Internet in Puerto Vallarta

[johnbda]

Hope this is the right venue for this...
Does anyone know what options are now available in PV for Internet service (cable, DSL, WiMax, CDMA etc...), what the max speeds/rates are for download/upload and what the best achievable latency would be back to Toronto, Canada?

Thanks,
John

[kcowan]

DSL and 2 cable choices - pretty much like at home. Speeds vary based on other users (cable) and distance to the CO (DSL). WiFi is widely available. No Wimax or cellular data services.

[johnbda]

Thanks Keith!

Do you have any idea what the max speeds and average latency are? I'm visiting PV in January for 3 weeks, of which 2 will be 'working vacation'. I'm also scouting out a possible 'Snowbird' destination, looking for a nice place to spend 6 months of the year . The B&B I'm staying at initially sounds like a 1 Mbps connection, but his upload was 97 Kbps and his 'ping' result was 360 ms, not ideal for VoIP, which is what I need it for. Any help or suggestions are MUCH appreciated!

John

[kcowan]

I used Cosmored and DSL WiFi last season and had no trouble with download speeds and Skype. Because I never had any trouble, I never needed to measure performance. In both cases, the service was also used by web developer companies. But it was private, i.e. not a B&B or hotel.

[johnbda]

Thanks again, Keith. I've been researching this a fair amount over the last couple of days, and appreciate your help. I was an ex-Pat in Bermuda and worked for a local ISP there in corporate sales (still do, as a matter of fact ...and that's really what I need it for, VoIP to Bermuda, so I can stay in PV a bit longer without taking vacation time to cover it
I'm finding the market is VERY similar in PV actually, as far as offerings go and who is actually providing the service. The best I've found so far is a 4 Mbps down service from TelMex (small buiness service).
Take Care,
John

[webmaster]

The offices of Proinco (PuertoVallarta.net) in Vallarta have two different ISP providers, Telmex and a cable company, Cosmored as a backup in case Telmex fails. The guys in Vallarta say Telmex has been quite reliable lately and they have not resorted to the Cosmored backup option. Do PVNet provide some sort of ISP option? They were #1 and only option when we arrived in Puerto Vallarta in 1998-99.

Mogens

[johnbda]

Following is what I found from my research (not that there couldn't be more and also what I understood, but my Spanish IS limited:
4 Companies:
Telmex (broadband<ADSL, WiFi, Frame Relay)
(http://www.telmex.com/mx/index.html)
Cybercable (broadband <cable, WiFi>)
(http://www.cybercable.net.mx/paginas/al ... l_ala.html)
Cosmored (broadband <cable>)
(http://www.cosmored.net/index.php?optio ... 1#internet)
AeroNet (broadband <WiFi>)
(http://www.air4access.com/)
This is VERY similar to Bermuda, except we only have one choice for cable and we don't use WiFi, but WiMax is offered (then again, it is ony a 21 sq mi island!) All of the above appear to have Residential and Business rates and Telmex (which would be BTC in Bermuda!) has a 3rd option of 'Empresa' which is more of an Enterprise type service, but can still offer very low level dedicated circuits (frame relay) as well. When I see 'Movil' or 'Wirless Broadband", I've assumed WiFi as I was told that there is no WiMax as yet (to see the difference between WiFi and WiMax, Google: wifi vs wimax). The cable companies appear to max out at 2 Mbps and I couldn't confirm it, but they're more likely to be symmetrical speeds i.e. both upload/dowload the same. The purely wireless company, Aeronet, had very little information (no pricing, no speed, no real info) and as I'm a bit shy to use the little Spanish I do know (especially in a professional capacity!) ...I still haven't called them
My pick for the winner is the Telmex Infinitum Negocio Premium service! (http://www.telmex.com/mx/negocio/in_pdg ... emium.html)
It is asymmetrical DSL (Google symmetrical vs asymmetrical for difference) and has up to 4 Mbps download, 768 Kbps upload $1,199/mo (@ $115/mo CAD). This appears to be the highest level of broadband service available in the area. I didn't check on the non-broadband i.e. frame relay services and pricing. There could be a lower level frame relay that's less expensive than the higher end broadband, but I don't think so as the entry level price that I saw on this service (Internet Directo Impresarial) is $1,883/mo (@ $185 CAD).
I really appreciate all of the information that people (Keith) have helped me with, so I hope this helps others as well. The one thing that I haven't been able to determine thus far and again, I'm a little shy to pick up the phone, call Telmex and expose my horrible, halting Spanish, is whether there are time terms as part of their contracts. I have a PDF of the Terms & Conditions for Telmex (which look pretty standard). Either there is not term, or I'm not understanding it. This would be a concern for those (like myself for now) who are only staying for a relatively short term vs. being able to sign a contract that stipulates 1, 2 or even 3 year terms.
If anyone could confirm that information for me, I'd certainly appreciate it!
Thanks,
Juan

