DTAC Laptop Aircard; " 4 G " Rollout Causing Complete Crud on Olders Sims?

[EBlair48]

The DTAC Air Card Blues

Oh Yeah, went out and got me…

A DTAC Aircard Sim.

And ever since ….

Been internetting on a whim , Oh Yeah…

but lately my baby aircard kicks me down

Oh so nows….

I got the DTAC Air card blueeeeesss

Has anyone else noticed the level of service has dropped the past weeks? Is it related to the " 4 G " rollout?

Trying to get us to buy new sims and aircards?

OK, I have an admittedly ancient HP laptop that works like a dream for off line stuff. And worked like a dream on a DTAC aircard for close to a year UNTIL about a week ago. ( yes it does use XP but don't think the Microsoft abandoning updates is relevant for a reason I’ll get to.)

Every month I top it up for about 700 baht for “ 3 G “ unlimited which I gather is not unlimited but explanations of the crediting process fail to enlighten me. ( Anyone care to explain ?) It is sufficient for my needs and has been for about a year.

The trick is- I have found, is to call the service centre after the top up to “ register” and request the “ better service” which I gather is called 52005 service and is reserved for businesses.

Every month I go through this process, top up, endure crappy service that kicks me off every 5 minutes, call service centre, request better service, get “ Signal reset” instructed to take out aircard and remove sim for 15 minutes restart the software and get next 30 days of decent service all day long .

Well I have just read the thread about “ 4 G “ service starting and maybe that’s the problem because last week I went through the same process, however when I called the centre, some young man informed me there is no such thing as 52005. He claimed to have no idea about two levels of service and I was unable to use the internet for more than 5 maybe 10 minutes for that day and the next . I got kicked off over 24 times before I gave up.

Kicked off being “ No service available “ And the remedy is take out air card, remove sim replace put aircard back in , and get signal. And the signal is good at 5 bars and I can see the repeater tower from my window right now.

Last night I was able to stay up late and got great internet as before, for several hours between 11 pm and 2 AM so it is absolutely a traffic related problem- more traffic, I get kicked off .

At one point mid week, after I’d called about 10 times over several days, a Thai woman did call me back and she spoke English very well, But when she tried to explain something about my balance had fallen to under 700 baht. I really did not understand this and kept asking her to clarify it but she would only answer “ I already answered your question. “ She told me they would put 5 baht on the account, and this worked for about 10 minutes.

Then 3 days ago I was sent o the DTAC center at the local mall ( 30 minute drive ) where the internet was good, and was told by staff there it was my laptop and to only surf one page at a time, not to put up multiple tabs. Of course , they swapped out the sim card first thing, though so I thought eureka!!.

But, when I got home, I got kicked off within 20 minutes, while using only one tab..

However, last night, very late I had several tabs open and it worked fine- so obviously it is traffic related.

However today kicked off early, another call to centre, a young man ( the weekend staff not in on the latest scam, F... the 3 G'ers ? ) admitted there is two levels of service and he would put me on the better service, and today, voila got internet- mid day online for 2 hours now

Of course it is Sunday and maybe traffic is low.

Anyone else having this problem suddenly the past week or two? Any advice on best service available I am in North Phuket?

Edited April 20, 2014 by EBlair48

[lomatopo]

Maybe you should experiment with a TrueMove H, or AIS SIM (SIMs cost ~ 50 baht, and you can subscribe to a daily plan for another 49 baht).

DTAC continues to work well for me in metro-Bangkok, although I used to get 30 Mbps (down). Have you switched to Tri-NET? Gotten a new SIM? The MCC/MNC of 520-05 is DTN, aka: Tri-NET, the 2100 MHz subsidiary of DTAC, which may deliver service on 850 or 2100 MHz (3G).

[EBlair48]

^ Thanks for that response but the sim already is the "Tri-net". And it has worked fine, as long as after each top up I call and demand the 52005 service- until last week.

Sorry if it wasn' clear, but the problem is / or was...repeatedly getting kicked off the network, when I'm on the network, it works fine.

After the computer being online for 10 hours yesterday , with no kick -offs, and today working fine for about an hour I think it is established there are two tiers of service, and the staff at the call centre are perfectly capable of switching it, which was done yesterday .

