#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Living In Thailand Forum >  >  > The Family Room >  >  Calling all computer geeks

## ralphlsasser

I know this is the wrong section, but I couldn't find another suitable one to ask a question. I'm a computer dummy, so I need help.

I've had a rash of computer problems in the past few days. To make a very long and upsetting many trips to the computer shop I am told that my either my computer is too old or my air card is too slow. Take your pick.(the way it was told to me)

Yes, my computer is 9 years old and I realize that's old in the tech world, but it works fine on a high speed wire. So, I'm taking option two, the air card is too slow.

My question is, can air cards get too old as well? Is there anything in them that would make a 7 year old air card faster than a new one?
All advice and comments appreciated. Thanks

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## Mr Earl

Yep the technology has roaring along the last few years. Especially the sim card/3g network. There's new nano sim card technology which isn't compatible with some of the older devices.

A 7 year old computer would need replacing for sure or retired to other uses.

I was just forced to upgrade devices when I subscribed to a new TrueMove 3G service. The new sim would not work in my 3 year old samsung tablet which I use as wifi hotspot for me notebook computer. So I got a new Samsung galaxy tab 3. It's work like and aircard and a computer together for 9000 baht, it's a reasonably good deal for a very versitile and capable device. The TrueMove 3G internet is pretty fast too.

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## baldrick

more details required Ralph

make and model of your " aircard "
company - AIS - TRUE - CAT ..... ?
general location - ie. 50 klms west of phuket etc  :Smile:

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## ralphlsasser

> more details required Ralph
> 
> make and model of your " aircard "
> company - AIS - TRUE - CAT ..... ?
> general location - ie. 50 klms west of phuket etc


It's an edge modum with a Detac sim card. About 25 klms from a Detac tower. It's always been slower that a wire, but it has gotten to the point now that dial up would be faster.
My neighbor advised me to ask Detac, but everytime I went in the past I come away disgusted because my dog problably understands more than they do. None speak even a little English and I don't speak Thai. When my wife goes with me to translate it's even worse. HELP!!!!

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## Necron99

Yeesh. Buy a new usb dongle. A few hundred baht.

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## baldrick

maybe a new one might be the easiest and least amount of heart ache

you could also check to see if TOTwifi is available

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## Funklestein

You could try the aircard in another computer if its one of those you plug into the usb. If it works on the other computer well, then maybe it's not the aircard and it is your computer. 

As the Internet advances and so do computer processors, you will see a slowdown. The programs running just demand more than in the past. Not much you can do about that. If you like tech, you really have to get that better computer at some point.

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## ralphlsasser

> You could try the aircard in another computer if its one of those you plug into the usb. If it works on the other computer well, then maybe it's not the aircard and it is your computer. 
> 
> As the Internet advances and so do computer processors, you will see a slowdown. The programs running just demand more than in the past. Not much you can do about that. If you like tech, you really have to get that better computer at some point.


Yeah, I considered another computer. But, if a new modem will speed it up some, that will be enough. At my age I really don't want to spend a great deal of money.

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## ralphlsasser

> Yeesh. Buy a new usb dongle. A few hundred baht.


Please tell me what a usb dongle is and what it is supposed to do. Is that what I would ask for or is that a falang term?

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## alwarner

> Originally Posted by Necron99
> 
> 
> Yeesh. Buy a new usb dongle. A few hundred baht.
> 
> 
> Please tell me what a usb dongle is and what it is supposed to do. Is that what I would ask for or is that a falang term?


The USB dongle is the bit that you plug into the computer for your aircard.

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## Necron99

> Originally Posted by Necron99
> 
> 
> Yeesh. Buy a new usb dongle. A few hundred baht.
> 
> 
> Please tell me what a usb dongle is and what it is supposed to do. Is that what I would ask for or is that a falang term?


It looks like this and replaces you aircard modem.
You put your sim in it and plug it in your USB.




DTAC will sell you one.
Ask them if your area has 3g also.

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## Butterfly

> To make a very long and upsetting many trips to the computer shop I am told that my either my computer is too old or my air card is too slow. Take your pick.(the way it was told to me)


don't listen to those Thai shop retards, they have no clue and all they can do is sell you more RAM or a new HDD. They belong to the "Harry School of Thought" that when it doesn't work, you need to upgrade, even if you don't know why.

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## baldrick

^ please uncle butters , tell us the story about the registry hack again .......

