Can VOIP work well in Cancun? (speed test inside)

It would probably be more cost effective to run your own fiber optic line across the gulf

... or get a direct satellite feed....

I did have a conversation the other day about this subject, and when I pointed out that IMO TelMex and Cablemas could easily increase their speeds tenfold without much of any additional infrastructure costs.. we stumbled upon one fact that may be the reasoning behind the crap speeds we get here.

If the Internet speeds were fast everyone would share the connection!

You have to admit that it makes since.. given the lower wages around here, people would be more likely to divide their Internet service (and costs) amongst their neighbors if the bandwidth was greater, but by keeping the service speeds so painfully slow, no one wants to share their access, since it would have such a dramatic affect on their own use.

Its just not practice to share a 1 or 2 mb line between too many computers. While a 25 mb connection could be comfortably divided among 10 or more users without a huge impact in browsing performance.

 

It's definitely possible I'd say...although I figured the weak signal from the crappy routers they give you was their front line defense for sharing connections! We get 0 signal in our living room (router is in bedroom) :shock:

 

If you're living in a well built concrete house, don't blame the router. There's a lot of rebar buried in that concrete. Most wireless routers allow certain customizations which may help. If you have a 2Wire router, going to this page: http://192.168.1.254/xslt?PAGE=C05&THISPAGE=C01&NEXTPAGE=C05 will allow you to raise the transmitter's power and change the standard channel. I have my power set at 10 as opposed to the default 5. I suspect these increases are logs and not linear. I'm on the standard channel, 6.

If you have a different router, you'll have to poke around to find the correct page. I live in a 3 level concrete house. The router, a 2Wire, is located on top of a bookcase on the 2nd floor. We have coverage on all 3 floors and outside, next to the pool, about 10 meters from the back door.

Alternately, you can buy a cheap wireless access point and place it between your two locations, building a sort of wireless bridge to your router. Prior to receiving this 2Wire when I bumped up my connection speed, I had to do this with the old wireless modem/router they originally provided way back in 2006. I used my old Linksys router as an access point, bridged wirelessly to the modem/router to increase my coverage. The new 2Wire we received in late 2008 eliminated that need.

Note that this only addresses the modem/routers transmit strength. You'll need to examine your wireless card in your computer to insure that power-saving is turned off and transmit strength is maximized. I can't give you any further hints as each computer's wifi adopter is different. You should find the settings you need to address in the adapters properties.

 

Mixz1, if this works, you are an absolute legend!! I had no idea there was such a setting, i have the crappy blue and grey router from when i first got here in 2007 and the wireless is so poor to a point that it sometimes didn't even work across the same room! I've just checked and it's set to power level 4, i've upped it to the 10 and i'm gonna test it!

If it doesn't work, i suppose i'll need to demand a router that is more up to date! (Wish me luck)

 

Sam - the one thing I've found is that Telmex is generous with their equipment. I got my new modem/router by simply walking in with my old one and asking if they could replace it. They exchanged it on the spot. My neighbor just had a new one delivered by claiming his old one was shot. Let me know if upping the power helps. BTW, what is the make and model of your current modem?

 

We pay for the 2 mb/s connection, but for the last week or so this has been our speed. Hopefully we are getting another free upgrade like we did 2 years ago.

 

We have just called Telmex because we're very interested in the 5mb package on that website, looks like the price has come down recently, it wasn't 999 pesos the other day, i'm sure it was 1400 pesos alone for the 4mb, but this package now even includes 200 minutes to the states which is a real bonus.

Well we called and they said there is no 5mb, even though the website states that, it is definetely 4mb, we're upgrading next week hopefully, i'll keep you updated on how it is.

Cancun Fun, is that your home or work connection? That's a 4mb connection you have there, very strange though is that mine has double aswell, i have a 1mb connection and it's showing this...

 

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It's a 2WIRE 2701HG-T, we just asked on the phone and even with our upgrade they said we couldn't have a new router, everyone else around this area seems to have a dark grey one that works great. It seems to me that once your a customer here, no one gives a shit about you, as long as your paying they won't help you out, you can even threaten cablemas and they call your bluff, such a different level of customer service in this country to the states and england.

We pay Sky on a credit card which is really annoying because they charge up something like 500 pesos a year to keep the card running and then we have to go to the bank every month and queue up to pay the bloody thing, when we asked Sky if we could change it to coming out the bank, they said it would cost US, 1600 pesos to do it, how crap is that? What would happen if i just stopped the credit card? I fear they would make me pay the money another way and charge me for the admin of changing it, that would never happen in England, they would just change the payment details on the computer as to not risk not getting the money and it would cost them a total of about 2 mins of their time!

 

As I stated in an older thread, Telmex is gradually doubling the speed at no increase in cost as a result of competetive pressure in the DF which will ultimately spread to the rest of Mexico. Eventually everyone will benefit from this. It's good to see it rolling out in Centro. We've had it in the ZH for months.

I am fortunate that being one of their earliest customers for ADSL in the ZH I have gotten gradual free upgrades and am now at the highest residential tier, 4MB, paying the same rate as I did at the start, which is less than 50 USD per month, including their unlimited national and low cost Americas packages.

 

The early 2701HG-T routers had their problems and Telmex was exchanging them with no questions asked. If your's doesn't disconnect every 10 minutes it's a good one and the signal strength increase should prove beneficial.

If you feel you have a marginal piece of equipment, there are "creative" ways to justify a replacement.