broadband internet access

Adrian Bye

Bronze
Jul 7, 2002
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Hi,

Does anyone here have experience with cable internet (eg Aster?). Do you know if they use codetel's internet network, or have their own independent network?

I ask, because due to the rain yesterday my phoneline got water in it. This stopped my local phoneline from working, thus no internet access either. Its working again now, but I'm concerned it will happen again. It takes so long to get a codetel technician to respond that its dried out before they come back, thus making it very difficult to locate the problem.

I'd consider signing up for tricom, except they seem to have financial problems.

Does anyone have any comments on cable broadband providers or other DSL providers in the DR that can provide me a backup connection to the internet?

Adrian
 

Bolt

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Jun 12, 2002
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www.wireless-alarms.com
Cable is only available in city locations. Just because you had a bad experince with ADSL doesnt mean it wont happen with cable.

Proper waterproofing of connections are virtually unheard here comprising of a few twists and a bit of black tape, so normally when one system goes down the other will go down too. If its anything like our cable TV system then I wouldnt bother as that goes off at least once a day.

I find during heavy rain ADSL does go off but as soon as the rain stops the signal returns. Bear in mind, we have had more rain in the last month then in the last 2 years so its fairly rare to loose the ADSL connection at other times in fact i would say the service is extremely good as i work on the net 14 hours a day.

As a backup you may want to consider the cellular G3 service but is very expensive per minute unless you sign up for the unlimited usuage package which is around RS$3000 per month. Look up other posts on this package in the forums.
 

JDub

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Apr 7, 2003
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I can't comment on which service is best, but I can tell you a little of how DSL works. DSL still requires a regular phoneline in order to function properly so if your local line is down, so is your DSL. I just thought I'd add that because it sounds like you believe DSL works independtly from your regular line. Hope you find a good ISP!!
 

Adrian Bye

Bronze
Jul 7, 2002
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Guys,

Thanks for your responses.

I still want a secondary internet connection. I checked out Aster, but they don't seem to have service in Santiago.

If anyone has any experience with any ISP's other than codetel, please tell us about it.

Thanks!

Adrian
 

Bobs

New member
Jan 8, 2002
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Usenet in DR

At the risk of drifting offtopic, can anyone tell me what is regurarly included in a DSL-subscription in the DR : how many mailaccounts offered, homepage serverspace, connection to Usenet-server ?
Here in Amsterdam I have an xdsl-connection (8 Mb), 4 mailadresses, 40Mb Homepage space, continuous Usenet-server connection (my provider also taps into Newszilla, with terrabit/14 day news/binary backup), no maximum on monthly download allowance.
How does this compare to the top home-subscription in Sto Domingo ?

I used to have a (socalled "broad"band) cable-connection, but cable is a shared medium and you lose speed rapidly as more subscribe to the same cable-area. I can only recommend you examine your much more stable DSL-account, before you venture out to cableland.
 

MrMike

Silver
Mar 2, 2003
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www.azconatechnologies.com
Forget it Adrian, it's just luck of the draw. When you were cursing Codetel during the rains I was cursing Aster because their sh#t got wet and I couldn't watch TV. No problems with the phone lines, though.
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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Chris said:
On the satellite connection side, we had no problems :)
DSL? Telephones? Landlines? Aster?

What the heck is that stuff? We don't have any of that here in Xanadu City. We just talk to the satellites directly. Works great. And no Dominican customer service or Dominican technicians to deal with either.

Tom (aka XR)
 

ERICKXSON

Bronze
Dec 24, 2002
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www.creambay.com
Hey guys XANADu Ranch is in La La Land, no Aster, No Codetel, No Nothing but Burros, horses and and and and lol!


Seriously Xanadu, how much do you usually pay for Satellite?
 

XanaduRanch

*** Sin Bin ***
Sep 15, 2002
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LA LA LAND!?

Claro que No! I hate Los Angeles!

;)

Ah, it'smore expensive than DSL at about US$125/mo, and generally less bandwidth. So if DSL is available it doesn't make much sense. But at the moment the Codetel lines end about 2 miles from here. And even at the end of the lines I don't think DSL is available. So for true freedom to live anywhere from Xanadu City to HB's Beach Hovel at Punta Rucia, satellite can't be beat.

Tom (aka XR)
 

Adrian Bye

Bronze
Jul 7, 2002
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Guys,

Let me be clear: I want to get a SECOND internet connection. Right, that means I will still continue to use codetel DSL. And, I will (shock, horror) pay the monthly rate for another connection from a different company.

Right now, the only ontopic responses have been about satellite. But at US$125/month that is quite expensive for a secondary connection. I do know that at least one cable company in Santiago offers internet access, but I have not tried it, nor is it clear if they have a private network or are using Codetel's backbone.

If anyone has an additional information about non-codetel ways to access the internet in Santiago, please post about it!

Adrian
 

Adrian Bye

Bronze
Jul 7, 2002
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Yes, it is. I'm pretty sure Tricom used their own network back to the states, from when I checked it out a year or two ago. But its possible other carriers are private labelling codetel's service which does not give the redundancy I'm looking for.