Who gets LTE and where? Best 4G/3G in Bangkok? Dtac or True?

[stuck]

I'm bringing my US version Nexus 6 with me and it does not have the LTE bands compatible with Thailand. From what I hear from friends, they never get LTE, only 4G on their phones. Where is LTE and is the 4G fast enough? I'm not looking to stream movies but would like to use my VOIP and get my email.

Using the phone as a backup tether would be nice in case my home Internet goes down. My phone is unlocked and rooted so it will tether regardless of what the carrier dictates.

So who wins in Bangkok for 4G or 3G? True or Dtac, and why?

Which one has the better packages and service?

[Lannig]

LTE and 4G are the same thing, you know?

I don't do 4G because I don't have a capable phone while in Thailand, but as far as 3G goes, my first choice would be AIS, then DTAC, then last one True.

In my own private experience only (not claiming anything beyond this), AIS has the best coverage and best bandwidth.

[stuck]

LTE and 4G are the same thing, you know?

I don't do 4G because I don't have a capable phone while in Thailand, but as far as 3G goes, my first choice would be AIS, then DTAC, then last one True.

In my own private experience only (not claiming anything beyond this), AIS has the best coverage and best bandwidth.

In American, my phone will show LTE when it connects as LTE. Below that I have +H which is HSPA and then 3G. I've never seen anything lower than 3g. I do understand the Thai's have never quite standardized on what the world uses.

Here is where it gets fuzzy:

https://www.frequencycheck.com/compatibility/8PIAA/google-nexus-6-xt1103/thailand

According to this, My phone will work on all three. Notice the band capability? It is all green for AIS but that doesn't say LTE, but it does say 4G is 100 percent.

Yet Dtac and True both show red for my phone for LTE but Green for everything else.

Is there a difference between AIS LTE and LTE for the other two?

[wooloomooloo]

... and is the 4G fast enough? I'm not looking to stream movies but would like to use my VOIP and get my email.

Depends where you're based.

When we're in LOS I always purchase a 4G data SIM from DTAC for my iPhone. It works surprisingly well in BKK and PHS.

Edited June 21, 2016 by wooloomooloo

[WhizBang]

AIS used to have the best nationwide coverage. DTAC was second. True not so much.

I had True and ditched them due to absolutely crappy service. Dropped calls, SMSs that would not go through. With AIS I have none of those problems. I currently get 4G/LTE service in some areas, 3G or H in others.

In Thailand an internet connection can be quite iffy, at times. But when it works skype type video calls work well and other times can be choppy.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

The answer is somewhere in the middle:

Fastest Speed
with the best LTE ADVANCED technology to deliver the superbly fast 4G on both 1800MHz and 2100MHz bandwidths.

Your phone covers Band 3, but not Band 1. So in areas where AIS utilise 1800MHz, you might receive 4G.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

DTAC 4G also on Band 3(and Band 1 of course): http://www.dtac.co.th/en/pressroom/news/super4g.html

[mtls2005]

How long will you be staying? If you plan on staying for a while you could get a SIM from both TrueMove H and DTAC, and even AIS - SIMs are ~ 50 baht, and try a data plan to see what works best for you. If you're here for a brief stay maybe try TrueMove H first?

The XT1103 does not support band 1 (LTE/2100 MHz) but it can be modded to do so.

I might rank providers (specifically for your version, unmodded) TrueMove H, DTAC, AIS; this ranking is based on my udnerstanding of total available bandwidth which your phone can use.

I have an Radio-unmodded (bootloader unlocked, rooted, PureNexus/CMTE) XT1103, post-paid on DTAC and I get LTE in most locations in metro Bangkok, and in provincial capitals; with 3G elsewhere. 3G is more than adequate for many/most applications.

[mtls2005]

I have Nexus 6/XT1103, post-paid on DTAC and I get LTE in most locations in metro Bangkok

on Band 3 (1800 MHz). AIS and TrueMove H also have Band 3/LTE here.

Not supporting Band 1 and Band 8 (900 MHz) is a drawback to the XT1103, obviously the XT1100 would be a better choice for Thailand.

DTAC will lose this 1800 MHz spectrum in Sep., 2018. (It is part of their older franchise.) Whether that spectrum gets re-auctioned is anyone's guess.

I guess I'll modify my ranking to:

1.) TrueMove H

2.) AIS

3.) DTAC

Edited June 23, 2016 by mtls2005

[stuck]

How long will you be staying? If you plan on staying for a while you could get a SIM from both TrueMove H and DTAC, and even AIS - SIMs are ~ 50 baht, and try a data plan to see what works best for you. If you're here for a brief stay maybe try TrueMove H first?