[FilNurs]

Hi.
I am living here in PV now for 1 month and 2 weeks. I applied for my own private line in my condo unit because my realtor gave me wrong informations. I specifically told him that a private line is very necessary for the work that I do and I end up having a phone just connected to the administration of the condominium. Anyways, I applied for my own line. You can terminate your contract any time you want if you do not wish to continue it. You just have to go to the office and hand them your formal letter the same thing I did in Mexico city for my private line in Telmex.
I am my own telephone now but still got no internet connection. I have been bugging and bugging the 1800 of telmex but still no effect.

I hope I was able to answer your question John. You do not need to have a minimum usage of their services. You just need a formal letter and attached a photo copy of your passport. That's it.

To apply for a line , your tourist card you fillout at the immigration and your passport. No money needed . It will be reflected in the first and second month of your bill.

I went to Aeronet in desperation to start my VOIP and normalized my working performance. But they don't cater in the place where I am staying. That means to say, they are not accessible in all areas then. I am staying in Marina Vallarta, they don't have it there. There speed is the same with the residential in Telmex 2 Mbps.

Right now , I am pirating the neighbors unsecured wireless connection and use my prepaid cellphone for my work. I am spending like $100 CAN
everyday to keep me going with my work as I still do not have internet connection and cannot setup my VOIP lines.

So consider yourself lucky.

My best advise to you. Find a place that has already it's own private line. Internet connection is very easy if you already have a ready phoneline. Make sure that it is for your usage only and not common to everybody.

I hate my realtor but I blame myself for going to the los arcos without double checking the infos.

Goodluck John

[poppy]

Cosmored came out practically the same day I called to install my internet service and have been very responsive every time I've called for any problem (actually, that was only once). They turn on and off with a phone call. Have had no service interruptions with my wireless connection.

[johnbda]

Thanks very much for the replies FilNurs and Poppy!

John

[WannaliveinPv]

I know this is some months after you're discussion, but did you find a good provider? Who did you go with? I need E1 service or T1 service for a business I'm looking into down there and am having problems finding providers that can actually reply to an email. Any help? phone #'s? direct emails? would be appreciated.

Thx

[daaliya]

What do you think about the idea of putting up a business center for international calling using voip? Lets say that a lot of people working nearby the location came from overseas. Considering that the major market would have less knowledge about computers and internet. My only worry ,which I have not researched yet is that; ... it would appear that i would be grabbing a fraction of the market from the phone company which would be the internet service provider itself... The business would be located in a tourist spot island.
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[kcowan]

Many of the internet cafes offer cheap LD using VOIP already. I have also seen people using the free wifi and Skype on their laptops.

[Iguanoid]

Are there any bandwidth restrictions in terms of how much data you can physically download / upload per month with telmex, or is it unlimited? I need to get hooked up in June and my modem usually sees fairly high levels of usage when i am not at the office

[SundanceJack]

DSL and 2 cable choices - pretty much like at home. Speeds vary based on other users (cable) and distance to the CO (DSL). WiFi is widely available. No Wimax or cellular data services.

You can actually get 3g service via telcel. You can go on a contract if you have an FM3 or you can do prepaid. They also claim to sell wireless boxes to put your card into to give the ability to operate multiple computers. I have a friend with the telcel internet card and it seems faster then our dsl connection and he has never had a connection issue anywhere!

[rynmackz]

Have you heard the Teksavvy? I use it and they are great with $40 per month. I actually gets 200 gigabytes a month of bandwidth and I have to be able to hit that.