What to think about and what not to fall for

[hetepatat]

Some things need to be said to rather newbies.

 

Something i always fool myself with is that i buy a sim card and then am surprised i can not go on internet. I just dont get access.
The problem is that you need to add the access point name (APN) of every provider you buy a card from and be sure the right one is active.

You can find easily on Google how to do it if you search for 'provider name' + APN + add ..

Without APN settings... no internet !!!!

In my case the guys always search in my phone and struggle but they can not read the phone language i am using. And it seems they can not explain their problem to me in the shop too.

 

Second warning :  When you buy a sim card, there is usually a promotion involved.

See the shops adds the promotion by using a code number (USSD0.

Most sims, not just tourist sim, come with a free internet period. In my case now 7 days.

I was stupid enough before to not know and buy a package of 1 GB for internet. 
When checking it, saw i have 500 MB free... so kind of spent the 73 baht incl tax for internet for nothing. Doesnt matter. I save on the Chang a lot so i can spend a little more on internet on my phone.

 

Dont buy a fake phone believing it will be an exact copy of what it should be.  These copy phones are rubbish and inside the chips are a lot less capacity and quality.

 

Wanted to say also that the problem that occurred about 4 years ago for European phones is now solved. Most new phones have enough frequencies to use. Less worries than before about that. If you take an old phone it is best to see what you can use or not use.

Strange thing for me now : they asked if i want 3G + 4G.... Yeah, i do !

But now with this sim, i can no longer access 2G.

LOL.     Seems very strange to me but ... who needs 2G really if you have a smartphone  :-)

 

If you have other ideas about what to think about or what to avoid, please post.

[jerry]

Something i always fool myself with is that i buy a sim card and then am surprised i can not go on internet. I just dont get access.

The problem is that you need to add the access point name (APN) of every provider you buy a card from and be sure the right one is active.

You can find easily on Google how to do it if you search for 'provider name' + APN + add ..

Without APN settings... no internet !!!!

In my case the guys always search in my phone and struggle but they can not read the phone language i am using. And it seems they can not explain their problem to me in the shop too.

 

Not sure what you mean with this . I often have family members/friends over . 

Just go to a 7/11 , buy a sim (49Bht) put a few hundred Bht on and send a

message to True (or the like) and you have internet for a week/month etc . 

 

 

 

[hetepatat]

What I mean by that :

 

APN is a setting in your phone. The name needs to be filled in.. I took AIS and they dont do any updates OTA (over the air) of this information.

So it is like a SMS setting thing. If not filled in, can not use it.

It seems the SMS works fine for me. So it means the info is on the sim card.

 

Just a hint for people who go outside the shop and can not access internet even though they should be able to. Then it is the APN that is not filled in in the settings of the phone.

If you are an English customer you will see this problem less often cause the guys in the shop can read and complete the settings.  In my case... i speak jibberish and my phone does too. They dont understand the settings in my phone for a bit.

So, actually i was referring to something completely else than that, Jerry. But thanks for input.

[Sick Water Buffalo]

Some things need to be said to rather newbies.

 

 

Newbies should just get their phones sorted at Arrivals at Suvarnabhumi or at one of the mobile provider offices.  Simplest and easiest.  

 

If they're a little smarter, then like Jerry points out, they can get a SIM at 7-11 or Family Mart and try their luck at working out packages on their own (as Jerry links to).

 

You probably can't access 2G on your new SIM because those frequencies have been/are in the process of being shifted to 4G service.

[Eastboy]

 

What to think about?  Pussy

 

 

 

and what not to fall for? Bitches

 

[Gone-east]

Newbies don't need to worry about buying local phones/sim cards. Wifi is everywhere and everyone has Line or Whatsapp.

[hetepatat]

Newbies should just get their phones sorted at Arrivals at Suvarnabhumi or at one of the mobile provider offices.  Simplest and easiest.  

