Broadband?

[Stumpdog 11]

Any hotels with broadband in Pattaya?

[Dingo 0]

All the big ones have so called broadband. Dusit even wireless.

Will try the Dusit wireless in a few days. With 500B per day it is hardly worth it.

 

A guest house was mentioned a few weeks ago - Soi Diana? Try a search.

[MrMango 667]

I have not stayed here, but I understand that they have wired broadband. it is:

http://www.lekatai.com/

 

If you use it, or anyone else, please poet your comments.

 

Regards

[MM 6,562]

Pinewood Residence on 2nd Road, across from Soi 6, has ADSL internet in the rooms. FLB board members who register there and ask for the "FLB rate" and give their board handle will get a significant discount off their published rates. The smallest room is 43 sqm (about 470 sq ft) for 1240B/night - internet is 150B/day extra. Each room has a kitchen and a real refrigerator.

 

Pinewood Residences

 

They are guest friendly as well.

[donny 1]

I'll second MM's Pinewood Residence suggestion, stayed there in January, nice place, very friendly staff, good location although a wee bit hard to find the first time you go. They also have what seems to be very secure parking if you have a motorbike, the security hut is right next to the bikes.

[BigDUSA 71]

Sky-Top has high speed internet cafe, one baht per minute. Cafe is open 24/7.

[makavelli 0]

can I ask why some people are that bothered with using a computer when away in LOS, personally I could'nt care.

Fair enough I pop into a internet cafe myself for the odd 30 mins or so but even then its only 20 baht or whatever.

[donny 1]

Agreed, it doesn't make sense to waste your vacation online but quite a lot of us need to keep an eye on our work/businesses. To my mind, the ideal working situation is one in which you're being paid to be available IF a problem crops up. If you do have to spend a few hours fire-fighting, it would be far nicer to do this in your room. I've used quite a few different 'Net cafes in Pattaya and, true, they are cheap enough, but can be quite grotty/uncomfortable/noisy. What if you are focused on something important and closing time hits? What if the owner, posessed of that wonderful Thai immunity to noise, has a small yappy dog? Or small yappy children? Or a small yappy Arab sets up an Internet phone call right next to you?

 

Also, how many people really spend only 30mins/30bt online? I think you'll find that the time burns away more rapidly than you think. The 150B at the Pinewood works out at about 2.5 hours at a cafe.

 

Quite apart from the business aspect, it can be quite an enjoyable way to while away a few hours, better than Thai television anyway and downright useful if you're planning an interesting night in Pattaya.

 

If I owned a hotel in Thailand, I wouldn't hesitate to set up a wireless network and sell access to my guests.

[Dingo 0]

Agreed, agreed.

I get a more happy boss, a few more days, just to be online.

I would go as far to say that my vacations got better after I started bringing a laptop. I got around, bought the cheapest one available that will allow reading mails and still manage a bit of net radio, and of course flb forum. Then I only use the 30 hours loxinfo cards, no need for anything faster. I always leave the laptop out, no matter if I'm staying in Soi 13, Dusit or the Cliff. That is half the vacation, not packing away the computer. Just buy a laptop wire and they need to break a "table leg" to steal it. Not safe, no money back on insurance, but it is a cheap laptop I can loose in worst case.

There is something special about listening to net radio every now and then. The wonderful words about snowfall and trafic jams back home.

[MrMango 667]

I have an Internet telephone, so broadband is important - My Kids can call me from the U.S. at no charge when I take it with me.

 

Works great with broadband

[donny 1]

That's very interesting - I've been investigating VOIP, seems like the ideal thing for running a business while living in different countries. My eventual aim would be to have freephone numbers for clients in North America, the UK and Australia, all routed to wherever I happen to be (ideally living like a lord in LOS!).

 

Specifically, I was looking at getting a Sipura 2000 or 3000 ATA (for the uniniated, that's Analog Telephone Adaptor - a small box with one socket you use to connect it to your network, another for any regular phone).

 

I've already bought an awesome Panasonic DECT phone/ ans machine and a Plantronics DECT over-the-ear headset for keeping me wireless and hands-free while I talk.

 

What VOIP provider are you using Bill? The market doesn't seem quite consumer-ready yet but I've been looking at Broadvoice in the US and Gossiptel in the UK. Both offer pretty competitive packages that allow you to make an unlimited number of international calls for a set monthly amount. There does, however, seem to be a certain amount of disastisfaction out there regarding ANY provider. How are you finding yours?

