BajaNomad - Satellite Internet info requested

Satellite Internet info requested

S/N - 3-19-2013 at 10:44 AM

Hello all,
I have lived in Asuncion for close to three years and I have been battling Internet connection problems for that entire time. I know that there are dish services available for providing an Internet only connection but do not know what ones are available. I familiar with some of the stories regarding Hughes network but there has to be a few more providers out there that I can research. My questions for you guys are.
1: What are the names of those services-if any?
2: Has anyone out there any had any experience with any other satellite service provider & if so what were/are your experiences?
a: Difficulty in obtaining that service for Baja?
b: Difficulty in obtaining the parts for installation?
c: Quality of service provided?
3: What has your experience(s) with Hughes's services been for Baja?
Thank you to all of you in advance for you time,
D

larryC - 3-20-2013 at 08:03 AM

S/N (is the the street you live on?)
I only know of 2 sat services, Hughes and Starband. I use and install Starband. I have installed about 70 of them here in BoLA. Starband re-aimed their transponders not too long ago and many people in Baja sur experienced loss of signal strength and some lost service altogrther. So your only option might be Hughes. Here in northern baja the service works pretty well. I have the cheapest service at $50 a month and it is good enough for me to use my MagicJack for phone service and send/recieve emails and surf the web. The last time I was in Asuncion they had a pretty good internet system in town but I guess it is not available where you live.
Good luck,
Larry

CortezBlue - 3-20-2013 at 08:12 AM

Before I would invest in any US based satellite service I would double check to make sure that they are not going to any type of Spot Beam technology. I read an article not long ago that mentioned that one of the services, Wild Blue??, I think, is going to start using spot beam technology. This means if you had a house in San Diego, the beam would be focused in and around the San Diego area. However, this technology is not exact so it may creep much further north and south.

Bottomline, I would talk to a "dealer" to ask the mexico installation question.

Pescador - 3-20-2013 at 08:13 AM

The only modem that will work SOBwith HUghesnet is the HNS7000S and it does a pretty good job. I have used it for the last 10 years and am reasonably happy with the service. Of course I wish I had DSL but there are still some issues with that in our area.

tiotomasbcs - 3-21-2013 at 11:00 AM

Is Banda Ancha (Telcel) not working in BA anymore? What are the other expats using? BA has many Cell Towers and Banda Ancha worked good for me a few years back. Talk with the locals, too. The kids there love UTube!! Suerte. Tio

S/N - 3-21-2013 at 04:09 PM

Hello,
Thanks for all the reply�s. Yes, Telcel supplies internet through their phone lines and yes it does work. I would take that service in a New York minute. The big problem is that Telcel says that they will not install anymore phone lines into houses. I have been on a wait list for close to three years and have received every excuse you can imagine as to why they will not install a phone line. I have been told by the installer, ever since I first applied, that I am the first in line for a new phone line but when push come to shove that line goes to his �good� friend.
Jose at the internet caf� supplies WiFi and his service supplies everybody in town who does not have a land line and also supplies the village of Punta Prieta. By overselling his service the bandwidth, which he provides, is reduced to a Dibble. The only time that you can really connect with regularity is in the early AM and only then if the wind is not blowing harder than 5mph, which displaces his antenna. This is the service that I currently use.
I have also tried Internet Telcel and that is a joke. If you purchase 30 days of service you will have great connection time for about 15-16 days and then the connection time slows down. By the third week the time it takes for you to connect would be better spent using the postal service. The very minute you buy more time-another 30 days-you can once again immediately connect. Then comes another 15-16 days the connection time slows done until once more you can hardly connect. So that leaves me looking for another source. It appears that the Hughes Net work is one way to go-and thanks everybody for that info. I am also looking into �Range extenders� to see if this may be a solution.
D

vgabndo - 3-21-2013 at 04:17 PM

While we were around BA, the Telcel signal was the first indication if there was a possibility of having intenet. If my phone had a signal, then maybe I could get on to a local wifi.

We were plagued by an iPad with a really bad receiver. We had to be on top of the signal to get a usable connection.

In La Bocana the signal was said to go bad in the early evening because, as I understood it, the solar charged batteries of Telcel on the towers you see coming in from San Ignacio don't hold enough power to provide a good signal at night. We had marginal luck with the iPad there too.

What does Telcel offer in a hard wire to a house in Bahia Asuncion? Anyone there using Huges?

comitan - 3-21-2013 at 04:21 PM

S/N

Something to try, if you have windows 7, right click wallpaper, then chose gadgets, then consumo internet, it knows everything about your contract and will shopw how much you have used.

oladulce - 3-21-2013 at 06:29 PM

We are in a remote area south of you at Lat 26 and when Starband re aimed their satellites a couple years ago we lost reception and had to switch to Hughes. Got the larger dish -1.8m I think- and the service plan that is one level below office, and it has been way better than all the rumors we had heard about crappy service. Not really too bad at all especially since there is no plan to ever have cell service here so it's really our only option. Bandwidth limit sucks compared to Starband and you have to get used to the afternoon evening bog down to a snails pace, but we're happy to have something cuz we couldn't live here withou some kind of Internet . we can use Skype about 80 % of the time succesfully.

