Newbie to Mobile Internet/3G/4g

[pauleddy]

I am a long-time Net user and fairly computerate, but I never had any "on the move" connection.

Couple of Qs for the experts:

I bought a mini Ipad (real one, Apple) but without the 3g option. It only picks up in my home, from my TRUE home wifi. Now I find that many people are using the Net everywhere. My normal phone is a Nokia, about 2000 baht. It is able to get internet but it's small and eats up a normal top-up phonecard. Should I save for an I-Phone or get a samsung? Which?

If I buy a Macbook 13 inch, can it be used for 3g on the train or anywhere? But it may be too big. I have a bluetooth keyboard for my mini-Ipad.

nb I have a contract at home in Bangkok with TRUE. I get 13mb--well, 12.93, as the download mb on a good day. the upload is 1mb, or 0.98. I do pings and speedtests.

If I want mobile internet, do I get a contract? Or, is there a card which I can plug into my proposed IPhone or 3g Ipad? I heard that there are 'plans', even as cheap as 100baht a week. How does the payment work? Of course, i want good speeds if possible. Is there a top-up card for mobile internet? should I use TRUE as well?

I spend about 2-3 months in Spain occasionally. Ideally, I need something which will work on the Spanish 3g network. Do all Ipads, samsungs etc need to be different for Spain? I just want to buy a top-up card in Spain, using the same device as in Thailand. is mobile internet the same everywhere?

What is 4g? Is it running now? Can I ask for 4g in Bangkok? Is it better? If Spain has 4g, can i just buy a different top up card for that? Can I use my 'new' device for 4g in either country, or am I speaking nonsense?

Please feel free to provide partial answers if your knowledge or interest extends to some of my Qs

Thanks so much

Eddy

[build6]

wow. don't really know how to make a start in answering your questions. it'll take a full-blown essay to reply to everything.

since I'm holed up in my room anyway and can't go anywhere for a while, I'm no expert but here goes...

basically - "it's complicated". There is a massive distinction between the "wireless internet" you get from your current home wifi setup, and what you get "on the move". Things are not made easier because the telcos that provide "mobile internet" often also provide home internet connections (you mention you have a contract at home with True - I am unfamiliar with True, but I expect that to have nothing to do whatsoever with "mobile internet access", unless True offers some kind of bundling special offer where they give you a deal on both home internet connection and mobile device connection with one bill).

wifi is wifi, and essentially has nothing to do with "mobile internet connectivity"/"cellular data access"/"mobile phone data access".

from your post it does not look like you are clear about this distinction. if your iPad doesn't have the 3G option then it lacks the built-in components to talk to the cellphone network towers - if you want to use an iPad "on the go", your only options are to either buy another iPad with the 3G connection hardware (plus pay for the mobile network connectivity), or buy some kind of device that CAN connect to the cellular telco towers and share that connection with your current iPad (probably over wifi, but bluetooth works well too). The good news here is that many phones can do this "sharing the mobile internet connection" bit.

The technology is different between wifi and "mobile internet" because it needs to handle far more users at greater range than your home wifi, and needs to be able to "hand off" your connection to different towers you connect to as you travel (e.g. on a train) (how well this works in reality is a "your mileage may vary" type of thing). Mobile devices usually aren't plugged in either, so unlike your wifi base station the devices have limited electrical/battery power to operate on, and they need to prioritise that as well.

"mobile" internet has always been an order of magnitude slower than "home wifi" connections. development of "mobile internet" technology has been (together with associated attempts to improve range, power efficiency etc.) ultimately been about "catching up" in terms of speed, to what we're used to with wifi networks. this is where I'm a bit confused with your ping/speedtest results because that seems really kind of slow for a non-mobile connection. but the flip side of that is maybe you won't find your phone internet too slow, just expensive

Things like 2G, 3G, 4G - these are basically "shorthand" terms for the type of mobile internet connection you have/the phone/network is capable of, with what most people are interested in being the relative speeds. If you really dive into it you'll run into associated acronyms about the specific technologies (4G now basically means LTE, for example; 3G we're talking about UMTS/HSPA (which itself relates to HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+) etc.).

I don't know if it's worth your while to dig into what each of those mean, but at the very least, be aware that: mobile implementation around the world is VERY fragmented.

I don't know what frequencies Spain uses but I wouldn't assume a device that works here in Thailand would automatically work in Spain - the good news is that the world is standardising around 2.1GHz, so if you close your eyes and buy something you might even get lucky, but considering your questions, you should do a lot more research before you put your money down. If the hardware is compatible and unlocked then yes, the same device will work in both countries, you just need to swap in/out SIM cards for whichever telco and country you're in. I've actually bought a dual-SIM phone that works as a wifi hotspot, and I keep a SIM card from each of my two main countries in, that I share internet access from to all the other devices I have about me - when I cross the border I just toggle the two.

Payment options - all the telcos basically give you the option of paying monthly bills, or putting money into prepaid cards that you top up with value once you run low. Either way you get a range of daily, weekly and monthly data plans you can choose from. You'll need to shop around.

True has rolled out 4G in a few limited areas but I've no personal experience with how well it works. 4G is faster than 3G, which is faster than 2G.

[sfokevin]

Since you already have a Mac and iPad I would suggest staying within the same ecosystem so you will not have to learn the android OP... an iPhone will have an almost identical operating system as your ipad... Them with an iphone having a good unlimited data plan you can tether the phone and ipad of Mac together to share the data from the iphone to them...

[casualbiker]

what Nokia do you have now?

What Thai network are you on?

Edited February 10, 2014 by casualbiker