Internet Speed

[Out1]

What kind of speed do you get with the Telmex $599 package ?

Our speed with the $399 package is varies from 2 up to 5 Mbps.

[RVGRINGO]

Your speed will not necessarily depend upon what you pay, but upon what infrastructure is available to your neighborhood, including the wiring from the pole to your home. Inside the home, the wiring is your responsibility. We always used the $389 DSL+Phone from Telmex and never had a complaint, once all the connections were tightened from our pole to the Telmex station in Chapala. They had been in poor shape and Telmex just made excuses, until we proved that the problem was theirs. Then they sent tecnicos to spend half a day tightening connections. All was good for the next ten years and speeds continually increased as they continued to improve the infrastructure.

[johanson]

Like RV said, it depends upon the infrastructure between you and where Telmex connects to the internet. I live per Telmex, 1080 meters away from their office and my DSLAM card. And wiring in the street is great and my house was recently rewired to include telephone lines. So upon entering my modem (via the keyboard) my speeds were set at 12.54 down by 0.959 Mb/sec up and as expected, I get about 85% thereof. Or on this busy weekend

I have the $599 package. Yet many of my neighbors who live just one block further away from the connection point get terrible speeds.

[lcscats]

I live in the same neighborhood Pete lives in in Ajijic and I get .8 from Telmex. I get 10 from Telecable.

So it depends on the length and quality of the phone line for Telmex DSL. Problem with Telecable (cable) is when too many people are downloading in your neighborhood as we share the bandwidth on the cable. Telmex is more stable. But Telecable has a brand new cables going in all over town so unless Telmex updates Telecable may be the winner in the future. Quality of Telecable service and product is much better than it use to be.

[Oatsie]

I live in Chula Vista and when I asked Telmex about the speed I could expect if I upgraded to the 599 package, they said that 3.0 down and .5 up was about the maximum I could expect until the street wiring is upgraded.... no matter how much I paid monthly!

Exactly what everyone said above.

[Ferret]

I'm not sure you can believe anything that Telmex says.

We were paying the 999 pesos a month. We were never told that that package was no longer available, they just kept billing us for it and we, stupidly, paid. Due to unbelievably awful speed and phone calls to Mexico City, we found that the max package is now $599. We had been getting 5.0 down and 0.5 up and we fully expected it to return to those levels when the "problem" had been fixed. We have a new Telmex modem too but the speed has never gotten back to what it was.

So, on Ocampo just west of Rio Bravo, I have been running both Cable and Telmex for the whole month of March....

Cable wins hands down. On the $599 package with Telmex (yes we made them change it), the average speed is 1.70 down and 0.33 up...whereas Cable, with the $402. package + $50. for wireless, the average speed is 8.50 down and 1.67 up.

We have the Vonage phone hooked up to the cable. The cable has never "died".

Another interesting observation is that both computers MAY revert automatically to Telmex, so I always check to see which service I'm using and just flip it back to cable.

I will run the two side by side for another few months and then, I'll probably dump the Telmex internet. I resent paying for something I'm not getting and I resent paying for something that doesn't even exist. Shame on you Telmex!

[ComputerGuy]

Our speed with the $399 package is varies from 2 up to 5 Mbps.

I live in Chula Vista and when I asked Telmex about the speed I could expect if I upgraded to the 599 package, they said that 3.0 down and .5 up was about the maximum I could expect until the street wiring is upgraded....

If you are getting 5 mbps at any time, then your problem has nothing to do with distance, usage, or anything like that. Right now I'm visiting Chula Vista near the beer store, and getting over 5 on a regular basis (and over.6 up). That's on the $389 plan. And using WiFi, not even a direct ethernet connection.

[Oatsie]

If you are getting 5 mbps at any time, then your problem has nothing to do with distance, usage, or anything like that. Right now I'm visiting Chula Vista near the beer store, and getting over 5 on a regular basis (and over.6 up). That's on the $389 plan. And using WiFi, not even a direct ethernet connection.

I'm a couple of blocks north of you and a block east. Come on over and tell me I'm not getting those speeds. PM for exact address....

