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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat
    Humbert's Avatar
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    CDMA In The Boondocks

    I am building a home in a remote area of Surin province near Sangkha. I am hoping to get the benefit of the experiences of others on the board who live in remote parts of Thailand about connecting to the internet via CDMA.

    I am in debt to Baldrick, who I met while I was up there over Songkran, for his advice regarding the use of a CDMA device to connect to the internet in that area. He recommended attaching an improvised antenna to the CDMA USB to improve the signal strength.

    The back of the USB is removed and a wire is soldered to the antenna within the shell of the device. The wire is then attached to a wire strainer which is firmly mounted on a tripod. The array is then pointed toward the nearest tower.

    I looked at the CAT map on their website and it appears that I am in a small area that has a gap in coverage. I am hoping this improves by the time I re-locate in 16 months.

    I am curious if there is an 'off the shelf' solution to this antenna idea? What are the experiences of others using this method?

  2. #2
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    Try here:

    3G antenna

  3. #3
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Humbert
    I looked at the CAT map on their website and it appears that I am in a small area that has a gap in coverage.
    I use "True 3G, Hi Link". Subscribed via CAT. CAT's coverage map shows I am in no coverage zone. In spite of that it works fine without antenna.

    If you haven't done so already, suggest you borrow one and see if it works. If signal is too low the antennae may work but not a sure thing.

    I am not far from you so can bring my modem down to your house and give it a try.

    PM me if you want to try.
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,"

  4. #4
    ding ding ding
    Spin's Avatar
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    ^ He is about 800kms away form you!

    CAT CDMA is being phased out, they had me transfer our three dongles to "MY" service. I wouldn't pin any hope of the cdma service being expanded in your area.

  5. #5
    Thailand Expat
    Humbert's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton
    I am not far from you so can bring my modem down to your house and give it a try.
    Wow! That is a nice offer. I will get in touch before I make a trip up there.

    Quote Originally Posted by Spin
    CAT CDMA is being phased out, they had me transfer our three dongles to "MY" service. I wouldn't pin any hope of the cdma service being expanded in your area.
    That does not sound good. I assume CAT owns the towers and others like True and AIS lease their usage and provide the consumer service?

  6. #6
    ding ding ding
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    CAT own the towers and network for the CDMA service.

    They also own the the same towers and network for their "My" 3g service which is 850mhz.

    AIS and TOT have their own networks, TOT are coming with 2100mhz soon which is being built out now.

    True are simply a re-seller of the CAT 3g service I mentioned above.

    Nortons offer is nice but when he realises you are not in Surin, Isaan, he might back-pedal a little bit.
    Originally Posted by Smeg
    ... I like to fantasise sometimes, and I lie very occasionally... my superior home, job, wealth, freedom, car, girl, retirement age, appearance, satisfaction with birth country etc etc... Over the past few years I have put together over 100 pages on notes on thaiophilia...

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat
    Humbert's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spin
    Nortons offer is nice but when he realises you are not in Surin, Isaan, he might back-pedal a little bit.
    I am in Surin, Issan and he knows where I am based upon other threads in the construction forum. Cheers. I certainly offer him my best hospitality if it works out.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spin View Post
    but when he realises you are not in Surin, Isaan, he might back-pedal a little bit.
    I am intrigued. Where do you think Humbert is?

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spin
    CAT own the towers and network for the CDMA service.
    They also own the the same towers and network for their "My" 3g service which is 850mhz.
    AIS and TOT have their own networks, TOT are coming with 2100mhz soon which is being built out now.
    This is a bit confusing. I assume that CDMA is being replaced with something better that works using an aircard?

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by VocalNeal View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Spin View Post
    but when he realises you are not in Surin, Isaan, he might back-pedal a little bit.
    I am intrigued. Where do you think Humbert is?
    I should have said I will be in Surin. Right now I am living in Bangkok but that is irrelevant since I am only concerned with my connectivity in Surin.

