Internet Access In Issan

[PigDogg]

Anyone have any info re the availabilty and quality of internet access in Issan? Broadband?

[Mai-Kee]

Really depends where you are, but more or less any bigger town has (dial-up) internet cafes. Last time I was in Issaan was 2002 Buriram, Surin, Ubon, Mukdahan. Maybe they have already one broadband internet cafe - in Ubon I'd say it's very likely!

MK

[PigDogg]

My original post was misleading. I'm interested in home internet access in the boonies.

[Ladyboy_Loser!]

If it's information about DSL for the home, talk with Martin, the English bloke who owns the Farangconnection in Surin. www.farangconnection.com He has been helpful to me in all my quirys in regards to a variety of things.

[Road Runner]

(PigDogg @ Apr. 22 2006,18:47) My original post was misleading.  I'm interested in home internet access in the boonies.

Hello PigDogg,

In a few words  -  highly unlikely!

Around Bangkok the younger generation of Thais get internet access in their homes.  Out in the styx  -  unless they are really well off  -  I doubt that anyone has it.
Most people go into their nearest big town/city and use an internet cafe.  Often the one and only internet cafe!

As for broadband  -  yes it's certainly available in a few large cities  - Ubon definately.
But I don't think that you can get broadband access for home use accross most of Thailand  -  that is outside the bigger cities.

The places you can get broadband (the ones I know of) being Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Ubon Ratchathani, Puket and Pattaya.

If anyone can add to that list  -  feel free.

RR.

[PigDogg]

The reason behind my post is that I may living in Issan for two years.

I have to special internet needs. One is I'd need to get online at 3AM for just a couple of minutes to do some stock maket related stuff.

The other is to play internet poker.

If I happened to live next door to a 24 hour internet shop (highly unlikely) , that would be fine for the stock market stuff, but the cost would be prohibitive for poker.

[Road Runner]

(PigDogg @ Apr. 23 2006,16:48) I have to special internet needs.  One is I'd need to get online at 3AM for just a couple of minutes to do some stock maket related stuff.

The other is to play internet poker.

If I happened to live next door to a 24 hour internet shop (highly unlikely) , that would be fine for the stock market stuff, but the cost would be prohibitive for poker.

You should have no problem getting dial-up as all except the real out of the way places have telephone  -  even in Issan!  So I guess the best bet would be get your own connection.
This will be cheaper than the US.  I think True gives about the best package.

Broad-band like I said you can probably forget  -  unless you are near the middle of a big city.

24 hour internet shops?  -  'no have!' -  You only get them where there are tourists!  
Opening hours would normally be mid/late morning 10am say through to about midnight.
Most have coin slots where you feed in 1,5 or 10 Baht coins.  The rates are usually about the 15/20 Baht per hour range.

Your own connection would cost about the same over-all and be much more convenient.

RR.

[PigDogg]

Thanks RR.

Here at home I have a desktop hooked up to a cable modem. I've never dealt with dialup. I can dialup through a cell phone? Or do I need a landline? If cell phone, any special equipment or special cell phone?

The cell phone might make poker too expensive. But money is no oblect for the times that I must have 3 AM access.

[rxpharm]

The easiest way is dialing up through a landline. Generally the connection is more reliable and faster transfer speeds than a cell phone.

There is another option, but more pricey and that is to get an "Aircard" pc card for your laptop. This is a special card that you can insert a SIM card chip. You can then have it dial a special access number for the internet from your laptop. Problem is that connection strength varies depending on how far away you are from their broadcast antennas. Not sure how good they are in rural Thailand. A friend of mine is using it in Pattaya. You can actually also use it to make voice calls from your laptop as well.

As RR says it will be quite a few years before broadband makes it into the Thai countryside.

[PigDogg]

Is this what you'd recommend?

http://www.jabchai.com/axen/index%20promotion.htm

Aircard

[rxpharm]

(PigDogg @ Apr. 24 2006,01:09) Is this what you'd recommend?

http://www.jabchai.com/axen/index%20promotion.htm

Aircard

Hi PD,

Yes, this is what my friend in Pattaya is using, but I am not sure what kind of performance you would get in Isaan. My friend says so far it is working better than his dialup was - but Pattaya is known for having poor POTS (plain old telephone service).

If you can find out how well the ISP you are thinking about (DTAC) works in Isaan, it may give you an idea of the performance. Take a close look at the subscription packages as GPRS usually is a combination of time and amount of data transferred while you are online.

[PigDogg]

I'm assuming these rates are monthly? 999 baht unlimited? Sounds good.

That's assuming I'm not too remote whic is a possibilty. Don't know where I'll be yet.

[rxpharm]

(PigDogg @ Apr. 24 2006,01:33) I'm assuming these rates are monthly? 999 baht unlimited? Sounds good.

That's assuming I'm not too remote whic is a possibilty. Don't know where I'll be yet.

Sorry, I am illiterate when it comes to Thai! I would guess they are probably monthly rates.

Yes, you might end up being too remote to connect! If you can negotiate a trial period of say a couple of weeks and then switch to a longer term subscription if it works, it may be a good way to find out.

[Road Runner]

The Aircard deal looks OK  -  certainly better than you can get in the UK.  I don't read Thai either but I'm pretty sure Rxpharm is right about them being monthly rates.

You should be able to get a good phone line near to a city or town.  Once you get more than 3-5km (2-3 miles) away from the exchange you will start to get degredation of the signal.
For voice it's not a problem  -  your own brain is an amazing interference processor!  For data once the drop-out of data exceeds about 10% you will be doing this  

Remember with fixed lines you will keep the phone link in bad weather  -  unless the lines are struck by lighting.
With a GPRS link -  if it's really windy you get a tiny signal loss  -  if it's raining you get a bigger loss  -  raining heavy poor/no signal - and thunderstorms  

RR.