[MrMango 667]

At the present, I am using Vonage - I have the 500 min. /month for a total of &17 a month. The reason that I signed up for this service is about a year age, this was the first major company that offered one. I do a lot of business in Oz, and it cut my LD service from $800 month to about $50!!

 

Part of my business is to find new products for my best mat in Oz who distributes electronics, and I purchased ATA boxes from most of the major players. The Supura 2000 works fine along with the Grand stream and other boxes. When I signed up, all Vonage only offered the Motorola ATA, but now they offer a Linksys ATA/router combo that looks interesting.

 

While Vonage and other suppliers offer both UK and US numbers, you may have to sign up for service in Oz with another ATA box, as I have not heard of any service that offers outgoing service in all three areas.

 

Vonage has two small drawbacks –

 

They “Backend” the cost by giving you the box at no charge, but when you cancel the service, they then charge you $40 for the Box, which is locked, and useless!

 

They use the Telco standard Codec which demands 90KB of bandwidth. My mates ATA box uses the newer Codec’s, which only use 8KB of bandwidth, usable on a dialup!

 

On problem using any of the devices is that some firewalls and/or routers block some of the ports necessary for use, but I have not seen this in any hotels, only offices.

 

All in all, I am very happy with VOIP, and I use it for my only telephone. When I travel, I simply pack it in my suitcase and plug it in when I arrive. It drives my family crazy when they call e on my S.S. number only to find that it is the middle of the night in Pattaya when they think it is noon…

 

This is the future of phones.

[PenName 1]

Bill -

 

In the event you happen to know, what is the status / availability of using the Vonage system package over a wireless connection? Does the set-up require a broadband hard line or is it workable over highspeep wireless?

 

Thanks.

 

Pen

[MrMango 667]

I assume that it will work if you have a wireless to rj45 box. And if I cannot find a room with wired internet, I will buy one and take it with me.

 

Being in the business, there are several new models coming out of Taiwan that are wireless, like a cell phone, and Vonage plans to offer on this summer I believe.

 

The main problems with this type of phone is that it uses a lot of power, as it needs to continually transmit its MAC address to the host so that they know where it is, and battery life is short. Also, the present price of this phone is about $250.

 

The next generation of these devices will solve most of these problems. Imagine a cell phone that works automatically at any hotspot with free calls anywhere in the world! In less than a year this will be available IMHO

[MM 6,562]

In less than a year this will be available IMHO

Yeah, John Chambers predicted the same thing in 1996.

[PenName 1]

Sorry Bill (and the rest of the thread followers):

 

I was actually asking about the viability of the Vonage package / system over WiFi wireless internet connections -- not the usage of a wireless phone handset. I was just wondering, with all other things being the same as having the computer or laptop hooked to a broadband connection, if the system will work with resonable clarity and dependability if utilizing WiFi or similar?

 

I did enjoy your prediction (and it inherent optimism), however. From your mouth to the communication gods' ears.

 

Pen

[MrMango 667]

I am not a dreamer – You can buy now a Cordless VOIP phone for about $200 USD, but the power problem limits battery life to a few hours because the SIP protocol requires it to transmit to a hotspot where and who it is. New chips under development will greatly increase battery life, but the service is now available.

[MrMango 667]

As I said, I have not used my phone over WiFi, but I see no reason why it will not work. WiFi is at least 10 MB speed, and the VOIP phone uses only 90 KB Max bandwidth (The phone adapter box that we supplied to Oz uses only 8KB/ Sec)

[SunnyValentine 173]

Bill, while WiFi is nominal 11 Mbit, it transfers data at about 2-3 MBit at optimal conditions. (The rest is protocol overhead and the likes ...) If the Telephone needs a steady 90 KByte (aka 0,8 MBit) Connection, you might run into bandwith problems, as you usually don't have these optimal conditions (distance to sender, Walls, other interference .....) This is usually no big Problem when surfing the net, but it might limit the Quality and reliability of the Phone connection. But yes, it might just work!

 

Sunny

[MrMango 667]

I agree - I have not yet tried it as I always have had a wired connection.

 

The system that I assisted in Oz only requires a 8KB bandwidth is very good voice.