So I can only surmise the lying behavior of DTAC staff the last week is to get me to buy a new air-card and a new sim for this " 4 G."

[lomatopo]

Note sure what to say but there are not two different tiers of service.

Yes, there are three different networks: GSM 1800, 3G/850 (520-18) and 3G/2100 (520-05, aka Tri-NET).

Can you describe your SIM? Is it white and black, with “64K ECP” under the logo? Or is it all white, with “64K WDT” under the logo?

Can you manually configure your aircard in its UI, under "Settings"?

What mobile data plan do you subscribe to? Please be very detailed and specific. Does it renew automatically?

Can you share the make and model of your air-card?

If you continue to experience issues I would make another trip to a full-service DTAC shop, and bring the air-card and SIM.

I cannot see how a limited 4G/LTE roll-out in metro-Bangkok would affect your service. DTAC will not be forcing you, or anyone else to take up LTE service.

I believe there is some issue with your SIM, or how it is provisioned, or some nuances associated with your air-card, or an issue with your data plan; you should be connecting to the 520-05 network by default, rather than the 520-18 network, assuming the former is available. You shouldn’t get “kicked-off” a network after a plan renewal.

Edited April 21, 2014 by lomatopo

[build6]

Can you describe your SIM? Is it white and black, with “64K ECP” under the logo? Or is it all white, with “64K WDT” under the logo?

(possibly off-topic interruption) - what differences do these SIMs represent? (really curious)

[lomatopo]

all white, with “64K WDT” under the logo

represents the newest DWN (Tri-NET), dual IMSI SIM with "toolkit" app. Note that on some phones this SIM Toolkit app. references DTAC, while on other models it does not - on my GNEX 4 it just says SIM Toolkit. This SIM allows switching between Domestic fast search and Roaming fast search - the former for use in Thailand, the latter for use outside of Thailand.

[build6]

I see, thanks. I have the one that references DTAC (in my app drawer I have "dtac services", not "sim toolkit"). As I posted elsewhere it doesn't seem to want to roam to Singapore though

all white, with “64K WDT” under the logo

represents the newest DWN (Tri-NET), dual IMSI SIM with "toolkit" app. Note that on some phones this SIM Toolkit app. references DTAC, while on other models it does not - on my GNEX 4 it just says SIM Toolkit. This SIM allows switching between Domestic fast search and Roaming fast search - the former for use in Thailand, the latter for use outside of Thailand.

[EBlair48]

Lomatopo,

I am just suggesting that DTAC is purposefully making the 3 g go to crap, so one is tempted to by the new 4 g stuff. Not forced to, of course. It's a choice whether or not to have decent internet, or so I've heard.

However the service call centre people tell me the 4 g is not rolled out yet.

But, they have confirmed to me there are two levels of service, and I'll need to call each and everyday to receive the better service. Not kidding.

btw it just doesn't kick me off after a money refill, it kicks me off on the average about every 10 minutes, page won't load error on the browser, 'no signal message on the DTAC air-card monitor box . So I call DTAC, close down all my work pages take out the air card, remove the SIM restart my computer wait 20 minutes, re insert the aircard and VOILA ! Good internet the rest of the day.

It isn't my SIM- It isn't the tower or the settings or the laptop, sunspots or a storm in Sri Lanka it's crap DTAC internet service

No one can explain to me why I need to call every day, really gotten some whoppers on that question. Seems really like a bunch of.....CENSORED

This is the part about the getting hapless consumers to upgrade- to a service that isn't even on offer, but should have been- last month !! Whoops, well too late to rescind the new call centre worker instructions too confusing , too much like ... service !!

I do ask about the settings and have repeatedly asked if a tech can call me to instruct me. Instead I now get frequent and odd error messages from DTAC , but they are only in Thai-which I cannot read. I'm told to ignore them by the shoppe lad who tops up my account.

The centre reps all have different opinions on what the best setting are. I've gone to the DTAC store once, it's about three hours out of my day so ... I'll get an AIS card when my month expires next week

Simply pathetic from a bunch of ...CENSORED

Edited May 4, 2014 by EBlair48

[lomatopo]

I'll get an AIS card when my month expires next week

I might recommend trying TrueMove H first; they honestly have the most coverage via CAT/850 MHz, but maybe best to speak with neighbors to see what works for them.