High speed internet in Costa Rica

[sprite]

I need to know how probable it is to be able to obtain high speed internet around San Ramon. Not in the town but about 20 minutes away in the farming area. Trading stocks on the internet requires a reliable and fast connection. I am not concerned about the expense because it is justified. I am only concerned that it is possible.

[Andrew]

I have traded online for many years for my clients and wouldn’t dream of doing so in that area. The main reason I live where I do near San Jose is because I need RELIABLE, SECURE and fast internet otherwise, I would be enjoying the life and fresh air in the country side.

There is little appreciation for the time value of money anywhere here, there is no appreciation of the sense of urgency that would be required should a technical problem arise – and it will – and, in a “farming area’ in Costa Rica, I would guess that you ‘may’ be able to get ADSL if you are lucky, but I would suggest that it would not be anywhere reliable enough to trade stocks…

Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com

[ecotonecons]

You can likely get satellite high speed internet there too from a US based provider such as Hughes. We use it here in Northern BC and it works great anywhere. Not cheap though, $150/month for 1.5MBPS.

[DavidCMurray]

Dr. Dish can install a high-speed direct satellite uplink any time you want it in virtually any place in Costa Rica. It’ll cost you about $7,500US for installation and the monthly unlimited service begins at around $120US.

Also, there’s a new wireless service underway in Grecia that is spreading rapidly. Installation costs are in the range of $250US and monthly service is $35US. By the time you’re ready, this service should be available in the San Ramon area, sprite.

[sprite]

I accessed a wireless signal from Grecia last week when I was in Naranjo. Of course, it was in and out all day long and slow as molasses.
If it costs 7k and a monthlhy of $120, AND it is reliable, I would go for that. I would hate to have to rent an office and drive to San Jose to do this.

[DavidCMurray]

You don’t have to rent an office or drive to San Jose, sprite, I promise. The signal you got from Grecia is headed your way. In a couple of years, San Ramon will be well served from more local infrastructure.

What Dr. Dish has to offer uses the same satellite service as the U.S. Army which insists on a very high level of reliability and security. Since you’d be communicating directly with the backbone, without any intermediary connection, even the slower transmission speeds would probably suit your needs just fine. And you can always upgrade.

[sprite]

That sounds promising! Maybe Scott can one day leave the San Jose area for more open spaces and breath clean country air again if this comes to pass.
This is one area of development in CR which I feel has a better chance to improve probably more quickly than most others simply because so little is required to set it up and there is an increasing market for the service with every foreigner that immigrates. High speed internet has become a ubiquitous necessity for most of the developed world.

[DavidCMurray]

In a recently posted article on this website, George Lundquist offered his usual fare of excellent information — with one exception. Where George’s article states that high-speed Internet access is only available in the San Jose area, that information is out of date — and becoming moreso.

First, for several years, Dr. Dish has offered direct uplink service to the same satellite system used by the U.S. Army. (Nobody said “cheap”.) Second, in Grecia and at least some other areas, cable TV systems (Amnet among them) offer cable modem service. And third, again in and around Grecia and San Ramon at least, there is wireless high-speed Internet access available.

These latter services are typically line-of-sight systems, so while distance is not much of a constraining factor, your site must be on a direct line with another user from whom you receive your signal. Each user receives his or her signal from another and can send it on to someone else. In this way, the system becomes more widespread as users are added. And it’s expanding rapidly.

Edited on Jul 03, 2008 09:51

[Andrew]

Thank you David

We did make some changes in George’s article this morning to more accurately reflect this …

[DavidRushton]

Here’s another fan of Don Paul (Dr. Dish). I tried the ICE system to save money. It took six weeks to get it in and four months so far to get it OUT! They just will not come and take the box away and – they keep charging me for a service I can’t use. It’s useless.

Don Paul is fast, he’s reliable, and he’s a real gentleman. Yes, his service is expensive but like Curtiss Mathis, it’s darn well worth it.

[millverb]

Can you give me contact info for the line of sight service mentioned that is in use in the San ramon/ Grecia area?

[Cancertomnpdx]

When I visited Ben Cart’s house on George Lundquist’s tour in May, he showed me a new Wi-Fi system he had installed. The unit was very small, attached to the roof of his office that was giving him faster speed then he ever had before. I think the unit was about $400 installed and then $40 per month. If I am recalling his details he told in our brief conversation his new system directly connected to a satellite. Unfortunately I did not write down the details until we stopped that evening and I forgot the name of the company he mentioned that provided the service.

Tom on a budget in Portland

[DavidCMurray]

Millverb, go to http://www.purowireless.com.

The foregoing is for informational purposes only. I have no stake or other interest in the company.

[ardenbrink]

For the past couple of years we’ve had quite adequate DSL in San Ramon, but once we moved (recently) out to Magallanes, a few kilometers out of town, that was no longer available. We have the WiMax service that was referred to (at Ben Cart’s house) and have been happy overall. It seems very fast and has been very reliable where we are. As has been noted, though, it is a “line of sight” process so your service is VERY dependent on exactly where you live and where it is installed. We’ve had almost none of the minor temporary outages we used to have occasionally on the DSL, but we have had two occasions in the past 6 weeks or so where it was down for half a day or so. An annoying inconvenience in my business, maybe an unacceptable one in yours.

I’ve copied their contact info below from a recent email they’d sent us. Karla is the “office person” and is probably a reasonable person to talk with if you want more info:

Karla Vindas Monge, IDNET S.A., Administración y Finanzas
Tel.(506) 2453-3434 ext 1000 (506) 8878-1732, Email: kvindas@idnetcr.com, SKYPE: karlavindas

Hope that helps.
–arden–

Arden Rembert Brink
Magallanes (San Ramon)

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