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?

Try here:

3G antenna

Quote:

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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.

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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.

^ 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.

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Originally Posted by Norton

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

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Wow! That is a nice offer. I will get in touch before I make a trip up there.

Quote:

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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.

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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?

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.

Quote:

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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.

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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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spin

but when he realises you are not in Surin, Isaan, he might back-pedal a little bit.

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I am intrigued. Where do you think Humbert is?

Quote:

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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.

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This is a bit confusing. I assume that CDMA is being replaced with something better that works using an aircard?

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spin

but when he realises you are not in Surin, Isaan, he might back-pedal a little bit.

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I am intrigued. Where do you think Humbert is?

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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.

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Originally Posted by VocalNeal

I am intrigued. Where do you think Humbert is?

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There must be two Sangkha's

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Humbert

Quote:

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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.

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This is a bit confusing. I assume that CDMA is being replaced with something better that works using an aircard?

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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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Humbert

This is a bit confusing. I assume that CDMA is being replaced with something better that works using an aircard?

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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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spin

He is about 800kms away form you!

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He's closer to me than I am to you. :)
About 100km.

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!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boloa

Nanostaion

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Assume you mean Nanostation. Worth a look. Will head down to ToT today.

^ yes typo :)

Here's one friends speeds

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2013/05/467.jpg

Here's the other

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2013/05/468.jpg

Here's mine :(

https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2013/05/469.jpg


Now you can see why I want to change :)

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

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 :)

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

https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif

My results using CAT/True 3g:
download 1.12mbps
upload 1.28mbps

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 :rolleyes:

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Big Fella

I did a speed test on the True after they had throttled my speed.

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Throttle if you exceed daily download. Think it 5 giga bytes.

Quote:

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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

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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

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Originally Posted by Norton

Throttle if you exceed daily download. Think it 5 giga bytes.

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Big Fella

I have now switched back to AIS Edge as it isn't by any means rapid but the speed is constant throughout the month.

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I was on AIS in the past and it was OK for emails and forums,Dtac has been slightly better and I can download movies but it takes about 2 days for a typical 700MB film.
The thought of having a faster Internet connect ( at a reasonable cost ) has been a dream for me out here in the sticks........who said dreams don't come true ....:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boloa

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!!

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I have this system for almost 2 years upcountry. One word: Great!
Much better than my ADSL in BKK or my previous CAT CDMA USB.

true H 3G unlimited which cost 1100 baht a month had a fair usage of 7Gb and then zero. I was basically paying true for 7Gb of data then it became useless. I forget how many MBs the fibre is but costs 1500 Baht a month. I can't wait. :)

Here's an oldish review of TOT 'nanostation' which I found useful

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archive...icle10862.html


Tuesday, August 23, 2011 5:47:00 PM

Phuket Live Wire: WiFi you wouldn’t believe


NANO STATION: TOT’s new AirMax “WiFi” system relies on a box like these, mounted on the outside of your house, with a wire going from the box to a router indoors.

PHUKET: There's important breaking news on the internet scene in Phuket: TOT is now offering something they call "WiFi". The first, most important thing to understand is that this isn’t the kind of WiFi you know. It’s completely different.

TOT has taken confusing terminology to new lows. The "WiFi" TOT is selling has nothing to do with the WiFi you probably have on your laptop, or on your phone or tablet. It’s a different technology, invented by a company called Ubiquiti Networks, that relies on a box nailed to the side of your house or office. Ubiquiti calls the technology AirMax on their website ubnt.com, and that’s the term I’ll use.

Here’s how it works. TOT puts AirMax transmitters on its mobile phone towers. The transmitters broadcast a signal that can be picked up from a long distance by a very sensitive box called the Ubiquiti NanoStation M5.

Although the transmission is line-of-sight – meaning you need to be able to see the antenna, more or less, in order to get a signal – these systems are tuned to produce remarkable reception, using something called a 2X2 MIMO antenna array. In Phuket right now we have AirMax connections extending up to 2 kilometers, and they’ll certainly go much further; Ubiquiti claims their systems can transmit up to 50 km.

So, TOT puts a NanoStation M5 box on the side of your house, tunes it to receive the signal from the tower, then runs a heavy-duty Ethernet cable into your house. That Ethernet cable connects to a box that functions as your router.