[lcscats]

You can be across the street and have different results. Folks DSL works over the pair of wires that your phone uses. Quality of connection and length of wire determine how fast DSL can work. So they test your wire and give you the results. Mine is actually 1.5 but I keep it at .8 so it works all the time even in the rain. Obviously Pete and I even with the fact that we are in the same area have some very different phone line testing results. Phone lines wind all around the place. Fact is Telmex does not have the recources to supply everybody with high speed (over 5) internet. Telecable is obviously going for Telmex business and will probably get it unless Telmex wises up.

[ComputerGuy]

I'm a couple of blocks north of you and a block east. Come on over and tell me I'm not getting those speeds. PM for exact address....

First, what lcscats said.

Second, why would I try to scam you? 5 Mbps is available in your area. I get it, neighbours get it. That whole area is on the same service. If you're not getting it, there is a reason, and once found, fixable.

Third, if you talked to TelMex on the phone and they said that about your street wiring, they are scamming you. No way would they no that unless they sent someone out.

[Oatsie]

<snip> Second, why would I try to scam you? 5 Mbps is available in your area. I get it, neighbours get it. That whole area is on the same service. If you're not getting it, there is a reason, and once found, fixable.

Third, if you talked to TelMex on the phone and they said that about your street wiring, they are scamming you. No way would they no that unless they sent someone out.

Computer Guy: I'm sorry if you interpreted my reply as a suggestion that I thought you were trying to scam me - or anyone. That never entered my mind.

I was only repeating what the service rep at the TelMex office told me in person.

I had a Telcel repairman here last year and he rewired the house AND replaced the wire from the pole to the house. He then checked the speed from the modem to the computer and said that was the best I could expect.....

I was being serious when I asked you to come over and try to figure out why.

[ComputerGuy]

My apologies. So here's what I think: it is possible that the wiring on different streets is not the same. I know on del Roble, it hasn't been upgraded in at least five years... . Some months back, we had occasion to discover that a simple connector box on the roof, from the street pole wiring to reroute it into the house, had pretty much rotted. I replaced that, and immediately both phone service and Internet signal improved. Unfortunately, I'm not a lineman, so it's not something I'm up on... that was just a lucky accident.

So you've had that done, but maybe he wasn't the best... who knows. But he is wrong and so is the office, because that whole area is on the same pedestal. There's a huge one underground in the sidewalk beside the defunct restaurant there. Checking the speed from the modem to the computer is not a complete troubleshooting routine, and I know from experience that most of these guys don't know anymore about modems than "plug it in; if it works, great. If not, get another modem from the truck."

The guys at the local office know even less. TelMex in Mexico City has to be contacted and go through the whole QA thing with you; there are several things they can do on their end. And they will then decide whether to send a lineman out to your neighbourhood.

There is one other thing, and it's a biggie, and is not technical: everyone, from the local TelMex business office to the linesmen to the Mexico City support team has quite obviously been told to use any excuse to get rid of nagging customers. It's TelMex's own fault, for promising 10 and better speeds for years, before they had the capability and before they researched where this promise would fail. So they have an easy answer for you: "Can't be done until we upgrade." Can't get it in your area". "That's the best for where you are". I'm sure sometimes that may be true, but I have been told the same thing in two different houses of my own here, and many in customer houses, and I fixed the problem anyway. Sometimes that involved me getting up on the roof; other times, and more often than not, it meant calling back to TelMex in Mexico City until I found someone who wasn't so lazy.

[Pogo]

My story might be interesting in this context. I got sick of speeds below 1meg down for the majority of time (some times I got up to 2.5 late at night). So I called Telmex service and inquired about more speed. The service tech went away to check the infrastructure in my neighborhood. Then came back and told me that all was well for me to get up to 10Mbps if I bought the $599 package. I said yes and he told me to check in about 2 hours.

Sure enough, 2 hours later I had 9.5 Mbps down. I was deliriously happy. Unfortunately, the 9.5 Mbps. only lasted for two days. On Monday, the speed was back down to 1.2 Mbps. And it stayed there for the next two days - during which I called and spoke to Telmex service multiple times. They finally decided to send a service man out to check the wiring and the modem. All was well with that. Then he checked the download speed - first on his equipment; then on my speed test app (Ookla Speedtest). Guess what! My download speed was suddenly up to 9.7 Mbps!!!! We agreed there was not much chance of actually getting 10 Mbps, but 9.7 would do very nicely. I thanked him profusely and he left.