The XT1103 does not support band 1 (LTE/2100 MHz) but it can be modded to do so.

I might rank providers (specifically for your version, unmodded) TrueMove H, DTAC, AIS; this ranking is based on my udnerstanding of total available bandwidth which your phone can use.

I have an Radio-unmodded (bootloader unlocked, rooted, PureNexus/CMTE) XT1103, post-paid on DTAC and I get LTE in most locations in metro Bangkok, and in provincial capitals; with 3G elsewhere. 3G is more than adequate for many/most applications.

I'm running MOB301 on my XT1103 and it is also rooted. So your phone shows that you are connecting to LTE? What is the process to "mod" the phone to use the LTE/2100MHz band?

[stuck]

The answer is somewhere in the middle:

Fastest Speed

with the best LTE ADVANCED technology to deliver the superbly fast 4G on both 1800MHz and 2100MHz bandwidths.

Your phone covers Band 3, but not Band 1. So in areas where AIS utilise 1800MHz, you might receive 4G.

I was told earlier in this thread that LTE was 4G. What I know, is LTE is not considered 4G but a mode unto itself. I'm not looking to stream movies. I am wanting to use the fastest available for Skype, Zoiper (VOIP), LINE, and OoVoo Telephony. I also want my email but could be 3G for all I care. What kind of speeds are available on a 4G.

My phone the XT1103 doesn't show 4G at all, my only speeds are 3G,+H HSPA, and LTE and I see all three here in Philadelphia.

I have business to attend to back in the States and I need a clear communications platform.

I am coming to Thailand for years, not for vacation.

[mtls2005]

Yes, my phone connects to LTE on Band 3 (1800 MHz) as will yours with TrueMove H, AIS or DTAC.

Your phone will also work here on 3G (850 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz).

I, and many others, use 4G and LTE interchangeably. For the purposes of this discussion they are the same thing.

The mod for Band 1 is contained in the post as a hot link, here it is in a more familiar format: http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/how-to-enable-nexus6-xt1103-4g-lte-t3042373 Personally I don't think it's worthwhile, given the various unknowns.

I really wouldn't sweat this too much until you get here. Sort out your home internet (A/VDSL, Fiber, DOCSIS, etc.) as this may well be your primary transport for a "clear communications platform", and try all three mobile providers to see which one works for you. SIMs are less than $2, and you can try a SIM/plan for a day or week or month, before settling on a provider.

IME, speeds are almost worthless to discuss given all the variables. But very generally speaking they should be sufficient for all mobile data applications.

[stuck]

Yes, my phone connects to LTE on Band 3 (1800 MHz) as will yours with TrueMove H, AIS or DTAC.

Your phone will also work here on 3G (850 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz).

I, and many others, use 4G and LTE interchangeably. For the purposes of this discussion they are the same thing.

The mod for Band 1 is contained in the post as a hot link, here it is in a more familiar format: http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/how-to-enable-nexus6-xt1103-4g-lte-t3042373 Personally I don't think it's worthwhile, given the various unknowns.

I really wouldn't sweat this too much until you get here. Sort out your home internet (A/VDSL, Fiber, DOCSIS, etc.) as this may well be your primary transport for a "clear communications platform", and try all three mobile providers to see which one works for you. SIMs are less than $2, and you can try a SIM/plan for a day or week or month, before settling on a provider.

IME, speeds are almost worthless to discuss given all the variables. But very generally speaking they should be sufficient for all mobile data applications.

I'm reviewing the mod documentation now. Thank you. My phone is already rooted so modding it should be simple as I already have TWRP recovery loaded. After reviewing the Word Document in half Chinese half English, I think it might be easier to find a techie who reads Chinese. I'll leave my phone as is until after I get there and decide on modding it if I really need it. I suspect 4G should be fast enough for a good Skype connection back to The United States.

I am curious why frequencycheck.com shows me all green for AIS when I am clearly missing the LTE 2100 band. Perhaps it needs updating.

I'm getting the consensus that DTAC should work fine.