You can plug a computer into the router and connect via Ethernet, or you can connect a wireless access point box to it – thus producing a genuine, old-fashioned WiFi signal inside your home.

TOT likes the AirMax system because it doesn’t have to run landline wires down the road. The towers are already built, and they’re connected to the main internet lines on the island. Once a tower has an AirMax base station, all of the houses in a 2 or 3 km line-of-sight radius are potential customers. Cheap and easy.

The technical details are fascinating as you can see on the Ubiquiti web site, but the thing I found most surprising is that the AirMax runs at 5 GHz.

If you recall the ongoing fights in Thailand over the 850 MHz, 900 MHz and 2.1 GHz frequencies – well, the AirMax doesn’t use any of them.

As far as I know, the 5 GHz band isn’t regulated in Thailand, which may be a primary reason why TOT chose it.

Leons, in Kathu, has started reporting the speeds for his TOT AirMax "WiFi" service, and they’re breathtaking. He’s consistently getting 5 Mbps international download speeds, which is considerably faster than almost all of the wired connections on the island.

Of course, there aren’t many AirMax customers at the moment, and those speeds won’t last forever. But for now they show that TOT has opened up a fast international connection for its AirMax customers: definitely a good sign.

Leons is using the TOT AirMax 5 Mbps plan which costs 599 baht per month. There’s also an 8 Mbps plan at 799 baht per month. No word yet on speeds for the 8 Mbps version.

If you aren’t yet reporting your speeds on PhuketInternetSpeed.com, please drop by and sign up! We need your help. It’s free, it only takes a few seconds, and the results help everyone figure out what’s working and what’s not worth the effort. Remember that all of the data – more than 21,000 reported speeds at this point – is immediately available to anyone who wants to view, download, or fiddle with the results. Also remember that the Internet Service Providers are watching the reports.

Guys, I sincerely appreciate all the information. Very helpful.

I had not heard of the TOT wifi using ubiquity nanostations

the price and the speeds sound ideal - need to find out the coverage etc

https://www2.totwifi.com/customer/location.html?lang=en

a search for sangkha did not find any mention , but it will be worth asking about

I actually have 2 ubiquity nanostations at home which I had used for a backbone network connection for an IP cam setup.

they are PoE ( power over ethernet devices ) so the power is supplied via the ethernet cable that you run to the device.

your PoE injector supplies 48 VDC to 2 of the spare cores in the 8 core ethernet cable and the device will have 12 VDC available minimum for power - you can 100 meters of ethernet cable from your power injector to the nanostation.

airMAX | Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.

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Originally Posted by baldrick

I had not heard of the TOT wifi using ubiquity nanostations

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Neither had I until today.
They have been available since 2011 but I can't find any mention of it on the TOT website.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thetyim

Quote:

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Originally Posted by baldrick

I had not heard of the TOT wifi using ubiquity nanostations

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Neither had I until today.
They have been available since 2011 but I can't find any mention of it on the TOT website.

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My two friends went to TOT many times trying to get a land-line for the Internet,at no time did they ever suggest using a Nanostation,they just said "No have land line in your area"
A local Doctor had changed over to the new optical cable system they have put in locally for Government,Hospitals and school use only.The Doctor told my friend he could have his old system as he no longer used it.He asked TOT to change over the user name and to come and install,which they did. My other friend went to TOT a few weeks later and asked for the Nanostation system and they said "No problem,we do next week "
When my friend ask the TOT official why he didn't offer the Nanostation when he told him he couldn't have a land-line ,the Official said " You did not ask".....https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2012/06/786.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boloa

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thetyim

Quote:

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Originally Posted by baldrick

I had not heard of the TOT wifi using ubiquity nanostations

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Neither had I until today.
They have been available since 2011 but I can't find any mention of it on the TOT website.

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My two friends went to TOT many times trying to get a land-line for the Internet,at no time did they ever suggest using a Nanostation,they just said "No have land line in your area"
A local Doctor had changed over to the new optical cable system they have put in locally for Government,Hospitals and school use only.The Doctor told my friend he could have his old system as he no longer used it.He asked TOT to change over the user name and to come and install,which they did. My other friend went to TOT a few weeks later and asked for the Nanostation system and they said "No problem,we do next week "
When my friend ask the TOT official why he didn't offer the Nanostation when he told him he couldn't have a land-line ,the Official said " You did not ask".....https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2012/06/786.jpg

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Just order it... They will come to your house and test at your place if it will work.
They put the Nanostation first on a bamboopole, and test it from their car.

