Internet In The Philippines A Bad Joke

[garywigle]

I have lived here for a little over 2 years and can not think of a better place to live. Some Companies offer up to 3 meg download speed.

One question before I get to more answers. Are you married or not??

Regards,
Gary

Originally Posted by wingnut22

Garywigle,

I have friends that have recommended that I retire in Tagum City. Every thing i've read about Tagum City has been very positive so far. I was concerned about the internet speed there as well as other locations in the RP.

How long have you been living there, and would you recommend it for a single retired expat. My friends have retired
and will be moving there soon. The wife is from the local area and her immediate family is there. I am looking for an interesting place to live, from where I can travel as well as have access to fishing and SCUBA diving.

Thanks for your help

[wingnut22]

I'm single and i'm not in a hurry to find a wife or girlfriend. My friend and his wife told me about Tagum city. My retirement income is decent for here in the U.S., so I figure I should do alright in the RP. I don't like big crowded cities. I also plan to travel to various locations in Asia as well as Europe.

Thanks again,
Ron

Originally Posted by garywigle

I have lived here for a little over 2 years and can not think of a better place to live. Some Companies offer up to 3 meg download speed.

One question before I get to more answers. Are you married or not??

Regards,
Gary

[Gene and Viol]

Originally Posted by jon1

Gene,

The only downside to that solution is that it will be subject to rain fade. This means that when it's raining (or even worse a heavily laden cloud that hasn't dumped it's load yet) is in the path of your dish, you will have little if any or degraded connectivity. Typically those dishes are Ku band and are very weak in power output along with a small aperture antenna (low gain).

Just my 2cents..

Jon

Hi Jon,

Yea that could be true as I had a problem like that in the states with satellite TV/Internet but only lasted a few seconds or so even during Midwest t-storms and tornadoes. Angeles City Flying Club here had a system like that though and had good luck with it. Main thing is that locals have nothing to do with the company or it's service and it will work okay. That thinking held true for the flying club.

Gene

[garywigle]

If you don't like big cities then you will not like Davao City. IT IS BIG! Tagum City some where south of 300,000 folks and just 55 kms northeast of Davao City. If you need to get to the airport it is easy. If you had a car it would be easy to get around Mindanao. I understand there is good diving near Davao City. As for sport fishing I have heard a lot of bad things about that here in the Philippines. Remember the local folk depend on fishing for their income and do not like someone else fishing in their spot. Really bad things have happened over that.

One of the biggest problems you will have is finding a nice place to live here. I know another Ron that likes Tagum City very much but a nice apartment is hard to find. The city is growing so fast the apartments have a waiting list a km long. I got lucky. A friend of a friend knew of the place I live in now. 5,000 pesos per month. Two bedrooms, two CR's. Around 60 sq meters in size. I knew one expat that was paying 7,500 per month for a place only half that size. Nice place but small. He went back to the States after less than 6 months. Just couldn't find enough stuff to do to keep him busy. You might want to think about that. That is why I said you would want a car. We married guys like Tagum City. Nice place to live with your family. Single guys??? I am not sure there is enough to do here.

It is safe enough also. In all the years I only know of one expat that got into trouble. He would not say what he did or said but the NPA asked him to leave. He didn't think he wanted to leave so they came again. He left real quick and said he will never come back. The NPA is very active in Davao del Norte but they leave the expats alone. One guy here in town wasn't paying his help on time so the NPA told the help to leave the building. Then they set the place on fire. The man pays the help on time and with the full amount. I like that about them. Then they shoot the police and I don't like that so much.

Anything else? I will try my best to answer. I am disabled so I don't get out that much. I may not be that much help.

Originally Posted by wingnut22

I'm single and i'm not in a hurry to find a wife or girlfriend. My friend and his wife told me about Tagum city. My retirement income is decent for here in the U.S., so I figure I should do alright in the RP. I don't like big crowded cities. I also plan to travel to various locations in Asia as well as Europe.