  11. #11
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by VocalNeal
    I am intrigued. Where do you think Humbert is?
    There must be two Sangkha's

  12. #12
    Lord of Swine
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    Quote Originally Posted by Humbert View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Spin
    CAT own the towers and network for the CDMA service.
    They also own the the same towers and network for their "My" 3g service which is 850mhz.
    AIS and TOT have their own networks, TOT are coming with 2100mhz soon which is being built out now.
    This is a bit confusing. I assume that CDMA is being replaced with something better that works using an aircard?


    Different, not better. CDMA is being turned off. What you will get is the same coverage your cell phone gets. If your cell picks up 3g then you are in luck. If it is only Edge, then you are shit out of luck.

    If you are really really lucky, CAT or TOT might have one of their WiNet towers in your line of sight.

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by Humbert
    This is a bit confusing. I assume that CDMA is being replaced with something better that works using an aircard?
    All comes down to where you live imo. ie near a tower or not.

    I had cdma via aircard. I was reasonably happy with it in town but not in the village where the signal was very poor due to distance from a tower.
    I was informed last fall that the service was being phased out and so moved to their new offering -Mycat or some such.
    My understanding that this service piggybacks of the True network in someway.
    The price is slightly cheaper but the speeds I get are worse.

  14. #14
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spin
    He is about 800kms away form you!
    He's closer to me than I am to you.
    About 100km.

  15. #15
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    Two of my friends have had TOT round and they both have a Nanostation Installed. Its a box on top of an aerial that connects to a Router in the house.Both guys have been to TOT and they come round within a week .You can have a few different packages ...One pays about 600 for 6GB speed and one pays about 900 for 10GB...No sure what the download limit is but it might be about 700GB a month or even unlimited "

    The cost of the install is 6000 Baht all in......As soon as they have had theirs for a month or so with no problems I will change over. I have tested both their speed and they are getting what TOT have told them.I nip round to their houses to do my downloading, A film can be as quick as 20 mins......streaming Films and Football is great...I can't wait to have the system put in!!
    Last edited by boloa; 06-05-2013 at 11:22 AM. Reason: shpelling :-)
    Big Ol' Lucky Ol' Al.

  16. #16
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by boloa
    Nanostaion
    Assume you mean Nanostation. Worth a look. Will head down to ToT today.

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat
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    ^ yes typo

    Here's one friends speeds



    Here's the other



    Here's mine




    Now you can see why I want to change

    Fingers crossed you have reception for TOT's service in your area

  18. #18
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    I had Cat CDMA for about a year and was very happy with it. it has now finished and true H 3G have taken over using the Cat network. I switched over and was bitterly disappointed. it is great for low data users but crap for everyone else. Their unlimited package has a Fair usage limit of 7GB. I could hit that in less than a week. Once you hit your limit it then drops to a speed that makes even loading TD web pages like death warmed up. Any posts that have pictures in are a waste of time as they take far too long to load.
    I have now switched back to AIS Edge as it isn't by any means rapid but the speed is constant throughout the month.
    Only another week or so till I move and then it is high speed heaven again. Cat are putting a fibre link into the house so some UK TV, F1 and movies are back on the menu
    Treat everyone as a complete and utter idiot and you can only ever be pleasantly surprised !

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat
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    The Nanostation looks a bit like this..... but to get a signal in our Locale theirs is on a pole about 4 meters longer>


  20. #20
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    My results using CAT/True 3g:
    download 1.12mbps
    upload 1.28mbps

  21. #21
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    I did a speed test on the True after they had throttled my speed. The down load speed was 0.03 MBs Upload dpeed was 0.5MBs. I actually took my lap top to the True shop and showed the woman there but she just shrugged as they do

  22. #22
    splendid and tremendous
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    At home I use an AIS air card which is fine for browsing, downloading books and even music - haven't a hope with tv and films though.

  23. #23
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Big Fella
    I did a speed test on the True after they had throttled my speed.
    Throttle if you exceed daily download. Think it 5 giga bytes.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Big Fella
    I actually took my lap top to the True shop and showed the woman there but she just shrugged as they do
    Yes when I politely informed the guy at the CAT shop when paying my bill that the 'new' service was much inferior to what had been he simply said that yes he knew and that many had complained

  25. #25
    Thailand Expat
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norton
    Throttle if you exceed daily download. Think it 5 giga bytes.
    .

    I wish. Mine I understand to be 4GB/month then it is throttled

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