Next day my speed was down to 1.4Mbps!

So I called again. Same deal. They sent the service guy out two days later. He came in, checked the speed on his equipment, then on my speedtest. Voila!!! The download speed was 9.8Mbps!!! I said 'Thanks.' He went away. I was suspicious.

Next morning - same thing. Speed was 1.3Mbps. Stayed that way throughout the day. I started calling at 5pm, asking for the English-speaking woman I had last talked to who sent the serviceman out the second time. When I finally got her on the phone, I calmly, gently explained all of the above events. She promised she would get to the bottom of this and have it repaired. She left the phone for a good 15 min. and finally came back saying she had explained all of what I said to her supervisor. She said they were sending the serviceman out first thing in the morning. If the same thing happened, I was to call her directly just as I had done before.

Next morning, the same serviceman was at my door. We went through the same dance. Checked the speed - 9.8Mbps!!! He left. An hour later, I checked the speed - 1.4 Mbps. I started calling Telmex immediately. The service tech I spoke to was not in. She was not in all day. This time I had to speak to a male tech named Jonathon. I told him the whole story. He said Marianna, the previous tech with the supervisor, was not at work today. But he would help me get to the bottom of this and get it fixed. Then he started into all the same questions: what was my name, what was my number, what was my . . . blah, blah, blah. I said I had given all that information - several times. It had to be there in the file. He said there was nothing in the file - no record of my having called before . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I said, "I see."

And now I really do see. I see that this whole service thing is a scam to keep a probable hundreds or thousands of Telmex customers upgrading their package in the false hope of getting faster speed. But it is a silly, false hope. But they make money on it. And they do not have to pay for any more bandwidth. They just keep switching on the limited number of 10Mbps. lines whenever a customer complains long enough. Then they switch it off. And blame it on some ghost in the machine.

Too bad this does not seem to be a community wherein you can mobilize people to take the definitive action that makes all financial rip-off artists like Telmex, Pemex, Bank of America, Chase, Monsanto, etc. (you know who they are) quit their tyrannical ways. All we have to do is quit. That's all. If we quit buying their products or services - even for short periods of time - they get real nervous. Because their stockholders get real nervous. And then things straighten out for awhile. Until they get comfortable again. Then they start squeezing again. But all we have to do is quit again. We don't have to march; we don't have to shout. All we would need to do is announce that all the expats in, say, La Floresta are not going to pay their Telmex bill for the months of April and May. And then announce that all of Chula Vista, up and down, is not going to pay their Telmex bill for June and July. About the time that it is announced that none of the expats in Riberas Del Pilar are going to pay their Telmex bills for the months of August and September because of the absurdly slow internet speed - about then we would have their attention. About then, download speed would be going up and staying up. At least for a while. Yes, it would be inconvenient for a while. And yes, some might lose their phone lines and home broadband service for a while. But guess who would win in the end?

But it will never happen. There would be too much clucking and nay-saying. There would be too many who would sell out for the promises of big rewards that would be announced by Telmex. You could never get this kind of cooperative effort out of this community. Oh no. Uh uh! I am right - right?

[lcscats]

Telmex has obviously sold more bandwidth than they own so they slow folks down. We need repeaters in many of these neighborhoods but doubt if that is going to happen. Problem with Telecable is when everybody in neighborhood starts downloading movies and such and my 10 becomes 4 which happens more than it should but I can live with it at 3 or 4 but it is interesting to have both Telmex and Telecable and see the differences.

[Ferret]

Telmex has obviously sold more bandwidth than they own so they slow folks down. We need repeaters in many of these neighborhoods but doubt if that is going to happen. Problem with Telecable is when everybody in neighborhood starts downloading movies and such and my 10 becomes 4 which happens more than it should but I can live with it at 3 or 4 but it is interesting to have both Telmex and Telecable and see the differences.

Exactly!!It is interesting to see the difference.

It would be a courtesy if people actually downloaded their shows to watch when they wanted...they could download in the middle of the night and watch whenever they wanted to (without commercials).

Let's face it...streaming anything is a bandwidth hog.