 

If they're a little smarter, then like Jerry points out, they can get a SIM at 7-11 or Family Mart and try their luck at working out packages on their own (as Jerry links to).

 

You probably can't access 2G on your new SIM because those frequencies have been/are in the process of being shifted to 4G service.

 

I dont know if you mean i am not smart enough ... but even then, you would be entitled to your opinion.      

If i see it from the bright side, I think you dont mean things personal.   

Airport boots :  Never have known them to be witout waiting people. Too much time loss for me. Its for noobs who have more patience than me after a 12 hour flight.

7/11 : I did this before but couldnt do it now any more. The guy at 7/11 said to go to Tukcom for simcard. It needs to be registered on the owner and since then, they stopped doing it.

I didnt feel like going to several 7/11 so just went to Tukcom as i needed some other things from that place.

 

Get phone sorted..  Hell yeah when your phone is in English. I would like you to try it when it is in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, French,....   The guy at Tukcom didnt get a clue of my phone. My gf who did the talking only told me later about that.. otherwise i could have just changed it to English or go to APN Settings myself. 

Later i thought they sorted it ... they were just looking through the menu for a long time but gave up (2 diffrent guys).

 

Packages are great but have nothing to do with the settings in your phone. You can have a package activated but without the right settings there will be no internet at all on your phone.

You need package AND settings for the shit to work well.

 

In that way, i thought my remarks were useful to noobs... Hope many will agree.

[hetepatat]

Newbies don't need to worry about buying local phones/sim cards. Wifi is everywhere and everyone has Line or Whatsapp.

 

 

I dont share this opinion.

Everybody can.... everybody has...  There are many everybodies here.

Wifi from phone operator : Can say this was the case for me with TRUE... had their wifi almost everywhere.

With AIS now... its an empty bag on Soi Chaiyapoon.

I was not able to use it one time yet.

Wifi in hotels is often not fast or stable enough. And speed goes up and dowm. Often not ok to make calls on internet.

Even check Badoo is on and off in my hotel now, from the bedroom. Owner made a big effort to install a decent system but the walls are just too thick.

I do need the simcard to get me decent 3G or 4G connection. Otherwise i am fucked.

[Sick Water Buffalo]

Airport boots :  Never have known them to be witout waiting people. Too much time loss for me. Its for noobs who have more patience than me after a 12 hour flight.

 

Get phone sorted..  Hell yeah when your phone is in English. 

 

Packages are great but have nothing to do with the settings in your phone. You can have a package activated but without the right settings there will be no internet at all on your phone.

You need package AND settings for the shit to work well.

 

 

Not an airport convenience store, use one of the service provider kiosks in the Arrivals Hall.  AIS, DTAC, and True all have booths in the Arrivals hall whose purpose is to sell service to tourists arriving from all around the world.

 

They see thousands of phones a day of all types, makes, and models; and they will be familiar with what needs to be done with each including whatever 'settings' need to be changed. They've always had me set up in 2-3 minutes once I hand the phone over.

 

Its the easiest way for newbies to get their mobile connectivity sorted. (And personally, I want internet while in the taxi on the way to Pattaya.) 

 

Newbies don't need to worry about buying local phones/sim cards. Wifi is everywhere and everyone has Line or Whatsapp.

 

 

Still plenty of accommodations with crappy wifi; and many locations without it (especially restaurants, which is someplace usually want to get online). And wifi doesn't help when you're walking about town (on the move).  

[hetepatat]

I know you have a point about the airport boots from Dtac , AIS, True..   
I was referring to these ones about always being busy with many customers.

Dont know how fast they work though.  Maybe you can get your turn faster than it looked like to me. How long do you usually stand in line there ?

 

Tukcom guys didnt manage to change the settings in my phone. They only managed to erase my current settings from my home provider. 
But again, you have a point that the most experienced staff should be found in the operator airport boots ..

