What's the best USB laptop stick?

[tonybemv]

I'm moving into a new condo but the building does not have wifi. Any advice what company is has a good service and USB stick? Don't know much about them, have heard they are 3000 baht for a good one.

[elgordo38]

For 2400 bahts you can buy an external 1 Terrabyte Western Digital smaller than a wallet I have one and love it. Plug it in and go. You do not state what size stick you want. I also have 8 GB sticks that I bought at Computerland no problem generic ones 150 bahts each.

[elgordo38]

PS Sorry misunderstood you. If you have an internal telephone line which a new condo should have you can get service from 3BB (my provider and I am happy) 15MB for 631 a month. For a stick you to get wifi you can contact DTAC or TRUE MOVE or AIS one, two call.

[RKASA]

First check and see if you can get a winet type connection - it is like a wifi connection but from the isp not your condo etc. would be cheaper for home use with unlimited full speed connection.

or Get an air-card tablet account, after the high speed is used up exp. 7gig @ up to 42mbps then slows to 385Kps unlimited you also get unlimited wifi @ hot spots all around the country. That package is 1068baht per month. Most site don't show the higher volume packages, but make sure it is air card tablet account and not a phone sim. sims for phones cost more per data and the low speed is often <128k and some packages only 64k.

If you can't get a cable to your unit or other type of wireless service then the USB air-card tablet option is used. Most air-cards when purchasing an account @ like dtac or others only cost 900baht and for 1400baht you can find a router that will provide 4 ports and wifi for use at home and plug your aircard in there at home and use your own wifi as normal. The mini hot spot routers for your own wifi are limited in use but you can take them on the road, I just use the card in the laptop when not at home. All the cell phone companies have the devices and accounts but a mine field of offers can make it hard to sort out. Some have special offers for a time that give as much as 12gig each month for the first three months etc. but then what?

I have been using the dtac sim aircard tablet and often have international connection that run as high as 18mbps but the average connection is 7mbps. If your just surfing and not running massive download the high speed can last about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks per month. You can buy topping @ 1gig per 150baht, but I just live with 385k for the remaining time - it still works if you don't download torrents.

Many parts of the country still have no internet cable or wireless from the towers so the usb aircard is used. Some with smart phones can just connect the phone but its a pain to deal with compared to just having a router and card at home and you will get slower speed when the volume is used up, perhaps a dual sim phone can run an aircard tablet sim in slot two but I don't have one and have not used it.

[KittenKong]

PS Sorry misunderstood you. If you have an internal telephone line which a new condo should have you can get service from 3BB (my provider and I am happy) 15MB for 631 a month.

3BB ADSL is 900B/month (+ VAT) for 15mbs, or 590B/month (+VAT) for 10mbs.

I actually get 17mbs from my 900B package. There is a small discount for paying 12 months in advance, which is obligatory for farang customers in their first year.

[tonybemv]

Still confused as hell. Just went into the AIS shop in central world and it doesn't seem am going to get service there. Anyone know a place where they can speak a little English and not scared to serve farang? I have a laptop, not a tablet, I think that rules out an aircard. Am I wrong? I don't work in anything close to the tech industry and my lack of knowledge is pretty apparent for anyone reading what I post probably. I just wanna go to some service center, tell them what can I do to make my laptop get internet in my room. Apologies, I know my writing must make me look like an idiot.

[KittenKong]

You can use an aircard type USB device with a laptop or a desktop PC.

The first thing you need to work out is which provider has good coverage in your building, and using what type of service.

[tonybemv]

You can use an aircard type USB device with a laptop or a desktop PC.

The first thing you need to work out is which provider has good coverage in your building, and using what type of service.

How to find that out? Who or where to ask?

[NanLaew]

I reckon AIS has the best network, some may argue that but most networks will have bad spots in their coverage, it's just that AIS is likely to have fewer.

So go back to the AIS shop and show them this.

I forget how much they are but 800 baht rings a bell. Then you get them to add a data package to the SIM. I reckon the one that comes out at around 800 baht/month is the best value. They had a promo on last month or so where you get an upgrade to the next package data bundle for the lower package price.

[NanLaew]

Don't worry about finding out what network has the best signal strength in your location as you would ideally need 4 people with identical phones, each with a data SIM from AIS, DTAC, True and TOT and then see who had the best signal strength, then data throughput, then streaming speeds and since that can vary with time of day and network loads, it is too much farking about IMHO.

You could ask some neighbours what they use but that's just as spotty as everyone has different data needs so not really comparing anything usable.

[jpinx]

I use my android mobile hotspot for a connection to the laptop by wifi, I currently use Dtac for the internet but you can shop around at your leisure. No need to buy anything .. just the package you prefer from their website.

[NanLaew]

I use my android mobile hotspot for a connection to the laptop by wifi, I currently use Dtac for the internet but you can shop around at your leisure. No need to buy anything .. just the package you prefer from their website.

Indeed.... if the OP does have a smartphone with an o/s that supports hot-spotting. Then he would either need to add a data package to the existing SIM... or get a new SIM as older ones maybe don't support the latest, fastest data networks. I had to upgrade my AIS smartphone SIM last summer in order to get the (claimed) 21 Mbps data enabled.

[jpinx]

I use my android mobile hotspot for a connection to the laptop by wifi, I currently use Dtac for the internet but you can shop around at your leisure. No need to buy anything .. just the package you prefer from their website.

Indeed.... if the OP does have a smartphone with an o/s that supports hot-spotting. Then he would either need to add a data package to the existing SIM... or get a new SIM as older ones maybe don't support the latest, fastest data networks. I had to upgrade my AIS smartphone SIM last summer in order to get the (claimed) 21 Mbps data enabled.

Cool Did you ever get the claimed 21 Mb/s ?

[KittenKong]

You can use an aircard type USB device with a laptop or a desktop PC.

The first thing you need to work out is which provider has good coverage in your building, and using what type of service.

How to find that out? Who or where to ask?

I would be inclined to ask other people in the building, or to look on the various providers' websites as they generally have coverage maps.

If you want wifi rather than 3G then any smartphone or tablet will indicate the local signal strength from the various providers.

[stud858]

I recommend a 4g phone hotspotted. Happy dtac sim 1mbps unlimited plan. Happy is much better because they are the only ones that have speed boost. I.e. You can upgrade to full speed for a day for minimal cost while on existing plan. Useful if you stream video now and then. If you stream video a lot. Go the next step up from 1mbps. I think 4maps.

 

WiFi has no mobility. The future is sim net via towers and 5g coming soon enough.  Nbn.  WiFi home routers n all will be dead. Although they will monetise it with some sort of box in the future. Intensive stuff like Video will come via a mix of land towers and satellites. That's what I've been told the pros are saying at telecoms conferences. Too many people on the planet. Too little bandwidth.

 

Anyway,  good luck with your choice and netting.

[Rc2702]

I'd go with the 4G unlimited plan and hotspot it as then you have both phone and laptop connectivity.

 

We have true internet and many complain about it but it's done well for us for more than a year and it includes a free unlimited SIM but if the internet ever goes down and it has on 2 occasions then the Mrs calls them and they put the phone SIM onto a 4g plan for a week. The outage only lasted a day at most on both occasions. The unlimited SIM is only 3G but it's ideal for me and it's so good I don't even use a phone number SIM card anymore. Just the 3g and communicate through line calls and WhatsApp.

 

But you can get a 4G unlimited deal on there own which are hotspot friendly for laptop use.

 

PS. My internet in Thailand is far better than my UK internet. UK internet seems 3rd world.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Rc2702