Finding good internet in a third world wonderland
Living on Lake Atitlan is and has been a great enhancement to my life. The culture is fascinating the lake is beautiful, life in general is good here. The biggest challenge now is finding Internet that is good enough to do my work…
I wrote off trying to live in my favorite town here when I am working because they only have satellite internet and the latency of satellite just won’t work for me. So, here I am in Panajechel where the Internet is at least acceptable. There are three games in town if you want internet to your house or business. The local phone company will hook you up for the fastest internet in town within a few weeks if you have a phone line to the house you are in. The local cable company will hook you up to the second fastest internet around a little quicker if you have cable run to the house. Lastly there is a local company mayanet that will set you up with a wireless connection (the slowest option, but usable) anywhere in their range.
I haven’t decided which to go with yet, I think I will likely get the slower wireless because I am not sure which house I will be in next month and the wireless router can be moved to any house/hotel within range. I will keep you posted.
on January 17th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Ok, heres the update. I ended up going with the Cable Internet Company, which is the second fastest Internet in town. So far so good I have around 128K Internet speed upload and download. Sooo… I guess it is possible to work in a third world paradise, now I just have to make myself work.
on March 28th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Hi,
TIGO cellular claims to serve the Lake Atitlan area (based on their coverage map) and offers an unlimited-usage Internet plan for U$35. I am guessing by its not being mentioned here that it is either painfully slow or not available at all.
http://www.tigo.com.gt/cobertura_gsm.php
One area-contact told me that TIGO’s maps claim quite a bit more coverage than exists. Considering the terrain, their claims seemed to require a lot more infrastructure than could be logically supported by their customer-base. He added that he has not heard of TIGO being used for Internet around the lake yet, though I am surprised they would not have a tower that is line-of-sight to Pana.
Another site mentioned fiber-optic in Pana:
http://www.expatexchange.com/expat/index.cfm?frmid=217&forumid=0&dbname=ee&tpcid=3331126&shared=N
(down a couple messages the fiber-optic option is mentioned in a reply)
If this is actually present, 802.11 nets would be quite easy and inexpensive to setup from the fiber-connection with some homemade directional antennas and Wireless Routers. I’m not sure what the Guate rules are regarding broadcast frequencies, wattage, etc, though.
on March 28th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Yea, nobody I know here on Lake Atitlan is using or has mentioned anyone using the tigo cellular connection. Though I know the cell towers are supporting cellular phones all over the lake.
There are fiber-optic lines to a few towns on the lake. The main problem here is the rate at which information flows there could be several other options available here and nobody would know. The people selling the services that exist are not going to tell you.
Guate rules are regarding broadcast frequencies, wattage, etc probably don’t exist, and if they do they are definitely not going to be enforced unless you ask them too and then its unlikely. The cops are all too busy chasing girls and trying to make a buck.
Good luck, on your quest to get connected, feel free to ask more questions…
Peace,
Jopa
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