[kahuna1]

Cheat sheet for unlocked phones:

 

To set for Android:
Settings > Wireless and Network (More) > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names > New APN
or
Settings > More > Mobile networks > Access Point Names

 

"True Move H"

APN settings

• Name : TRUE-H INTERNET
• APN : Internet
• APN type : default
• Proxy : (blank)
• Port : (blank)
• Username : true
• Password : (blank)

[edit]AIS

APN settings

• username: (blank)
• password: (blank)
• APN name: internet
• authentication: PAP

[edit]DTAC (GPRS)

APN settings

• username: (blank)
• password: (blank)
• APN name: www.dtac.co.th
• authentication: PAP (if doesn't work with CHAP)

[momo5]

Dont know how fast they work though. Maybe you can get your turn faster than it looked like to me. How long do you usually stand in line there ?

 

 

I usually arrive between 2130-2330hrs and am often the only one at the booth. Even earlier in the day, I've never had to wait more then ten minutes. That's better than scurrying around 7-11s and tuckom.

 

And they'll top up an existing sim if that's all you need.

[hetepatat]

Think i will have solved the problem for my next trip. 
I took AIS this time and reloaded many times at a machine and each time for 10 baht + 3 euro service charge. 
My SIM and number are now valid until end of January... which is fine for me.

I saw that there are also some shops of the 3 big operators (AIS, DTAC, TRUE) in shopping center Tesco on North Patt Road.
This is a nice place to go also.

Other possibility : ask a girl you know to get you a sim before arriving.

And of course the main brand boots at the airport.  I know ...
Be sure about one thing : Family Mart or 7/11 are not doing SIM's any more.

[Edge]

Not sure what you mean with this . I often have family members/friends over . 

Just go to a 7/11 , buy a sim (49Bht) put a few hundred Bht on and .......................

 

After all the fuss about Registration and SIMs being cancelled can you still do that?

 

...................................

Be sure about one thing : Family Mart or 7/11 are not doing SIM's any more.

 

That's what I wondered.

 

BTW - 'booths' (kiosks) rather than 'boots' may avoid confusion.  

[Sick Water Buffalo]

I saw that there are also some shops of the 3 big operators (AIS, DTAC, TRUE) in shopping center Tesco on North Patt Road.

This is a nice place to go also.

 

 

Which is what you were told. For newbies, it is easiest to get the SIM sorted at the provider kiosks at the airport; or (if they can't wait a few minutes) at a mobile provider store in Pattaya.  

 

BTW - 'booths' (kiosks) rather than 'boots' may avoid confusion.  

 

 

Yes. Hetepatat, when you talk about the 'Boots' in Thailand, this is what people think you are referring to...

 

When what you really meant was a mobile service provider kiosk...

[hetepatat]

Yes indeed, Mr Buffalo ..  That was not the kinds of Boots I was referring too  

I see what you mean (now).   I know these shops, also from Europe. We do have this chain of shops too in some countries.

 

What i was thinking of was shopping booth in this meaning, indeed mistaking by leaving out the 'H' at the end of the word (sorry about that- my mistake)    : 

 

 

a. A small, often enclosed compartment, usually accommodating only one person: a voting booth.

b. A small enclosed compartment with a window, used to separate the occupant from others: a ticket booth.

2. A seating area in a restaurant with a table and seats whose high backs serve as partitions.

3. A small stall for the display and sale of goods.

 

 

For the sake of making things more clear : i had 'my girl' ask in several 7/11's and Family Mart supermarkets about SIM cards. 
Even though the promotional stuff was still visible, they said they didn't do SIM cards any more. 

The rools changed some time within the last 365 days for reason of registration (like OTE pointed out).

[hetepatat]

Let it be known that AIS   really DOES sims that only work on 3G and 4G. 
The package says it also :   3G + 4G sim.
What happens when you connect to 2G is that you do get the name of the carrier on your phone but you can not use it.
The phone will give a message or sign saying that it can not register the sim card on 2G.

It could be worth to know for people who, like me, also bring a cheap and old 2G phone. The sim will do nothing in there. 
You can't send messages, make calls or receive calls.

