Internet (ISP)

[sensualspirit]

Hi,

What are the ISPs like over there?

I recently moved to Panama, was told by expats prior to making the move, that the Internet is fine (fast & reliable) & nothing could be further from the truth. Not only that, they have no clue what they are doing here. It's like talking to children who I know are more intelligent than Panamanians.

Can you tell I'm pissed??? LOL Every day I deal with the drama here & I can't work or even talk on my phone which is VOIP. I'm not getting the speeds I pay for, the ping is too high & now my DL speeds have even dropped below 1 MB.

So anyway:

1. How many ISPs are there, or is there a monopoly?

2. Is it fiber optics or still regular cable? DSL?

3. Is there one company better than the other?

4. I assume these are all wired services, or are they wireless? I need wired, not wireless.

5. What about the small towns, do they have the same quality ISP?

6. What are the prices like?

7. Speeds?

8. How much bandwidth do they allow you to use per month or is it unlimited?

9. What is the tech support like at these companies?

Arrogant or helpful?
Do they know what they are doing, or do you have to constantly have to ask to speak to a manager?

10. Do they have English speaking customer service & techies there?

Thanks for all your help.


Michelle

[grandmaster]

Assuming you're asking about Israel!

1. How many ISPs are there, or is there a monopoly?

I know of Netvision, Bezeq and Hot. There are probably others but these are the major ones.

2. Is it fiber optics or still regular cable? DSL?

There's fibre and DSL. Maybe cable with Hot too as they're a Cable TV company.

3. Is there one company better than the other?

I'm with Bezeq and I've heard complaints about Hot's reliability but I've never been with any other company.

4. I assume these are all wired services, or are they wireless? I need wired, not wireless.

Eh? This will be down to router you get. Almost all of them are wireless but with network ports on the router. So both.

5. What about the small towns, do they have the same quality ISP?

Couldn't say but Israel is fairly small and very high-tech orientated.

6. What are the prices like?

Not great. For phone line (which you need with Bezeq) and internet I *think* we're paying something like 350 shekels.

7. Speeds?

I get 15mbps download (about 1.7 megabytes per second at full speed) and a paltry 0.8mbps upload (93K a second or thereabouts).

8. How much bandwidth do they allow you to use per month or is it unlimited?

Totally unlimited.

9. What is the tech support like at these companies? Arrogant or helpful?
Do they know what they are doing, or do you have to constantly have to ask to speak to a manager?

Very helpful in my experience with Bezeq.

10. Do they have English speaking customer service & techies there?

Nine times out of ten, yes.

[sensualspirit]

Sorry for the delay & thank you for your time.

Wow, that is expensive. That's like $92 USD per month

Not sure why a router matters when it comes to wireless or wired. My router has nothing to do with the ISP, that's my hardware, not theirs.

Wired means the cable is run outside underground, if it's DSL, it runs through the phone line & you said you need a phone line, so I have to assume you have DSL.


Michelle

[LazarA]

Hi,

You can get anything from snail pace to 100Mbit DSL (landline) or Cable TV (not sure what tech they use). There are various ISPs competing in the market, but these basic 2 bandwidth providers (to the ISPs)are more or less a duopol. They are now about to allow the electricity company into the fray with their grid and there is another undersea cable from Europe that will hopefully be open for service soon.
We use 20Mbit DSL and are quite happy with it, using Skype and other bandwidth guzzlers adequately, so I shouldn't think you will have any trouble getting a very fast connection (100Mbit) for around $25 a month I guess. If you need any extra info, just write. Bye.

[sensualspirit]

Thanks for the info.

I'm still researching to see if I should make the move


Michelle