Boingo Wi-Fi Internet Access

[donx]

I will be in Thailand for a month and the rest of my family will be there until the end of August. Although I plan on getting a local SIM card for our iPhones (which are all unlocked), I was thinking about trying out the Boingo Wi-Fi Internet access since it's only $8 a month and allows up to 4 mobile devices to connect. I searched the forums and the only references to boingo Wi-Fi were either several years old or were related to airport Wi-Fi.

So my question is whether anyone has recently used boingo and if so what has your experience been. We will be spending most of our time in tourist locations (Bangkok, Krabi, Koh Samui, Phuket) and I see boingo hotspots available in all of those locations, I know that the data speeds for the local SIM cards tend to be very slow. My wife complained about this last year when she was visiting. This is one of the main reasons I was thinking about subscribing.

[rhythmworx]

That's so many unsecured open hotspots around tourist areas that you wont need it. Just do a manual scan with your phone for access points and choose one that is unsecured. I used to have boingo, WeFi and also HandyWi, one of them used to autoscan and beep when it found a hotspot, been so long since I used any of them I cant tell you which was which.

Not sure what OS you are using but there will be many apps that do the same thing for free.

Edited June 13, 2014 by rhythmworx

[sfokevin]

You should look into Truemove H - they have the only big wifi network in Thailand... If you buy their SIM card buy a 30 day data plan from them that includes unlimited wifi on their network... But the wifi just about everywhere here is hit or miss... the internet you get from the sim is usually faster and more reliable... But they have caps on the amount.

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

Edited June 15, 2014 by sfokevin

[RichCor]

Most of the mobile carriers here in Thailand (AIS/1-2-Call, DTAC/Happy, TrueH, etc) offer bundled or even supplemental WiFi Hotspot access for 99฿/mo or so.

While they have their own branded WiFi Hotspot service, some will partner with other providers, like 3BB WiFi, to offer more connection points.

Accessing the hotspots from your cushy location will be the main issue. Normally you'll find signal availability clustered around Airports, 7/11s, Hospitals, some Bus Terminals, but not around hotels or resorts.

You're more likely to find that 3G Internet service has the more desired coverage.

[donx]

You should look into Truemove H - they have the only big wifi network in Thailand... If you buy their SIM card buy a 30 day data plan from them that includes unlimited wifi on their network... But the wifi just about everywhere here is hit or miss... the internet you get from the sim is usually faster and more reliable... But they have caps on the amount.

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

Thanks for the website. I'm thinking the iSmart 899 plan should work for us. How is the 4G coverage in resort locations such as Phuket, Koh Samui, and Krabi?

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[build6]

Do you have more details re your wife's experience with local SIM cards being slow? That seems to have coloured your perceptions a bit. I, too, was thinking a prepaid SIM would work better than WiFi.

[sfokevin]

The cell coverage in a Thailand is great in all those areas... The wifi will be hit or miss... Most hotels will have free wifi for you but they are usually slow or the hotspots are not close enough to your room to be useful...

If you have four people you might get everyone a SIM card with NET 250...

[donx]

Do you have more details re your wife's experience with local SIM cards being slow? That seems to have coloured your perceptions a bit. I, too, was thinking a prepaid SIM would work better than WiFi.

Unfortunately I don't have more details at the moment. My guess is she had a SIM card that slowed the speeds after only a week or two of usage. She's back in Thailand now and I won't arrive until Thursday night.

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[donx]

The cell coverage in a Thailand is great in all those areas... The wifi will be hit or miss... Most hotels will have free wifi for you but they are usually slow or the hotspots are not close enough to your room to be useful...

If you have four people you might get everyone a SIM card with NET 250...

What is NET 250? Yes I have 4 phones (an iPhone 4, an iPhone 4S, and two iPhone 5). In the US, hotel wifi is always slower than 4G LTE. 3G however isn't always as fast. Current my daughter is using the wifi in a Bangkok hotel to watch Netflix. I don't know if it's going ok but I did talk her through setting up VPN while she was using her iPhone to Skype with me.

