# Internet Service Providers



## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

For my first nine months in Mexico, I've relied upon the local public Internet initiative, Culiacan Digital, for my home wireless Internet service, but lately there have been a lot of issues with it (their DNS server seems to be dying). So I will need to switch to a private service such as Megacable, which I have been reluctant to do because the prices sound pretty high. I have been told by other expats that the providers here in Culiacan only offer bundled packages - Internet, cable TV, and landline phone at about 1,000 pesos per month - but I am only interested in the Internet service. (I use my TV to watch DVDs, but feel my life is actually better without cable!) 

Have any of you been able to get Internet service only? I am told that different speeds are offered; have you found that it makes a substantial difference to get the top speed? I'm not playing video games or anything high-bandwidth like that; the most I'll do is watch YouTube videos (and even with the high-speed service at my job, YouTube and other streaming video sites often work very poorly here). 

I'm perfectly open to wiring my laptop at home for better (and cheaper?) service instead of using a wireless router.

Any input is most welcome.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

PatrickMurtha said:


> For my first nine months in Mexico, I've relied upon the local public Internet initiative, Culiacan Digital, for my home wireless Internet service, but lately there have been a lot of issues with it (their DNS server seems to be dying). So I will need to switch to a private service such as Megacable, which I have been reluctant to do because the prices sound pretty high. I have been told by other expats that the providers here in Culiacan only offer bundled packages - Internet, cable TV, and landline phone at about 1,000 pesos per month - but I am only interested in the Internet service. (I use my TV to watch DVDs, but feel my life is actually better without cable!)
> 
> Have any of you been able to get Internet service only? I am told that different speeds are offered; have you found that it makes a substantial difference to get the top speed? I'm not playing video games or anything high-bandwidth like that; the most I'll do is watch YouTube videos (and even with the high-speed service at my job, YouTube and other streaming video sites often work very poorly here).
> 
> ...


I pay $529/month for Megacable with internet and basic cable TV. I don't use the cable TV, but they would not sell it without that. Someone here pointed out that they don't have any way to filter out basic cable TV. The service has a nominal speed of 10 Mbps. I get a measured speed of about 9.5 Mbps usually although when I checked it a minute ago it was only 6 or 7. But in the past it has measured at over 9. The delay in the connection will be between your cable modem and the internet, not the wireless link from your computer to the cable modem. So a wired link to the modem won't be any faster. With a modern wireless router and a modern computer, the wireless link will be faster than the the connection to the internet. Also, I think the cable modem that Megacable provides will also function as a wireless router. Mine doesn't. I had to buy a separate wireless router. But I think the newer cable modems do both.


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## Guest (Mar 12, 2012)

Sounds like you still need to get a friend who speaks Spanish for some help. 

Here's Megacable's webpage for Culiacán showing their DoublePack Internet package of 50 channels of TV + 5mg internet for 379 pesos/month.

Culiacán, Sinaloa - Megacable


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## PatrickMurtha (Feb 26, 2011)

GringoCArlos said:


> Sounds like you still need to get a friend who speaks Spanish for some help.
> 
> Here's Megacable's webpage for Culiacán showing their DoublePack Internet package of 50 channels of TV + 5mg internet for 379 pesos/month.
> 
> Culiacán, Sinaloa - Megacable


379 pesos is more like it!

My friends who are paying much more must have opted for the 20 Mbps speed.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Telmex phone and Internet is just under $400 pesos

Telcel wireless USB modem and 10 gig limit is $600


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

sparks said:


> Telmex phone and Internet is just under $400 pesos
> 
> Telcel wireless USB modem and 10 gig limit is $600


I have heard several reports from people with Telcel internet (Infinitum) that they do not get the speed that is advertised. If speed is not important, it may be the cheapest option.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Telmex Infinitum. I've only had 1 meg service for $380+/-. Stayed with a friend for a few months that 2 megs (about $650) and it seemed like 1 meg .... even though speed tests showed about 1.5 megs

My Telcel cellular connection seems about the same but there is no Telmex land line where I live so I pay more


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## tepetapan (Sep 30, 2010)

I have used TelMex Infinitum for years with few real problems. We have the lowest cost, 380 peso or so, package and the speeds do slow up some about 2pm...when the school kids start invading the internet cafes. Otherwise I have seen dozens and dozens of times when 2 people talking on Skype AND another 5 or 6 checking emails, etc.. all at the same time on my wireless Infinitum DSL internet. 
I have no problems with TelMex, Tel Cell or Carlos Slim. They all seem to be doing what is expected of them.


