Best mobile phone to use as 3g wifi hub and occasional google maps use.

[Dakling]

Hi all

I am a novice regarding cell phones and 3g and am hoping for a few simple recommendations. I am in the process of moving to Nahkon Nowhere in Issan and need to get 3g sorted as there are no other available services. We have a true tower located only 1km from the village and I have been assured by all and sundry that it indeed supports 3g (both locals and the true office confirmed). I think True/CAT is the only available 3g service in our little part of the jungle so I think I am limited to them.

After reading various confusing and conflicting sources I have come up with the following grand scheme. My plan is to get a smartphone and set it up as a wifi hub for my PC and laptop using the 3g connection. I have a few questions that I would like to pose to the more knowledgeable folks regarding my best options.

First question is should I even be entertaining the smart phone idea or should I be thinking of a dedicated dongle. I have owned smart phones and was disillusioned with them over time because of poor simple phone functionality, for normal daily phone use I prefer my old reliable Nokia candy bar. The one big exception to this is that when I am traveling I often don't want to lug a laptop around and I love to have access to mapping when I am in unfamiliar territory. My thought is that I set up the smart phone to be used as a dongle 90% of the time, using my old reliable 700 baht Nokia as my primary phone, and simply take the smart phone with me when I travel. So for question one, with my usage is the smart phone worth it and will I see similar performance with it to a dongle or should I simply go for the dongle.

My second question which might be more difficult to answer is, "what would be a good smartphone choice based on my usage". I think any smartphone with wifi can be used as I intend but I have heard that it is simplest to use an Android phone as no additional software/firmware is required. That said my only other real criteria are a reasonable screen size/resolution and cost (I would like to stay under 10k baht). I am leaning towards Samsung as a manufacturer but only because their marketing has sold me on some brand value that may or may not exist. I am pretty much anti-HTC at this point after poor performance and reliability issues on my last smartphone.

So after all that background verbage it comes down to 2 simple (or not) questions:

#1 Smart phone or dongle?

#2 If smart phone, what is a good one for 10k baht or less?

As another thought should I be looking at something like this?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/646056-true-beyond-android-tablet/

Edited June 12, 2013 by Dakling

[Jiu-Jitsu]

You don't want a dongle, as you can't share the connection. What you need is a Mifi unit. They are portable. You pop a SIM inside and it creates a Wireless Hotspot for up to five pieces of equipment. Newer 4G models can cover eight connections. Bank on around 2000 baht and up.

I think there is a local phone that costs less than 2000 baht that can also do the job. The G-Net G310H which costs a bit less, but that is only if you want to have a phone attached.

No need to waste money on a Smartphone if you have no need for it.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Some examples here.

[lomatopo]

Agree that if you don't really need a smartphone it wouldn't make any sense to purchase one just to use as a 3G router. Plus, while smartphones can accommodate this application not all can deliver decent performance, would need to be plugged in constantly and will run quite hot.

All MiFi devies accept a SIM directly, but most (not all) 3G routers accept a USB aircard (which accepts the SIM). The latter requires matching an aircard to a router as not all work together.

Assuming it is TrueMove H/My by CAT nearby then any device would need to support 850 MHz 3G.

I think My by CAT still has primarily post-paid plans, and may offer the highest fair-use speed limit (384 Kbps). I think My by CAT re-packaged/re-priced their offers recently

, but I can't seem to view their web pages.

You might also look into TOT Wi-NET service, which is a wireless (2.4/5 Ghz) P2P solution which many here have reported as being a good service.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Of course if you want to have access to Google maps on a portable advice, you'll have to pay a premium for that. 5000 baht for the tablet to which you linked and as a new product we have no clue as to it's efficiency and reliability.

[mark131v]

Of course if you want to have access to Google maps on a portable advice, you'll have to pay a premium for that. 5000 baht for the tablet to which you linked and as a new product we have no clue as to it's efficiency and reliability.

No need to pay extra for mapping if you have a Nokia you have free offline mapping as standard on most new handsets plus you can tether the handset to your laptop through joikuSpot so you already have a mobile hotspot as well

[iluvbeaches]

An alternative would be a low end Samsung tablet like a tab 7.0 that you can use around the house and also use as a mifi. You can buy a used one in Bangkok from people moving out of the city, upgrading, etc.

But the range and battery of the mifi are usually better if you just want to share a wifi hotspot.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Of course if you want to have access to Google maps on a portable advice, you'll have to pay a premium for that. 5000 baht for the tablet to which you linked and as a new product we have no clue as to it's efficiency and reliability.

No need to pay extra for mapping if you have a Nokia you have free offline mapping as standard on most new handsets plus you can tether the handset to your laptop through joikuSpot so you already have a mobile hotspot as well

A 700 baht Nokia.

[Dakling]

Thanks for the replies all, I think the MiFi looks like the ticket. Now as a followup question, do you buy these at a computer/electronics shop or from the service provider?

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Thanks for the replies all, I think the MiFi looks like the ticket. Now as a followup question, do you buy these at a computer/electronics shop or from the service provider?

You can buy it from wherever you like. Personally I would look for one that covers as many UMTS frequencies as possible and that has as few restrictions on the amount of Profiles that you can enter as possible.

But if you want one that works on TRUE H predominantly, there should be no need to pay no more than 2000 baht. Then you are moving into the 4G MiFi domain. With a bit of jiggerypokery, that how much I will pay for a 4G Mifi, such as the Huawei E5776 or the Huawei E589, in the UK. Perhaps 2500 baht there. Though you'll need to check that it will work on the Thai 4G network. If not, it will still work via 3G and allow you to connect more pieces of equipment.

In addition you should be careful of the descriptions of some websites. I have a ZTE MF60, that access the 3G networks via the 900MHz/2100MHz frequencies. Totalaircard claims 850MHz/2100MHz. Perhaps a differing variation, but double check.

Edited June 14, 2013 by Jiu-Jitsu