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[build6]

Do you have more details re your wife's experience with local SIM cards being slow? That seems to have coloured your perceptions a bit. I, too, was thinking a prepaid SIM would work better than WiFi.

Unfortunately I don't have more details at the moment. My guess is she had a SIM card that slowed the speeds after only a week or two of usage. She's back in Thailand now and I won't arrive until Thursday night.

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All of the "unlimited" packages you can sign up for include a fixed amount of "fair use" volume - once the amount of MB/GB you've used hits that limit, the system will throttle you down to a slower speed - i.e. your internet access won't be cut off, but it'll be significantly slower once you've crossed that mark. So you can't sign up for a weekly package and then just leave your phone streaming movies permanently 24/7 the entire week, for example.

If your wife initially experienced acceptable/good speeds, then there is no technical problem and you should be able to rely on SIM cards with prepaid packages. Once you hit the volume limits you can "top up" with a bit more money for more high speed data (she should have got an SMS about it, actually).

If your wife NEVER got tolerable/acceptable speeds then there might be an issue with either your equipment or the places you will be going, in which case seeking out wifi locales etc. is worth the effort.

[build6]

The cell coverage in a Thailand is great in all those areas... The wifi will be hit or miss... Most hotels will have free wifi for you but they are usually slow or the hotspots are not close enough to your room to be useful...

If you have four people you might get everyone a SIM card with NET 250...

What is NET 250? Yes I have 4 phones (an iPhone 4, an iPhone 4S, and two iPhone 5). In the US, hotel wifi is always slower than 4G LTE. 3G however isn't always as fast. Current my daughter is using the wifi in a Bangkok hotel to watch Netflix. I don't know if it's going ok but I did talk her through setting up VPN while she was using her iPhone to Skype with me.

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NET 250 is a name for one of the packages offered by True. It's listed in the link sfokevin gave you earlier:

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

3G in Thailand is actually pretty good, speed-wise (I'm talking metropolitan areas not out in the sticks) since they have HSPA+ and I've on occasion gotten faster "3G" speeds in Thailand than I got for "4G" in Singapore, for example.

However, if the purpose of the bandwidth you want to get is to watch Netflix I think you might be better off relying on the hotel network, price wise (depends on the hotel of course).

Edited June 16, 2014 by build6

[donx]

For general purpose data usage, it sounds like we should be able to get decent speeds with cellular access.

I realized last night that Netflix and my other premium streaming video services probably won't work on cellular since I don't think VPN can be enabled on a cellular network. I may be wrong about this since I'm just assuming cellular doesn't assign IP addresses to the connection. If it does then I suppose I would be able to watch premium streaming video on a cellular network.

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[build6]

Surely you can find something better to do than watch foreign TV when you're in Thailand, though!

[sfokevin]

For general purpose data usage, it sounds like we should be able to get decent speeds with cellular access.

I realized last night that Netflix and my other premium streaming video services probably won't work on cellular since I don't think VPN can be enabled on a cellular network. I may be wrong about this since I'm just assuming cellular doesn't assign IP addresses to the connection. If it does then I suppose I would be able to watch premium streaming video on a cellular network.

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Try Hotspot Shield App...

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hotspot-shield-vpn-for-iphone/id443369807?mt=8

It is free for a few days then if it works for Netflix... you can buy a 30 day subscription for 99 cents...

Edited June 17, 2014 by sfokevin

[donx]

I have a VPN account already with Private Internet Access so I don't need another VPN provider.

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[donx]

I ended up getting a 3G Tourist Inter Sim with a ฿499 package that includes 250 voice minutes and 1GB of 3G cellular data. I can pay ฿150 for an additional 1GB of cellular data if I need it. This package includes free WiFi access to their hotspots. So far in Bangkok, I'm happy with it.

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