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Update on Subscriptions to Ilox

 

I am Dru Davies and I live in El Chante. My neighbor has been actively collecting subscriptions and advanced payments and taking them directly to the Ilox office in Guadalajara. I am sending this to give you, who are interested, the latest, correct information.

 

As of Wednesday, April 18, Ilox has received 100 paid subscriptions. They have an additional 25 that include only the required paperwork but have not received proof of deposit from the subscriber. They need 200 paid subscribers to proceed with the project. If they do not receive that number, they will abandon the project and refund the prepayments within 30 days.

 

I signed up when this began in 2017. In February I received a letter from Ilox indicating they had received 453 signups of which 390 were willing to prepay a year.

 

In El Chante, we have very poor Internet service, not only slow but intermittent. Ilox seems to be the answer to our problem. I have seen many posts on various web boards about similar problems and the fact that Telmex seems less than interested in upgrading their infrastructure.

 

I have read that some people are uneasy about depositing money into Ilox’s Bancomer bank account because they do not feel confident it will be returned if the project does not move forward. Ilox had a letter on file with PROFECO, Mexico’s consumer protection agency, stating that the any money deposited will be refunded within 30 days if the needed number of subscribers is not met and the project does not move forward. I have lived in Mexico for 22 years and have had 4 dealings with PROFECO against companies who misrepresented a product I purchased of did not provided the agreed upon service. PROFECO has come through every time and I have no doubt that Ilox will refund money if the project does not proceed.

 

This is the best chance we currently have of getting reasonable Internet and telephone service here at Lakeside. PLEASE if this is something that would be of benefit to you and you are interested, subscribe and prepay the one year. Showing interest by submitting the original “letter of intent” is great but if we do not get enough people to sign up and prepay, it will be “all for not”.

 

I would be more than happy to help provide additional information. If I do not know the answer, I will get it from Ilox. Please do not delay as the deadline is approaching.

 

You can also email Ilox at: info@mail.tvrey.com.mx or Tom Kessler, trkess@gmail.com

He is the man who has spearheaded this movement to get Ilox to provide service at Lakeside.

 

Dru Davies

drudavies@gmail.com

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I can't believe there aren't more people Lakeside who suffer from TelMex's indifference and can afford to prepay for first class internet service.

I remind folks Shaw disappears in less than two years and if you can't stream now to get your NOB shows do you think TelMex will be looking after you down the road?

What a shame if we loose this opportunity.

SunFan

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Ditto to SunFan.

Today, my TelMex internet was down approximately 2 hours.

Nothing new!

Last night, couldn't stream as service fell below 2 MBPS

Nothing new!

Must be because of the rainy season here in Lower La Floresta!

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To those who are so passionate about this, why not talk with management to organize a meeting with those of us who mistrust this process so that we can ask our questions? So far all I am seeing are third party advocates for a promised service, but no actual corporate presence.  Even their website is non-transparent:  http://www.iloxtelecom.com/

You would think that if Ilox were so keen on doing business here they would be happy to come on down and provide some transparency.  By the by, my company subscribed to a service like this in a small town in Michoacán that also touted the best service and made some large claims about speed. The “company” turns out to be an enterprising local boy who has taken advantage of the new Telecommunications laws in Mexico to buy space off the existing Telmex network at a discount. He then resells it to his clients at slightly less than what Telmex charges, but the level of service is the same…and definitely no fibre optics although he proudly insists his service is faster (Speedtest begs to differ). The downside of using this service instead of Telmex is the loss of the use of the Telmex grid when travelling, and getting bumped offline when the Telmex and/or their system goes down. Which it does. A lot..

Here is an article about similar companies in Canada that may shed some light on what Ilox is trying to do if they are legit, and an article from Forbes that compares services in North America, showing we are not alone in our suffering:  https://community-broadband.ca/choice 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2016/09/15/comparing-internet-access-speeds-in-canada-mexico-and-the-united-states/#36b4aa781039

I too would love faster internet, especially fibre optic, but before I pay upfront for a service that promises so much, yet does not seem to have the necessary start up capital to open up a store front where we can talk to them directly, let alone have sufficient resources to install a regional fibre optic network, I will want to see this companies permits to build fibre optic lines in our area, see the required government licenses, see their articles of incorporation, how they are financed, who is their management etc. It is called doing due diligence. Otherwise, I fear we are being sold a bill of goods.