I bet you can still ask them for a 2G sim.

It seems that this way, they want to get some less customers on the 2G frequencies as they seem to be changing their networks and swapping 2G for 3G/4G on some frequencies now.

 

Cheat sheet for unlocked phones:

 

To set for Android:
Settings > Wireless and Network (More) > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names > New APN
or
Settings > More > Mobile networks > Access Point Names

 

"True Move H"

APN settings

• Name : TRUE-H INTERNET
• APN : Internet
• APN type : default
• Proxy : (blank)
• Port : (blank)
• Username : true
• Password : (blank)

[edit]AIS

APN settings

• username: (blank)
• password: (blank)
• APN name: internet
• authentication: PAP

[edit]DTAC (GPRS)

APN settings

• username: (blank)
• password: (blank)
• APN name: www.dtac.co.th
• authentication: PAP (if doesn't work with CHAP)

 

Thanks man ! Good post !

This is what i was talking about....... 

[Sick Water Buffalo]

It could be worth to know for people who, like me, also bring a cheap and old 2G phone. The sim will do nothing in there. 

I bet you can still ask them for a 2G sim.

 

 

No, because AIS just spent months of effort in upgrading their 2G customers to 3G/4G service because their 2G spectrum is/has gone away - it was auctioned off to another company for new 3G/4G services because 2G is outdated.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ais-2g-idUSKCN0WG18F

 

I think this may be why you had to strangely fiddle with connection settings. You're using an outdated 2G handset that doesn't automatically connect to modern mobile networks.  

Bring a newer phone and it'll probably auto-connect and update/download settings when you put in a new SIM, like how almost everyone else does it.

[hetepatat]

 

I think this may be why you had to strangely fiddle with connection settings. You're using an outdated 2G handset that doesn't automatically connect to modern mobile networks.  

Bring a newer phone and it'll probably auto-connect and update/download settings when you put in a new SIM, like how almost everyone else does it.

Sorry man,   

I know you are interested in the telecom matter but I think a lot has changed the last few months / one year.

The reason why i write about this is not that I just want to make life difficult. Just : i guess if i had this problem, I guess others will have the same one (altough not all).

So often people think they know it all and react with information that is not even about the same subject.. but they don't seem to get it.

Sometimes even in an arrogant way... pretending they know i did it all wrong. 

We all met many people like that on the streets in LOS, I guess. The thing is : they don't often mean bad.. maybe they just want to help.

 

First part : i don't know about that. Didn't look it up - had so many other things to do.  You will be right, i guess, about that they upgraded their customers to 3G and 4G.

Promotions are still running to change 2G handset to 3G handset so that fits the story.

 

I was NOT using an old phone. I was using a one year old and very up to date Samsung that uses 2G, 3G, 4G on many frequencies.

It didn't automatically connect and download the settings when the SIM was inserted but that could have been because the guys in the shop (Tukcom) 

struggled with the phone for about 20 minutes and maybe they declined when the offer to download settings was sent ?

In the end they didn't find where in the software to type the settings as my phone was in Dutch. 

If they would have asked me, i could have changed it to English but they didn't... I just heard the story later from my Teerak who was there too.

 

My modern phone showed reception and good signal of a 2G network when i put it to 2G only; but the sim card, which is sold as a 3G/4G sim didn't register on this network.

That was on 25 March. My gf confirmed that she was able to connect to AIS 2G today. I don't know what SIM she has or what network she connected to.

The name is different (2G) so not AIS or 12Call.   Of course also not True or Dtac.It was something like Moon or Boom.. I don't remember any more.

It went fine on 3G and 4G which also fits the story. However not the name AIS or 12Call was shown on the screen but an other name.

So .. it, seems the 2G network is still there and running under an other name - no idea if it is AIS or some other company or AIS brand that took over.

Like said here or in other topic : problem solved now. I have a very nice AIS number which i want to keep. Before going home, my Teerak used a machine on the street to put money on the card.