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## ralphlsasser

> Originally Posted by ralphlsasser
> 
> To make a very long and upsetting many trips to the computer shop I am told that my either my computer is too old or my air card is too slow. Take your pick.(the way it was told to me)
> 
> 
> don't listen to those Thai shop retards, they have no clue and all they can do is sell you more RAM or a new HDD. They belong to the "Harry School of Thought" that when it doesn't work, you need to upgrade, even if you don't know why.


Your anology was much nicer than mine would have been. :Smile:  :Smile:

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## ralphlsasser

> Originally Posted by ralphlsasser
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Necron99
> ...


That looks similiar to what I have. Is this one a modum also? What would make it faster? I'm sorry for being a dummy, I'm just trying to understand what it does. I am a total dummy as far as computer problems go.

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## Camel Toe

I assume you've taken the first step .. Decrapify your HD?  Check for Virus'?  Defrag?

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## ralphlsasser

> I assume you've taken the first step .. Decrapify your HD? Check for Virus'? Defrag?


Yes, I've even so far as to have it wiped clean and started over. Or, that's what the shop told me. And yes, I lost everything, ie; documents, pictures, etc. which didn't really upset me much IF it would've fix the problem, but it didn't.

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## ralphlsasser

> You could try the aircard in another computer if its one of those you plug into the usb. If it works on the other computer well, then maybe it's not the aircard and it is your computer. 
> 
> As the Internet advances and so do computer processors, you will see a slowdown. The programs running just demand more than in the past. Not much you can do about that. If you like tech, you really have to get that better computer at some point.


Using an air card, of course it's going to be slower and that's expected, but in the past 2 weeks it's gotten to the point of almost stopping. I have a laserjet printer and it's always been super fast. Now, it takes a long time just to start printing. Once it starts, it's still super fast, but getting it to start is a problem.

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## ralphlsasser

> Yep the technology has roaring along the last few years. Especially the sim card/3g network. There's new nano sim card technology which isn't compatible with some of the older devices.
> 
> A 7 year old computer would need replacing for sure or retired to other uses.
> 
> I was just forced to upgrade devices when I subscribed to a new TrueMove 3G service. The new sim would not work in my 3 year old samsung tablet which I use as wifi hotspot for me notebook computer. So I got a new Samsung galaxy tab 3. It's work like and aircard and a computer together for 9000 baht, it's a reasonably good deal for a very versitile and capable device. The TrueMove 3G internet is pretty fast too.


I operate an English school at my house and that's why it's so important that I have a computer. I don't think a tablet would work in my situation. But, it sounds like you've got a fair deal.

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## crepitas

interesting question..

I just stopped using my 10yo Merlin modem and now use my old Nokia X2 via Nokia PC Suite software (replaced with newer Nokia as was going flaky) .
Use DTAC GPRS/Edge ...the speed does seem to have improved considerably.

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## baldrick

I wonder if DTAC is deliberately making its GPRS/EDGE service crappy because it is trying to force people to move to its more expensive 3g.

do you have an android mobile phone ralph ?  or access to one - you can set them to be a wifi hotspot and maybe use it to test

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## ralphlsasser

> I wonder if DTAC is deliberately making its GPRS/EDGE service crappy because it is trying to force people to move to its more expensive 3g.
> 
> do you have an android mobile phone ralph ? or access to one - you can set them to be a wifi hotspot and maybe use it to test


No, I don't even own a phone. I use my wife's old Nokia when I need a phone. When I retired, there were 4 things I swore I would never own again: 1) a watch,
2) a phone, 3) a pair of lace up shoes, and 4) a suit. LOL NEVER again. :Smile:

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## ralphlsasser

> I wonder if DTAC is deliberately making its GPRS/EDGE service crappy because it is trying to force people to move to its more expensive 3g.
> 
> do you have an android mobile phone ralph ? or access to one - you can set them to be a wifi hotspot and maybe use it to test


You know Baldrick, this IS Thailand and your wondering just may be a possibility. It's all about money and more of it.

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## Camel Toe

This computer longevity shit reminds me of the life span of a footballer .. You're young, you're fast, everyone loves you.  After a peak or two it's all downhill.  What's the average player's professional affiliation in years .. 2? 3? 5?  If you want to game, watch Bluray flicks, animate, do graphics, you'll need an upgrade more often than you want.

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## Necron99

What does you're printer have to do with your aircard Ralph?
What is actually slow? Your internet, or your computer with regular applications?