If it works they will install it on your roof. And bring the lan cable in your desired room.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Prem

Just order it... They will come to your house and test at your place if it will work.
They put the Nanostation first on a bamboopole, and test it from their car.

If it works they will install it on your roof. And bring the lan cable in your desired room.

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Correct.......Both my friends have ended up having to repair broken tiles after they fitted the aerial mast to the roof.I was at my 2nd friends house when they installed the system.I talked TOT guys into putting the aerial on the Rice Barn so they didn't brake any-more tiles , they then throw the cable over the roof and started drilling a hole in the wall near where the computer was situated .I told them to stop, I then told them to drill a hole in the soffit of the house near the rice barn and run the cable in the roof space...not just throw it over the roof...........The guy doing the technical stuff was OK ........the other workers were just Monkeys https://teakdoor.com/images/imported/2013/05/520.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Prem

Just order it... They will come to your house and test at your place if it will work. They put the Nanostation first on a bamboopole, and test it from their car.

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any more info about how to order this ? the totwifi website does not mention the nanostation

how did you find out about it ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by baldrick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Prem

Just order it... They will come to your house and test at your place if it will work. They put the Nanostation first on a bamboopole, and test it from their car.

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any more info about how to order this ? the totwifi website does not mention the nanostation

how did you find out about it ?

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Both cat and tot have it. Tot call it WiNet, Cat call it hinet.
Just about every tot office I have seen has a big banner on the fence advertising it, but you need to be a12 year old Thai witha magic decoder ring to find it on their website.
I used to have a link but it seems to be gone.
Now they have wifi and hotspot an their menu, but both are the same thing.

http://www.catinternet.in.th/cat_wifi.html

can some one decode this ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by baldrick

can some one decode this ?

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Google translate not bad.

Current access to the Internet is considered to be part of the lifestyle of people today. It can be said that the Internet as a channel to reach out and get to know a variety of information. In the current era, as quickly as possible. Also, most people have to communicate to each other via the Internet. Whether it's a Web Browser, E-mail, Chat. As well as many other applications. Due to this convenience makes people connect. Can communicate to each other easily. As a convenience to those who want to use the Internet. Since most people have a device that can connect to the Internet has. For example, NoteBook, mobile phones. And privacy in the use. The format of the service is currently being developed to meet the needs of applications with more independence. In the form of a wireless system, also known as WiFi to favor convenience to users there.
CAT WiFi. Another service will be introduced. Which serves as a form of Internet. High-speed wireless Powerful Internet network available throughout the CAT. CAT WiFi to present new options. Make every step you experience in accessing the Internet in the form of high-speed wireless Internet Bonneville. To meet every lifestyle for today's lifestyle. Access is easy. I have attached the workplace anymore.
The form of services. CAT WiFi.
CAT WiFi. Service through technology. IEEE 802.X Internet technology to connect wirelessly. Services can be applied in different places as well.
Services provided to residents.
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
Services within the apartment.
https://teakdoor.com/images/smilies1/You_Rock_Emoticon.gif
The service. CAT WiFi.
For a CAT WiFi. The user must have a Username and Password on the Login ID CAT WiFi Card. The fee is as follows.
Type 60 baht Use 60 minutes.
Type 100 to 120 minutes.
Type 150 to 300 minutes.
Type 300 to 750 minutes.
You can use the value of the card until it expires. (Card valid for 30 days after activation, except the last 60 days, $ 300) and buy a new card to use it.
Login is required to access the service.
Login to access the screen.

In the town of Sanghkla in Surin you'd get normal highspeed near town at 6mbs using TOT landlines at least that's what I get nearby you in the north in Surin. If phone lines reach you, then no problem. They are running a special Internet line to the temple near us which will allow for free wifi for the kids. This might be a nationwide project to offer wifi at temples. Not sure but if you are near one you might get free wifi. I know you are out in the sticks. Well, good luck anyway.