Riom - 3-21-2013 at 08:23 PM

Quote:

That was the way it worked when Telcel 3G first came out, slowing down the service when you reached your download limit (3GB). A couple of years ago they changed to expiring the service when you reached 3GB, or 30 days, whichever is first, rather than the slowdown (this is for the Telcel Amigo prepaid service, not a contract).

On the good side this means you can immediately start a fresh up-to-30-days when you run out of data, so always get full speeds (2Mb/s down, 1 Mb/s, up in this area, 90% of the time). On the other hand, it does make it more expensive (since you might consume more than one month each month, but only for the months you are here).

I've looked into satellite but given the high start-up costs, long contracts, and high latency, I find that Telcel Amigo is a better deal (in this area). Most satellite providers have download limits ("FAP") - if you hit those (which is likely if you had the slowdowns in the early days of 3G) then satellite will also slow down to a crawl for the rest of the month.

Rob

monoloco - 3-21-2013 at 10:08 PM

Telcel also has a 10GB a month plan.

S/N - 3-22-2013 at 09:37 AM

Hello,
Thanks for everybody�s replies as they are most welcomed.

Comitan: I have a Mac but thanks for the suggestion.

Riom: I stopped using Telcel Amigo plan approximately a year & half ago for the slow down problems that I stated in a prior post. At that time it was my experience that they had not changed anything-slow downs started midway through the paid time period & I just got sick and tired of paying for that type of business practices. It�s good to hear that you are having a more favorable experience.

Monoloco: As far as Telcel providing 10GB?? Again, in my research & this is based upon viewing multiple computers (business & personal) who are connected to Telcel�s different plans and are connected to land lines, Telcel will just provide a set amount of Bandwidth for all-period. In other words they charge for a greater amount of bandwidth that a customer requests and pays for but then will only provide a standard lesser amount to that customer. If you are receiving 10GB of Bandwidth congratulations-for you are one very fortunate individual. Again this as only my experience and some of you guys in other locations through out Baja may have a much more favorable position with Tecel. Here in Asuncion this is not the case.
As far as �solar interference, solar battery capacity� etc. those may well be problems associated with slow connection times but my gut feeling is it just comes down to the amount of Bandwidth provided by Telcel.
I can & have lived with the WiFi service provided by the internet caf� in Asuncion but would like to increase my signal strength from that location. It appears that a �Range extender� may be the way to accomplish this & I will research this in more detail. Below is a link to a �Range Extender�. Oh well I have put up with it for almost three years and one way or another it will work out.
Thanks again to all,
D

Range extender: http://www.betterwifirange.com/index.html

greengoes - 3-22-2013 at 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by S/N
I have also tried Internet Telcel and that is a joke. If you purchase 30 days of service you will have great connection time for about 15-16 days and then the connection time slows down. By the third week the time it takes for you to connect would be better spent using the postal service. The very minute you buy more time-another 30 days-you can once again immediately connect. Then comes another 15-16 days the connection time slows done until once more you can hardly connect.

Telcel 3G Internet is strictly metered. If you go over 3 gigs down it caps you to 56k modem speeds or less.

Keep looking for the Telnor people to pull their lines to your electric pole. Then you will get DSL. You do have CFE there?

I hope we all live long enough to see Cablemas get service to your casa.

J.P. - 3-22-2013 at 04:50 PM

I have a Starband system that I will GIVE to someone. It was still working when Telnor finaly got dsl after 4 years where I live The antena is still on the roff I will help remove it. Send me a U2 if interested

shari - 3-22-2013 at 05:16 PM

perhaps consider what Iflyfish did...he got a nice antenna to receive a signal and put a powerful signal extender on our modem and he had great internet...and it is a few blocks away. So maybe make a new amigo...someone fairly close with a phone and offer to pay their phone bill every month for sharing internet....

you watch....as soon as you figure out a solution, the phone lines will be amplified finally. I thought I saw them stringing a new thick line the other day and wondered if it is finally happening.

Riom - 3-22-2013 at 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by greengoes
Telcel 3G Internet is strictly metered. If you go over 3 gigs down it caps you to 56k modem speeds or less.

Even the monthly plans now block access (rather than slow down) when the consumption limit is reached: Telcel 500MB - 30GB plans (contracts paid every month): "Cuando alcances el l�mite de consumo y tu navegaci�n sea bloqueada, el navegador te enviar� a una p�gina de Internet d�nde podr�s activar Paquetes complementarios para continuar navegando:". Those overages are quite expensive.

That's the way it's worked (in this area) for a couple of years now with the other option, Telcel Amigo prepaid. On months when I go over the 3GB limit on prepaid, I start a fresh 30 days/3GB (whichever is first). So in practice it means it's about US$10/GB (1c/MB), for as much data as I need at mostly 2Mb/s speed (and no cost at all when I'm not in Baja). I keep an eye on the consumption at the Mi Telcel site.

Rob