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

I use Telmex Infinitum with the Infinitum Negocio Premium package and if I were day trading, I would shoot them! Constant DNS problems, line drops, blackouts and modem problems (I'm on my fifth).

For general use though, their service is as good and no better or worse than my previous satellite system or US providers. 

Except they lie! Down and Up speeds are generally not anywhere near what is advertised. I actually compared my 1200 peso speed with a friend with the 400 peso package while online. Just about the same, very early in the morning, though!

Their tech support, though, is excellent, better than anything I've experienced in the past.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I do understand and share your frustration; especially onerous just this morning at our location. However, they don't "lie", since they only advertise speeds 'hasta' (up to) 1MB, 2MB, etc., in the various packages. Sometimes it is very much slower & sometimes it just drops completely and we can't connect, like this morning.


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

RVGRINGO said:


> I do understand and share your frustration; especially onerous just this morning at our location. However, they don't "lie", since they only advertise speeds 'hasta' (up to) 1MB, 2MB, etc., in the various packages. Sometimes it is very much slower & sometimes it just drops completely and we can't connect, like this morning.


Yep, they do lie! Check what their advertised minimum upload speeds are and run a speed test! Upload is the only measure for professional users! Download is for porno surfers.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RVGRINGO said:


> I do understand and share your frustration; especially onerous just this morning at our location. However, they don't "lie", since they only advertise speeds 'hasta' (up to) 1MB, 2MB, etc., in the various packages. Sometimes it is very much slower & sometimes it just drops completely and we can't connect, like this morning.


 I don't work for Megacable or get any kickback. My advertised speed with them is 10 Mbps, my actual is 9.41 Mbps. I do occasionally lose connection although I can't remember the last time. Once it went out during the rainy season and it took three calls and about four days to get them to come out and find the problem. The guy that did the original installation showed up on time and did a very neat job running the cable from the street, across the roof, and into the house. He routed it along the edge and tied it off, not just laying it in the middle of the roof as I have seen many times. I have been very satisfied with them.

I keep hearing about issues with Telmex Infinitum and wonder why they are so popular.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

dongringo said:


> Upload is the only measure for professional users! Download is for porno surfers.


???


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

TundraGreen said:


> ???


Statistically, (and please don´t ask me to search for my statistics), the most popular downloads aside from pirated movies & games is non pirated pornography. 
If not, start a new thread!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

dongringo said:


> Statistically, (and please don´t ask me to search for my statistics), the most popular downloads aside from pirated movies & games is non pirated pornography.
> If not, start a new thread!


I was aware of that statistic and have no reason to disbelieve it. But I don't really see the connection. Most users (even non-porn viewers) download far more than they upload. So why is upload speed the most important?


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Because if you are sending large packets over the internet, you need them to go quickly.

Download speed gets it to you fast.

If you do business over the internet, you want it to get to your customer (or business associates) quickly.

The same holds true if you use some form of digital phone system. The reason that systems like Vonage stink so badly is that they use the general internet speeds, and upload speed controls what you sound like to your listener. 

When you are doing business on the phone, but making use of the internet, the last thing you want is to sound like you are underwater to the person on the other end of the phone. THAT's what slow upload speed does to voices.

One of the reasons that so many people are enamored of Magic Jack is that it's somehow managed, while using basically the same technology as Vonage and their ilk, to improve the voice quality that is the measure of a good digital phone system.


