick with the 3G just because of the battery life that is once more scarified for a tiny bit of more speed.

Your information could not be more incorrect. When I am in the US using a 4G network, my ACTUAL download speeds are around 9MB, and my uploads average 4MB. Sometimes my speeds on 4G exceed my wireless speeds. So, there is a HUGE difference between 3G, and 4G. Of course, the 3G in Thailand is slower than most. How long till we have 4G in Thailand? Five years? They have had 3G now in rural Africa for years.

Mike Macarelli

Chaiyaphum, Thailand

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Really 9 MB downlaod? That's about 72Mb/s! Fantastic.

Unless of course you confuse MB and Mb or Mega Bytes (MB) and Mega Bit (Mb), where 1 MB = 8 Mb.

Usually download speeds are measure in Mb/s. And here in Thailand, anything above 10Mb/s is considered very good.

[skodo]

I was having trouble with maintaining contact with the internet using an AIS air stick it would keep disconnecting and I would have to reboot it.

When I took the stick in to the AIS office here in Chiang Mai they took the stick which was only two months old as they had replaced the old one.

They tested it and said the stick was OK they spent time with it on their computer and returned it to me and said that the problem would be fixed in May,

Will this have any thing to do with the air stick using for the internet?

Edit

I have not renewed it as I do have a free 3BB here where I live but it is not always working and some times it is so slow I can get a nap while waiting.

Probably it's more to do with where you live, than the aircard. From their response I'm guessing that the towers in your area are scheduled to have their equipment updated. It may well have been the ongoing work of installation and testing that caused the interruptions.

Coincidentally mine worked perfectly for months but in recent weeks has required the odd reboot and occasionally loses signal altogether for short periods... I thought it might be rain & power issues but in hindsight it's possible the tower(s) near me are also being worked on.

Thanks for your answer I really am tech challenged and was not sure of any thing other than they had tested the stick and said the problem would be solved in May.

My problem had been going on for a couple of months and it was only in the last few weeks leading up to April 25 that it got real bad 10 minutes and have to reboot it.

Now I guess I should look into getting a smart phone and see if it is dumb enough for me to understand it.

Why not invest in the recommended Asus Google Nexus 32gb 3G and buy a cheap mobile , think its the better and cheaper option.

[rexall]

Tue 7 May 2013, 6:56 pm

I have an AIS aircard 21 Mbps with 3G package. I guess the actual 3G provider is TOT. I only use it occasionally when I travel, then only when the WiFi in the hotel is crappy. Are there any reasons, theoretical and practical, why I should consider changing the 3G to AIS?

Thanks.

[lomatopo]

Tue 7 May 2013, 6:56 pm

I have an AIS aircard 21 Mbps with 3G package. I guess the actual 3G provider is TOT. I only use it occasionally when I travel, then only when the WiFi in the hotel is crappy. Are there any reasons, theoretical and practical, why I should consider changing the 3G to AIS?

Thanks.

AIS has a roaming agreement with TOT so, for any number of reasons, you are roaming off AIS/One-2-Call's 2G and 3G (900 MHz) network, and onto TOT's 2100 MHz network. Probably based on your location.

If you are happy, maybe best to wait a few months?

Edited May 7, 2013 by lomatopo