Please help me choose an air card and service provider.

[SamSipEt]

Recommendations and advice please for which air card and service provider will be best suited to me. I've tried looking around at the AIS and True websites but frankly I'm confused and not really sure of what I should aim for.

My usage is mainly at home but I do roam about sometimes which is why I feel that an air card costing about 1,000 baht would be my best bet and I saw a post in another thread made last year by lomotapo that suggested "an unbranded, unlocked air card which supports (minimally) 3G: 850 and 2100 MHz" which made sense to me but things change very quickly in the electronic world so is this still valid or are there better options out there now a few months later?

My usage is a lot of on-line browsing and I download the occasional film and some music. I am also in the habit of leaving the laptop connected for hours at a time so I think I will need an unlimited always on service.

AIS+3BB seem to offer max 3G speed allowance of 4GB for 799 baht / month and the more confusing True site appears to offer a max speed allowance of 5GB for 899 / month. It looks like if I exceed these limits I still have access but at lower speeds. If so then either of these packages would appear to meet my needs.

So my questions are for suggestions for which air card and which is the better service provider / package that you think will meet my needs?

I hope that is enough info for all of you technical experts out there and thanks for your input

[dave_boo]

In the pre-3G days I was all about AIS. However, where the house is, it seems that True has better service. And that is really what it comes down to; which will be more stable and/or give better results where you will use it. Most likely a bit of leg work, or asking a group of teens which is better (usually the fastest way to find out something technical) would get you the answer you are searching for.

And yes, with True if you exceed the 'limit' it throttles back your connection.

[Amusements]

I got good speeds of 10+mbits/sec with the 10x5cm white True H Dongle (from Tesco or True shop), and the 899/month package. Better than I ever got with AIS or my friends Dtac 3G. The 899/month package throttles down to what is still a surfable speed when the allowance has run out.

[Bpuumike]

I got good speeds of 10+mbits/sec with the 10x5cm white True H Dongle (from Tesco or True shop), and the 899/month package. Better than I ever got with AIS or my friends Dtac 3G. The 899/month package throttles down to what is still a surfable speed when the allowance has run out.

I inherited (well, signed up anew) my True package when they switched to 3G.

But the package is good enough for me (no gaming) and I leave my laptop online 24/7.

Oh, and I have been using a Huawei open SIM netcard/dongle for some 4 years now without problem.

[MichaelJohn]

I have an unlocked air card (Huwei) which can be used on all bands and with all providers (cost about B5,000 on line).

I use True and AIS SIM cards although whilst travelling AIS is consistently better than True. For my house AIS also have better coverage.

I have always found the 3g data signal to be almost as good as my home broadband and can do what I need without problems. (RDP and VPN to Europe)

With both providers you can buy weekly or monthly packages on line and neither are cost prohibitive. The only thing you must remember, if this is your only Internet access, is to Top Up well before the money runs out or you have no access to buy on-line!!!

[JohnnyJazz]

I have an unlocked air card (Huwei) which can be used on all bands and with all providers (cost about B5,000 on line).

I use True and AIS SIM cards although whilst travelling AIS is consistently better than True. For my house AIS also have better coverage.

I have always found the 3g data signal to be almost as good as my home broadband and can do what I need without problems. (RDP and VPN to Europe)

With both providers you can buy weekly or monthly packages on line and neither are cost prohibitive. The only thing you must remember, if this is your only Internet access, is to Top Up well before the money runs out or you have no access to buy on-line!!!

That's my experience too.

[SamSipEt]

In the space of a day I've gone from someone who had no idea about this to someone who has enough knowledge (at least I hope so) to go shopping with confidence an unlocked air card and an AIS SIM seems to be the answer.

Many thanks for the quick and helpful replies

Edit : especially from MichaelJohn about topping up early - I would have tripped up on this for sure !

Edited May 15, 2014 by SamSipEt

[lomatopo]

For the next 15 years or so any unlocked, un-branded USB air-card which supports 850/2100 MHz 3G will be sufficient. Things don't change very quickly.

I'd recommend a minimum 7.2 Mbps-capable device:

http://www.totalaircard.com/products/Huawei-E173-3G-USB-Aircard.html

After that, maybe talk with neighbors to see what works for them, or simply get both an AIS/One-2-Call/AWM/2100 SIM, and a TrueMove H SIM, 50 baht each, maybe add 100 baht, subscribe to a daily plan (49 baht) and evaluate the coverage/performance.

All things being equal I'd always recommend TrueMove H first given their robust 850 MHz coverage via CAT, their affiliated WiFi program (True WiFi: 100,000 hot-spots) and the fact that they have the fewest customers. While it is true that AIS has built out their 2100 MHz 3G net-work (17,000 base-stations covering 97% of the population), they have the most customers all contending for the same 15 MHz slice of voice+data spectrum. (DTAC have the most spectrum: GSM 1800 + 3G/850 + 3G/2100; TrueMove H have the CAT spectrum plus their own 15 MHz slice of 2100.)

I am a DTAC customer, FWIW,

I'm guessing here that you do not have, need or use a mobile phone?

Maybe the TrueMove H Net 399/599/899 plans might be a decent fit? (All with unlimited WiFi; note the FuP speed-limits.)

http://truemoveh.truecorp.co.th/3g/toppings/iplay/entry/654

Most operators will send you reminders re: recurring plan renewals a few days before expiration, but I wouldn't sweat this too much.