So for those who are passionate advocates of this service, why not get organized with Ilox's management to come and meet the sceptics directly…if they pass scrutiny, they will see a flood of applicants. If they balk at presenting to their potential investors…well, ‘nuff said and adieu.

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Semalu,

If you are correct about us 'passionate advocates,' I guess I stand to lose a few thousand pesos.

But if you aren't, we all stand to lose a service that if it isn't here and I was considering moving here now, i wouldn't be.

Other than that, what you say is quite well said, especially the part of having a local office and rep. If that was the case, I believe that you are correct: people would be lining up.

With all that being said, I have already spent too much time of the limited time that my old age allows me saying anything more.

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I can now understand why Telmex blew off the meeting they were supposed to have with the community about high speed internet service in Ajijic in February. They have many decades of insight into their customer base here and think it knows it's not worth its time and effort to support more investment at Lakeside when they will get a much higher rate of return elsewhere, like Mexico City, Guadalajara and the border states.

They also understand that this area can probably only support one high speed service and also think it knows that there is simply not enough potential subscribers it for around here. The same can be said for Izzy which has done nothing with its investment. The same would go for other services in Mexico that do not even bother.

I have lived in Mexico for over 20 years and have been screwed numerous times over the years with little or no recourse. So I can understand those who are not willing to take the risk. I have, but I realize it is a crapshoot and might lose the money involved, but which is really not that much to begin with. But others don't view things this way or do not have extra money and so cannot be criticized.

But at one point 390 people said they would pay. What happened to 2/3 of them? I know the rollout was slow and full of problems, but if you agreed, I think this is not the time to retreat. Pay what you agreed to.

Telmex stinks and will not get better without competition. It seems the only way for us who are interested is to pay for that competition to step forward.

I agree that Ilox's absence from the scene is not helping things. Ilox should have ads running in local papers and have reps meeting with possible customers. All that is necessary is a portable booth .

Tom Kessler and his colleagues have tried to fill in the blanks but are simply not willing or able to supply all the information necessary in a timely manner to get the commitment needed.

I hope that we can can get this job done, but I am losing faith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Although I am lucky and get 10MB/sec down by 1/2 up, that still is so much slower than I want. I truly hope that high speed internet becomes available lakeside. It sure would be nice to stream 4K HD to my TV.

Shaw Direct will someday change all of its channels to a satellite, Anik G1, that doesn't reach this far south. I TRULY hope that we get high speed internet before that happens.

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3 hours ago, SunFan said:

I remind folks Shaw disappears in less than two years and if you can't stream now to get your NOB shows do you think TelMex will be looking after you down the road?

Off topic, but Shaw will not disappear in two years.

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1 hour ago, bedbug said:

Tom Kessler and his colleagues have tried to fill in the blanks but are simply not willing or able to supply all the information necessary in a timely manner to get the commitment needed.

You are kidding, right? He started this on his own and has worked tirelessly toward an admirable goal. And it is not the first time he has tried. All because he wants better Internet lakeside. Meanwhile, he takes all the criticism and abuse such a VOLUNTEER position comes with. "Not willing"? He has done everything he can to provide as much information as he can, ON TOP OF keeping the whole thing going.

What have you done?

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Also off topic. Dru Davies is a very close friend of mine and has been since the year 2000. She is down to earth, level headed and has damn near turned herself inside out trying to deal with Telmex. She has a Profeco complaint under way against Telmex.

The information about GETTING information is clearly stated in her posts. If you want information then you now know where to get it. Stop whining with the conspiracy posts. It's getting tedious.

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Hi there. "Passionate advocate" here. And here is another of my rants.

I don't think it is an absolute certainty that Shaw will disappear in two years but I think it is inaccurate to say that is not a possibility. In fact, it is possible that Shaw could disappear at any time. Even those of us that are not account sharing or doing something else that deprives Shaw of the money they are due are at a minimum stretching Shaw's terms and conditions.I fully acknowledge that I am "guilty" of that but rationalize it by taking the steps to pay Shaw 100% of the fees they are due. Sooner or later technical, business and/or regulatory issues will remove Shaw from our list of options.