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

The previous answer did not address the issue. 
Upload is what is important to a sender in a time sensitive environment. Download is important to the receiver.
I need to use stock trading as an example. I want my order in now, immediately, not subject to service provider foibles. On the other hand, my porn or other movie can take as long as it needs, because usually it is buffered.

It may sound far fetched, but it takes me 12- 16 hours to upload my entire website, and about 2 to download it. I unfortunately went through this crap a while ago.


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## Tech Girl (Mar 23, 2012)

dongringo said:


> I use Telmex Infinitum with the Infinitum Negocio Premium package and if I were day trading, I would shoot them! Constant DNS problems, line drops, blackouts and modem problems (I'm on my fifth).


Can you change your IP address easily with Telmex? For example, where I live in San Diego we have two ISP's: Time Warner and ATT. Both of them allow you to change your IP address, with Time Warner it takes more time, more steps and therefore is more of a hassle whereas with ATT it's much easier to change it. Aside from Telmex, what about the other Mexican ISP's, do they make it easy for a user to change their IP address?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Any other cable subscribers out there? I get internet from Megacable. In 2010 the nominal speed was 3 Mbs (megabit/sec). I don't remember what the actual was. In January 2011, they bumped the nominal speed to 5 Mbs. The actual was around 4.7 Mbs. Then in November 2011, the statement started saying the nominal speed was 10 Mbs, and the actual speed jumped to about 9.7 Mbs. Now the bill is still saying 10 Mbs, but I just noticed that the actual speed is 24.3 Mbs. The upload speeds are much slower as usual. They started at 0.7 Mbs and now are at about 1.8 Mbs. I have been pretty impressed with Megacable. This is not a commercial for them, but the guy who installed the cable originally came on time and did neat job. And the service has been almost uninterrupted since then. One summer during the rains it went out and it took them a few days to get a service man out to figure out that the connection on the pole across the street had a problem. Otherwise, my only problem is that the adobe walls in my house block my wifi router and I have to move it around (or buy an repeater) to get a signal in all the places I want one. That is not Megacable's problem.

PS In response to Tech Girl's question, I don't know about changing the IP number. I don't pay for a fixed IP and haven't paid enough attention to notice if it has ever changed on me.


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## Retired-Veteran (Oct 29, 2011)

PatrickMurtha said:


> For my first nine months in Mexico, I've relied upon the local public Internet initiative, Culiacan Digital, for my home wireless Internet service, but lately there have been a lot of issues with it (their DNS server seems to be dying). So I will need to switch to a private service such as Megacable, which I have been reluctant to do because the prices sound pretty high. I have been told by other expats that the providers here in Culiacan only offer bundled packages - Internet, cable TV, and landline phone at about 1,000 pesos per month - but I am only interested in the Internet service. (I use my TV to watch DVDs, but feel my life is actually better without cable!)
> 
> Have any of you been able to get Internet service only? I am told that different speeds are offered; have you found that it makes a substantial difference to get the top speed? I'm not playing video games or anything high-bandwidth like that; the most I'll do is watch YouTube videos (and even with the high-speed service at my job, YouTube and other streaming video sites often work very poorly here).
> 
> ...



Sorry can't help with the information requested. But I wish I could only pay 1,000 ($78.03) a month that same package for me costs 2,281.16 a month ($178)

It seems like EVERYTHING is jacked up in price in America. :confused2:


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

Your IP address is not yours, unless you pay to buy it. Buying an IP address only makes sense to corporate owners, concerned with marketing ploys or closet CIA agents.

Your internet provider will automatically provide you with an IP (Internet Protocol address), and will change it at will as it suits them. Basically the IP will only include the town of your closest address. 

But it will say Mexico and as such you will be excluded from a lot of services that have royalty issues with Mexico. You can overcome that by using several services that some "kind" moderator will probably block mentioning for being illegal. 

IP addresses have nothing to do with internet speed, but in the right hands they will identify the house in which you are using your computer.

