Mobile Phone Modem For Laptop

[rank stranger]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a relatively low-cost mobile phone that I can buy in Thailand for connecting my laptop to the internet? I know there are a couple of ways to connect the computer, either by bluetooth or by a usb cable. Either one will work for me. The local phone shops are all keen to sell me a phone for 12,000 baht or higher, but I don't need all of the bells and whistles. If anyone has any experience with a cheaper phone that works, I'd appreciate a tip.

I'm staying in a serviced apartment in Bangkok and can't get DSL. The apartment has wireless LAN which basically sucks. Most of the time I can't access any sites outside of Thailand due to the slow speed.

I understand that I should get a class 10 receiver. But I think that's fairly standard with new phones with GPRS capability.

Thanks for your help.

[Phil Conners]

There is a Sony Ericsson GPRS phone available at around 4000 baht, you could probably pick something up cheaper, perhaps second hand. I don't know about Bangkok but in Pattaya go to Tukcom 1st floor and shop around.

[billd766]

At Seacon Square on SriNakharin road there is a big area selling second hand mobiles and I think also on the 4th or 5 th floor of MBK at Siam.

For MBK you can take the BTS to Siam then change to the National Stadium and it is straight off the exit.

Seacon Square is in the East of Bangkok taking the BTS to On Nut and then a taxi.

[newyorker]

I just connected my sierra wireless 860 with AIS edge/gprs service. Gotta say its not that fast. you might be better off with your slow wifi. However im in chonburi at the moment... perhaps it'll be faster in bangkok... will find out in a day or two.

[autonomous_unit]

I heartily recommend Motorola phones for this purpose, as I have had no troubles using them for 24x7 GPRS access in the past with both AIS and DTAC. Getting one with a mini-USB port can be very nice so that the phone charges off the computer too.

I mention a brand because I have seen lots of people complain about problems with other brands but I have never seen real complaints about the stability of GPRS on Motorolas. (The phones may have other problems and user interface issues, but their GPRS hardware seems rock solid.)

The site GSM Arena has a nice overview of the features of different phones, but as you say, most have class 10 now. Since you are not looking for EDGE, the choices are wide-open... just look in the shop at prices and whether there is a mini-USB plug?

About 6 months ago, we spent 8000 THB on a Motorola V360 which does have EDGE. Ironically, we ended up living a bit too far from the nearest DTAC EDGE tower, so I only used it with regular GPRS. The non-EDGE phones must be much cheaper by now...

[jcgodber]

you don't need a cell phone at all. What works way better here in Thailand is a very small USB device called a Solomon. I have used it fior everal years and it is the way to go. Tghe Solomon has a SIM chip inside and you simply add value to it same as you would a phone.

[nikster]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a relatively low-cost mobile phone that I can buy in Thailand for connecting my laptop to the internet? I know there are a couple of ways to connect the computer, either by bluetooth or by a usb cable. Either one will work for me. The local phone shops are all keen to sell me a phone for 12,000 baht or higher, but I don't need all of the bells and whistles. If anyone has any experience with a cheaper phone that works, I'd appreciate a tip.

I'm staying in a serviced apartment in Bangkok and can't get DSL. The apartment has wireless LAN which basically sucks. Most of the time I can't access any sites outside of Thailand due to the slow speed.

I understand that I should get a class 10 receiver. But I think that's fairly standard with new phones with GPRS capability.

Thanks for your help.

New phones usually have class 10 EDGE but older ones often don't, so make sure to check.

Best deal with class 10 I was able to find was the Nokia 6230 or 6230i. http://www.nokiausa.com/phones/6230

The versions both have class 10 EDGE, the "i" version is newer and has a better but still suck-ish camera.

Around 6000 Baht new when I last checked, may have come down in the meantime. Cheaper used, but then, I don't recommend it because the battery will die or the antenna break or some other trouble, usually not worth it for the 1000 or 2000 Baht saved.

Hey, wait, you are in Bangkok.. if you need in BKK only, I would consider Hutch, at least they have decent speed. GPRS even with EDGE is dog slow. Hutch used to have data cards available as well, for reasonable prices. It's 3G and not super-fast, but still a hel_l of a lot faster than GPRS

Edited December 8, 2006 by nikster

[Ken]

you don't need a cell phone at all. What works way better here in Thailand is a very small USB device called a Solomon. I have used it fior everal years and it is the way to go. Tghe Solomon has a SIM chip inside and you simply add value to it same as you would a phone.

Would respectfully disagree about the Solomon choice. Used it several months myself and yes it worked but then I decided to try with a bluetooth phone. I live in the "sticks" and the bluetooth worked better and the phone can be moved around for best reception, which is easier than moving the computer around with the Solomon modem. And you can buy a bluetooth phone for the same price or cheaper than a Solomon and the Solomon can only be used as a modem. In fact a friend of mine up here just "upgraded" from a Solomon to bluetooth phone and has a Solomon modem he would probably sell "cheap".

[Gary A]

you don't need a cell phone at all. What works way better here in Thailand is a very small USB device called a Solomon. I have used it fior everal years and it is the way to go. Tghe Solomon has a SIM chip inside and you simply add value to it same as you would a phone.

Would respectfully disagree about the Solomon choice. Used it several months myself and yes it worked but then I decided to try with a bluetooth phone. I live in the "sticks" and the bluetooth worked better and the phone can be moved around for best reception, which is easier than moving the computer around with the Solomon modem. And you can buy a bluetooth phone for the same price or cheaper than a Solomon and the Solomon can only be used as a modem. In fact a friend of mine up here just "upgraded" from a Solomon to bluetooth phone and has a Solomon modem he would probably sell "cheap".

When I first moved out in the boonies, I used a phone and infrared. That didn't work well at all. I then bought a Solomon modem and it was better but still VERY slow. Since then I upgraded my phone and use bluetooth. It is still slow but much better than the Solomon modem. A Thai friend of mine is now using that modem and I use bluetooth GPRS when Ipstar is down. I can't really see any reason to ask him to give the Solomon back to me. My laptop has bluetooth built in and I bought a USB bluetooth dongle for my desktop.

[lomatopo]

I use both a Nokia 6070 (IR or USB connectivity) and a Nokia 6151 (Bluetooth, IR, USB cable connectivity) to access GPRS/EDGE services offered by 1-2-Call (25 hours per month for 107 baht, new pricing is 20 hours for 107 baht).

The Nokia 6070 is available for 4,000 baht, new while the Nokia 6151 is available for 7,300 baht, new. Prices are current as of yesterday, and are the best available found at the shops on the 4th floor at MBK.

If the OP thinks speed are slow using WiFi while accessing websites outside of Thailand then they may be disappointed using GPRS. Data rates are quite robust, ~ 80 kilo-bits per second, for intra-Thailand traffic but painfully slow for websites outside of Thailand.