However, I do believe that Shaw will almost certainly cease to be an option at some point and for me it makes sense to take the necessary steps to have an alternative in place before that happens. In my opinion, streaming is the most viable long term option. I think that is where technology is headed. And that requires reliable, consistent, high speed internet access. We have streaming options now - but don't yet have the internet structure available to make those options viable.

So I am "all in" on ILOX. I never thought that ILOX was "keen" to provide this service to the lakeside area - but they have been "willing" to do so within parameters that work for them. They didn't approach us - some incredibly generous volunteers from our community approached them and asked what it would take for ILOX to come to lakeside. MANY thanks for all that work. I am very humbled by your efforts on our behalf.

I am a "recovering techie" having built and managed networks for a good bit of my working life. I have done my own research and have become comfortable with ILOX's business practices, financial strength and goals. As I have said in previous posts I think we are seeing that their market research was right on target. Nearly double the required number of people "said" they would pay in advance but right at half the required number have actually done so (4 to 1 ratio for "said" versus "did"). I can't imagine that ILOX will waste any more time on us. They have all the information they need.

Just my opinion - and my disappointment that it looks like we won't be getting access to this service. A loss for all us! Now we can all go back to being mad at Telmex.

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Shaw will be with us for at least 7 years. It may degrade from what it is now, but that's all. I won't debate your rationalization of its use in Mexico. But I will agree that we have a long way to go before "cord cutting" makes any sense.

Not only is the Internet delivery speed not here yet, but the technology is rough and raw, and best left to people who like to tinker. I won't offer it as a service until it reaches a point that is reliable, to the extent I can set it up for a customer and leave, knowing I won't have to go back.

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9 hours ago, ComputerGuy said:

I won't offer it as a service until it reaches a point that is reliable, to the extent I can set it up for a customer and leave, knowing I won't have to go back.

"Beautiful dreamer..."  hahaha

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Lol. It will happen... someday. Oh, there are people all over doing it now, but as I said, they like to tinker. We have to take into account the many brands of Android box, whether they can be updated when the Kodi (or other) software changes, and the difficulty of some of the menuing systems. That doesn't even begin to consider the Internet speed and WiFi capability. Worse, most people want it for NetFlix, Hulu, and other non-licensed-in-Mexico services that require a VPN. And that would be fine, but NetFlix and others make it almost impossible to use their app on any device, outside the country, other than their website on your computer. Add to that the commercially availabe devices like Roku, Chromecast, smart TVs, etc., all of which require different setups.

Keep in mind I am not at all against people doing this; far from it. But the Average Jane/Joe isn't a tinkerer, and just wants it done and done. And that isn't available yet.

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Sorry dont agree cg.

The android boxes are good and easy. Kodi is the problem.

The addons get closed down frequently or many streams not available. Complete waste of time.

However there are some free apps to download onto android box wich give near instant live tv and movies.

Been using these for three years and helped people around here to install and operate. It is easy.

 

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5 minutes ago, barcelonaman said:

However there are some free apps to download onto android box wich give near instant live tv and movies.

Been using these for three years and helped people around here to install and operate. It is easy.

 

What is the names of these apps so we can check them out?

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You prove my piont: "There are many". You are a tinkerer, and you said yourself "... and helped people around here to install and operate." And there are hundreds of different boxes, and NO, they are not all good. In fact, many suck.

Of course you said Kodi is a problem. Well, I will not introduce my customers to problems. Like I said, it's not ready for widespread use. People want point and click, and they do NOT want a tech visiting repeatedly.

Case in point: two local guys, advertising this type of installation, one for a one-time fee, the other monthly. BOTH are close to being run out of town for lousy service.

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There are nany free apps. Hundreds of makes of boxes.most without problems. If bought in mexico or usa easy to exchange .china not so easy.

The guys you refer to were selling paid iptv.and it didnt seem to work reliably.

Probabky just resellers and use a lakeside name to entice locals.

The free apps are fine for most people and easily installed by anyone .

Dont see your problem you being a pro...

 

 

 

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Kodi is NOT the problem.