So go - be paranoid and pay 20 or so bucks per months to have an incognito IP or learn to do it yourself.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

PatrickMurtha said:


> For my first nine months in Mexico, I've relied upon the local public Internet initiative, Culiacan Digital, for my home wireless Internet service, but lately there have been a lot of issues with it (their DNS server seems to be dying). So I will need to switch to a private service such as Megacable, which I have been reluctant to do because the prices sound pretty high. I have been told by other expats that the providers here in Culiacan only offer bundled packages - Internet, cable TV, and landline phone at about 1,000 pesos per month - but I am only interested in the Internet service. (I use my TV to watch DVDs, but feel my life is actually better without cable!)
> 
> Have any of you been able to get Internet service only? I am told that different speeds are offered; have you found that it makes a substantial difference to get the top speed? I'm not playing video games or anything high-bandwidth like that; the most I'll do is watch YouTube videos (and even with the high-speed service at my job, YouTube and other streaming video sites often work very poorly here).
> 
> ...


I pay $529 pesos/month for Megacable. Internet and basic cable TV. I don't have a TV set but you can't get an internet only package. Speed is discussed in my earlier post.


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## Grizzy (Nov 8, 2010)

I pay $600 pesos for the telmex package with up to 2 MB download. If I am very lucky I get 1.25. The past two weeks I have had a ton of outages and DNS issues. I get a land line with the package that I rarely use but it is in the house so I have to keep it. I am debating trying the local satelite wireless service A(lagunanet?) to see if it is more reliable and cancelling the telmex internet but I still have to pay for the phone so not sure it would save money. I am getting frustrated by the slow speeds, esp. when I try to skype.


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

dongringo said:


> Your IP address is not yours, unless you pay to buy it. Buying an IP address only makes sense to corporate owners, concerned with marketing ploys or closet CIA agents.
> 
> Your internet provider will automatically provide you with an IP (Internet Protocol address), and will change it at will as it suits them. Basically the IP will only include the town of your closest address.
> 
> ...


What kind of "services" will I not be able to get if I have a Mexican IP address? I have read & understand how to have a an IP address that looks like it's from the US or is blocked, I just want to understand why I would want to do that? What will I be missing if I have just a Mexican IP? (thnx)


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

Specifically I don´t know. Those darn messages " not available in your country" occaionally roil me. Netflix, many videos, basically anything that collects royalty in the US and has no commercial presence in Mexico.

I would absolutely not worry about that aspect unless you are a superbowl freak and missed the last touchdown


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

dongringo said:


> Specifically I don´t know. Those darn messages " not available in your country" occaionally roil me. Netflix, many videos, basically anything that collects royalty in the US and has no commercial presence in Mexico.
> 
> I would absolutely not worry about that aspect unless you are a superbowl freak and missed the last touchdown


Some of the services, like Hulu, won't allow access for non-US ISPs. There are also websites that require registration that won't allow it, because allowing for non-US posters also increases the danger of a hostile attack, trying to take down the site.


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

dongringo said:


> Specifically I don´t know. Those darn messages " not available in your country" occaionally roil me. Netflix, many videos, basically anything that collects royalty in the US and has no commercial presence in Mexico.
> 
> I would absolutely not worry about that aspect unless you are a superbowl freak and missed the last touchdown


ha ha don't care a lick about the superbowl.....!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

terrybahena said:


> ha ha don't care a lick about the superbowl.....!


Neither do I. I only care about the World Series, and I have a subscription from MLB that lets me watch it on my computer.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

A lot of other countries carry big sporting events like the Super Bowl, anyway.

Of course, then you have to deal with their less than informed commentators.

My daughter watched the Super Bowl in Italian this year. 

A sample: The quarterback is throwing the ball. The runner has caught the ball, and is running toward the goal.

Talk about major excitement!


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## terrybahena (Oct 3, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> A lot of other countries carry big sporting events like the Super Bowl, anyway.
> 
> Of course, then you have to deal with their less than informed commentators.
> 
> ...


ha ha! Well we can get satellite tv anyway so I'm sure "major sporting events" will be accessible...


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