Computer specs? Processor? Ram?
Operating system?
Solid state shit does wear out and 9 years for a pc is pretty good....

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## TizMe

Especially so if it was a low spec machine even when it was new.
A friend of mine has a Dell of about the same vintage. It takes about 15 minutes to boot-up.
She has so many crap programs installed that are set to startup at boot time and the bare minimum memory, so the the machine spends 99% of the time paging memory in and out of the swap file.

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## Mr Earl

> I operate an English school at my house and that's why it's so important that I have a computer. I don't think a tablet would work in my situation. But, it sounds like you've got a fair deal.


Sounds like you should just get a new desktop computer. Getting 7 years out of the old one is pretty good. I know naught about desktops. If you have one them Banana IT shops nearby let them set you up they seem to have some of the best deals, and the guys reasonably competent and knowledgeable.

For the aircard determine which company carries the best signal were you are and subscribe to a 3G plan. I've tried them all and find the TrueMove to be best for speed. I was lucky that they just put a new tower up not far from my house in the village.

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## ralphlsasser

> What does you're printer have to do with your aircard Ralph?
> What is actually slow? Your internet, or your computer with regular applications?
> 
> Computer specs? Processor? Ram?
> Operating system?
> Solid state shit does wear out and 9 years for a pc is pretty good....


I ask the same question and the shop told me,"because you download from the internet, the signal is slow." I told him,"yes, but once it's downloaded, the printer should print." All I got was the deer in the headlights look.
Sorry, you're asking questions about my computer that I have no idea what you're talking about or where to find them. As I said, I'm a complete dummmy about computers. Thanks to all the advice and suggestions, I'm going to check around all of them and do what ever I need to do even if it's replace the computer. Something I really didn't want to do.

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## ralphlsasser

Thanks guys for all your assistance,suggestions, and comments. I knew by asking a question that I could get the information I need on TD. 
YOU GUYS ROCK! :Smile:

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## Camel Toe

There is something we shouldn't forget .. when software and hardware are designed there just has to be a target market, that's business.  They need to know what the target computer's essentials might be. Will their product run on enough machines to warrant production and marketing.  

No doubt anybody, let's say with a two-year-old computer, might buy the product/software/game this year but not next year, because as his machine is quickly becoming marginal, the new product's development and distribution never slow down - the programs and hardware never get slower (less demanding), they always get faster (more demanding).   

Once your computer is too old to be a target of the product you can bet it won't be the target of _any_ new product.  You're an antique.   

Games are a great example.  If you have a 2006 computer that was hot shit back in its day, there are very few games made in 07, 08, 09 + that will work well on your rig.  Games became much more detailed and realistic, huge and power-hungry -- you're a limp dick if your stuff is two-three years old.  

Same with DVD videos, the content is gigantic, bigger than the average hard drive not that long ago.  Nothing worse than watching something visual and lovely suffering from lagging and blinking off and on.   That shit makes my crazy!  I have no choice but to keep up with the developers, they have me (us) by the balls.

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## Butterfly

a desktop computer can last 10 years easy,

for gamers, that's another issue, they need constant improvement to keep up with the silly game industry, that's how they are getting milked, like apple, great market for suckers and fools

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## Butterfly

> I ask the same question and the shop told me,"because you download from the internet, the signal is slow." I told him,"yes, but once it's downloaded, the printer should print." All I got was the deer in the headlights look.
> Sorry, you're asking questions about my computer that I have no idea what you're talking about or where to find them. As I said, I'm a complete dummmy about computers. Thanks to all the advice and suggestions, I'm going to check around all of them and do what ever I need to do even if it's replace the computer. Something I really didn't want to do.


it's hard to detect what's wrong with your PC over a forum, even for tech experts. It's probably nothing, some silly apps slowing down everything or some virus. The majority of people buy new ones instead of fixing them because there is no competent computer repair man who want to spend time fixing those. 

Like a good car mechanic, a good computer repair guy will be expensive. Why pay 150 EUR for 3 hours to fix your PC, when you can buy a new one for that much. That's basically the mentality these days. If cars were that cheap, it would be the same, we would throw them away instead of fixing them.

In your case, because you don't have knowledge of PC, and don't have access to competent PC support, I would suggest dumping your machine and buy an iPad or an Android tab instead.

99% of people don't need a PC these days, when an iPad or a tablet can achieve 100% of the tasks they used to perform on a PC. This could also explain the crash in volume for shipping PCs this year.

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