BajaNomad

Cell Service in Asuncion

drzura - 4-21-2018 at 06:33 PM

Good day. Going down to Asuncion during the middle of July. We have T-Mobile as a cell phone carrier and have the Mexican Plan where we can use cell service for calls, text's, and unlimited internet at 3G speeds. My question is 3G good enough to use for streaming Netflix videos? We plan on using the cell phone as a "hot spot". Thanks in advance....

woody with a view - 4-21-2018 at 07:08 PM

Ask google?

AKgringo - 4-21-2018 at 07:09 PM

I spent a couple of weeks there in March, and I found the service to the community to be poor at best, with several periods with total loss of service. No phone, or internet for anybody!

I have an ATT phone with access to Telcel, but use my laptop with an internet connection far more frequently. Even at the "Internet Café", it was no better than at La Bufadora.

For what it is worth, the "Café" serves nothing, and ran out of internet while I was trying to get online!

drzura - 4-21-2018 at 07:23 PM

I can ask Google about 3G speeds, but would rather have some first hand experience from people in/around Asuncion about the cell service. A lot has to do with the quality of the cell service.
Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  
Ask google?

Rossman - 4-21-2018 at 07:59 PM

The answer to your 3G streaming question is .... maybe. If it is true 3g service without any interuptions or slow downs, you can stream movies. You will not find anything near 3G service in Asuncion. Barely 2G at the very best of times. Even the land line based internet, comparable to DSL service in the US is not fast enough, or reliable enough to live stream a movie or even watch a short YouTube without buffering delays. Very good 4G service in Vizcaino but the rest of the Vizcaino peninsula is very sad.

Thanks for the info

drzura - 4-21-2018 at 08:07 PM

Thanks for the info Rossman and AKGringo. Sounds like my wife will be pist!! :spingrin:

rts551 - 4-21-2018 at 09:01 PM

Most of the time you will get "E" service. No 3g.

aguachico - 4-21-2018 at 09:25 PM

Don't stream, download and watch in Mex.

shari - 4-22-2018 at 07:28 AM

Ross is right as rain...and like aguachico says download movies from Netflix. What I do is download a movie or 2 around 4 in the morning as it is the only time the internet in fast enough but that is on wIFI...forget about the 2G Telcel internet.
We have a pretty good DVD collection here at our Inn so you are welcome to borrow anytime so bring something to play them on.
We also have a very eclectic library in the campground...perhaps a book on the beach will appease the wifey.

drzura - 4-22-2018 at 08:18 AM

Yeah... the wife will be fine, she loves reading and has quite a few books on her iPAD. I think the plan is to download some movies to an external hard drive and bring it down. The movies will primarily be watched right before going to sleep. But truth be told, I'll be getting back into surfing again and will fish quite a bit, so it will be nice to "unplug" from technology for a bit. Plus, there will be lots to see and explore in an area in which we have not been to yet. The dog will love playing fetch in the water too.
Quote: Originally posted by shari  
Ross is right as rain...and like aguachico says download movies from Netflix. What I do is download a movie or 2 around 4 in the morning as it is the only time the internet in fast enough but that is on wIFI...forget about the 2G Telcel internet.
We have a pretty good DVD collection here at our Inn so you are welcome to borrow anytime so bring something to play them on.
We also have a very eclectic library in the campground...perhaps a book on the beach will appease the wifey.

msteve1014 - 4-22-2018 at 09:33 AM

I stockpile all kinds of things on my computer before heading to La Bocana. It sounds just like Asuncion's service. I set up torrents to download all night, sometimes it is fine, other times not so much. The only stuff I really miss are the races. Hard to download those ahead of time.;)

JZ - 4-22-2018 at 11:37 AM

Take a portable Directv dish with you. You can get them for $100.

Btw, at&t is the best service in MX. Free LTE all over North America.






[Edited on 4-22-2018 by JZ]

woody with a view - 4-22-2018 at 11:46 AM

Got a link to the dish?

del mar - 4-22-2018 at 11:50 AM

don't forget the recliner....

LancairDriver - 4-22-2018 at 11:57 AM

Quote: Originally posted by JZ  
Take a portable Directv dish with you. You can get them for $100.

Btw, at&t is the best service in MX. Free LTE all over North America.




I have DIRECTV in my RV. Never have got it to work south of Catavina. Have heard the same report from others.



[Edited on 4-22-2018 by JZ]

woody with a view - 4-22-2018 at 12:10 PM

https://m.ebay.com/itm/DIRECTV-HD-Portable-Satellite-Dish-Mo...

drzura - 4-22-2018 at 12:28 PM

Now thats what I am talking about.... gotta bring my Serta mattress too!! :lol:
Quote: Originally posted by del mar  
don't forget the recliner....

woody with a view - 4-22-2018 at 01:59 PM

A recliner is Mexico is called hamaca.

rts551 - 4-22-2018 at 03:09 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JZ  
Take a portable Directv dish with you. You can get them for $100.

Btw, at&t is the best service in MX. Free LTE all over North America.






[Edited on 4-22-2018 by JZ]


Can't get LTE if the towers do not support it.. You will find that Tortugas to Abreojos only supports 2g regardless of what ATT tells you.

tiotomasbcs - 4-22-2018 at 04:03 PM

Have you ever been to BA or Central Pac Coast? Think not! Lots of payoffs for funky service,,,practice conversational skills w/family, fishing, beachcombing, star gazing, learning Spanish, etc. Great small town vibe. See you there! Just doit!! :cool::bounce:

chavycha - 4-23-2018 at 12:29 PM

As others have said, not so much for connectivity. The "data" on the 2G towers is laughable -- as in 30 minutes to download a MMS message of 500 bytes.

Even if you have access to a "DSL" landline/wifi, don't expect much more than text-based email to work in Asuncion. There's a ton of lag which causes many websites to time out (especially your bank, doctor's office, work server, etc.).

Data throughput on the "DSL" is more on the order of an old 14.4kbps connection during the day, and mayyyybe ISDN (128kbps) speeds in the early mornings. Not good enough for streaming anything at a quality you'd want to watch.

It has gotten much worse over the past five or six years as the bandwidth of the data pipe in and out of town hasn't changed, but now every household has a dozen "smart" devices which are always connected (and downloading updates, movies, etc.) versus just a single computer in years past. We have in been able to telecommute from Asuncion (both of us work with simple Word docs and text emails) but it's getting to the point where even that is a laborious undertaking.

Vizcaino and Guerrero on the other hand, are tied into the fiber which
run the length of Mex 1. The 4G throughput is pretty good and the landlines are excellent (around 50mbps).

Phone calls usually (but not always) work in Asuncion and the other coastal towns, though the quality is more like VOIP with occasional drops.

In years past, the Asuncion cell network as well as the landlines had a habit of going offline for several hours in the AM when it was cloudy. My understanding is that there's a common solar-powered microwave data uplink ,which uses a mid-point relay, back to Vizcaino, and the batteries in that relay weren't always as fresh as they should be. It did not appear to be an issue this year (Jan-Mar).

[Edited on 4-23-2018 by chavycha]