Edge On Ais In Pattaya

[monty]

I just got me a new pda phone (ipaq 6828) which is gprs edge capable.

I've heard reports that AIS has edge capable cells in the Pattaya area, but I didn't really expect to have this where I live (about 15 km's inland, Mabprachan area).

To my surprise the E symbol indicating the presence of an edge network came up on the screen!

Hooked the thing up to my pc to run some decent speedtests...

Speed is highly variable, data comes in at between 2 kbps and sometimes over 100kbps. Due to this occasional high speed bursts, the overall surfing experience is much better then compared to plain jane gprs...

Average speed downloading a larger file was about 10 kBps (80 kbps).

Latency is on average 500 msec longer then compared to adsl, but still acceptable at around 800 msec to the US.

Thaivisa pinged at 550 msec on their new Singapore server (around 60 msec on my adls)

Doing a test dedicated to check for VOIP quality (can be found at http://www.mycooltools.com/) indicated that the connection is still useless for voip. Reason the lateny, and more important every so often speed dropping to zero for a second or two, then picking up again...

The result would be broken up conversation.

Doing the test call on skype confirmed that the sound comes through in bits and pieces...

Overall an improvement, making surfing and the occasional download a much better experience. Certainly faster then dial-up, and cheaper as well!

VOIP will definately work better through regular dial-up because of a steadier, albeit slower datastream...

As this test was done on a Sunday, the load on the mobile network (lots of Bangkokians around jabbering away on their phones!) might be higher then normal, so I'll repeat tests on a normal weekday...

Cheers,

Monty

[Sunny Valentine]

Thanks for that update! I occasionally use Edge in Pattaya too, and found out that DTAC (Happy) is in general much more reliable and quicker than AIS. You might want to give it a try!

Sunny

[jdinasia]

ummmm AIS has EDGE or just GPRS?

Edited August 20, 2006 by jdinasia

[Sunny Valentine]

Both AIS and DTAC have Edge in some areas, including some Bangkok areas, and Pattaya!

Sunny

[crabstix]

I am using hp ipaq hw6515. I am in Chiang Rai. The Dtac call center said that I could use edge only one place in Chiang Rai ie the airport. So I went to the ground floor of the airport at a coffee shop. Unfortunately the edge symbol did not come up and my speed was normal (gprs speeds). Which part of the airport should I be in to use edge?

[crabstix]

I just got me a new pda phone (ipaq 6828) which is gprs edge capable.

I've heard reports that AIS has edge capable cells in the Pattaya area, but I didn't really expect to have this where I live (about 15 km's inland, Mabprachan area).

To my surprise the E symbol indicating the presence of an edge network came up on the screen!

Hooked the thing up to my pc to run some decent speedtests...

Speed is highly variable, data comes in at between 2 kbps and sometimes over 100kbps. Due to this occasional high speed bursts, the overall surfing experience is much better then compared to plain jane gprs...

Average speed downloading a larger file was about 10 kBps (80 kbps).

Latency is on average 500 msec longer then compared to adsl, but still acceptable at around 800 msec to the US.

Thaivisa pinged at 550 msec on their new Singapore server (around 60 msec on my adls)

Doing a test dedicated to check for VOIP quality (can be found at http://www.mycooltools.com/) indicated that the connection is still useless for voip. Reason the lateny, and more important every so often speed dropping to zero for a second or two, then picking up again...

The result would be broken up conversation.

Doing the test call on skype confirmed that the sound comes through in bits and pieces...

Overall an improvement, making surfing and the occasional download a much better experience. Certainly faster then dial-up, and cheaper as well!

VOIP will definately work better through regular dial-up because of a steadier, albeit slower datastream...

As this test was done on a Sunday, the load on the mobile network (lots of Bangkokians around jabbering away on their phones!) might be higher then normal, so I'll repeat tests on a normal weekday...

Cheers,

Monty

How is the stability of the hw6828? I've heard the o2 atom is a pretty similar device in terms of specs but it was prone to crashes (which I've heard has now been fixed). I like the form factor of the 6828 but the screen seems to be a tad too small for my liking. Was very tempted to get it but was put off because a lot of the software for it sold at pantip wasn't for windows mobile 5 (athough the cover for the cds said pocket pc software 2006). Is the processor sluggish? The hw6515 is 312Mhz but is very slow.

[monty]

For some reason AIS has Edge only in Pattaya, where they originally trialled the system...

Why they stopped implementing in other places I have no idea!

JDINASIA, definately edge. But seemingly not on all transmission towers. When driving around, the network symbol constantly changes from the E to the G in a square...

Crabstix, I only have the device 1 day, so a bit early to decide on stability

It's not sluggish but I did expect a bit quicker responses.

The major drawback of the small screen is in using the on screen keyboard. The buttons are mightily small to hit with the stylus without to many errors...

Especially since I also use an O2 XDAIIs...

Guess that's the price to pay for the smaller formfactor!

But I'm quite impressed with the 2Mpixel camera built in. Pretty decent quality compared to most other mobile phones/ pda phones...

And don't worry about the software to much, I already installed several older programs, which all give a warning they might not display properly because designed for earlier versions of winCE...But all run perfectly OK

[uk_falang]

not true. my sierra wireless 775 aircard picks up edge in central chaing mai using AIS. With dtac only gprs.

I get 100kbps+ with AIS in chiang mai. Sometimes this drops to 60 or 40.

For some reason AIS has Edge only in Pattaya, where they originally trialled the system...

Why they stopped implementing in other places I have no idea!

JDINASIA, definately edge. But seemingly not on all transmission towers. When driving around, the network symbol constantly changes from the E to the G in a square...

Crabstix, I only have the device 1 day, so a bit early to decide on stability

It's not sluggish but I did expect a bit quicker responses.

The major drawback of the small screen is in using the on screen keyboard. The buttons are mightily small to hit with the stylus without to many errors...

Especially since I also use an O2 XDAIIs...

Guess that's the price to pay for the smaller formfactor!

But I'm quite impressed with the 2Mpixel camera built in. Pretty decent quality compared to most other mobile phones/ pda phones...

And don't worry about the software to much, I already installed several older programs, which all give a warning they might not display properly because designed for earlier versions of winCE...But all run perfectly OK