The 3RD PARTY addons are the problem.

However, maybe it is just is 'tinkerers' who understand the difference.

Kodi is simply a media player as is Windows Media Player.

What one does with it can be the source of problems.

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59 minutes ago, barcelonaman said:

There are nany free apps. Hundreds of makes of boxes.most without problems. If bought in mexico or usa easy to exchange .china not so easy.

The guys you refer to were selling paid iptv.and it didnt seem to work reliably.

Probabky just resellers and use a lakeside name to entice locals.

The free apps are fine for most people and easily installed by anyone .

Dont see your problem you being a pro...

At least one of them was selling an Android box. And I've had direct experience with a number of their dissatisfied customers who are out money and have no service. You have not.

I have no problem, but hundreds of my customers will, and that is not a move I am willing to make. If the guys doing this for a living can't make it work, what makes you think the average user can? You continue to confuse opportunity with ability here. I don't know how much more clear I can make it.

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Long response and this won't be at all interesting or useful for a lot of folks but here is what I am doing.

Amazon sells a number of Android TV boxes that are fairly inexpensive, fairly easy to setup and can be shipped directly to Mexico. Some are available from Amazon Mexico but I just ordered this one from Amazon USA and had it shipped directly to my house in Ajijic. Paid the shipping and duty but it arrived in about a week. This is the one I bought but there are lots of others including some that are close to 1/2 the price of this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B94S68Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For content I am using several services but one that provides tons of content is Todd TV. Todd TV even sells Android boxes with their app already installed. Don't know about having those boxes shipped to Mexico since I bought mine from Amazon and installed Todd TV myself.

http://www.toddtv.org/index.html

It didn't seem too difficult to set up either the box or the app but again I was able to handle the technical challenges. There will be changes somewhere down the line but that will happen with anything - Sky, DirectTV, Shaw, Telecable. Change is unavoidable. I think the problem with the folks that are "about to be run out of town" are that they didn't set expectations very well or that people are sort of ignoring those expectations. It seems like those folks are "reselling a product" rather than "providing a service" - at least in my opinion. On the Todd TV site you can even find details about "buying credits" that you can then "resell". Again, just my opinion but that is a major distinction. We all want easy, cheap, reliable, intuitive and consistent options in most parts of our lives. Unfortunately we can't get all of those features very often.

The only problem I have had with my setup is due to internet speed. And then a slight annoyance with Todd TV is "navigation". There are something like 2000 channels so it is going to be a little difficult to find what you want in a seamless, intuitive way. But that is a function of having 2000 channels - so good news and bad news. The night I got my setup running I watched Rugby 7s from Hong Kong, a snooker tournament from Singapore, cricket from India and Australian rules football from Sydney - just because I could. My only problem was stuttering/buffering due to internet speed.

I also use Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Acorn TV and other resources on my smart tv, a Roku box on another older tv, my laptop, my iPad and even on my phone. i use a VPN for access to some of those resources. However, for Netflix I am pretty happy with the options I get using my USA Netflix account down here without using my VPN all the time. I am binging on a couple of series from Amazon Prime Video on my phone over WiFi most nights without any problems.

I does take some tinkering and I am technical enough to do all that for myself. I definitely understand that others can't, won't or don't want to bother with all that. I can also understand folks not wanting to be in the position of providing "service" for these options. But if any of us wants lots of options and lots of content then a ton of stuff is available. Again, there is no doubt that all this is practical for me since I can handle the technical issues. The only barrier for me is fast, reliable internet service. In my opinion we are not ever going to get that from Telmex or Telecable/Izzy. Megacable is not going to come to lakeside. ILOX was our best option but we as a community have pretty much killed that opportunity. "If" we had high speed internet it could make sense for someone to provide a service to deal with all this and really make it come to life. Without high speed internet it is a mute point.

Good to hear that we absolutely for sure will have Shaw for 7 more years. I am not positive that is accurate but if so I will be very happy. But I still want Netflix, Amazon Prime, sports, etc. and the best option for all that seems to be streaming.

I would be happy to answer questions or to discuss what I am doing. However, I don't want to make house calls, write a "how to guide", teach a class or anything like that. But I am happy to answer questions. 

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