I added several times 10 baht + 3 baht service charge and that will keep the card valid until january.

Higher amount reloads make the validity of the sim one month longer,     10 baht recharge on the machines do the same.

6 recharges of 10 baht make 78 baht and 6 months validity added.

 

So, next time no problem. I will do like many others and just re-use my sim and stay with the same operator / phone company i was before.

[hetepatat]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/897632/ais-2g-users-face-cut-off

This shines some extra light on the situation ... 

And so does this

 

http://www.samuitimes.com/court-gives-ais-one-month-to-migrate-400000-2g-subscribers/

[Sick Water Buffalo]

I think I was confused with some of your situation because you said opposite or confusing things at times.

 

Like if you had a 3G/4G SIM and a 3G/4G phone, why were you posting about problems with 2G service?  

 

It could be worth to know for people who, like me, also bring a cheap and old 2G phone.

 

---later post--- 

 

I was NOT using an old phone. I was using a one year old and very up to date Samsung that uses 2G, 3G, 4G on many frequencies.  

 

 

I was thinking you came to Pattaya with a 2G phone with a 2G SIM and that's why you were fiddling with settings and such to get internet to work.

 

Having gotten local SIMs in like a dozen countries, and doing it multiple times in Thailand, I've never had to deal with settings like the above at all.

It's just insert SIM --> get signal --> registered on the network --> add service package --> on my way. No pompem.

 

Since you were talking about 'i can not go on internet' after buying a SIM, talking about 2G service, and said you had a cheap old 2G phone, I assumed you had some strange situation that required fooling with the APN settings.

 

Rest assured, I'm guessing 99.7% of newbies aren't going to have to worry about the edge issue you ran into, especially if they get hooked up at a service provider booth/store (like they should).

 

----

 

Yes, I'm well aware of the ridiculousness of how this AIS upgrade has played out.

AIS was supposed to have everyone migrated and 2G service shut down months ago. But then there was this auction fiasco with JAS (winner of the spectrum) not having the money, and the Government figuring out what to do.

So AIS has received multiple extensions on their deadline. Which doesn't mean people should still be using their 2G SIMs (AIS has been upgrading SIMs for free), but some are.

AIS has come to an agreement with DTAC that remaining 2G customers can get on the DTAC 2G system for now and if/when the AIS 2G service is really, truly, for sure shut down for good - which was supposed to be earlier this year, and (for now) is in May...

[hetepatat]

I think I was confused with some of your situation because you said opposite or confusing things at times.

 

Like if you had a 3G/4G SIM and a 3G/4G phone, why were you posting about problems with 2G service?  

 

 

Hi Mr Buffalo, 

 

I forgot to answer on this one - sorry about that.

 

The reason : I am still very much into 2G services for a few reasons :

I have the habbit of using it as in my area (home), it is the only reliable service where

you are sure to get reception always / everywhere.

3G and 4G is still not covering the entire country here..

Reason being : they have put up 2G antennas first and just used the same antenna locations to add 3G and 4G antennas.

2G on the frequency they are using (900 Mhz often) goes more far than 3G signal and 4G signal which are transmitted on higher frequencies.

(Still talking about my hometown in Europe).

 

More reasons why i am a fan of 2G is that my phone goes a very long time on 2G (battery life).

 

Thrid reason : For 80 percent of the time i don't use my phone at all. I only use data a few times a week when in Pattaya, to look up an adress or have a look

on Google maps to locate a place where i haven't been before. Or sometimes just when i am bored somewhere (doesn't happen much) to check mail, news from home, etc.

 

Fourth reason : I am still living in times a bit when data packages were something you had to be careful about.

So if i accidentaly transfer a lot of data .. My package will go down less when i am on 2G as the speed is more low.

I know this reason is something that is in the past , but still don't like to see my data package go to waste.

That is why i always want to be on 2G and just sometimes switch to 3G or 4G.