Mac Friendly Unitel Store in Vientiane?

Hi,

I'd like to get a 3g USB Modem for my Mac laptop and a SIM card for my iPhone (or should I get one SIM and swap?). Can anyone recommend a Unitel store in Vientiane that won't give me a blank stare when I pull out my laptop and phone?

Thanks!

Jon

The one I went to a couple of years ago was at Chou Anou and Rue Hengboun. They had a big pic of an iPhone out front. English spoken and they were able to install a chip and get it working...

Nongbone Road Unitel is very helpful.

I'm not sure how much English they speak ...and didn't see any menus in English. But in spoken Lao language they understood perfectly what is wanted and offered all the options you need. They also programme your phone with access points, etc, so you walk out with everything working.

iPhones & Macs may be an oddity in Asia - but the staff there should be able to help. Just different menus to navigate I suppose.....? How hard can it be.

Agreed, the big Unitel store on Nongbone was very helpful for me about a year ago (look for the big orange and white building on the left hand side coming from town).

I went in with very basic Lao language skills, but their staff were able to equip me with a USB modem in less than 30 mins. It's easy to take the SIM in and out of the modem, so you probably only need one.

One other option.. can your iPhone "tether"? Might be cheaper and easier than getting a USB modem. In which case, any shop downtown should be able to sell you a Unitel SIM - just make sure it is set up for 3G to work (don't leave the store until you've tested it!).

If you're travelling to remote areas, Unitel has pretty good coverage. Otherwise, if you'll mainly be in big towns, I found that Tigo / Beeline has faster 3G internet (plus a head office in town with english-speaking staff). Pretty poor reception in the field, though.

Yep - you're right. This is how I did it:
I got a Unitel data-only SIM for USD20/month or so which I use in my snazzy phone. This was used to make the wireless hotspot for my laptop, or as standalone access device when mooching about.

I then have an crappy old Nokia which I use for pay as you go phone calls only on another Laos network.

The only downside is fiddling round with old nokias again and syncing contacts, etc.

iPhones & Macs may be an oddity in Asia - but the staff there should be able to help. Just different menus to navigate I suppose.....? How hard can it be.

Actually iPhones are very common in Vientiane,, sometimes I think everyone has one.

Back to the topic. Why not Lao Telecom? I've been using Lao Telecom 3G in both my iPad and Samsung smart phone, works great.

The main Lao Telecom building (the new big red buildling) is in Rue Saylom which runs off Lane Xang Ave. From Talat Sao head towards Patuxay, it's the first street on your left.

Shhhhhhhh,,,, staff actually speak English there are are very tech savy.

"Actually iPhones are very common in Vientiane,, sometimes I think everyone has one."

Compared to the west at least they're less ubiquitous. I'm not really going by any stats as such, just that most folks across the region don't have the disposable income and the android phones, and before that, Nokias have been better sellers.

Amongst the Vientiane middle classes and expats I expect there's a blip to this trend.

Plus - there's a lot of imitation iphones about. USD200 or so gets you something which looks 99% identical to the latest iPhone, except the OS of course. So it may be that there's not as many as you think.

Lao telecom service is also good - I agree. Not sure why OP insisted on Unitel.....

"Compared to the west at least they're less ubiquitous. I'm not really going by any stats as such, just that most folks across the region don't have the disposable income and the android phones, and before that, Nokias have been better sellers."

Nokia's market share internationally, including Asia has been decreasing over the last few years. Samsung and iPhone have the greatest market share nowadays. This is also true for Laos.

Walk into the Nokia store here in Vientiane, you can fire a gun and not hit anyone.

All true of world market. Apple have always been too high-end for Asian market though, hence the new budget iphone coming out soon. Samsung have been cleaning up past couple years.

Apple have always been too high-end for Asian market though

Nonsense... "too high-end for the Asian market"? What does that even mean? iPhones are very popular and have been for years (and now iPads). Obviously Laos is not representative of Asia or even SEA and Vientiane is nothing like the rest of the country, but they were being sold all over city even 4, 5 years ago. In other cities they're all over the place, including now several generations of phones which have moved onto the used market (ie. millions) as owners buy 4 and then 5.

The point is, iPhones are very common even in less-developed countries like Laos, insanely common in places like Malaysia, Thailand, HK, etc., and it is generally easy to find English speaking technicians who can help with its settings no matter where you go.

It's not my opinion here, it's the marketplace talking.

In USA iphone has over 53% of market share.
In China iPhone is the sixth largest brand after the homegrown products and Samsung and occupy just 8.5% of the market.
In India and Indonesia it has less than 2% and 2.5% of market share respectively.

Those are the three pretty large Asian markets. I didn't look beyond those.

Apple is worried and hence trying to break into these markets -- making better deals with the govts & telecoms companies is one way, and the other is to make a cheaper phone to compete with the Android vendors:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jan/09/apple-budget-iphone-asia

I'm not saying there are no iphones in Asia - but they're nowhere close to being as commonplace as they are in Europe/US/Australia. L

Perhaps you're not "looking beyond" much of anything... it's pointless to argue, but those who have lived and traveled there (we're talking about SEA, not India or China) know that this estimate is not far off:

http://www.pinoytechblog.com/archives/apple-accounts-53-of-mobile-device-market-share-in-southeast-asia

They're all over the place, and that's just the truth.

Shouldn't be a problem.

i use Lao telecom, went to their HQ in Vientiane and they were wonderful did the lot set it all up....Bob's your uncle.

This time I had a bit of a problem re-reistering - rang the EL service and sorted both my phone and air card (Macbook), and the rang me back to check it was OK.
i used Untitel on my Nexus requiring a mini sim...still no problem

THere are a couple of Mac lookalike stores who will sort you out with Unitel - I used it in my Nexus and had coverage all the way from VT ro LP.