Best Internet USB For Issan Region

[ozyjon]

I will be doing my travels around Thailand after being

away for 2 years, my previous internet dongle from

AIS led me to tears and insanity, hardly ever worked

(connected) and when it did it was slow and dropped

out many times, in the village it was hopeless even

when the towers -3 of them- were near and in range.

Previously i would just go to hotels with free wi-fi but

i'm reluctant to use them any more, hacking is getting

more sophistecated and ''i do have a lot to hide'' i also

have loads of protection (i double up) but i'm sure

there's who are savvy and determined to hack me, so

if anyone has good or bad experiences or advice i'll

welcome everyone to contribute, thank all in advance.

[nisakiman]

The past couple of years when the wife and I have been in Thailand we've used a dongle from True, and had no problems. The in-laws live in central Ubon, so when in Isaan we were in the city, and we had good speeds and hardly any interruptions. We also used it a fair bit in Bangkok, as the hotel wi-fi system was often glacially slow. I have no idea how well it would perform outside the city, but it seems that as long as there's 3G coverage, the dongle from True works well.

[Jai Dee]

Topic moved to Isaan Forum for more local knowledge.

/Moved.

[KhunBENQ]

Much has changed in the last years.

AIS has a very wide coverage with 3G internet.

You would be very unlucky with your region if such problems persist.

Where exactly?

I would not expect that True comes with much better coverage.

Forget about the rest.

Otherwise you might have a technical problem with the dongle (bad reception) or you are under metal roofs etc.

In this case other measures have to be taken.

Simplest/cheapest one: connect the dongle via a 3 to 5 m USB extension cable and search for "best position" of the dongle.

[Shiver]

I primarily use home internet via True with a physical cable (30Mbit supposedly but not really) which is okay if not glorious. However, I like to have a failover system for when there are outages, so had an AIS USB dongle which was a croc of sh1t - more like a 56K modem. Eventually I was advised by a friend to lose the dongle altogether and get an AIS 2nd SIM card for my phone. It's 499 per month, and now not only have internet on the phone should I need it, but I can also link the phone to my laptop wirelessly and use the phone as the modem for the laptop (phone does the job that the dongle did, but much much better). It actually works better than my cable internet (Udon City). Perhaps that's because there's less load on that network than the cable version (they multiplex connections so depends how many users are sharing).

Like Nisakiman wrote above though, I too don't really know what it's like to use out in the sticks, as I rarely have need to put it through the meat grinder when away from home.

[Bpuumike]

My DTAC SIM with the mobile tethered to the laptop works good out in the far N.E. sticks, as well as it does in BKK.

Better than TRUE ever was but probably depends on location.

You could test 2 or 3 one-week SIMS from different providers and see which works best wherever you are.

[talisman01]

Until recently I was living out in the sticks in Kalasin in a small village. Over the four years I was there I was first advised to use AIS aircard which worked well for much of the first year then dropped off considerably. Someone else then gave me a DTAC aircard which was also good to begin with then it too became more and more annoying. Then I tried a True aircard and had no further problems despite living in the middle of a wood.

[coaster]

I have used a TOT 3G dongle for the last year. My wife was singing in towns all over Esaan In a few really remote venues we could not get a signal but other than that it worked continuously and trouble free.

[dumbo3200]

I am on a farm out of pak chom and use a true usb modem. It's the 4g Manchester United one. I believe its model is a ZTE mf823. Anyway it has 2 external antenna ports on the side which i have connected to an external antenna. Google "The G Spotter" and you'll find it.

I got the antenna and the correct cable shipped over from Australia. It took reception from 0-2 bars to a full 5 bars with no dropouts and I get 10mbs down and 3mbs up on speedtest.

Sometimes I use it directly connected to the laptop and other times via a 3g router.

I haven't tried any other carriers so cannot comment on whether they are better or worse.

This might be overkill for you though.

[ozyjon]

I appreciate all the replies, nothing better than

first hand experience, where i am has no name

that i know of except Rural Road 3003, then turn

off here and there, drive through the forest (fast)

and get to the village, very close to Akat Amnuai

District, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand,i love being

there between travels but i have done the mobile

simm and the usb, both hopeless but i'm the

eternal optimist so i will keep trying. thanks

everyone for your input.

[hawksway]

There is no reason to worry about hackers providing you have a legal copy of Windows and a top notch Kaspersky Internet Security. Those who do get caught out are usually too stingy to buy the proper software and don't the local computer shops just love them!

As for 3G USB dongles - I think that is what you mean, all the Providers have weak and strong areas. Our DTAC one worked fine even close to the summit of Phu Ruea in the North East but awful in some city areas. It's all touch and go wherever you are but do disable the Wi-Fi Controller while using 3G.

[CrummyJuggler]

All smart phones today can create instant WiFi coverage for multiple devices. No need for a dongle anymore. Figure out who has strongest cell signal at your location and buy some data and go WiFi. Its easy.

[Farang two dot zero]

I'm 20 km from Buriram in a village without internet I use my iPhone 5s as a router for my laptop and I've Dtac offers unlimited Internet for one month about 450 baht is not the more fast but it suits me !