Thanks again,
Ron

[garywigle]

It really depends on where you live in the Philippines as to having good internet service. I just checked my speed on Speedtest dot net and got 4.11 megs. Not bad for less than 1,000 pesos per month. Some places very near here have NO internet service. If the internet is important to you then check out the place you want to live first. Remember this is the Philippines and don't get mad if you picked the wrong place to live. :-)


[quote=Fordtech;775114]I live in Angeles City and my internet service is from ComClark, they have improved there internet speed and now it works very good. I am extremly happy now with it

[garywigle]

Well Gene if things stay the same by the time you get here you can expect to pay well over 1,000 for satellite internet. That is in US Dollars!!!! Besides the lag time sucks. :-(

Originally Posted by Gene and Viol

I also heard that their service has improved. However, I'm also told that to get the better or faster connection one must pay over P3,000 per month. I would be tempted to use them again but not for that amount and where it's a local company, service quality could change again just a quickly.
In less than two years when retirement starts for us we will be looking for a satellite internet provider that is located completely outside of the Philippines to help insure service is good and will remain that way.

Gene

[Gene and Viol]

Originally Posted by garywigle

Well Gene if things stay the same by the time you get here you can expect to pay well over 1,000 for satellite internet. That is in US Dollars!!!! Besides the lag time sucks. :-(

I've been here nine years so am speaking from experience on internet speed or the lack of it.
We are using Smart broadband with wireless roof antenna. Perhaps I'll try Comclark again and see if it's better than when they were first in business.

[wingnut22]

Thanks for your reply,

Some basic info about me. I'm single, drink very little, don't smoke and i'm not into the party scene. I'm retired from a law enforcement career and I have been busted up pretty bad in the past. I'm healthy now and hope to keep it that way. I'm looking forward to a quiet and peaceful place to live. I intend to stay busy as I have many hobbies. My intent is to use my home or apartment as a base from where I can travel.

My friend from my Air Force days has been married to his filipina bride for more than 34 years. He and his wife will be returning to the RP within the next year. I have been invited to stay with them, if they get there before I do. In either case when I arrive i'll find a place to rent and start to explore the area.

Again thanks for your help,
Ron

Originally Posted by garywigle

If you don't like big cities then you will not like Davao City. IT IS BIG! Tagum City some where south of 300,000 folks and just 55 kms northeast of Davao City. If you need to get to the airport it is easy. If you had a car it would be easy to get around Mindanao. I understand there is good diving near Davao City. As for sport fishing I have heard a lot of bad things about that here in the Philippines. Remember the local folk depend on fishing for their income and do not like someone else fishing in their spot. Really bad things have happened over that.

One of the biggest problems you will have is finding a nice place to live here. I know another Ron that likes Tagum City very much but a nice apartment is hard to find. The city is growing so fast the apartments have a waiting list a km long. I got lucky. A friend of a friend knew of the place I live in now. 5,000 pesos per month. Two bedrooms, two CR's. Around 60 sq meters in size. I knew one expat that was paying 7,500 per month for a place only half that size. Nice place but small. He went back to the States after less than 6 months. Just couldn't find enough stuff to do to keep him busy. You might want to think about that. That is why I said you would want a car. We married guys like Tagum City. Nice place to live with your family. Single guys??? I am not sure there is enough to do here.

It is safe enough also. In all the years I only know of one expat that got into trouble. He would not say what he did or said but the NPA asked him to leave. He didn't think he wanted to leave so they came again. He left real quick and said he will never come back. The NPA is very active in Davao del Norte but they leave the expats alone. One guy here in town wasn't paying his help on time so the NPA told the help to leave the building. Then they set the place on fire. The man pays the help on time and with the full amount. I like that about them. Then they shoot the police and I don't like that so much.

Anything else? I will try my best to answer. I am disabled so I don't get out that much. I may not be that much help.

[garywigle]

Hi Ron,

If you have hobbies in the States you should have no trouble finding the same hobby here in the Philippines. If you wind up in Tagum City give me a call. I know of a nice coffee shop here in town.

Regards,
Gary

Originally Posted by wingnut22

Thanks for your reply,

Some basic info about me. I'm single, drink very little, don't smoke and i'm not into the party scene. I'm retired from a law enforcement career and I have been busted up pretty bad in the past. I'm healthy now and hope to keep it that way. I'm looking forward to a quiet and peaceful place to live. I intend to stay busy as I have many hobbies. My intent is to use my home or apartment as a base from where I can travel.

My friend from my Air Force days has been married to his filipina bride for more than 34 years. He and his wife will be returning to the RP within the next year. I have been invited to stay with them, if they get there before I do. In either case when I arrive i'll find a place to rent and start to explore the area.

Again thanks for your help,
Ron

[garywigle]

I use PLDP MyDSL and like it a lot. No typhoons here in Tagum City.