# Telmex May Be Overcharging You For Your Internet Service



## Jolga (Jun 5, 2012)

This account is based upon our experience in Mazatlan, so, as usual in Mexico, your experience in another location might be completely different.

After a harrowing experience with Megacable we decided to seek refuge in the calmer waters of Telmex. We signed up for a $999 pesos per month package which included land-line telephone service and 10 MBPS internet service (this being the fastest connection they have available at the moment).

Approximately 3 weeks and 3 weekly visits later, 2 friendly technicians showed up at our door and set up our telephone and adsl internet. When they had completed their work I asked them if they were going to do a Telmex speed test. In Canada it is customary for the tech to use his proprietary in-house app to test the speed upon completion of an install.

They looked at me as if I were speaking in Klingon. There was an awkward pause … so I decided to go to Ookla and perform the Global Broadband Speed Test myself. Why Ookla? You might ask? It's one of the few that determines the fastest ping from a Mexican server (in this case there were 2 in DF) and measures from there. Using US servers would give a distorted slow result.

The test gave me a downstream of 5.2 MBPS (I won't dwell on the agonizingly slow upstream speed, as this a characteristic of all Internet connections, in all countries, so we just have to live with it). 

So there I was with a brand new connection running at 5 MBPS BUT I HAD CONTRACTED AND PAID FOR A 10 MBPS ONE! (Excuse the shouting, but this is the crux of the matter).

The techs shrugged their shoulders and told me that this this paltry 5MBPS was the maximum possible speed in the older El Centro district of Mazatlan, as the newer, faster, fiber-optic system has not yet arrived in our area.

They said they would send a tech from another, “more specialized” department to “investigate” this discrepancy and they left.

I am a street-wise person, who no longer believes in Santa Claus nor The Easter Bunny. I decided not to wait for these specialized techs to come and reverse the laws of physics. :rapture:

My wife and I marched down to the Telmex office and changed our package from the 10 Meg $999 pesos per month, to a 5 Meg $540 pesos /month one. I may be wrong in the exact cost of our new package, for, as strange as it might seem, they will not give you a receipt for the change of contract. The rep typed diligently for 15 minutes and we had to go on blind faith that he did indeed make the change. 

So we saved approximately 50% on our Telmex bill by doing a 40 second speed test.

As you know, Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world. My wife and I are retirees, therefore, far removed from his pay grade. I am not saying that the employees are intentionally deceiving clients by selling speeds they cannot deliver, but I can surmise that they are paid partly on sales commission or at the very least evaluated according to total pesos sold, so they are, shall we say, “highly motivated” to disregard the performance realities of their equipment.

What irks me the most, is that many pensioners living on a tight budget and not computer-savvy are paying 50% more for a service that is half of the promised speed. 

A word to the wise would be: after wading through this long-winded account, run the Ookla speed test, (It's child's play, you'll see). If your speed is not up to snuff then go back to the office and downgrade your contract to a level where you are paying for the service they are actually delivering to you.

Do this right now, unless you are Carlos Slim, if you are he, then you are probably flying along the net at 100MBPS and enjoying every minute of it. :rockon:

Epilogue: Those elusive, 'specialized techs” never showed up. I guess they are like the unicorns, often talked about but never seen.:llama:


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## diablita (May 7, 2010)

I feel your pain. A similar situation happened to me a little over a year ago. I wasn't getting the speed I contracted for and after several promises to remedy the problem I cancelled my Telmex phone and internet service and went with Cablemas. I receive the the promised speed plus a bit more on occasion and all is well.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

For quite awhile in our area Telmex was offering a 2.5+ service for about $600 pesos while all that was available was the 1meg for about $380. People wised up pretty fast


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We have always had the basic package from Telmex and, as the infrastructure has improved, so has our speed. We still pay the lowest rate. The truth is that you subscribe to UP TO a certain speed level and what you GET depends entirely upon the local infrastructure. Simple, no?
Yes, you were speaking the Mexican dialect of Klingon and experienced the universal shrug.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Same deal here in Ajijic with Telmex. You don't get what you pay for at the highest rate. You get less than the mid tier speed. I changed to the lower rate and got just as good or better.
Klingon rules where "tech specialists" are concerned. Yup.


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