Wi-Fi or ADSL at Condo Chain for 2 months?

[aa]

I am renting a room at the Condo Chain (Condochain) and I'd like to get internet access in my room, only for about 2 months. The building is just out of the main town to the south.

Friends living in the building say you need to be the owner to get DSL hooked up to the phone line (although TT&T didn't ask about that when I enquired).

I never actually use the phone line in my room except to call other rooms in the building - I don't know if it's a real phone line. There's no mention of phone charges in the rental price.

I have Wi-Fi built into my iMac so that would be the easiest. Anybody know if there is a Wi-Fi connection available to this building?

I guess satellite is an option too (csloxinfo dot com). Anybody set this up, and what was your connection fee?

Thanks for any advice.

[barrys]

I used to have the IPStar satellite service - but its pretty unreliable, never got the speed I was paying for.

Also, the minimum contract period is 1 year.
_________________
Barry Stone
Mermaid Cruises
Tel. 032-632223 (office)
084-8007400 (mobile)

www.huahincruises.com

[Jockey]

Try Hutch

[richard]

Jockey

Who or what is hutch?
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Why does my head feel so bad why does my soul feel so bad - Moby (Dick)
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Khun Richard of Yorkshire (Halifax) and Hua Hin

[Jockey]

Hutch Communications - they have MBI - Mobile Broadband Internet

[richard]

Thanks Jockey, where do I find them or contact them?
_________________
Why does my head feel so bad why does my soul feel so bad - Moby (Dick)
Enjoy the silence, enjoy the silence, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy the silence (Digweed)


Khun Richard of Yorkshire (Halifax) and Hua Hin

[DawnHRD]

If you have a signal on your laptop & one of the WiFi companies listed as providing a signal is Sunshine Internet, you can go to their shop (opposite Euro Cafe, Tanawit Hotel "plaza") & buy prepaid cards. It's 100bt for 360 mins or 500 bt for unlimited access for a month. That's what I use, but the signal can be sketchy or overused in the day. It's virtually always fine early morning (up to 11am) and evening (6pm on)
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[buksida]

Check this link for more info on internet connections in HH, Hutch is a good option in condos:

http://www.expathuahin.com/internet-huahin.php
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[aa]

Thanks guys,

I assume the Hutch service doesn't use your mobile phone? Because mine is a really old school one (Motorola with monochrome LCD).

Where is the Hutch office located?

[Jockey]

[aa]

I went to the Hutch shop and they had a good package (unlimited internet for 1000 B / month), but you have to buy a modem for about 4,400 B (no rental).

That was fine, but it turns out they have 4 different modems and only one works with Mac OS X... and they are out of stock of that one. In fact, the whole country is out of stock and they won't come in until next month.

So I'm trying to find one of these modems. Anybody, by some crazy luck, leaving Thailand and have one to sell?

[aa]

I got Hutch MBI, but it was far from straightforward.

I went to the Hutch store on the 3rd floor of Market Village. I was going to go for it, but out of 4 modems, only one works with Mac OS X -- and they were out of that one.

In fact according to them the whole country was out, and they wouldn't get any until next month. They called around for me a bit at my request.

Since I had to pop into BKK anyway to retrieve my computer from storage and do some shopping, I thought I'd head to Pantip Plaza and see if I could get the modem there. I did, and actually a Hutch manager helped me.

That was a good thing, because we had to walk to several different stores to find someone who had the modem, and then I had to fill in a long form written only in Thai. The manager wasn't sure if my tourist visa would be enough to sign the contract, and if the connection didn't work, to call him.

Well, it didn't work and I had to get a Thai friend to come into the Hutch shop in Hua Hin and sign for me. This involved nullfying the old contract so it took a bit of waiting around for them to talk over the phone with managers.

Having had internet installed in Canada and South Korea, this was a very complicated process in comparison. However, the connection does work and I now have wireless internet access in my rented room in Condo Chain, and in fact, any remotely populated place in Thailand I may go.

[aa]

Hutch MBI works, but it is slow in comparison to anything but dial–up. It also suffers from slowdowns in the evening (6-8 PM).

I use speedtest dot adslthailand dot com to test the connection speed. The theoretical maximum is 156 kbps, and you do get bursts around that speed, but the average download seems to be about half - 80 kbps, or around 10 KB / s download.

So forget downloading movies over BitTorrent or uploading a gig of photos for backup. Also forget YouTube or even high-quality internet radio.

Most web sites surf okay, but larger or numerous images take some waiting.

For having internet anywhere you go on a laptop, it's only 1,000 B for unlimited surfing for one month once you buy the modem.

For someone actually believing the moniker of "Mobile Broadband Internet", it will be a let-down. You can't use this connection like a broadband connection. For a laptop user traveling around Thailand who needs to keep in touch "on the road", it's a usable option.

[buksida]

[aa]