Job Discussion Forums

Oreen Scott · Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Posts: 179 Location: Oaxaca, Mexico

I have read information regarding internect connectivity in Mexico on this forum. If I remember correctly the concensus was use the internet cafes, they are inexpensive, and hooking up to the internet at home is expensive and difficult.

However, as I sit here, not yet quite awake with the first of my two cups of coffee, I've checked my bank account, checked the weather, read my email . . etc. I read everything online. . .the newspaper, ebooks, and so on, I wach televsion online, I take Spanish lessons online, I hope to continue my university studies online. I think you are getting the picture.

Living in one room wouldn't bother me in the least. Doing without an internet connection would be a sacrifice.

Do any of you have a broadband internet connection at home? What does it cost? What did it take to get it?

dfields3 · Joined: 14 Feb 2007 Posts: 29 Location: Atlanta

I took my laptop with me when I was living there last summer. You said you liked coffee anyways and they (coffee houses) usually have wireless (I was in a bigger city tho too... Guadalajara). I don't know if you have a laptop/desktop, but I would recommend it. It was the only way for me to have music as well cuz I didn't have room to pack a stereo. If you have to use the internet as much as you say, internet cafes could get pricey.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

FreddyM · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 180 Location: Mexico

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Oh, thank you...didn't know you could separate tv from Internet on that package.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Where are you talking about in Mexico? DF, another city, etc?

When I lived in Huatulco (a small town on the Oaxacan coast) many neighbours could not get high-speed - or even telephone. In my building I was only able to get 56K dial-up. The installation of the phone line was expensive, but the monthly fees weren't too bad. For dial-up it was fairly reliable.

MELEE · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:26 pm Post subject:

The Italian Coffee Company in my town has wifi...

I only use the internet at work. But I have one of those jobs, where I have to sit in the office and have more than enough time to do all my internet stuff at work.

It is not impossible to get it at home in our city, but it's not a breeze. I tell new teachers, if that's an issue for you make sure you househunt with that in mind. Otherwise you might rent a place you like, only to later find you could spend years trying to get a home connection.
Several of the boarding houses catering to students offer internet as one of the attractions.

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

We had it when we moved in. It is the package Guy mentioned with Telmex that comes bundled with phone (and possibly cable). Our landlord hasn't been very forthcoming with what we can expect to pay, but $30 or $40 a month between two people is way cheaper than going to Starbucks every day!

I have a question Guy and someone else who mentioned this stuff - what does 1MB mean? Obviously I know it means one megabyte... but what does that mean for me, a frequent movie downloader? I have been avoiding downloading any movies in case we pay for [bandwidth? is that the word?] like that guy in Canada who got the $85,000 phone bill when he used his supposedly unlimited web browsing on his cell as his computer's modem and downloaded thousands of movies. Do you think I'm safe downloading movies? I REALLY want to watch "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T"! I think about it every day!

notamiss · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:05 pm Post subject:

Jetgirly, if you have your connection through a fixed line in a house, you won't pay extra for downloading more data. Rather if you try to download movies (or any large files) that are too voluminous for your connection, it will just take a l-o-n-g time. I hadn't heard the story about the 85K phone bill, but clearly it's because he was using his cell phone.

dixie · Joined: 23 Apr 2006 Posts: 644 Location: D.F

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

I'm hoping it will be between $30 and $40 (dollars). I talked to some guys who had like, the best internet in the world, and they were paying $60. As this apartment was previously occupied by elderly people, I would imagine they hadn't subscribed to the really good service. We don't use the phone line at all, except for incoming long-distance calls. Because we're full-time online students we need the internet at home, and we were throwing money away going to Starbucks every day while apartment hunting. I've got some movies coming in at about 80 kb/s now that y'all have reassured me, thanks! Now if I could just get them to upload faster...

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Uploading is a pain in Mexico...you can only get about 10 kB/s n the 1 meg line. On downloads, a 700 MB movie can come down as quickly as 3 hours or so, but if you're using a P2P prog, and the movie is not widely shared, it ca take days. That has less to do with the connection than the availability though.

Jetgirly · Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 741

I only download really obscure stuff, but my favorite site requires me to maintain a ratio of 0.3 (going up to 0.5 soon) so I have to be really careful on that end too. For current stuff, I'd rather just pay two bucks at the market than wait for hours. Except, my very first Mexican market movie purchase was a scam! I THOUGHT I was buying Cloverfield, but I ended up with a rip-off of the movie called Monster by the same folks who released The Da Vinci Treasure, I Am Omega and Snakes on a Train. However, Snakes on a Train sounds rather appealing...

FreddyM · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 180 Location: Mexico