 

Vonage states that they need 90KB, but the actual protocal only requres 64KB (Standard PSTN), so I think that they are padding it, just to be safe.

 

We have a Wireless prototype in developement in Taiwan, so I'll know how long the battery lasts in a couple of months.

[jtiger 9]

Skype is a great and free VoIP program http://www.skype.com

 

Computer to computer is free, computer to landline costs 0.017 euro to first-world countries and more for others. Calling Thai phone numbers is no bargain so I don't use it for that.

 

I've talked computer to computer from the USA to Pattaya for hours at a time (both of us on broadband) and the quality is better than a landline call across the street in the US.

 

You only need to buy a regular headset for your computer. Using a speaker and microphone setup isn't so great since the speaker sound gets into the microphone and you hear an annoying echo.

[donny 1]

Personally, and despite all the hype, I recommend avoiding Skype like the plague. They use a closed protocol that doesn't play friendly with the other VOIP services. You have already noticed that Skype's charges to landlines aren't all that great, the real kicker is that you miss out on the major advantage of VOIP: being able to phone other VOIP users on other VOIP systems for free.

 

That may seem to be a secondary consideration right now but just wait for the network effect to kick in; at some point over the next couple of years, most businesses internationally will be using VOIP and listing SIP numbers.

 

That isn't optimism, it already makes solid financial sense for organisations of a certain size and developments like better commodity hardware and Open Source software like Asterisk is opening it up to ever smaller organisations. Many of the landline numbers you see today merely mask and route to SIP numbers. There's undoubtedly a tipping point on the way when the number of people with VOIP will persuade organisations to list their SIP numbers alongside their regular numbers.

 

At that point, the argument for VOIP in the home will become "spend $60 on a small box you can stick your existing phone into and every number becomes a toll-free number".

 

Skype users can only talk to other Skype users or, by paying the comparatively high Skype-Out rates, regular landline and mobile phones. Skype only looks good when you compare it against the traditional telecoms companies. A half-rotted dolphin would look good compared against the traditional telecos.

 

Skype got the hype because the guys who launched it had some sort of connection with popular P2P app Kazaa. By the time Kazaa was sued into bankruptcy, it's technology had already been superceded by a less proprietory technology, BitTorrent.

 

It's worth noting that Skype saves the Skype corporation a few cents by using your computer to process other peoples calls, even when you are not making a call yourself. P2P makes sense for getting your hands on pirated music but not, IMHO, for VOIP. I don't see any good arguments for Skype.

 

A question for those of you currently using VOIP in different countries: is there a big difference in quality in different countries? How is Pattaya?

 

And does the quality of the actual broadband service make a big difference? I get what has been said about VOIP requiring not that much bandwidth but I suspect that high-contention rates of most consumer broadband products has got to hurt and I've heard that Pattaya's broadband sucks like a wind tunnel in reverse.

[MrMango 667]

As for quality, it depends primary on which codec the VOIP service provider uses. The standard Telco requires at least 60KB bandwidth, plus control bytes. The newer compression technology requires as low as 8KB with quality almost as good as standard PSTN lines, but your service provider must support them.

 

Incidentally, this technology is just starting to go mainstream, and I predict that within a short time, quality will be much better than standard PSTN, as providers switch to different codec’s, such as a variation of MP#, which would let you have a phone quality to a CD – Assuming that you have a telephone handset that has better speakers than present day phones.

 

I plan to be in Pattaya with my VOIP phone, and I’ll post a report on the quality.

 

P.S. Most of the long distance phone cards that you buy today use VOIP.

[donny 1]

Thanks Bill, the info you've shared in this thread has been really useful and I'm looking forward to hearing how you found the quality in Pattaya.

 

Don't forget to go out and shag too, though.

[jtiger 9]

  I don't see any good arguments for Skype.

How about the old standard: "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

 

I'm in the high tech industry and have many friends in the same industry and only one has a VoIP phone. I've got friends outside the industry that none of them have a VoIP phone.

 

Skype solves the problems of sending voice over the internet and it works for Windows, Linux and Mac OS. Skype is free, it works well and I can use it to talk to anyone who's got a computer. That's a pretty good argument for using it today.

 

In the future who knows what will happen. If the Skype people are smart they'll figure out a way to leverage their huge user base to make money in the VoIP world using standard protocols. If not they'll disappear.