CDMA was released today in Phuket. Better then GPRS but not quite 3G but it is an improvement. Very big dog and pony show at Central Festival. Thai Visa speed check showed 1mb download and 100kbps upload. Air card (Seirra 580) is 15,000 baht( ouch!) and unlimited service is 1200 baht/month. Unable to get real answers about certain things so I'll try here.

1) CDMA capable phones. Maybe available from CAT in Nov. about 3000 Baht.

? What is the speed sacrifice using a phone as a modem?

? Do you have to pay mobile phone access time in addition to internet access fee?

? Can you use another CDMA Air Card or they dedicated( locked) like mobile phones use to be?

When I asked specific questions I got smiles and nods but no info.

P

I'll ride over tmw and check it out .... will let you know

1mbps downloadspeed would definately be 3G!!!

Pretty much impossible to get 1mbps downloads through mobile connections.

It would have to be the cdma EV-DO sysem, which is used by Verizon in the States, plus some others.

Even Verizon only claims speeds of between 400 and 700 kbps!

source: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileo...iceoverview.jsp

If this is true then Thailand (well Phuket anyway) would in 1 step have overtaken the West with mobile internet speeds

I've seen demos by unscrupulous dealers with a pcmciia datacard plugged in, but sneakily connected through wifi with an adsl backbone demonstrating how blazingly fast their datacards are

I do hope its true though, although I'm pretty sure once they get swamped by subscribers, speed will drop dramatically due to lack of bandwidth capacity!

What company is the CDMA through?

If I can ever get a 1MB connection going through my mobile the first thing I will do is take my ADSL router down to True and stick it up the ##### of the first sales representative I can find. (Second thing will be to cancel my ADSL).

CDMA was released today in Phuket. Better then GPRS but not quite 3G but it is an improvement. Very big dog and pony show at Central Festival. Thai Visa speed check showed 1mb download and 100kbps upload. Air card (Seirra 580) is 15,000 baht( ouch!) and unlimited service is 1200 baht/month. Unable to get real answers about certain things so I'll try here.

1mbps downloadspeed would definately be 3G!!!

I do hope its true though, although I'm pretty sure once they get swamped by subscribers, speed will drop dramatically due to lack of bandwidth capacity!

I won't be part of the stampede to subscribe .... 15,000/month

CDMA was released today in Phuket. Better then GPRS but not quite 3G but it is an improvement. Very big dog and pony show at Central Festival. Thai Visa speed check showed 1mb download and 100kbps upload. Air card (Seirra 580) is 15,000 baht( ouch!) and unlimited service is 1200 baht/month. Unable to get real answers about certain things so I'll try here.

The latest Nokias include quad band models with CDMA. GF bought a very nice one with a great screen for 10k - going to dump my 6230 for one of these as it is significantly better. No need to buy an aircard.

CDMA was released today in Phuket. Better then GPRS but not quite 3G but it is an improvement. Very big dog and pony show at Central Festival. Thai Visa speed check showed 1mb download and 100kbps upload. Air card (Seirra 580) is 15,000 baht( ouch!) and unlimited service is 1200 baht/month. Unable to get real answers about certain things so I'll try here.

1) CDMA capable phones. Maybe available from CAT in Nov. about 3000 Baht.

? What is the speed sacrifice using a phone as a modem?

? Do you have to pay mobile phone access time in addition to internet access fee?

? Can you use another CDMA Air Card or they dedicated( locked) like mobile phones use to be?

When I asked specific questions I got smiles and nods but no info.

P

Tx for letting us know.. CDMA is one of the 3G "standards", isn't it? I know there are different versions, this one sounds like 1x.

I still have high hopes for the BIG FAT GIANT fiber lines that got hooked up to AIS towers here in the north... 5mm diameter fiber must be good for terabits and terabits, I am hoping they put it to good use soon, I am certainly itching to use it

geoffphuket,

15000 is a one off payment to acquire the equipment (aircard) I'm pretty sure they can be found cheaper, or integrated in a mobile phone as Crushdepts suggests...

1200 Baht/month is pretty reasonable for a 1mbps connection....

Still waiting for jdinasia to go check out the speed! Last I heard CAT was rolling out CDMA 1X, which only support a 143kbps (seldom reached) topspeed! Way less then what the original poster said he tested on Thaivisa's speedtest (1024kbps down/100kbps up)

so if i have a 3G phone (Nokia n70) is it just a case of subscribing to CAT at 1,200 baht per month or do i need anything else?

be great to hear what JD finds out.