[Jdiddy]

Go with DTAC if your phone does not support 2100mhz as they have a faster/wider LTE channel in the 1800mhz band then AIS and True and a slower 2100mhz channel so your not missing out on too much

Ideally you want both bands as Thai companies have turned on LTE-advanced (carrier aggregation) meaning if your phone supports it you can access both bands at once but not as big of a deal with dtac

Edited June 25, 2016 by Jdiddy

[stuck]

Go with DTAC if your phone does not support 2100mhz as they have a faster/wider LTE channel in the 1800mhz band then AIS and True and a slower 2100mhz channel so your not missing out on too much

Ideally you want both bands as Thai companies have turned on LTE-advanced (carrier aggregation) meaning if your phone supports it you can access both bands at once but not as big of a deal with dtac

Yes, I came up with the same thought after seeing the DTAC advert.

[mtls2005]

While it's true that DTAC does have a larger slice of the 1800 MHz spectrum (25 MHz), at least for another two years (until 2018), than AIS (15 MHz) or TrueMove H (15 MHz) (both of these run until 2033), it is shared among 4G/LTE, 3G and 2G. DTAC still has close to 3 million 2G subs. So in essence you may actually be getting a smaller slice of that vs. TrueMove H or AIS. I have the same phone, and am contractually tied to DTAC, but do find I am on 3G as often (or more often) than 4G/LTE. I'm happy with DTAC ( I just started a new promotion 8 GB of data, doubled to 16 GB for a year, and 300 minutes calling, for 599 baht), and 3G speeds are more than adequate for almost any apps. If you're tethering you may start to bump up against fair-use caps?

I still think you'd be better off with TrueMove H, or AIS, but you can experiment.

My other phone is a Nexus 5 (D821) which supports 4G/LTE on 900 (8), 1800 (3) and 2100 (1) MHz, so win-win. I use TrueMove H on this phone, pre-paid.

In hindsight I wish I had bought the XT1100 version of the N6, on the plus side it works well when I'm back in the U.S.

http://www.slideshare.net/yozzo1/thailands-new-telecom-structure-2016

[Jdiddy]

While it's true that DTAC does have a larger slice of the 1800 MHz spectrum (25 MHz), at least for another two years (until 2018), than AIS (15 MHz) or TrueMove H (15 MHz) (both of these run until 2033), it is shared among 4G/LTE, 3G and 2G. DTAC still has close to 3 million 2G subs. So in essence you may actually be getting a smaller slice of that vs. TrueMove H or AIS

Dtac have a "20mhz lte channel on 1800mhz coming soon" advert which will be faster then whatever True and AIS do with their 15mhz chunks. Im with True and they have a 10mhz lte channel in that band which makes sense, they use the rest of it for a guard band then a 2G channel (2.5mhz i think) which would be the same with Dtac

3g is not used in that band

Edited June 26, 2016 by Jdiddy

[mtls2005]

http://www.dtac.co.th/en/4g/

SMS reply to 444*9# on my N6: "Your mobile phone isn't compatible with DTAC 4G..."

Not sure if I need a new SIM?

Reply on my N5, "You can now enjoy dtac 4G..."

As near as I can determine: I get 3G on 850 MHz, and 4G/LTE on 1800 MHz.

[Gary A]

I recently bought a Netgear 4G air card. It works well but says neither 3G or 4G. It says DC. It is about twice as fast as my old 3G air card. I thought it may actually be 4G but after a lot of searching, I found that it stands for dual channel.

[Jdiddy]

Could mean dc-h+ which some carriers in the USA decided to jump the gun on and market it as 4g, then when real 4g came along they had to call it LTE

I swapped over to AIS tonight out of curiosity, in chiangmai compared to True it is rubbish at peak times, turned off 4g and 3g was faster but still heavily congested, they must have a much larger subscriber base. Next month ill try dtac

[dddave]

You might be confusing LTE FDD with LTE TDD...an issue when 4G was initially rolled out in various countries but much less an issue now.

"LTE is defined to support both paired spectrum forFrequency Division Duplex (FDD) and unpaired spectrum for Time Division Duplex (TDD). LTE FDDuses paired spectrum that comes from a migration path of 3G network whereas TDD LTE uses unpaired spectrum that evolved from TD-SCDMA."

[Lannig]

I recently bought a Netgear 4G air card. It works well but says neither 3G or 4G. It says DC. It is about twice as fast as my old 3G air card. I thought it may actually be 4G but after a lot of searching, I found that it stands for dual channel.

Indeed. It's dual carrier HSPA aka. 3G+/H+

Not 4G/LTE.

[2008bangkok]

57mbps on Dtac, dont need any faster than that.

Great package i have 300 minutes anybody 8gb + 8gb free for 12 month =599. Plus 1 data only SIM whcih can use the 16gb 150b per month with an extra 1gb free so 17gb + 300 minutes 750 baht per month